China's 21-year-old Liu Hongyu was the stand-out player in Group 21 of the BetVictor Championship League in Leicester as he booked a place in the second stage.
Liu and Tom Ford are through to the last 32 of the season's first ranking event and will return to the Mattioli Arena later this month.
After beating Ian Burns 3-0 in his opening match with breaks of 89, 55 and 104, Liu saw off Patrick Whelan 3-1 with a top run of 133. In his last match of the day he fired breaks of 93 and 89 in a 2-2 draw with Noppon Saengkham as he comfortably finished top of the table.
Group 8 was far closer and came down to the last few frames. Shoot Out champion Ford drew 2-2 with Simon Blackwell then beat Mink Nutcharut 3-0 with a top break of 132. He needed to avoid defeat in his last fixture against Allan Taylor and managed a 2-2 draw which left him level on points with Blackwell but just ahead on frame difference.
Si Jiahui and Ben Woollaston are among the players in action when play resumes on Saturday.
