Judd Trump is through to the last 16 of the Warsaw Classic in Poland after manoeuvring through the gears in the early rounds.
The China Open champion secured a less than convincing 4-0 whitewash over Polish amateur Rafal Gorecki in the first round before dodging a bullet against Tian Pengfei in the last 64.
The Chinese 24 year-old came from 3-1 behind to take control of the deciding frame before his talented opponent knocked in a mesmerising final pink to clinch the triumph.
It was here were the Bristol potter found his top form as three centuries against Alfie Burden sealed a 4-1 win and a fourth round meeting with Matthew Selt on Sunday.
Fellow Grove Club member Jack Lisowski continued his excellent form of late to join his housemate Trump in the latter stages.
The Englishman reached the semi-finals of PTC 5 last week – securing a quartet of final-frame deciding victories along the way – and utilised that steely determination again to see off Australian Open victor Stuart Bingham 4-3.
The 20 year-old made light work of amateur David Singh in the last 32 with a 4-0 scoreline a welcome respite from so many long, tight encounters.
In the race for the final Top 16 places in the rankings before Monday’s official revision in the seedings, Martin Gould held the last spot despite losing to Liu Chuang in the opening round – The Chinese player went on to oust Simon Bedford and Tony Drago to remain in the tournament.
Gould’s loss meant Mark Davis could overthrow him if the Sussex cueist could win three matches but the 39 year-old’s quest couldn’t get past the second round – a 4-3 loss at the hands of fellow veteran Nigel Bond sealing his fate.
The results mean that Gould will experience the prestigious Masters for the first time in his career in January and also confirms the return to the elite list of former Masters finalist Stephen Lee.
Lee, a four-time ranking event winner, also advanced to the fourth round following a trio of comprehensive victories and has to be one of the favourites to lift the title with so many of the big names absent at the sixth Players Tour Championship event of the season.
Mark King, who has enjoyed a little bit of a return in form of late, typically scrapped his way through to the last 32, aided by two hard-fought 4-3 wins over Barry Pinches and amateur Chen Zhe.
King will either play Steve Davis or Alan McManus for a place in the quarter-finals with the pair currently battling it out in the third round in a clash reminiscent of twenty years ago.
Davis wont forget this tournament in a hurry having had to borrow a cue from local player Grzegorz Biernadski when his own one got lost in transit.
It didn’t seem to affect the 54 year-old six-time world champion too much, though, as he came from 3-2 behind to oust Barry Hawkins 4-3 in the second round.
Davis is currently leading Scotsman McManus 2-1 while Liang Wenbo holds a similar advantage over Nigel Bond.
The full draw and results can be viewed by clicking here.
Update: Davis beat McManus 4-2, Liang beat Bond 4-1.
