Mark Allen overcame James Cahill 5-1 in his World Open qualifying match on Saturday to safely book his spot at the venue stages later in October.
The 2012 and 2013 champion won a number of close frames and added a century break of 106 as he saw off the challenge of the Englishman.
On the final day of World Open qualifying at the Metrodome in Barnsley, last year’s runner-up David Gilbert also advanced to the last 64.
Gilbert came agonisingly close to a maiden ranking success in the 2018 edition, leading then world champion Mark Williams 9-5 before a late collapse saw the Welshman complete a remarkable comeback to edge victory in a decider.
The “Angry Farmer” was on the right side of a nail-biter on this occasion, taking the last two frames for a 5-4 success over John Astley.
Ali Carter repeated the scoreline with a similarly close triumph over David Lilley while fellow former ranking event winner Matthew Stevens enjoyed a more routine 5-2 win against Thor Chuan Leong.
It was a decent day for the Chinese contingent attempting to qualify for their next home tournament in Yushan.
Lyu Haotian easily dispatched of Alexander Ursenbacher 5-1 despite accumulating a high break of just 52.
Zhou Yuelong and Luo Honghao failed to score much heavier but managed 5-2 victories over Ashley Carty and Andrew Higginson respectively.
It was a closer affair for Xiao Guodong, with the former Shanghai Masters finalist pipping Gerard Greene in a final frame shoot out.
The only result that went the wrong way for China’s competitors on the last day of action in World Open qualifying was when Igor Figueiredo managed to deny teenager Yuan Sijun.
Elsewhere, Ben Woollaston and Alfie Burden secured their berths in the first round proper with 5-3 defeats of Louis Heathcote and Chris Wakelin.
Irishman Fergal O’Brien eased his tour survival concerns with a typically hard-fought 5-4 win against Adam Stefanow.
Robbie Williams and Harvey Chandler were the other players to progress unscathed.
The World Open takes place at the end of the month.
