World Grand Prix snooker LIVE – Zhao Xintong beats John Higgins with Judd Trump also in action, following a win for Ronnie O'Sullivan

The match-up between Zhao Xintong and John Higgins is an excellent one, the former already one of the greatest potters ever and the latter a brilliant safety-player with a phenomenal ability to punish errors. And, as at the Masters, where Higgins won 6-5, they produced another terrific encounter, the Scot taking the lead twice before the intervals only to be hauled back on both occasions. When the players returned, a break of 121 put the world champion in front, and though he was then presented with a classic Higgins dish for 3-3, Zhao won the next two frames - the second of them on a re-spotted black – to set up a last-16 meeting with Mark Selby.

Well that was a lot of fun. Next for Zhao: Mark selby. Decent!

John plays an absolute dog, and surely this is the match...

Zhao goes first, leaving the balls on opposite sides of the table, John has a look, and is he trying the double? He is you know, going at it hard and getting really close ... but not close enough. He doesn't leave it, but does then offer Zhao an easier double ... which he can't sink.

...and there they are. It's a re-spot, and if John wins from where he was, it'll be an astounding act of escapology even by his august standards.

John hits second time, gets the yellow safe ... and is then left it. But the brown won't be easy, especially as he needs to get up the table for blue ... and he plays both shots nicely. Pink to middle for a simple black...

Zhao finds a snooker using the green to block access to the yellow; John misses, hits the pink, and now needs all the balls to tie.

John leaves a long diag to the green bag, exactly the kind of shot Zhao plays brilliantly, and it's there. Not on a colour, though, it's in behind the black ... "and that is one of the worst safety shots I've ever seen," says Angles. He doesn't lock off the left side of the table as planned, and it feels like he's much better at power-shots than touch-shots.

Cannily, John removes balls ... only to lose the white. "Oh John, Oh dear dear dear," offers Angles. Tge frame remains in the balance.

Routine red to corner ... stays on the lip! Goodness, I didn't expect Zhao to miss that, but the clearance won't be an easy one: there are three reds close together and the brown isn't far off the bottom rail. The world champ will be feeling queasy...

Zhao opens reds, eliminates balls, and he's close to the line.

Both men miss reds, John not leaving one but Zhao offering a mid-ranger to right corner. So down it goes, but without decent position, he's got to take on a pink to middle ... beautifully slotted then, after a nice red ... he misses the broon. Might this be curtains?

Mark Allen 3-3 Ali Carter

Shaun Murphy 1-5 Pang Junxu

Judd Trump 2-3 Yuan Sijun

Oh, John misses a black of his own, and that's the lead regained by Zhao.

A gorgeous black across the table, to corner, keeps the run going, and it's time to seriously consider the maxi. Eeee, but while the cannon he plays works out nicely, the black stays out, so John comes to the table with 67 left on it.

More reds with blacks, but he'll need to break the pack...

Twice, John goes at a starter and twice, he misses, the second time leaving a cut to corner that Zhao caresses home. The black follows, and he's now picking off reds from the extremities of the pack, with blacks. Hmmmm....

Mark Allen 3-2 Ali Carter

Shaun Murphy 1-4 Pang Junxu

Judd Trump 2-3 Yuan Sijun

We're level again, and it's a best-of-three to decide which of these two blinders moves on.

John picks his way through the balls, and this is going to be us level again. The way their two styles mesh – Zhao attacking almost everything, John better in safety and amazing at dishing – as we mentioned earlier, a final-frame decider looks inevitable.