\n<\/p>\n
Fifth seed Mark Williams, who won this tournament in 1999 and 2002, claimed a 6-4 victory over David Gilbert in the evening session to join Robertson in the last 16.<\/p>\n
The 50-year-old lost a lengthy opening frame, levelled at 1-1, but a fine break of 102 gave Gilbert the advantage again.<\/p>\n
But Williams then recorded breaks of 51, 89, 73 and 55 to move 5-2 ahead and go one frame from victory. World number 24 Gilbert responded with a 100 break for his second century and then a 50 to pull it back to 5-4.<\/p>\n
However, it did not matter as Williams did enough to get the victory to set up a match against China’s Pang Junxu after he won 6-2 against compatriot Xiao Guodong, the 12th seed. <\/p>\n
“Before the interval I was poor but after that I played pretty good,” said Williams. “It could’ve gone 5-5 at the end but I’m glad to get over the line and there were some tricky balls in the last frame.<\/p>\n
“I made a couple of good breaks. The interval changes a lot of matches. I went to the practice table. When I’m at the venue you can’t keep me off the table, I enjoy practicing at the venue.”<\/p>\n
Robertson got back into the top 16 in September 2024, ensuring automatic qualification for the major tournaments, by beating China’s Wu Yize 9-7 in the final of the English Open.<\/p>\n
The pair will face each other in the last 16 in York later this week after Wu held off a fightback from England’s Michael Holt to secure a 6-4 victory.<\/p>\n
Wu, 22, moved into a 5-0 lead, thanks to breaks of 55, 78, 82 and 81, which included 11 reds and 10 blacks before any hope of a 147 ended with a miss on the 11th black.<\/p>\n
But 47-year-old Holt, a quarter-finalist last year, staged a recovery with runs of 59, 82 and 60 to pull within one frame, before Wu sealed the success in the 10th frame.<\/p>\n
Twelve players from China were among the 32 in York and Wu and Pang’s victories mean three Chinese players are already into the last 16, joining Si Jiahui after his 6-0 triumph over Ryan Day on Saturday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n