Zhao Xintong will return to the scene of his greatest triumph at the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship, having beaten Ricky Walden 6-2 in the final qualifying round.
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China's 27-year-old Zhao has stormed through the qualifying phase in Leicester, winning four matches for the loss of just nine frames and making a tournament-high break of 146. He now heads to the York Barbican where he will face Shaun Murphy in a sizzling last 32 tie on Saturday afternoon.
Zhao, who was UK Champion 2021 when he beat Luca Brecel in the final, fell 2-0 behind today as Walden started fast with breaks of 94 and 67. But the Cyclone then dominated with top runs of 69, 124 and 64 as he took six frames in a row.
"I have really missed this," said Zhao, who has been away from the tour for the past 20 months, serving a ban for breaching betting rules. "Now I am back and I just want to enjoy the tournament and I will do my best. I love snooker and I needed to come back. I have been practising for the last two years so that feeling is still there. Shaun Murphy is a very good player, everyone knows he can pot anything."
David Gilbert stormed to a 6-1 win over Julien Leclercq with a top break of 61 to earn a tie with Xiao Guodong. "I played terrible but kept nicking frames, Julien had a bad day," admitted Gilbert, who has reached two Crucible semi-finals but never been beyond the last 16 of the UK Championship. "I love York but I've never had a run so I'll have another go. Xiao has won about £6 million in the last few weeks so I don't think he's feeling pressure. I am miles away from my top form because I have barely played for a month. I've got a new cue from John Parris but I haven't hit enough balls. Hopefully York will rekindle something for me."
Matthew Selt scored an impressive 6-3 win over Zhou Yuelong, firing runs of 97, 88, 52, 65 and 65 to set up a match with Chris Wakelin. "York is my favourite venue, it's such a big event," said Selt, who reached the quarter-finals at the Barbican in 2015. "My scoring boots were on today. I got a bit nervous towards the end so I'm delighted to get through. I have played really well this season, I am very happy with the way I'm playing.
"I had a conversation with my coach Chris Henry yesterday and said it's starting to wind me up because I look at my scoresheets and see I'm scoring more heavily than ever and my safety game is always there, but I'm not ranked where I feel I should be. Ultimately I am not winning enough matches and I need to work out why. If I feel comfortable I don't fancy anyone beating me. The standard outside the top 20 now is astronomically high compared to what it was like a decade ago, it only takes one good week to get towards the top 16 and everyone in the top 50 is capable of that."
Lei Peifan ensured that there will be at least seven Chinese players in the field as he beat Ben Woollaston 6-2 with top breaks of 129 and 131. He now meets Zhang Anda.