Louis Heathcote scored a 10-7 win to move two matches from the Crucible and leave close friend Oliver Lines in danger of relegation from the circuit at Cazoo World Championship qualifying in Sheffield.
Heathcote himself suffered demotion from the tour after last year’s World Championship, but bounced straight back via Q School.
Lines must await other results going his way this year. He is currently projected to stay on tour via the one year list, but that could change.
Today’s match was keenly contested, with there never being more than a single frame between the players until Heathcote moved 7-5 ahead. He then hammered home a break of 118 to consolidate his lead and move 8-5 up.
Yorkshire’s Lines won two on the bounce to keep himself in contention at 8-7. However, a break of 56 was enough to take Leicester cueman Heathcote one from the win.
The 17th frame saw Lines craft a run of 60, before Heathcote responded to make 62 and take the frame down the pink. He eventually deposited it to get over the line and book a round three meeting with Elliot Slessor.
“It is a bittersweet moment. First and foremost, I really do hope the results go Ollie’s way. He is far too good to fall off tour. I think he has one of the best cue actions on tour,” said 26-year-old Heathcote.
“To play well and hold myself together under those circumstances is great for me going forward. I’m gutted for Ollie as well. Any other day I would be buzzing to win that game, but to put your friend in jeopardy of dropping off tour isn’t very nice. I’ve got to focus on my career and he is more than good enough to be on tour, I hope it stays that way.”
Final frame defeats for Liam Highfield and Allan Taylor mean they are relegated from the professional ranks. Highfield was edged out 10-9 by Stuart Carrington, while Taylor bowed out 10-9 against Lukas Kleckers.
Jenson Kendrick kept his tour survival hopes alive with a brilliant 10-8 win against Ben Woollaston. He now faces Jordan Brown in round three, which is another must win match if he is to stand a chance of remaining on the circuit.
Jimmy White’s bid to return to the Crucible ended for another year with a 10-3 loss at the hands of China’s Liu Hongyu. The six-time finalist now hasn’t competed in the final stages for 19 years, with 2005 his last appearance.
Jamie Clarke beat Andres Petrov 10-7 to relegate the Estonian from the tour, while Jimmy Robertson beat Liam Davies 10-2 and James Cahill edged out Hungary’s Bulcsu Revesz 10-8.