DERBYSHIRE'S comeback king Nigel Bond performed an astonishing escape act to make it through to the third round of the UK Snooker Championship on Saturday evening.
The 49-year-old looked out of the tournament at the York Barbican at 5-0 down to world number five Barry Hawkins.
But Bond pulled off the unthinkable to win 6-5 after Hawkins twitched on a simple green in the sixth frame, recording a superb 116 in the ninth along the way.
The world number 60 once pulled off a famous comeback at the Crucible to snatch victory from Cliff Thorburn from 9-2 down and admitted the win felt like rolling back the years.
"Apart from the Thorburn match, that is probably the best comeback I have ever made in my career," he said.
"When you're not winning matches the conditions are completely different out there. But the conditions were beautiful and I was just trying to get a foothold in the game. Just one frame.
"At 5-0 down you are just playing for a bit of pride. It's unbelievable.
"Up until the 116 I was only biting and bobbing. I could not score.
"After that, I got a bit of rhythm and he started missing some balls.
"He's not a Ronnie O'Sullivan, where he is bashing in centuries, but he is such a solid match player it was surprising to see him miss one or two.
"All the way through I was thinking, just one ball at a time, one frame at a time.
"I knew if I could get back to 5-3 I had a little bit of a sniff.
"It shows my tenacity; I could have easily laid down and died but I dug in.
"He missed a few and I got a rhythm, which was nice."
Bond hit the top five in the 1990s and was runner up to Stephen Hendry in the 1995 World Championship.
But he has struggled on the Tour this season, only making it past the second round once before this week, and faces up-and-coming Scot Anthony McGill in round three today.
And after performing well on the senior circuit, reaching the World Championship final for the last two years, Bond is relieved he still has a bit of fire in his belly.
He added: "You can't describe it. To win 6-5 from 5-0 down is just unbelievable.
"The past couple of seasons, I've been struggling for wins and in danger of dropping off the tour, so this is important and proves to people that I still can play.
"Maybe I am not so consistent but on my day I think I am capable of winning
"If I was not, I would not be playing.
"It's been a while since I beat a top 16 player at a major ranking event so I am over the moon and look forward to my next game.
"It will take me a while to wind down from this and I think probably two or three beers will help."
l British Eurosport is the Home of Snooker, showing 19 tournaments per season including the World Championship, UK Championship the Masters and all other ranking events. Available on Sky, Virgin Media & BT TV or online/mobile via eurosportplayer.com #eurosportsnooker
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