Joe Perry won the final four frames to run out a convincing 6-2 winner against Judd Trump at the China Championship.
Reigning world champion Trump won the second and third frames with breaks of 60 and 102 to move into an early lead, but scored just 31 further points as Perry completed a surprise win.
A break of 92 in frame five moved Perry within two of the quarter-finals and he completed the job to earn a clash with Iran's Hossein Vafaei, who came through a final-frame decider to beat Anthony McGill 5-4.
Perry said: “He is the man you don’t want to play at the moment. He is in tremendous form. I played him in Daqing and he absolutely wiped the floor with me and pretty much the rest of the field. I am delighted to come through.
“He is doing it in style as well. He isn’t just creeping over the line. You are going to be in for a hell of a tussle when you play him. He wasn’t at his best today, but I still knew I couldn’t afford to make too many mistakes if I was going to win.”
In the same half of the draw, 2018 world champion Mark Williams continued his serene progress to beat Luca Brecel 5-1 in a low-scoring contest.
He'll face David Gilbert, who came from 2-0 down to beat Noppon Saengkham 5-2 with breaks of 79, 58, 63 and 89 more than enough.
Four-time world champion John Higgins was 3-0 and cruising against Kurt Maflin before the Norwegian potter produced a stunning five-frame assault, with one century, to go through 5-3 against the Scot.
Maflin told World Snooker: “I have so much respect for John. He is one of my idols and is unbelievable as a player and a person. It just felt great beating him.
“This is the best start to a season I have ever had. I am here to win the event at the end of the day. If I play my best snooker I think I have a chance of that.”
Shaun Murphy is next up for Maflin after the in-form Magician beat Matthew Selt 5-3, while Mark Selby beat Chris Wakelin to set-up a quarter-final clash with Barry Hawkins, who edged out Zhao Zintong 5-4.
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