JUST two days ago Mark Selby was counting his lucky stars after he grinded out a result from the jaws of defeat against Jamie Jones to keep his UK Championship hopes alive.

But the world number one was back to his best on Wednesday as he cruised into the quarter-finals with a classy performance against Dechawat Poomjaeng.

Breaks of 82, 58, 106, 86 and 98 were just the tonic for the 2014 world champion who beat his Thailand born opponent 6-1.

After the match Selby said: “I should have been put out of the tournament by Jamie the other night.

“But having come through that match I’m feeling less pressure, and today I was relaxed and played my own, game.

“If I get to the semi-finals I’ll be in the home stretch and starting to focus on the title. But I’ve got another tough match before that.”

WHAT SELBY TWEETED ON MONDAY NIGHT

The thumping win means Selby now stands just three wins away from winning his second UK Championship title after winning the event in 2012.

His next opponent comes by the way of Matthew Selt who came back from behind to beat Belgian star Luca Brecel 6-4.

Selt secured a place in the UK Championship quarter-finals for the first time after he fought back from 3-1 down.

Elsewhere world number 81 David Grace continued his impressive run after recording a comfortable 6-2 win over Peter Ebdon.

The Leeds based star hit five breaks of 50 or more to seal a place in the last eight of a major ranking event for the first time since becoming a professional.

And former UK Championship finalist Marco Fu also booked his place in the quarter-finals after finishing on top in a high quality match against Shaun Murphy.

Breaks of 93, 104 and 68 helped Fu to a 6-4 victory against this year’s World Championship finalist.

The match was a repeat of the memorable 2008 UK Championship final which Murphy won in dramatic fashion winning a final frame decider 10-9.