Veteran Jimmy White reached the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time in ten months with an impressive 4-2 win over Hossein Vafaei at the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open.
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Still determined to compete at the top level at the age of 62, White has now won three matches in this event, having knocked out Paul Deaville and Jackson Page in the qualifying rounds before beating a man 32 years his junior in Belfast - world number 24 Vafaei. Ten-time ranking event winner White, who has been ever present on the tour for 44 years and remains a crowd favourite, faces Martin O'Donnell next.
"My game was there in parts, I potted some good balls," said White. "I still enjoy practising and exhibitions, I enjoy entertaining and I still make 147s. Now and again I have a little buzz where I can beat anyone. I am not as consistent as I was, but that will come with a few wins and that was a decent one for me today. Belfast is an amazing place, I have been coming here for a long time. There was the late, great Hurricane Higgins, Dennis Taylor, Joe Swail and now an incredible player in Mark Allen, so there is always great support here."
Neil Robertson is determined to make sure of his place at the UK Championship and the Masters and took an important step in the right direction with a hard-fought 4-3 win over Graeme Dott.
Robertson's victory at the BetVictor English Open last month was his first ranking title in over two years and boosted him to 16th in the rankings. But he must keep that place in the top 16 by the end of the International Championship to make sure of a seeding in York for the UK Championship, and then the end of that event will be the cut off for the Masters.
"I'm one of the few players in the world who can win those events multiple times," said the Australian after today's victory in Belfast. "I know I'm in that small group who can get the job done so I want to be there. But I can't get ahead of myself, I have to push through and keep the momentum."
In a repeat of the 2006 Crucible final, Dott made breaks of 94, 52 and 76, while Roberton made 58 and 54. The decider lasted 30 minutes and Robertson took it to set up a last-32 tie with Jack Lisowski or Wang Yuchen.
"It was enjoyable, we both played to a very good level and it was a big crowd," added Robertson, who is the front-runner for the £150,000 bonus on offer for the leading money winner across the four BetVictor Home Nations Series events. "At the British Open I had a couple of technical things which needed tweaking. I had time to prepare for this one and I've got it right now."
China's Zhang Anda came from 3-0 down to 3-3 against Martin O'Donnell only for the Englishman to win a tense deciding frame. Newly crowned Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong suffered a 4-2 reverse against Jimmy Robertson, while Tian Pengfei enjoyed a 4-2 success against Si Jiahui.
Tom Ford, who is also on the fringes of the top 16, enjoyed a much-needed 4-2 win over Rory Thor, while Elliot Slessor top scored with 81 in a 4-2 victory against Joe O'Connor.