Mark Allen's wait for a third BetVictor Northern Ireland Open title will go on after losing 4-3 to Oliver Lines in Belfast.
Allen, whose participation was in doubt earlier this month due to a reported family reasons, missed numerous chances to take the frame he needed at the Waterfront Hall, and was punished by his in-form opponent.
After failing to convert a couple of chances in the first, Allen took the second with a break of 87.
Lines hit back with a break of 73 to restore his lead but the Antrim town man won two scrappy frames to move to the brink of victory.
Having reached a first ranking event semi-final at last month's British Open, Lines found some form with long potting getting him in to win the fifth and sixth frames and force a decider.
Allen then put the squeeze on at the start of the seventh frame, forcing a safety error from the Englishman. But the world number three then missed a straightforward red once he got in and Lines got over the line after a couple of scoring visits.
Elsewhere this afternoon, Martin O'Donnell brought Jimmy White's interest to an end with a comeback 4-2 victory over the Whirlwind.
White led twice early on but missed a chance to go two frames clear at 2-1, and the momentum swung in favour of O'Donnell, 24 years his junior.
World champion Kyren Wilson is in action later against Anthony McGill, while class of 1992 duo John Higgins and Mark Williams are also due out at the Waterfront Hall.
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