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Nigel Bond into quarter-finals after thrilling comeback against Gary Wilson
Nigel Bond is into the quarter-finals of the UK Championship after fighting back from 5-2 down to beat Gary Wilson 6-5.
Bond, ranked 98th in the world, produced a truly sublime performance to win four straight frames when on the cusp of defeat. And the 54-year-old's story so far is fast becoming one of the stories of the tournament, his victory today coming off the back off an epic win over world No. 1 Judd Trump in the previous round.
Bond's upcoming quarter-final against Mark Allen is his first in a Triple Crown event since 2004. Prior to this year's UK Championship, he had failed to make it past the first round of a tournament in his five previous attempts.
Wilson took the lead with a run of 61, but Bond hit back after edging the next two frames to go 2-1 up.
And Wilson's excellent break of 78 pulled things level before the Englishman took the next three frames, including a break of 75, to go 5-2 up and on the verge of taking the match.
But veteran Bond had other ideas, pulling himself to within two after a marathon eighth frame, before racing to within one with a break of 85. He edged the next frame 57-41 to go level with Wilson, before putting together a run of 66 for his fourth consecutive frame that completed the comeback and sealed an unlikely win.
In the late slate of games Stephen Maguire engineered a comeback of his own to knock out Michael White 6-4.
The pair shared the opening four frames, with White knocking in century breaks of 104 and 115 and the Welshman then won frames five and six to move 4-2 up.
However the 2004 champion Maguire rallied to win four in a row, sealing victory with a century break of his own with a 116.