In-form Si Jiahui turned up the heat in the race to qualify for next week's Players Championship by beating Andrew Pagett 4-2 to reach the last 32 of the BetVictor Welsh Open in Llandudno.
China's Si was 18th in the one-year rankings coming into this tournament, with only the top 16 to earn a place in Telford for the second event in the Players Series. He needs to make the semi-finals this week to have a chance, and his hopes were boosted by tonight's success, as well as defeat for 16th place Chris Wakelin, who lost 4-1 to Martin O'Donnell.
Si was a semi-finalist at the Crucible last year and reached his first ranking final at the recent BetVictor German Masters before losing to Judd Trump. Breaks of 64, 50, 52, 98 and 58 helped him beat Pagett and set up a third-round tie with Mark Allen or Ma Hailong.
“There was a sense of relief when I reached the final in Berlin,” said Si. “People expect you to perform and have results matching that Crucible semi-final run. In the first half of the season I didn't achieve as much. But that week I showed that I'm capable of having deep runs, and the Crucible wasn't a fluke. It helped with my confidence.
“I watched a video of the final afterwards and realised I’m still a long way behind Judd Trump. I tried to figure out what exactly the difference is and work on the practice table. To be honest I got a bit nervous. There were so many spectators all watching a single table, and so passionate. I need more experience in finals.”
Mark Allen became the tenth player in snooker history to reach the landmark of 600 centuries during a 4-0 win over Ma Hailong. A break of 141 in the third frame helped Allen to a comfortable victory. "It's nice to be a part of that club. Hopefully I'll go on to make many more," said the Pistol.
Home favourite Mark Williams, the last Welsh winner of this title back in 1999, edged out Sanderson Lam 4-3 in a high quality tussle. Williams compiled breaks of 90, 117, 55 and - in the decider - 96 to set up a last 32 tie with Anthony McGill.
Neil Robertson, who must win this title to qualify for the Players Championship, let slip a 3-1 lead against Stuart Carrington but eventually came through 4-3. After losing the opening frame, Robertson took three in a row with a top break of 139, but then passed up chances to seal the result in frames five and six. Having fought back to 3-3, Carrington had a clear match-winning chance in the last, but missed the black off its spot when he led 31-7. Robertson was clinical in a 65 clearance.
"It's a big relief, Stuart is always a tough opponent," said Robertson. "It was a strange match, some crazy things were happening. It wasn't looking good for me when he had a chance in the last frame, but when he missed the black, the reds were perfect for me and I held myself together. I'm not sure what I could have done differently to create better openings from 3-1, I will talk to Joe (Perry) and see where we go from here. I don't think every match will be as tough a battle as that."
Robertson now faces Ricky Walden, who enjoyed a tremendous comeback against Matthew Stevens as he recovered a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3, making a break of 80 in the decider.
Ding Junhui lost 4-2 to Robbie Williams, which leaves the Chinese ace vulnerable in the race to qualify for next month's Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker. The top eight after the Players Championship will qualify, and Ding remains eighth, but the chasing pack now have the chance to gain ground.
Defending champion Robert Milkins made a 140 total clearance as he beat Allan Taylor 4-1. Barry Hawkins fired runs of 52, 59, 89, 102 and 72 as he beat Xiao Guodong 4-3, while John Higgins battled to a 4-1 success against Tian Pengfei.
Up-and-coming Welsh teenager Liam Davies made a 119 as he beat Alexander Ursenbacher 4-0, though he later lost 4-1 to practice partner Duane Jones.