Jimmy White beat Zhou Yuelong 5-3 in a battle of ages to move into the final qualifying round for the German Masters.
At 54, White represents the oldest competitor on the Main Tour while he was up against one of the youngest in 18 year-old Zhou.
It was the pair’s fourth contest and second within a couple of months following the Chinese’s 4-3 success at the English Open in October.
White managed to gain his revenge at the Metrodome in Barnsley, fighting back from 3-2 down to deny the teenager and book a tie against Joe Perry, who beat Kurt Maflin 5-3 as well.
It marks the seventh victory of the season for the ‘Whirlwind’, which is six more than he managed in the entire last campaign.
This is the 10-time ranking event winner’s second term in his two-year tour card so the fact that he is currently ranked outside the top 100 means it is unlikely he will break into the top 64 before the end of the World Championship – where tour safety for the upcoming campaign is guaranteed.
Therefore, if White wishes to remain on the circuit by his own accord, and not have to rely on the wildcard place he’ll surely be offered should he drop off the tour, he will have to win enough prize money this season to feature in the top eight money-earners who are not inside the top 64.
At present, the six-time Crucible finalist lies £4,500 behind eighth place Ross Muir on that list, meaning White is going to need several more good days like Tuesday.
Meanwhile, defending champion Martin Gould progressed with a comfortable 5-1 triumph over Sanderson Lam.
There weren’t really any shocks of note but plenty of the higher seeded players only managed to advance after a scare.
Scots John Higgins and Stephen Maguire were both taken the distance before defeating Rory McLeod and Mitchell Mann respectively, while Michael White also required all nine frames in dispatching of Chen Zhe.
Marco Fu, narrowly beaten in the semi-finals of last week’s UK Championship, came from 3-1 down to beat David John 5-3, which was the same scoreline that Ricky Walden overcame amateur Daniel Womersley by.
It was a much easier outing for Ryan Day, who whitewashed Malaysian Thor Chuan Leong while Peter Ebdon, David Gilbert and Jamie Jones all got through unscathed.
Ireland’s Josh Boileau came down with an ill-timed bug before his clash with Noppon Saengkham, which obviously didn’t help as he lost to the Thai 5-1.
The last 128 will continue on Wednesday and Thursday with the likes of Mark Selby and Ronnie O’Sullivan in action.
