Mark Allen is into the World Championship semi-finals for the first time since 2009 after beating Jak Jones 13-10 at the Crucible.
The Northern Irishman struggled to find his best form over the match, but displayed the battling qualities that have seen him win three ranking titles this season.
He knocked in a high break of 137, but otherwise only managed five half-centuries over the 23 frames against the Welshman.
Jones managed one century and six more breaks over 50, but lost a number of close frames against his more experienced opponent.
He showed his own scrapping abilities to make Allen work for it, with the final frame of the match going on for almost an hour before the Pistol got over the line.
‘It was a complete slog, to be honest,’ Allen told the BBC. ‘The first session was really good, but I was awful after that. Just a matter of digging deep, trying to stay as positive as possible and getting 13 frames, which is what I did.’
The 29-year-old misses out on the one-table set-up, but has enjoyed a fantastic first trip to the Crucible, beating Ali Carter and Neil Robertson to reach the last eight.
Those impressive results followed a win over Barry Hawkins in qualifying, so it has been a memorable few days for Jones, who pockets £50,000 for his run to the quarters.
‘I suppose it’s a decent tournament but so disappointed with how I played in this match. Just a terrible match,’ said a frustrated Jones.
‘Missing easy balls, which I haven’t really done for the whole tournament. I suppose the occasion got on top of me a little bit.
‘This is my sixth match in the tournament, it’s not been a bad tournament, I’m a bit tired. There are positives to take, I suppose.’
Allen marches on, though, having beaten Fan Zhengyi and Stuart Bingham in his first two rounds, but will have a daunting task ahead of him in the semis, with either Mark Selby or John Higgins to come.
The two former champions are level at 4-4 after their first session and will play to a finish on Wednesday evening.
The other quarter-finals are still ongoing, with Anthony McGill and Si Jiahui playing to a finish in the evening session on Wednesday, with Ronnie O’Sullivan and Luca Brecel finishing their match in the afternoon.
The semi-finals are played over three days, starting on Thursday and finishing on Saturday.
MORE : Mark Selby reflects on ‘madness’ of string of John Higgins matches at the Crucible
MORE : Ronnie O’Sullivan backs Luca Brecel’s decision not to practice for World Championship
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