Day four was a busy one in Sheffield, with 16 places in the third round up for grabs and Judgement Day beginning to loom large on the horizon at Halo World Championship Qualifying.
Players enter this fiercely contested qualifying gauntlet at different stages depending on where they are seeded, as follows:
Round one begins today by pitting players ranked 81 to 112 against those ranked 113 to 144.
In round two, those 32 winners will face players ranked 49 to 80.
In round three, those 32 winners will face players ranked 17 to 48.
In round four, those 32 winners play each other, with the 16 winners going through to the Crucible.
The qualifying rounds run until Wednesday April 16th. With players competing to the backdrop of tour survival battles and a quest to achieve their dreams by earning qualification for the sport's grandest stage, fireworks are guaranteed. Matches are contested over the best of 19 frames, across two sessions.
12:00AM
With the clock exactly midnight, Sunny Akani wins the decider against David Grace. He will now go up against Thai compatriot Noppon Saengkham in round three.
Sanderson Lam prevailed in his final frame with Liam Davies and will now play Ryan Day.
That closes the book on day four. Here's a roundup of the scores from tonight.
Evening Scores
Marco Fu 10-4 Ben Mertens
Long Zehuang 8-10 Zhao Xintong
Mark Davis 10-7 Robbie McGuigan
Jordan Brown 10-6 Farakh Ajaib
David Grace 9-10 Sunny Akani
Sanderson Lam 10-9 Liam Davies
Ross Muir 10-5 Liam Graham
Xing Zihao 10-6 Alexander Ursenbacher
11:18PM
England's Mark Davis is through after a hard fought 10-7 win over Northern Irish rookie Robbie McGuigan. He faces Ben Woolaston up next.
Former Welsh Open winner Jordan Brown is a 10-6 winner over Farakh Ajaib and now faces Martin O'Donnell.
Stuart Carrington suffers tour relegation after a 10-8 loss at the hands of Gong Chenzhi.
Meanwhile, two matches are going all the way. Liam Davies vs Sanderson Lam and David Grace vs Sunny Akani are both 9-9.
10:12PM
A brilliant 137 break from Sanderson Lam draws him level with Liam Davies at 8-8. The best of three frames will decide who makes it to round three...
9:53PM
Zhao Xintong survives a scare to get over the line 10-8 against Long Zehuang. He will now go up against a third straight Chinese compatriot, Lyu Haotian.
9:29PM
Things are beginning to get interesting on table two. Long Zehuang closes to within a frame of Zhao Xintong at 9-8. We are all set for a grandstand finish.
Elsewhere Ross Muir won a crucial clash with Scottish compatriot Liam Graham 10-5 to keep his tour survival hopes alive. Shoot Out runner-up Graham retains hope of staying on via the one-year list but will now have to hope other results go his way.
8:56PM
Marco Fu is through to the third round here at the English Institute of Sport. He's completed a 10-4 win over Ben Mertens to set up a meeting with Elliot Slessor.
However, just moments before he went out this evening disaster struck and his tip came off. Liam Davies' dad Leyton came to the rescue and put a new one on for him.
"It reminded me of playing Mark Selby in the semi-finals at the Crucible in 2016. My tip came off at 8-8. This was a similar feeling, but having an 8-1 lead helped me and gave me time to warm up the tip. I think the damage was done this morning. I played very well."
Marco Fu
Three-time Ranking Event Winner
7:44PM
"I've officially retired. My time as a professional snooker player is up after this tournament."
Hear from former Welsh Open champion and Crucible semi-finalist Joe Perry, who has confirmed this is his last tournament before retirement.
Next up he faces a tricky encounter against Yuan Sijun.
7:10PM
With the evening session underway here in Sheffield. Here's the full breakdown of this afternoon's results and the latest scores in tonight's second round matches.
Evening Scores
Marco Fu 8-2 Ben Mertens
Long Zehuang 5-5 Zhao Xintong
Mark Davis 5-4 Robbie McGuigan
Jordan Brown 5-3 Farakh Ajaib
David Grace 3-6 Sunny Akani
Sanderson Lam 4-5 Liam Davies
Ross Muir 7-3 Liam Graham
Xing Zihao 7-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Afternoon Results
Joe Perry 10-6 Dylan Emery
Daniel Wells 9-6 Huang Jiahao (to return tonight)
Aaron Hill 10-0 Haris Tahir
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 10-2 Mateusz Baranowski
Liu Hongyu 2-10 Mitchell Mann
Zak Surety 10-2 Antoni Kowalski
Stuart Carrington 8-9 Gong Chenzhi (to return tonight)
Rory Thor 9-10 Hammad Miah
6:41PM
HUGE WIN for Hammad Miah. He keeps his tour survival hopes alive by the narrowest of margins. A 10-9 win avoids relegation and sets up a round three meeting with former Crucible semi-finalist Gary Wilson.
