Xiao had a good season in the Players Tour Championship series of tournaments in the 2011–12 season. He reached the quarter-finals of Event 1 and Event 6 and went one better in Event 2, where he was knocked out in the last 4 against compatriot Ding Junhui. The results ensured he reached the 2012 Finals by finishing eighteenth in the Order of Merit. He played in the Finals against the advice of doctors as he had broke a bone in his hand three weeks earlier whilst sleeping on it awkwardly, but despite this beat Dominic Dale 4–2 in the first round of the event. Xiao then pulled off the result of his career to date by defeating recent UK champion, Judd Trump 4–2 to advance to his first ever ranking event quarter-final, where he was beaten by Andrew Higginson 1–4.&lt;ref name="2011/2012"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt;