Judd Trump defied a slow start to power past Ding Junhui and into the semi-finals of the UK Championship.
Trump trailed 2-0 after Ding compiled two typically measured breaks of 89 and 83, and the Chinese was then among the balls in search of a third frame to begin the match.
But he missed when stretching to reach a tricky red and Trump stole in, adding the following frame to draw level at the interval despite having been short of his best.
Trump made it three on the spin after the break, bagged his first significant break as a run of 91 secured the next, and when he took a scrappy eighth a match that looked set to run all the way into the evening session suddenly appeared set to finish early.
Trump made sure of that with a closing half-century to set up a meeting with Neil Robertson, whose 6-4 victory over Pang Junxu saw him win five frames in a row.
Having done so, the last of them via a 111 break, Robertson had to bide his time as the talented Pang rallied with a century of his own, but Robertson never really looked like letting go of his grip on the match.
The pair now meet again in the UK Championship, where five years ago they played out a thrilling final won by Robertson before Trump gained a measure of revenge at an early stage of last year's tournament.
Trump told World Snooker Tour: "It was a tough game. He started off really well. He’s got good memories from this event. He’s won it three times.
"The game changed after I got on the board and he started missing a few.
“This is a great tournament. It is one of the best on the calendar. The crowds are fantastic and it is a really nice venue to play in.
"Myself and Neil have some good memories in the event and it is going to be a good game.
“That final with Neil was a long game. I was relieved it was over in the end.
"It is different now. We are back here in York with a full crowd and it is going to be great.”
In the evening session, Mark Selby beat his good friend Barry Hawkins 6-2.
Hawkins was a beaten finalist 12 months ago, but having played really well to progress to the last eight this year, he turned in a ragged display on Friday night.
A number of unforced errors from Hawkins allowed Selby to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval and when he lost frame five from a long way in front, the game was almost gone.
Hawkins did compile a superb 138 to keep his hopes alive, but Selby ruthlessly finished the job with a run of 83.
Selby said: "I'm delighted to win, but it is never nice to play Barry. He is my best mate on the tour.
"I spend a lot of time with him at tournaments, even this morning we had a cup of tea at the cafe with him and his wife.
"I have so much respect for him. He's a great lad."
Up next for Selby is Shaun Murphy who made relatively light work of Zhang Anda, winning 6-3.