Jak Jones became the first player in 25 years to reach the quarter-finals on his first two Crucible appearances as he beat Si Jiahui 13-9 in the second round of the Cazoo World Championship.
Having seen an 8-3 lead almost evaporate when his advantage was slashed to 9-8, Jones came good at the business end to get the better of Si in a tense finish. The 30-year-old Welshman will face Judd Trump over 25 frames on Tuesday and Wednesday.
World number 44 Jones reached the last eight on his debut last year and now becomes the first player get that far in his first two trips to Sheffield since Matthew Stevens in 1998 and 1999. He is clearly suited to this event and the longer matches, as he has not reached the quarter-finals of any other tournaments over the past two seasons.
World number two Trump will start strong favourite, and has won four of their five previous meetings, though Jones did score an impressive 6-5 win in the 2018 China Open.
The opening frame today lasted 58 minutes and came down to the colours. China's Si, a semi-finalist on his debut here last year, got the snooker he needed on the green and later got the better of an exchange on the blue, then potted the last three balls to close the gap to 9-8. Jones made an excellent 44 clearance in the 18th to restore his two-frame cushion, then the next two were shared to leave the score at 11-9 at the interval.
A break of 78 extended Jones' advantage to 12-9. In frame 22, he led 42-0 when he missed a tricky red with the rest to a top corner. Si battled his way back into the frame and it came down to a long battle on the colours, resolved when Jones slotted the brown into a centre pocket and added blue and pink for victory.
"It's a relief because it was a shocking match and I'm not sure how I won," admitted Jones. "I was lucky to be 6-2 up because I won four black ball frames in the first session. I have got a couple of days now to spend time on the practice table, trying to get something together so I am ready to challenge Judd.
"Judd and Ronnie are the best two players at the moment so it can't get any tougher for me. Everyone excepts those two to meet in the semi-finals. He is much more used to the big occasion than me, but I've got nothing to lose."
On the other table, Mark Allen and John Higgins shared the first eight frames of their second round match 4-4. Allen's greatest ambition is to go all the way to the title here and arrived in Sheffield with three titles under his belt already this season. It's also a crucial game for Higgins as defeat would see him relegated from the world's top 16.
Northern Ireland's Allen started strongly with a break of 119, then Scotland's Higgins snatched the second on the colours and made a 73 for 2-1. Allen dominated the fourth then compiled a run of 79 to lead 3-2. Frame six came down to the colours and Higgins won a safety battle on the brown as he squared the title again at 3-3. A break of 65 gave Allen frame seven, but Higgins took the last of the session. They return on Sunday at 2.30pm for eight more frames.