Former champion Ding Junhui finished with a flourish to defeat Mark Williams 6-5 in another Masters cracker at the Alexandra Palace.
Ding might've feared the worst when Williams pinched frame nine on the black after the Chinese had looked sure to edge in front himself, but he responded brilliantly with breaks of 76 and 90 to win the match in style.
Neither player was at their best in the early part of the afternoon, the scores all square at the mid-session interval as Williams finally got rolling with a typically fluent run of 57 in frame four.
The Welshman then won the next frame with a break of 70, only for Ding to click into gear as he reeled off two frames on the spin with 64 and 60.
In turn, Williams hit back with a magnificent 136 as things began to hot up inside Ally Pally, levelling the scores once again before appearing to turn the tide with a vital intervention in the ninth frame.
Ding, however, had other ideas and booked his place in the quarter-finals with a stunning finish.
Ding told World Snooker Tour: "At 5-4 down, I missed a long red and the balls went everywhere, and I thought maybe today is done. Then I saw a bit of luck, Mark didn't have an easy one.
"He had to take a difficult one under pressure, and when he missed I saw my chance was there.
"It was the same in the last frame. My concentration and confidence was good after the interval, I didn't think too much about winning or losing.
"I still want to be the best I have ever been. I've been watching videos of myself when I was young and I am trying to get that feeling back.
"I used to just pot the balls without thinking too much, just playing the shots very clearly. I still struggle sometimes but I am feeling better than before."
Selby storms past the Captain
Mark Selby had few troubles as he cruised past Ali Carter, winning 6-1.
Two centuries and three more half-centuries were more than enough for Selby, who effectively won the match prior to the interval having opened up a 4-0 lead.
That became 4-1 as Carter got on the board but a 126 break in reply confirmed that Selby was in no mood to make this interesting, and he edged a tight seventh frame to move through to the quarter-finals.
He'll face either Mark Allen or Si Jiahui next.