Ronnie O'Sullivan negotiated his third successive final-frame decider to beat Li Hang and advance to the semi-finals of the Scottish Open in Llandudno.
O'Sullivan, who is still searching for his first title since his 2020 World Championship win, was forced to dig deep by the world number 51 who summoned an impressive break of 116 to draw level at 2-2.
Two breaks over 80 took the 46-year-old to the brink of the last four and he eased through a one-sided decider in a tournament he last won in 2000.
Having edged Liang Wenbo and Jamie Jones in earlier rounds, O'Sullivan told Eurosport: "It's not good when you keep going close in matches.
"To be fair, for years I was beating opponents quite comfortably from round one to the final, and I'm having to fight a little bit more now.
"I preferred it as it was before when you can look in your rear-view mirror and they've got a bit of catching up to do - but at some stage you've got to accept that you're not as good as you used to be."
Anthony McGill withstood a fightback by his friend and fellow Scotsman Stephen Maguire to also book his place in the semi-finals with a 5-3 victory.
