Mark Selby, John Higgins and reigning world champion Kyren Wilson all progressed at the British Open on Wednesday.
In one of the opening third-round matches during the evening session, four-time world champion Selby clinched a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Yuan Sijun.
Earlier, Higgins reached the third round as the four-time world champion claimed a 4-2 win against Shaun Murphy, after the Scot took the opening three frames.
Duane Jones levelled against world number two Wilson but the Englishman is also into the third round, producing a break of 114 as he took the next three frames to triumph 4-1.
Higgins will take on compatriot Graeme Dott in Cheltenham on Thursday, while Wilson will play Hong Kong’s Marco Fu.
World number one Judd Trump faces fellow Englishman Mark Davis as he bids to make the 1,000th century break of his career.
Only two players have reached the landmark before – Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2019 and Higgins during his 4-3 defeat by Mark Allen at the English Open last week.