Mark Allen will face Jack Lisowski in the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix on Thursday at the Centaur.
The pair emerged from close second-round encounters on day three in Cheltenham to set up an intriguing contest against each other in the last eight.
Allen held off a spirited fight back from Joe O’Connor, eventually holding off the Scottish Open runner-up in a decider.
Lisowski, meanwhile, continued to bounce back from his heavy defeat in last weekend’s Masters semi-finals with a 4-2 success over Zhou Yuelong.
The talented 31 year-old is on course again to attain the silverware that has so far been out of reach during his career, and it would be quite special for him to finally break the duck in his hometown.
Top seed Allen, though, will represent a tough upcoming test with the in-form Pistol moving to within three victories of securing a third ranking title of his own this term.
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Elsewhere, Noppon Saengkham caused another huge upset to reach the quarter-finals, beating defending World Grand Prix champion Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-2.
The Rocket appeared to be coasting when he compiled breaks of 70 and 53 to lead 2-0, but his Thai opponent responded with runs of 68 and 96 to successfully overturn the deficit.
Saengkham has accounted for players boasting eleven world titles between them in this event so far, having also beaten Mark Selby in the first round.
The 30 year-old meets another multi-time world champion in the last eight after Mark Williams ousted Ding Junhui with a 4-0 scoreline.
Williams is showing no ill-effects from his reverse in the Masters final on Sunday and will be the favourite to reach the last four.
Earlier on Wednesday, the round of 32 concluded with the remaining matches at that stage being completed in the afternoon session.
Shaun Murphy again showed positive signs of a return to his best form with a comfortable 4-0 drubbing of Ali Carter.
Luca Brecel, Anthony McGill, and Sam Craigie were the others to make it through their opening tests, respectively beating Joe Perry, Gary Wilson, and Tom Ford.
On Thursday, that quartet will first be back in action in the second round before the World Grand Prix quarter-finals commence during the evening’s order of play.
World Grand Prix Last 16 Draw
Q1
Mark Allen (1) 4-3 Joe O’Connor (16)
Zhou Yuelong (9) 2-4 Jack Lisowski (8)
Q2
Noppon Saengkham (28) 4-2 Ronnie O’Sullivan (21)
Mark Williams (13) 4-0 Ding Junhui (4)
Q3
Kyren Wilson (3) vs Shaun Murphy (14)
Sam Craigie (22) vs Anthony McGill (27)
Q4
Luca Brecel (7) vs Judd Trump (10)
Xiao Guodong (18) vs Ryan Day (2)
Live coverage is available on ITV Sport, Eurosport, and other broadcasting services around the world.
Featured photo credit: WST