Ronnie O'Sullivan will face good friend Jimmy White in the second round of the Welsh Open after brushing past Robbie Williams on Tuesday.
The reigning world champion is without a title success so far this season, but looks to have his game in good working order this week judging by his facile 4-0 whitewash of Williams.
A glorious break of 122 in the second frame was the highlight of an impressive afternoon's work for O'Sullivan who had initially kicked off proceedings with a silky run of 56.
With his back already firmly against the wall, Williams was left to rue a couple of missed opportunities to pinch frame three after O'Sullivan had again made the early running with a break of 66.
When Williams made another unforced error at the beginning of the fourth frame, O'Sullivan wasted little time in closing out the match, a fluent run of 73 stopping the clock on just under 45 minutes and firing an early warning shot to the remaining names in the draw.
Up next for the Rocket is six-time beaten Crucible finalist, White, who led 3-0 when the pair met in a memorable encounter at the 2019 Champions of Champions, before O'Sullivan pulled off a stirring comeback to eventually prevail 4-3.
They will meet for the 47th time at 1pm on Wednesday, live on Eurosport, and it comes 28 years after their first way back in 1993. On that occasion, White produced an incredible masse shot which was widely dubbed the 'shot of the century'.
O'Sullivan told Eurosport afterwards: "It's quite strange, I think everyone is more worried about my form than I am. I just go out there and play, have a bit of fun and enjoy it.
"Obviously I like to play well but it doesn't rule me. I don't get bogged down by form and winning tournaments like other players do.
"I think my cueing, even when I don't feel it's great, is probably as good as most players in the game. I'm a little bit hard on myself and I'm always looking to try and find those little improvements. I can be a bit harsh on myself but I'm never going to be the sort of person who is satisfied with good stuff.
On the second-round showdown with White, O'Sullivan added: "If you look in the history of the game, there's only been three or four players who've been able to sell tickets and Jimmy has probably done that as well as anybody. Me, Jimmy and Alex Higgins maybe. It'll be the legend playing the junior legend!"
Together in the Eurosport studio, White joked: "You couldn’t go running tomorrow and get lost could you?”
O'Sullivan replied: "I’ll go running tomorrow and break my foot and not be able to walk around the table Jim."
Asked if they could remember the very first time they ever played - before O'Sullivan was a professional - White said: "I played him at Blackpool, seen him in tiny bits, heard such good things. He was such a natural ball striker.
“I said to my pal at the time that’s just what snooker needs. He’s entertained us ever since.”