Barry Pinches is determined to delay his return home from the World Championship for as long as possible as the Norwich player threatens to upset Stephen Hendry at a venue the Scot has come to regard as his second home.
Pinches stunned the snooker world by defeating crowd favourite Jimmy White in the first round and had now the seven times world champion Hendry firmly in his sights.
He started the night facing a 5-3 deficit but then shocked the world number two by returning the compliment in last night's penultimate session.
Pinches even briefly threatened to join a select group of players to make a Crucible 147 break. He potted 10 reds and 10 blacks in frame 14 before missing the 11th red.
However, his 80 break enabled him to draw level and he grew in confidence by making 97 to take the lead for only the second time in the match.
Norwich City supporter Pinches, again kitted out in his yellow and green waistcoat, looked well on his way to gaining an overnight advantage as he led 61-0 in frame 16.
That took his run of unanswered points to 238 before crucially missing a black. There were just enough points on the table to give Hendry a glimmer of hope.
And the Scot produced a trademark clearance of 62 to again obtain parity at 8-8. Hendry, chasing his first world title since 1999, defeated world number 36 Pinches in this season's UK Championship.
However, this has turned out to be a lot closer affair and he still needs five of today's remaining nine frames to clinch a quarter-final against Ian McCulloch or Alan McManus.
Barring a disaster David Gray should reach the Crucible last eight for the first time later today. The world number 12 has an 11-5 lead on Welsh qualifier Lee Walker.
Gray requires just two further frames to earn a quarter-final against John Higgins or Graeme Dott.