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Aaron Hill produced a battling display filled with quality but ultimately came up short in the last-16 International Championship clash with 2024 world champion Zhao Xintong this morning in Nanjing.

Zhao took a 3-0 lead early on in the encounter, including a superb 131 break.

But Hill came firing back with two centuries of his own in the next four frames, a 103 and a magnificent 140 in which he cleared the table.

Trailing 4-3, he had an opportunity in the eighth frame before breaking down on 41 and then made a poor mistake in what proved to be his final shot of the match when fouling from a simple red.

It was still a good week for the 24-year-old despite the 6-3 loss, with his game in an excellent place ahead of the UK Championship qualifiers later this month.

Elsewhere Kyren Wilson was pushed all the way as he secured another 6-5 victory, this time over Oliver Lines in an all-English affair.

Chang Bingyu rattled off three more centuries to continue his superb form, defeating Yuan Sijun 6-2.

Hossein Vafaei came from 3-1 down to beat Si Jiahui 6-3.