Mark Williams eased into the last eight of the German Masters at the Tempodrom with a whitewash win over Joe Perry on Thursday.
The defending champion won the first frame on the black before dominating the remainder of the affair, compiling four half century breaks.
The Welshman, who is the only two-time winner at the Tempodrom having also won the inaugural German Masters in 2011, will face Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals.
Wilson overcame Peter Ebdon 5-2, in doing so ending the former world champion’s hopes of breaking into the top 32 on the one-year ranking list in time to qualify for the upcoming World Grand Prix.
Robert Milkins, who was in 34th place on the list heading into his last 16 contest, also exited courtesy of a 5-1 defeat to Stephen Maguire.
These pair of results, along with a host of others earlier on day two, ensured that Shaun Murphy will feature in Cheltenham next week despite losing his opening round clash with Ebdon on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the German Masters second round, Judd Trump continued his fine form with a dominant 5-1 triumph over Yan Bingtao.
Trump, who constructed a break of 113 in the third frame, will face fellow former Tempodrom runner-up Maguire next with a semi-final berth at stake.
💬 “I’ll have to step it up”
Stephen Maguire faces the sport’s most in-form player tomorrow.
Judd Trump stands between him and the semi finals #D88GermanMasters pic.twitter.com/Wlvnvw5Efo
— World Snooker (@WorldSnooker) January 31, 2019
Meanwhile, the last 32 also reached its conclusion with the likes of former champions Mark Selby and Ding Junhui getting off to a winning start.
Selby looked impressive as he fired in a hat-trick of tons – including a 120 when he rattled the yellow en route to a possible maximum – to thrash Ricky Walden 5-1.
Ding had a harder time of it but still managed to escape with a 5-3 defeat of the ever-determined Fergal O’Brien.
Neil Robertson, Stuart Bingham, and David Gilbert all advanced as expected but there were a few notable upsets too.
The struggles of four-time world champion John Higgins continued as the Scot was downed in a dramatic decider on the final black by teenager Yuan Sijun.
Yuan’s Chinese compatriot Xiao Guodong produced a scintillating display of power scoring to hammer Ryan Day 5-1 with breaks of 105, 102, 66, 57, and 53.
Jack Lisowski was another victim from the world’s top 16, with the 27 year-old losing out in a 5-2 scoreline against Welshman Duane Jones.
On Friday, the second round will finish before one of the best sessions on the entire snooker calendar takes place.
The unique layout of the Tempodrom ensures that all four quarter-final ties can be played at the same time, which usually generates an electric atmosphere inside the popular venue.
