Defending champion Mark Allen hit back from three frames down to beat Jak Jones and book his place in the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions event in Bolton.
Allen had looked set for a quick exit with Jones poised to stretch his lead to 4-0, but a simple missed red changed the course of the match and saw the Antrim man recover to wrap up a 6-4 win.
Jones, this year’s shock World Championship runner-up, had looked on course for a comprehensive win after soaring into a 3-0 lead, including a break of 137 in the third frame to assume full control.
But a shocking miss in frame four turned the match on its head after Allen had initially fluffed his chance of making a maximum.
Having potted nine reds and blacks, Allen jawed a red to the middle, and Jones was poised to capitalise until he missed a straightforward final red on a break of 38.
With the miss appearing to play on the Welshman’s mind, Allen pounced with breaks of 64 and 104 to pull level, before two further half-centuries earned him five frames in a row and left him one from victory at 5-3.
Jones stopped the rot in style with his second century, a clearance of 104, to pull back to 5-4, but Allen got in first in the next and a break of 41 paved the way for his passage into the semi-finals.
Earlier on Monday, both Allen and Jones had fired two centuries apiece in 4-2 first-round wins over Igor Figueiredo and Gary Wilson respectively.
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