Ben Woollaston said he hopes the worst of his recent health battles are behind him, after making the last 32 of the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters with a hard fought 5-3 win over Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei.
The former Welsh Open finalist has been battling with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome since 2021. These struggles have impacted on his day to day life and ability to practise. However, he is beginning to up his work rate after turning a corner.
That appears to have paid dividends after a fine run this week, which has also seen him score wins over Oliver Lines and Joe Perry.
Breaks of 75 and 61 gave Vafaei the first two frames this afternoon. However, Woollaston turned on the style to hammer home breaks of 71, 133 and 57 to take three on the bounce and lead 3-2. Vafaei restored parity by taking the sixth, but the next two frames went the way of Woolaston to secure him victory and a last 32 clash with Zhang Anda.
"I think Hossein is basically a top 16 player anyway. He is definitely one of the hardest players to face outside of the top 16. It is a great win for me," said 37-year-old Woollaston.
"It is basically like being at the Crucible now, with the way the prize money is. With it being best of nine, I think it is more open as well.
"I practise a lot more now. From about New Year onwards, I've started practising more or less like I used to. I hadn't done that for about three years. I still have bad moments, but it doesn't last as long. I was telling myself in that match that one hour I can feel terrible and the next I can feel alright. Before it lasted for days and weeks. I hope I'm getting there.
"I'm not just saying this because I've won, but this tournament has been better than any of the overseas events I've been to. The tables are great, backstage is brilliant. It is a great country to eat in and everything is a lot easier. You feel a lot more home comforts."
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh narrowly avoided making a piece of unwanted history in his 5-4 win over Chris Wakelin.
Despite crafting a 78 break in the sixth, Un-Nooh went on to lose the frame and move to the verge of defeat at 4-2 down. That was two shy of the highest break ever to lose a frame, set at 80 by Neal Foulds against Willie Thorne in the 1989 English Professional Championship.
From there Un-Nooh upped the ante and three on the bounce to seal a dramatic win. He now faces a mouth watering last 32 clash with Mark Williams.
Englishman Jimmy Robertson stormed to a 5-0 whitewash win over Malaysia's Rory Thor. Former European Masters champion Robertson top scored with 92 and will now face Scotland's four-time World Champion John Higgins.
Si Jiahui earned his passage through with a 5-0 demolition of 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott. Si made breaks of 102, 75 and 82 during the quick fire win and will play Tom Ford in the last 32.
Stuart Bingham battled to a 5-3 defeat of Anthony Hamilton and will now play Ding Junhui, while Lei Peifan scored a 5-2 defeat of Joe O'Connor to set up a showdown with Ronnie O'Sullivan.