Hossein Vafaei produced a stunning display to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-0 in their German Masters qualifying match.
The Iranian rattled off breaks of 52, 50, 81, 141 and 64 to dump out the six-time world champion, who lost a tight opening frame and was unable to threaten the comeback.
O'Sullivan's frustrations were in evidence in frame five as he blasted the reds from the break, potting one until coming unstuck again. By then, hopes of a dazzling comeback had all but faded and O'Sullivan soon succumbed to his first 5-0 defeat since 2017.
It took Vafaei less than an hour to underline why Neal Foulds made him his player to watch for the season in a recent Sporting Life feature - though even Foulds would surely have struggled to envisage such a heavy defeat for fellow Eurosport pundit O'Sullivan.
Vafaei's reward is a meeting with Andrew Higginson, with the winner then taking their place in the main draw next January.
Also on Monday, David Gilbert trailed four times against David Grace but emerged a 5-4 winner, Mark Selby rolled in a century en route to a 5-1 win against Ash Carty, and Yan Bingtao beat compatriot Chen Zifan 5-2.
Reanne Evans saw her hopes of qualifying ended by Liang Wenbo, a 5-1 winner.
Five to follow
Vafaei is not the only player on our five to follow list who has made a splash already this season.
Click here to get the thoughts of some of the best judges in the game.
Neal Foulds column
Eurosport pundit Neal Foulds is writing a fortnight column throughout the season.
Click here to read the latest instalment.
