Anthony McGill produced a break building blitz, to take the last three frames and beat Mostafa Dorgham 5-4 to set up a last 32 clash with defending champion Judd Trump at the Wuhan Open.
The 2016 Indian Open champion has had a slow start to the season, but showed signs of hitting form with recent qualifying wins to make the final stages of the Northern Ireland Open and International Championship.
Dorgham has only won three matches so far in his two seasons on tour, but the Egyptian found himself one frame from a big win when he took a surprise 4-2 lead. From there McGill summoned his best snooker to hammer home breaks of 101, 70 and 90 to take three on the bounce and emerge a 5-4 victor.
"I thought I played well the full match. It was just the way the balls went, sometimes they don't let you play. To be fair to Mostafa, I thought he played amazing. His safety play was incredible. I couldn't get too much out of him. As soon as I was allowed to flow a bit I played well, but I was always playing well," said two-time ranking event winner McGill.
"I'm playing better than the results. I definitely have a game there, sometimes I'm not always allowed to bring it out but I just have to stay patient. I've got to remind myself that patience is the key.
"I'm trying to change a couple of things, which I'll keep to myself, but I feel as though I have a good game. I can obviously be better, but I think I'll be alright and things will pick up."
World number one Trump came through with a 5-2 win over China's He Guoqiang. The Ace in the Pack is aiming to win the title for a second year in a row, having won the title 12 months ago with a 10-7 defeat of Ali Carter in the final.
It was He who started fastest this morning, with a sublime 139 to take the opener. However, Trump claimed five of the next six to progress with breaks of 116, 103 and 68.
World Champion Kyren Wilson put on a stunning performance to brush aside Ireland's Aaron Hill in a 5-0 whitewash.
The Warrior fired in runs of 72, 61, 111, 88 and 61 in consecutive frames to claim victory. He now faces Xiao Guodong, who beat Andrew Pagett 5-1.
Hossein Vafaei was a 5-3 winner against Jordan Brown, as he set up a last 32 tie against Zhang Anda, who beat 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott 5-3.