5:37PM
Victory for Joe Perry. He wraps up a 10-6 win over Dylan Emery and books a second round meeting with Yuan Sijun.
After the match, two-time ranking event winner Perry confirmed that this will be his last ever tournament as a professional snooker player.
Can the Gentleman win two more games and ensure he ends his career at the Crucible?
5:03PM
This could well be the last tournament of Joe Perry's career, with the Gentleman's professional status hanging on success here in Sheffield. However, he is on the verge of a crucial victory this afternoon. Perry now leads Dylan Emery 9-6, needing one more frame for victory.
3:50PM
Indian number one Ishpreet Singh Chadha has completed his 10-2 demolition of Mateusz Baranowski to book an intriguing third round meeting with Zhou Yuelong. The win also goes a long way towards ensuring tour survival for Singh Chadha.
Zak Surety has completed a 10-2 win over Antoni Kowalski, while Mitchell Mann has beaten Liu Hongyu by the same scoreline.
2:44PM
That was quick! Just under 15 minutes of play and Aaron Hill completes his 10-0 whitewash win over Haris Tahir. He progresses to face former semi-finalist Anthony McGill in round three.
2:10PM
That concludes play for the opening session on day four. Here's a roundup of the scores heading into this evening's concluding session.
Morning Scores
Marco Fu 8-1 Ben Mertens
Long Zehuang 5-4 Zhao Xintong
Mark Davis 5-4 Robbie McGuigan
Jordan Brown 4-3 Farakh Ajaib
David Grace 2-6 Sunny Akani
Sanderson Lam 4-5 Liam Davies
Ross Muir 7-2 Liam Graham
Xing Zihao 7-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
The afternoon session sees the conclusion of the first batch of second round matches. Here's how things stand ahead of the 2:30pm start time.
Afternoon Scores
Joe Perry 4-5 Dylan Emery
Daniel Wells 5-4 Huang Jiahao
Aaron Hill 9-0 Haris Tahir
Ishpreet Singh Chadha 7-2 Mateusz Baranowski
Liu Hongyu 2-7 Mitchell Mann
Zak Surety 8-1 Antoni Kowalski
Stuart Carrington 4-4 Gong Chenzhi
Rory Thor 5-4 Hammad Miah
1:34PM
We could be set for an intriguing evening of snooker on table two. Long Zehuang edges out the session to end 5-4 up on Zhao Xintong. Meanwhile, Mark Davis and Robbie McGuigan also complete a tightly contested session, with Davis emerging 5-4 ahead.
1:00PM
Marco Fu looks set to keep his tour survival hopes alive after blitzing to an 8-1 lead over Ben Mertens. The Belgian will need a miraculous fightback this evening when they play their final session from 7pm.
11:33AM
History for Marco Fu! He becomes just the seventh player in snooker history to complete a 16 red clearance. A run of 139, courtesy of a free ball, puts him 4-0 up on Ben Mertens.
16 Red Clearances
148 - Jamie Burnett (2004 UK Championship)
141 - Ricky Walden (2008 UK Championship)
141 - Mark Selby (2018 China Open)
140 - Liam Highfield (2020 Scottish Open)
139 - Ryan Day (2023 Tour Championship)
139 - Marco Fu (2025 World Championship)
135 - Steve James (1990 World Championship)
11:11AM
And just like that Zhao Xintong restores parity. Breaks of 69 and exactly 100 have seen one of snooker's most exciting talents draw level with Long Zehuang at 2-2.
Remember, you can watch the action live on discovery+/MAX in the UK and Europe. In all territories without a broadcast, the place to watch is WST PLAY.
10:56AM
Great start for Marco Fu, after taking the opener on a re-spotted black, he's fired in a break of 66 to win the second and lead Ben Mertens 2-0.
It's also been an excellent start for Long Zehuang, who leads the red hot Zhao Xintong 2-0.
10:12AM
We are underway with day four at the English Institute of Sport. Hong Kong's greatest ever player, Marco Fu, headlines on table one against Ben Mertens. Three-time ranking event winner Fu must win to stay above water in the tour survival situation.
After a sensational showing in round one, former UK Champion Zhao Xintong continues his quest for a Crucible return by facing Long Zehuang on table two.
Elsewhere, Alexander Ursenbacher, who knows he needs to make the Crucible to retain professional status, faces Xing Zihao and former Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown begins his tournament against Farakh Ajaib.