Mark Allen, determined to enjoy his status as world number one, booked a place in the last 16 of the Xi'an Grand Prix with a 5-2 defeat of Xiao Guodong.
Northern Ireland's Allen took top spot in the rankings for the first time at the end of last season, and hopes to hang on to that status for an extended period, but admits that his position is under threat from chaser Judd Trump. The pair could meet in the semi-finals this week, and if Trump wins the title then he will take over at the top.
Breaks of 112 and 133 put Allen 2-0 ahead today, and he later made 76 and 82 to lead 4-2. Xiao led 52-1 in frame seven before Allen made a tremendous 64 clearance, picking off several balls from awkward positions.
"I started the match well and closed it out with a nice clearance," said Allen, who now meets going Barry Hawkins. "Xiao played well today, his safety was better than mine and if it had gone 4-3 it was anyone's game.
"I have had a few weeks of practice now, plus matches in Shanghai and at the qualifiers, so I feel I'm in good shape for a run of big events. I'm always trying to find ways to improve, but this season I am not going to change too much, unless I have something glaring wrong with my technique. And I'll try to enjoy it more because if you can't enjoy being world number one then you're in the wrong sport.
"There's a long way to go, but if I did play Judd in the semi-finals it would be a great match. Being honest, at some point this season he will probably go ahead of me because I have a lot of points to defend from two years ago, and he doesn't have as much coming off. But if I win tournaments that will keep me ahead."
Shanghai Masters champion Trump made it seven wins out of seven so far this season as he beat Lyu Haotian 5-1 with runs of 61, 68. 94, 57 and 54.|
China's Gong Chenzhi has impressed so far in his debut season and, having beaten Tom Ford 5-1 already, the 17-year-old saw off Si Jiahui 5-3 with top breaks of 98 and 92.
Mark Williams looked sharp in a 5-2 win over Chris Wakelin, compiling breaks of 61, 102, 91 and 101.
Crucible runner-up Jak Jones made an excellent 88 in the decider to edge out Jack Lisowski 5-4.