World number three Mark Allen prevailed in a marathon encounter with John Higgins 4-3 to make the quarter-finals of the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
Higgins captured a piece of snooker history by becoming the sport's second player to register 1000 career centuries, but it was Allen who prevailed in a gruelling final frame.
Northern Irishman Allen took an early 2-0 lead, having crafted a break of exactly 100 in the opener. Scotland's four-time World Champion Higgins cut his arrears in half with 108 in the third. However, Allen then took the fourth to go 3-1 up.
The landmark moment for Higgins came in the fifth with a break of 108 to reach 1000 centuries, he then made 65 in the next to force a tense decider.
A 50-minute frame saw lengthy safety exchanges where no balls were potted. With Allen leading, Higgins had his chance to steal the win, but he spurned a pink off the spot and the Antrim cueman got himself over the line. He now faces a quarter-final with Chris Wakelin, who came through after a brilliant fightback saw him come from 3-0 down to beat Pang Junxu 4-3
"I'm just delighted to win a tight one against John. Normally when I beat him it is a one-sided game so it is nice to finally get on the right side of a close one against him for a change," said former UK and Masters champion Allen.
"I wanted John to have his moment when he did it and enjoy that 1000th century. We were just about to start the next frame and I went to congratulate him on my own. He said to me he was glad to have done it against someone like me. That means a lot coming from John. I actually said to him at the end it was a shame he had to be on the losing side after creating a piece of history. What a guy John Higgins is. He thoroughly deserves that."
Australia's Neil Robertson continued his resurgence with a 4-1 defeat of Ross Muir to make the quarter-finals. The 2010 World Champion has slumped to 26th in the rankings but is showing signs of returning to his best. He now faces Barry Hawkins, who scored a fine 4-2 win over World Champion Kyren Wilson.