Ronnie O'Sullivan and Judd Trump progress at the World Grand Prix

Carter famously prevailed in a dramatic clash between the pair at the Crucible in the 2018 World Championship, but O'Sullivan extracted his revenge at the Northern Ireland Open earlier this season and it was a similar story here.

The night promised to turn out differently when Carter opened up with a fabulous break of 112 and he cut a determined figure as he returned to his chair with the opening frame safely under his belt.

O'Sullivan looked typically unperturbed, though, and hit straight back by clearing the table for a century of his own before turning the screw when winning frame three on the pink, the world champion potting well with the rest into the green pocket.

With his early lead having evaporated, Carter's performance grew more and more ragged as the unforced errors began to creep into his game and after O'Sullivan broke down on 56 in the fourth frame, Carter was left to rue a missed red with the rest that would have surely paved the way for him to level the scores at 2-2.

As it was, O'Sullivan's lead swelled to 3-1 and when Carter made another mistake early in frame five, O'Sullivan closed out the match with another fluent run that ended on 57 but set up a last-16 meeting with Barry Hawkins.

O'Sullivan told ITV afterwards: "I think Ali missed more balls in that match than he's missed in the last two seasons. My cue action again, not great, missing too many easy balls, but I keep searching.

"I started off well last week [at the Scottish Open] and then obviously with all the tip problems I had, I just got worse and worse each match. In the end, I was glad it was over and hopefully I can start afresh and hopefully build some momentum.

"I know Barry [Hawkins] is playing really well. It looked like he was playing some good stuff last week and he scored well against Ricky Walden. Probably on form, Barry is favourite, but I'll try."

Yan Bingtao withstood a wholehearted comeback from David Grace, finally hauling himself over the line in a nervy deciding frame to win 4-3.

Despite losing the first frame, Bingtao was firmly in control of the match when leading 3-1 before Grace burst into life with breaks of 55 and 52.

The Leeds-based player, who reached the semi-finals of the Northern Ireland Open recently, found himself on the back foot in the decider until working his way back into the frame and looking set to close out the match when having the colours at his mercy.

However, a poor positional shot on the green handed Bingtao a lifeline and the Chinese finally ended Grace's brave resistance when sinking a terrific long blue and then potting the following pink to middle.

Mark Allen wasn't as fortunate as Martin Gould came from 3-0 behind to send the Champions of Champions hero crashing out.

Things were going to script when Allen raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to breaks of 142 and 82, but Gould dug deep and though a long way from his best, somehow won three frames on the bounce to level the scores.

When Allen missed from distance in the deciding frame, Gould was almost home and a break of 59 - his highest of the match - saw him finish in the style he had been striving so hard for earlier in the night.

Trump survives after Holt mistake

Judd Trump yet again showed how hard he is to beat with a 4-3 victory over Michael Holt.

After Neil Robertson's defeat on the first night of the tournament, it appeared as though Trump may suffer a similar fate after breaks of 136 and 78 put Holt within one of the second round.

But Trump found a century of his own to force a decider, and Holt blinked first when his attempt to glance off the side of the pack instead saw him bypass it and leave The Ace in the Pack right there in the middle of it.

As has so often been the case since he became world champion in 2019, Trump decisively took his chance with another century break.

Although Trump had lost his previous two final-frame deciders, including to Li Hang a week ago, he had previously demonstrated just how hard he is to shift - including when beating Holt from the same position in the English Open.

"It was a top-quality game, he showed what he's about from the very start," said Trump. "He was a little bit unlucky at 3-2 up - he had a red that nearly dropped in, and if that goes in he can split the pack and win the frame.

"In the end I made two really good breaks in the last two frames."

Trump was returning to action following a disappointing pair of defeats in recent weeks, but told ITV Sport he felt 'fresh' and 'hungry' for the final week of a strange year which has ended with a string of tournaments back-to-back.

"One last push," is how he described his mindset. "It's been a tough couple of weeks for me, a lot of snooker, but this is the last tournament and I've got to give it my all.

"In the last couple of frames I was quite excited by how I performed, and to get over the line and still be in the event."

Trump might have had an opportunity to exact revenge on Li, but the Scottish Open finalist lost four frames in a row in a 4-2 defeat to former world champion Stuart Bingham.

It's been a bleak period for Ball Run and he looked in trouble early on, but four half-century breaks earned him a meeting with Trump on Wednesday evening.

Ding Junhui's 4-0 victory over Jak Jones ended on a sour note as his attempt at a 147 ended when the 11th red rattled violently in the jaws.

Ding looked in beautiful touch throughout the match and a maximum was very much on the cards, but he left himself a shade low on the black which resulted in a mid-range, straight red, which hit both jaws more than once before being spat out.

It was nevertheless an excellent display from the 2018 finalist, who has been knocking on the door so far this season, with a 137 break in frame two another demonstration of his prowess among the balls.

Lu Ning survived a strong comeback from Robbie Williams, eventually prevailing 4-3 after edging the deciding frame on the final black having at one stage needed a snooker.

Ning was firmly in control when leading 2-0 before Williams pegged him back with the aid of a break of 100 in frame four.

Williams levelled up again at 3-3 after Ning had won frame five but the Chinese held his nerve to win a dramatic finale that could have gone either way.