Alan McManus showed his fighting spirit in the opening round against Stephen Maguire and he knew he required more of the same as he entered the final session against Ali Carter.
Experience tells as the 45 year old comes through
Trailing 9-7 after the first two sessions, McManus edged the opening frame by just five points but that was enough to fill the Scotsman with confidence for the rest of the match. He followed it up with a break of 119 to level the playing field, before squeezing another tight frame to lead for the first time in the match.
McManus continued to fight as he edged his advantage to two frames when he won the twentieth by just eight points. Carter recovered with his first win of the session, as he fired in a 71 break with ease, posing questions to how he had thrown away the lead.
Carter had an opportunity to tie the scores but missed an easy pot before throwing his cue down in frustration as he handed McManus the frame. Carter once again responded, this time with a century break, but McManus eventually wrapped up the contest with a 13-11 victory. He now awaits the winner of Ricky Walden against John Higgins in the next round.
Not Baird from Sam as Selby struggles to shake him off
The battle of the highest ranked player left against the lowest ranked continued on Saturday morning, as Mark Selby and Sam Baird found themselves tied at 4-4. World number 59 Baird produced two half century breaks to take the lead for the first time before the world number one began to find his rhythm.
Selby produced excellent breaks of 115 and 133 as he won five of the next six frames, before Baird potted the final frame of the session to keep himself in the match at 9-7 behind. The match will conclude on Saturday evening.