Barry Hawkins put his head in front when it mattered to beat Yan Bingtao 6-5 and reach the semi-finals of the Players Championship.
A brilliant match began with two centuries for Yan but ended with breaks of 126 and 73 for Hawkins, as the older man refused to lie down and at last was able to capitalise on a rare misstep from his opponent.
Hawkins had come from 2-0 down lead 3-2, but Yan reasserted to take command at 5-4 and had black to middle dropped in frame 10, the match may well have been his. But it was repelled by the far jaw and, in keeping with the standards seen throughout, Hawkins stepped in with a ruthless 126 break, the fourth century of the match.
The deciding frame began with all fluency gone, as Yan took an age over a safety predicament which ended with the referee warning him that it would be conceded were he to miss the reds for a third time. Nervelessly, he played off two cushions and into the pack, but on his next visit a wide miss from range presented Hawkins with the first chance. It proved to be the only one he needed.
Picking off reds with blacks and pinks, Hawkins repeated his heroics of last month's Masters, when he got the better of Judd Trump in a decider. Given that Yan registered three centuries in a match which saw 10 of the 11 frames feature a 50-plus break, this was no less significant an achievement.
All eyes in Wolverhampton had been on the evening encounter between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson. Both will have to be at their best to produce a match of similar quality to this one.
