His second Triple Crown final came at the 2007 UK Championship. He defeated Swail, McCulloch, Mark Williams and Shaun Murphy on-route to the final. Ronnie O'Sullivan, his opponent in the final defeated him 10–2. At the 2008 China Open he compiled his first Maximum break against Ryan Day in the semi-finals. He won the match 6–5 before defeating Murphy in the final 10–9 on a . He reached the quarter-final stage of the 2008 World Snooker Championship, but lost in another final frame decider (12–13) to Joe Perry. At the end of the season he finished as world number two. He also retained this position for the 2009–10 season, reaching the semi-final at the Shanghai Masters and UK Championship.