An ill Neil Robertson went all the way with Anthony Hamilton in their China Open first-round clash before coming through and hailing one of the "greatest wins" of his career.
The Australian was on the brink of victory at 4-2 ahead but let his gritty opponent back into it as he struggled with a virus.
The 2010 World Champion settled a scrappy affair with a clinching 57 in the decider, though, and immediately said on Twitter: "One of the greatest wins of my career. Possibly wouldn't have got on the plane had I known my virus was this bad."
Robertson will be joined in the next round by snooker shoot-out champion Dominic Dale - a 5-3 victor over Jack Lisowski - and another former world winner in Graeme Dott, who saw off Rory McLeod in a clash that went all the way.
James Wattana rolled back the years as he whitewashed Mark Joyce 5-0, while Jimmy White also recalled days gone by with a 5-2 success over David Morris.
Yu De Lu - who beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in Preston last week - was back on the winning trail to see off Chen Zifan 5-2, with victories coming elsewhere on a busy day for Nigel Bond, Zhao Xintong, Luca Brecel and Thepchaiya Uh-Nooh.
