Jimmy White won three qualifying matches to reach the final stages of the 12BET.com UK Championship - where he will face old foe Stephen Hendry.
The Whirlwind blew away Adam Wicheard 9-1 and Adrian Gunnell 9-4 then saw off Joe Perry 9-6 last night. White went 3-1 up with breaks of 88 and 79, and led 6-2 at the end of the first session.
A superb 136 extended his lead, before Perry fought back to within a frame at 7-6. But Londoner White got the better of two scrappy frames to seal victory.
The 48-year-old is ranked 64th in the world but has now qualified for two ranking event venues this season as well as winning the World Seniors title.
He will take on Hendry, who beat him in four World Championship finals between 1990 and 1994, at the International Centre in Telford, with the first session this Sunday afternoon and the concluding session on Monday at 12.30pm.
Former world champion Ken Doherty battled past Rod Lawler 9-7 in a match which had two frames lasting over an hour. Doherty led 3-0 with a top break of 66 and was 5-3 up at the end of the first session. Lawler recovered to 7-7 with top runs of 67 and 73, but Dubliner Doherty proved stronger in the later stages, winning the last two frames. Doherty will meet Stephen Maguire in the first round.
Ricky Walden avoided a shock defeat as he egded out China's Liu Chuang 9-8. Former Roewe Shanghai Masters champion Walden trailed 7-4 and 8-7 but recovered to snatch it.
Andrew Higginson came from 6-4 down to beat Dominic Dale 9-6, his top break a 122.
Dungannon man Patrick Wallace completed a tremendous run through the qualifiers with a 9-1 thumping of Mike Dunn. The former Crucible quarter-finalist from Northern Ireland had previously won three matches, each 9-4. Wallace faces 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy in round one.
Ryan Day enjoyed his best result of the season so far with a 9-5 win over Jamie Burnett while Judd Trump saw off Xiao Guodong 9-7.
Fergal O'Brien missed out on qualification, losing 9-3 to Barry Hawkins in the final qualifying round.
Joe Swail also failed to make the main draw of the UK Championship losing to Mark Davis 9-7.
The 12BET.com UK Championship runs from 4-12 December.
