Ronnie O'Sullivan's quest for an eighth UK Championship title remains firmly on track after he produced a stylish display to beat Mark King 6-3 in York.
O'Sullivan has quietly gone about his business since arriving in North Yorkshire, for once not the one making the headlines away from the table, but he was cut across the boards after this silky performance that included six breaks of over fifty.
The Rocket kicked off proceedings with a terrific century in the opening frame and quickly doubled his lead when following up with a fluent run of 70.
King, who fought hard all afternoon, got up and running when taking the honours at the end of a lengthy third frame, but came off second best in frame four as O'Sullivan headed to the mid-session interval holding a 3-1 lead.
Immediately upon the resumption, King fired in a break of 77 to reduce his arrears again, before the next two frames were shared to ensure O'Sullivan kept his opponent at arm's length.
Thereafter it was one-way traffic, O'Sullivan going through the gears in effortless style as he won the next two frames thanks to runs of 63 and 53 to end King's brave resistance and march into the last 16, where he'll face Noppon Saengkham following his tense 6-5 victory over Stuart Bingham.
Hawkins takes flight but Higgins out
Barry Hawkins continues to go under the radar, but he was far too strong for Cao Yupeng as he progressed courtesy of a comfortable 6-2 victory.
Hawkins was always in control after compiling breaks of 54, 103 and 73 to lead 4-1, and a further run of 56 saw the 42-year-old cruise over the winning line and reach the fourth round of the UK Championship for the second year running.
There was no such luck for John Higgins whose excellent start to the season came to a halt as he was beaten 6-5 by Zhao Xintong.
Higgins has contested the last three finals on the calendar, losing to Judd Trump at the Champion of Champions most recently, but he ran out of steam here, calling upon on all of his guile and craft to keep his opponent at bay for long periods before losing the final three frames, including the decider.
The Scot only managed two breaks of over 50 all afternoon, and Xintong was rewarded for a high break of 110, along with further contributions of 70, 68, 59 and an ultimately match-winning final offering of 83.
Kyren Wilson beat Wu Yize 6-3 to earn a meeting with Ben Woollaston, a 6-4 winner against Liam Highfield. Jack Lisowski meanwhile comfortably saw off Graeme Dott 6-2, signing off with a 110 break having otherwise not needed to be at his best.
