Just eight weeks after having emergency surgery for an umbilical hernia, 55-year-old Ken Doherty booked a place in the final stages of the Machineseeker German Masters with a 5-4 victory over Jordan Brown.
Veteran Doherty lost his first five matches this season and was then forced to take a break after being rushed to hospital for the surgery in October. He returned at this week's qualifying event with low expectations, but the former World Champion edged out Oliver Lines 5-4 in his first match on Monday then beat Brown by the same scoreline
Doherty took a 4-2 lead with top breaks of 53, 80 and 64, then Brown fought back to 4-4 and he led 59-46 in the decider only for Doherty to clear from last red to pink.
Bai Yulu made the second highest break ever by a woman in a ranking event, making a 128 during her match with Yuan Sijun. This has only been topped by Allison Fisher who made a 133 in the 1992 Dubai Classic. However that break was the only highlight of the day for Bai as she lost 5-1.
Xu Si top scored with 142 in a 5-1 win over Julian Leclercq. Aaron Hill battled to a 5-4 win over Stan Moody, winning an 85-minute deciding frame on the colours. Latvia's Artemijs Zizins followed up his 5-4 first round win over Kreishh Gurbaxani by beating Matthew Selt by the same scoreline. Zizins made a 70 clearance to take the decider, helped by a fluke on the last red.
In round one, BetVictor Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan saw his winning streak ended by a 5-3 defeat against Allan Taylor.