Judd Trump kept up his brilliant recent record against John Higgins, but only just, as he picked up a narrow 6-5 win in the second round of the UK Championship.
The game was locked at 2-2 after an extremely stodgy first four frames, but after the interval both men appeared to go on the attack more and the match became a much better watch.
Trump knocked in a 111 before Higgins made 58 and 106 to go ahead, but the Englishman responded with 69 and 75 before the Scot made 66 to force a decider.
Caginess returned at that stage before a bad safety error from Higgins let Trump in and he capitalised in style, making 106 to win the match and book a quarter-final spot.
‘Good break in the decider, it was a bit topsy-turvy,’ Trump told the BBC. ‘After the interval I think it was a good game. The first four frames just showed a lot of respect to each other, you don’t want to give easy chances.
‘After I just tried to make it a bit more attacking a bit more free flowing and I think we both benefited from that. The game was just too slow and I wanted to speed it up. I started taking more balls on, getting them open early.
‘It’s a big tournament, sometimes you can just try too hard at the start. After I get into the game I feel I can relax and let go and that’s when I play my best.
‘It’s nice to do it when it really matters, like in the last frame, it was a great break. Probably when the real pressure is on is when I produce my best stuff.’
From that match onwards this was their 13th meeting, outside of the Championship League, and Trump has won 12 of them.
‘I’m obviously delighted to come out on the winning side again, in recent times I’ve been able to get the upper hand on John. At the start of my career it was the opposite,’ said Trump.
‘I’m sure he’s sick of me, I was sick of him, but it makes for a great matchup.’
Asked how close he is to his best form, Trump said: ‘A long way at the moment. There’s a lot of players playing good stuff, I’m not one of them but I’m still in the event so still time to improve.’
Trump will face Zhang Anda in the quarter-finals after the Chinese star produced an incredible comeback to beat Stuart Bingham.
The 2015 world champion took a 5-1 lead and looked excellent, making breaks of 101, 60 and 105 along the way, before the match turned around completely.
Zhang won the next five, with notable runs of 81, 70 and 108 to win 6-5 and secure his clash with the world number one on Friday.
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