Home hero John Higgins got off to a winning start at the BetVictor Scottish Open in Edinburgh, beating Ian Burns 4-2 to set up a last 32 clash with in form Barry Hawkins.
The four-time World Champion is still aiming to get his name on the Stephen Hendry Trophy, having come close in the tournament's eight-year history. He's a two-time runner-up, after losses to Marco Fu in 2016 and Luca Brecel in 2021. Last year, Higgins lost out to Noppon Saengkham in the semis.
Despite a fine break of 130 from Burns, it was Higgins who took three of the first four to lead 3-1. A dramatic fifth saw Burns keep his hopes alive by stealing on the black, but a break of 45 from Higgins in the sixth got him over the line and secured victory.
"It is always special playing in front of your own fans. I'm sure all of the Scottish boys will tell you that. There was a good crowd out there today and I'm delighted. I'm sure it will be the same for the next game," said 31-time ranking event winner Higgins.
"Barry is on the crest of a wave. He came so close to winning the UK Championship. He played great there. It is a tough last 32 game. That is just the way our sport is now. It is really tough."
Hawkins continued his red hot form with a 4-2 defeat of Swiss number one Alexander Ursenbacher.
The Englishman beat the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan and Shaun Murphy on his way to the recent Victorian Plumbing UK Championship final. However, he was pipped 10-8 in a thrilling title match by Judd Trump.
This afternoon saw Hawkins top score with 130, as he registered a 94% pot success rate on his way to victory and a mouth watering encounter with Higgins.
Aside from Higgins, the Scottish contingent struggled on day one. Scott Donaldson was whitewashed 4-0 by world number 16 Chris Wakelin, while Ali Carter defeated Graeme Dott 4-2 and Ryan Day ousted Anthony McGill 4-1.
Back-to-back defending champion Gary Wilson's two-year reign came to an end after a 4-2 loss against China's Long Zehuang. The Tyneside cueman captured his maiden ranking crown with a win over Joe O'Connor in the 2022 final and beat Noppon Saengkham in last year's title match.
World number five Mark Allen hit his stride in the latter stages of a 4-1 win over He Guoqiang. Runs of 104 and 99 helped him to take the last two frames and wrap up victory. Afterwards he admitted he had to abandon technical changes he'd been working on to get himself over the line.
Allen said: "It was awful, I felt really on edge with what I've been trying to work on. I just gave up on it out there if I'm honest. I'm not comfortable enough with it on the practice table yet. I reverted to playing a bit faster and thankfully the balls went in. That's no guarantee it is going to work next time."
Stuart Bingham fired in breaks of 81, 98 and 70 in a 4-0 win over Jimmy Robertson, while Zhang Anda beat Stan Moody 4-3.