Xiao Guodong claimed one of the biggest wins of his career at the Champion of Champions on Thursday, battling back from 3-0 down to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-3 in Bolton.
O'Sullivan appeared firmly on course for a comfortable victory when quickly claiming the first three frames, breaks of 95 and 125 confirming his game to be in good shape despite a recent lack of match practice.
In truth, it was largely flawless stuff from O'Sullivan up until that point, but a rare mistake in the fourth frame opened the door for Xiao who responded quite magnificently.
A brilliant 130 proved the perfect response and a pinpoint long red in the following frame paved the way for a run of 88 which further reduced his arrears to 3-2.
And frame six began in identical fashion, Xiao producing another wonderful piece of cueing to pot from distance, before compiling another one-visit contribution, a break of 85 just falling short of a deserved century but enough to take the match to a deciding frame.
And O'Sullivan was again made to sit and suffer in the decider, until Xiao finally blinked when missing frame ball to the middle pocket.
Despite facing an almost impossible table, O'Sullivan did his best to produce a trademark counter, though he was unable to lay telling snookers on a couple of occasions on the colours as a relieved Xiao gratefully limped over the winning line.
In the second group match, Mark Selby came through a good battle with Shaun Murphy, prevailing 4-2 thanks a string of big breaks, including a 132 total clearance in frame three.
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