John Higgins and Ding Junhui are joint 3/1 favourites with Sky Bet for the World Open title after reaching round three while the impressive Li Hang produced breaks of 143 and 127 during his victory.
Higgins is eyeing a landmark 30th career ranking title this week having scooped his 29th at the Indian Open on Saturday and looked well on course to reach round three in Yushen when breaks of 125, 86 and 58 helped him into a 3-2 lead over Matthew Selt.
However, his opponent took the next two frames with runs of 103 and 62, forcing him to dig deep for a 5-4 victory which sets him up with a clash against David Gilbert on Thursday.
Gilbert produced a superb 130 break in the seventh frame of his 5-2 triumph over Martin Gould following back-to-back runs of 73 but the highest break of the day was Li Hang's 143 in a superb 5-3 win over Ricky Walden in which he also managed one of 127.
At this rate, he might be a good bet at 50/1 with Sky Bet!
The Chinese player will next meet English veteran Peter Ebdon after he defied Marco Fu's impressive break of 136 to cause a mini upset with a 5-3 triumph.
Ding thrashed Xiao Guodong 5-0 with breaks of 90, 72, 62 and 56 and he'll next meet Joe Perry following his whitewash of Ryan Day, which included a fine run of 114.
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh knocked out Barry Hawkins' conqueror Chris Wakelin 5-2 thanks to a fine 142 break and the Thailand potter will next play Kyren Wilson in the third round.
Wilson was also on song with a 127 break that wrapped up a 5-3 victory over Michael Holt, who had earlier made one of 129.
Neil Robertson scraped through with a 5-4 defeat of Ben Woollaston but another former world champion, Stuart Bingham, is out after losing a deciding frame against Cao Yupeng.
Wednesday's results & Thursday schedule
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WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Afternoon Session
Second Round (Best of nine frames)
- John Astley 2-5 Jimmy Robertson (Match 48)
- Mark Williams 5-0 Chen Zhe (Match 49)
- Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-2 Chris Wakelin (Match 51)
- Neil Robertson 5-4 Ben Woollaston (Match 52)
- Mark Allen 5-2 Allan Taylor (Match 53)
- David Gilbert 5-2 Martin Gould (Match 54)
- Matthew Selt 4-5 John Higgins (Match 55)
Evening Session
Second Round (Best of nine frames)
- Lee Walker 5-2 Robert Milkins (Match 40)
- Anthony McGill 5-4 Stephen Maguire (Match 41)
- Cao Yupeng 5-4 Stuart Bingham (Match 42)
- Luca Brecel 5-4 Daniel Wells (Match 43)
- Marco Fu 3-5 Peter Ebdon (Match 44)
- Li Hang 5-3 Ricky Walden (Match 45)
- Joe Perry 5-0 Ryan Day (Match 46)
- Xiao Guodong 0-5 Ding Junhui (Match 47)
- Michael Holt 3-5 Kyren Wilson (Match 50)
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 21
Afternoon Session (0700 BST)
Third Round (Best of nine frames)
TV Coverage: Eurosport 1
- Lee Walker v Anthony McGill (Match 56)
- Cao Yupeng v Luca Brecel (Match 57)
- Peter Ebdon v Li Hang (Match 58)
- Joe Perry v Ding Junhui (Match 59)
Evening Session (1230 BST)
Third Round (Best of nine frames)
TV Coverage: Eurosport 1
- Jimmy Robertson v Mark Williams (Match 60)
- Kyren Wilson v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (Match 61)
- Neil Robertson v Mark Allen (Match 62)
- David Gilbert v John Higgins (Match 63)
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