Mark Selby reached the main stages of the China Championship after a 5-2 triumph over Jimmy White at the Preston Guild Hall on Monday.
The pair traded the opening four frames to leave the scores tied at the mid-session interval but a 118 from Selby upon the resumption of play sent the world number one on his way to glory.
Three-time world champion Selby was one of a number of marquee players to advance to the last 64, which will take place next month in China.
Judd Trump wasn’t at his free-scoring best but managed to emerge unscathed following a 5-3 defeat of Eden Sharav while former world champion Stuart Bingham was taken the distance before scrambling through against Craig Steadman.
Bingham, who is currently fighting to maintain his place among the elite top 16 in the world rankings, was 4-2 down but won the last three frames for a dramatic victory.
Masters runner-up Kyren Wilson had a much more comfortable time of it as he hammered Lukas Kleckers 5-1 while five-time ranking event winner Stephen Maguire knocked in a brace of tons in a 5-1 thrashing of Chen Feilong.
Young Chinese talent Yan Bingtao, who many predict will become a ranking event winner this season for the first time in his career, edged countryman Niu Zhuang 5-3.
Mei Xiwen, who has enjoyed a positive summer already, Xiao Guodong, and Zhang Anda all progressed to their second home tournament to be staged this campaign.
Meanwhile, Ireland’s Fergal O’Brien earned a 5-2 triumph over Peter Lines, making it a hat-trick of preliminary round wins in Preston over the last week for the veteran Dubliner.
Scottish duo Scott Donaldson and Rhys Clark scored contrasting successes against Basem Eltahhan and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh respectively.
Donaldson hammered the Egyptian 5-0 while Clark launched an impressive fight back from 4-1 down to deny Un-Nooh in a deciding frame thriller.
Elsewhere, Liam Highfield, Mark Joyce, Chris Wakelin, and Daniel Wells all booked their plane tickets to Asia in September.
John Higgins, Barry Hawkins, and recent World Open runner-up David Gilbert are among those joining the action on Tuesday.
