Picture by Monique Limbos

MITCHELL Travis made it two giant-killing victories out of two in this year’s UK Championship after following up his first round win over Marco Fu with victory over Kurt Maflin.

The amateur, who is in the competition thanks to his performances in this year’s Q School series, continued to be the surprise of the tournament after completing a deserved 6-3 win against the Norwegian potter.

Travis,  21, clinched the match winning frames nine and ten much to the delight of his father and grandfather who were watching in the Barbican Theatre. He next faces David Morris for a place in the last 16.

The seventh day of the UK Championship saw snooker’s big guns continue their bid for glory.

Despite not being at his best, Ronnie O’Sullivan completed a 6-3 win over Adam Duffy to reach the last 32 stage and defending champion Mark Selby did the same beating Tian Pengfei by the same score.

And Neil Robertson eased into the third round with a 6-1 win over Robbie Williams.

Elsewhere, John Higgins booked his place in the last 16 by beating Jamie Burnett 6-4 and Judd Trump enjoyed a solid 6-2 win over Xiao Guodong.

Joe Perry’s impressive season continued as he reached the last 16 with a 6-3 win over Scotsman Scott Donaldson and Shaun Murphy recovered from 2-1 down to defeat Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham.

Last year’s semi-finalist Ali Carter is out after crashing to a 6-3 defeat to Graeme Dott and World Championship runner-up Barry Hawkins secured his place in the fourth round with a 6-4 win over Gary Wilson.

Stephen Maguire was forced to play a second successive final frame shootout just 24 hours after beating Luca Brecel in an eleven frame thriller on Sunday. This time it was Liang Wenbo who suffered late heartbreak despite bouncing back from 4-2 down to lead 5-4.

Could this be Maguire’s year?