Mark Selby made light work of Mark Williams on the first night of the Players Championship, thrashing the Welshman 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals.
Fresher than some having lost in the first round of last week's Snooker Shoot Out, Selby was much more comfortable in the cadence of a best-of-11 match in Southport.
Not that he was keen to stick around. The Leicester man made a century in the second frame, pinched the fifth and ultimately won all six as Williams' woes continued.
Since reaching the final of the China Championship and losing 10-9 to Shaun Murphy, Williams has failed to make the latter stages of a meaningful event and has often spoken about his lack of love for the sport.
With his 45th birthday approaching, the three-time world champion needs a spark but he couldn't find it here in a match which was played entirely on Selby's terms.
Selby's victory was secured when Williams ran out of position trying to salvage the sixth frame, and that rather summed up how things had gone from the outset for both men.
"I thought I played near enough faultless snooker," said the 36-year-old, who reflected on a tight first frame as vital in how the match panned out.
"I feel happy with everything I'm doing at the moment. I felt as though every time I had a chance I was going to score."
Selby, who faces Stephen Maguire next, is looking to reach the final of this event for the first time in his career, having never matched his debut last-four run in 2011.
The only ranking events Selby has played in five times or more without reaching a final are this one and the World Grand Prix. On Monday's evidence, he's in the mood to tick one of those off.
Maguire beat Ding Junhui 6-5 to gain a form of revenge for his defeat to the Chinese in the final of the UK Championship.
Scotland's Maguire was ahead early before Ding rattled off a succession of frames to lead 4-2, only to let that advantage slip as Maguire moved into a 5-4 lead.
Ding levelled to force a deciding frame and was in first, but when Maguire was handed an opportunity he took it with both hands to progress to round two.
