Xiao Guodong kept his best ever season going with a 10-8 victory over Wu Yize in the first round of the Sportsbet.io Tour Championship, a result which ends Wu's hopes of being a top 16 seed at the Crucible.
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Xiao has been a pro for 18 years but has made a major breakthrough this season, winning his first ranking title at the Wuhan Open and reaching the final of the Champion of Champions as well as climbing into the world's top 16. He has also found contentment in his personal life having got married last month in his home city of Chongqing.
And the 36-year-old kept his momentum going with a narrow success over fellow Chinese cueman Wu, coming from 3-0 and 8-7 down. Xiao goes through to a quarter-final with John Higgins at Manchester Central on Wednesday and Thursday, and it's a chance for revenge as he lost 6-5 to the same opponent - having led 5-2 - at the recent Sportsbet.io Players Championship.
"To do well at snooker you have to be happy," said Xiao. "I have been in the UK for 17 years and I used to feel a lot of pressure. I was sad when I lost because I was a long way from home. Now I am comfortable, this is my second home. If I win I am happy, if I lose I still have friends to talk to.
"Today I just told myself to enjoy it because I have had a good season, it doesn't matter if I win or lose. Wu is very dangerous, he can pot any ball on the table. But I tried not to put myself under pressure."
Tied 4-4 going into the concluding session, Xiao took the first frame today to edge ahead, and he looked set to win the next until he missed the final pink to a top corner, leading 50-49. But his opponent also failed to pot the pink and this time Xiao took advantage for 6-4. Wu hit back with breaks of 79 and 100 for 6-6, before Xiao took a scrappy 13th frame to regain the advantage.
Wu's break of 77 made it 7-7, and he seemed to have the momentum as he added frame 15. But a missed pink to top corner when he led 48-1 in the 16th proved costly as Xiao cleared with 60. That proved the turning point as Xiao took a fragmented 17th frame to lead 9-8, then came from 25-1 down in the 18th to take control with a break of 63, which proved enough to reach his eighth ranking event quarter-final of the season.
Wu had needed to reach the final of this event to climb into the top 16 in the Race to the Crucible, but now his hopes are over. That means Jak Jones, last year's runner-up at the Theatre of Dreams, hangs on to 16th spot.
On the other table, four-time Crucible king Mark Selby earned a 6-2 lead against Si Jiahui. They return at 7pm tonight with first to ten frames to meet Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals.
Si had chances in most of the frames but missed balls at key moments which allowed four-time Crucible king Selby to take control. Breaks of 61, 72, 63, 57 and 128 helped Selby establish a handy cushion.