Neil Robertson is on course to make his first quarter-final appearance at the world snooker championships for five years in Sheffield after being helped by a controversial refereeing call in his match with England's Chris Wakelin.
Looking set to level the best-of-25 match at seven-all at the Crucible on Sunday when in control of the 14th frame, referee Peggy Li ruled that Wakelin brushed the yellow ball with his cue while potting a long red and called him for a foul - a decision the stunned Englishman clearly didn't agree with.
It let the Australian back to the table, and he cleared up with a 65 break to win the frame, and never looked back, taking the final two of the evening against the shell-shocked Wakelin to build up a 10-6 lead going into Monday's final session.
Li had stood by her decision after calling for a replay to check on the incident, but the 44-year-old former champion Robertson was quick to capitalise, before evening-concluding breaks of 65 and 101 put him in the strongest of positions.
If he gets through, Robertson, champion in 2010, will face one of the game's 50-year-old greats in the quarters, with seven-time champ Ronnie O'Sullivan and four-time winner John Higgins locked in a titanic battle.
Higgins won the last two tight frames of their absorbing second session to claw his deficit back to 9-7 after O'Sullivan had twice looked well in control at five frames clear.
Signs of how the pressure might be affecting even the great O'Sullivan emerged in the last frame as he banged the table rim in frustration after missing a red.
Earlier, the man they may all have to beat, defending champion Zhao Xintong moved closer to cracking the so-called 'Crucible curse' by booking his place back in the last-eight with a 13-9 win over Chinese compatriot Ding Junhui.
The 29-year-old is seeking to become the first first-time winner to successfully retain his title at the Crucible, and capitalised on Ding's errors to pull away.
"Today I think there was more pressure," Zhao said.
"I know Ding didn’t play very well in the last session but the pressure is very big. This year I just don’t want to lose any match so it feels very different."
World No.1 Judd Trump inched closer to the quarters, opening up a 9-7 overnight lead in an absorbing clash with Iran’s Hossein Vafaei.
With PA.
