Judd Trump and Ding Junhui both emerged from their opening German Masters qualifying round unscathed on Thursday.
Trump saw off Peter Lines 5-1 while Ding surrendered just one extra frame in his victory over Gareth Allen.
The latter will face fellow Chinese Tian Pengfei for a berth in Berlin, while Trump faces the unexpected challenge of Rhys Clark after the Scot edged the in-form David Grace in a decider.
All the top 16 stars in action safely negotiated their first ties in Wigan, with Stephen Maguire and Michael White also booking their spots in the second qualifying stage.
Barry Hawkins had an easy outing as well after his 5-2 win over Luke Simmonds.
There was, however, defeat for Robert Milkins, who continued his sketchy form of late with a 5-4 defeat to Zhang Anda while Dominic Dale and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh also lost close encounters to amateur Andy Hicks and Steven Hallworth respectively.
Ireland’s Ken Doherty prevailed in a decider of his own, though, after pipping Michael Georgiou to the post to set up a meeting with Welshman White.
2013 champion Ali Carter advanced following a 5-3 triumph against Barry Pinches while Martin Gould, Alan McManus and Jimmy Robertson booked their spots in the final qualifying round too.
In a battle of two eccentric performers, Thailand’s Dechawat Poomjaeng ousted Tony Drago 5-3, as Andrew Higginson, Nigel Bond, Ben Woollaston, Xiao Guodong, Mike Dunn, Zak Surety and Zhoul Yuelong also made it through their initial test.
