Judd Trump kicked off his World Grand Prix title defence with a hard-fought 4-2 defeat of Ben Woollaston in Coventry.
Trump has already added the Champion of Champions to his list of titles this term and displayed a good attitude on Tuesday evening, battling back from 2-1 down thanks to a run of three frames on the bounce.
Trump drew first blood when up and running with a hand of 51, but Woollaston hit back with breaks of 64 and 90 to inch in front, before then spurning a golden opportunity to increase his lead further.
A simple missed blue off its spot from Woollaston when in first in frame four proved to be the turning point in the match, Trump needing no second invitation to level the scores and then coming off best in a fifth frame that might also have gone the other way.
Trump was always in command thereafter and a further break of 53 was enough to end Woollaston's resistance, keeping Trump's title defence firmly on course.
Trump told ITV afterwards: "I had a lot of chances at the start, my long potting was really good, I was getting in and then just making easy mistakes.
"In that fourth frame, he [Woollaston] missed that blue after a good long ball and the match really changed after that. He didn't punish me, the balls punished him and, in the end, pleased to get the win.
"It's important to forget about who you're playing and just go out there and play the table, but it's difficult to always get up against some of the lower-ranked players."
Things were much more straightforward for Stephen Maguire who whitewashed Anthony McGill 4-0, while Neil Robertson and Mark Allen also registered easy wins.
Ford claims Higgins scalp
John Higgins' wait for his first title of the season will carry on into the new year after he was beaten 4-2 by Tom Ford.
Higgins has reached four finals already this season, losing on all four occasions, but suffered a rare early exit in Coventry as Ford produced a polished performance to progress to the last 16.
Despite drawing level at 2-2 with a run of 81, Higgins was never able to take control of the match and Ford didn't blink when getting sight of the winning line, freezing his opponent out as he sealed a welcome 4-2 victory with breaks of 71 and a brilliant total clearance of 130.
Earlier in the afternoon, Mark Selby beat close friend Barry Hawkins 4-1 despite only making a high break of 51.
Both players struggled for their best form throughout, but Selby generally got the better of the argument as he kept alive his hopes of finally enjoying a deep run in an ITV event.
Meanwhile, Stuart Bingham came through a tense affair with Ricky Walden to eventually prevail 4-3.
The former world champion looked in cruise control when leading 3-1, only to watch Walden peg him back and take the match to a deciding frame.
To his credit, Bingham held his nerve and a break of 124 booked his place in the last 16 where he will be joined by Ali Carter, a 4-1 victor over David Gilbert.
