Ali Carter beat top seed Judd Trump 6-4 in the first quarter-final of the Players Championship in Telford.
Trump threatened to level the match to make it 5-5 but Carter edged a tense tenth frame to seal victory.
World number eight Carter will meet Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen or Welsh Open winner Gary Wilson in the semi-finals.
Earlier Mark Selby beat Barry Hawkins 6-3 to set up a quarter-final tie against Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Selby reeled off four frames in a row to get past Hawkins, who had taken a 2-0 lead.
On facing O’Sullivan next, Selby said: “I cherish every game I play against Ronnie so I’m really looking forward to that.”
China’s Zhang Anda beat Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham 6-5 to complete the quarter-final line-up, where he will meet John Higgins.
Zhang came from 5-4 behind and sealed the win with a 65 break in the deciding frame of a match which lasted more than four and a half hours.