Judd Trump took two more steps towards making 100 century breaks in a single season as he got the defence of his Weide Cup World Open title underway with a 5-0 thrashing of Xing Zihao in Yushan.
Trump now has 76 tons this season and needs 24 more over the next five tournaments to get his tally into three figures. The first player to make 100 centuries this season willl earn a £100,000 bonus.
China's Xing scored just 40 points in the match as world number one Trump rattled in breaks of 64, 100, 111 and 98 to win in just 58 minutes and set up a last-64 clash with Long Zehuang.
"I'm very happy to play that well in my first match, in the first round you just want to get through as easily as possible," said 30-time ranking event winner Trump. "Every time I play in China I try to enjoy it. It's special to come back here having won last year. I feel I am playing to a consistent level and it always takes a good performance to beat me."
Home favourite Ding Junhui also scored heavily in a 5-1 win over Jiang Jun, knocking in runs of 81, 141, 50, 130 and 93.
Mark Davis has been a bogey player for John Higgins over the years - notably knocking the Scot out of both the UK and World Championship during the 2012/13 season - but on this occasion Higgins cruised to a 5-1 win with breaks of 50, 111, 126 and 59.
"Mark has often had the better of me, throughout my career," said Higgins, who now meets Robbie Williams. "He didn't really show up today, but I played well. At this time of the season, everyone has something to aim for, whether it's staying on the tour, trying to get into the Players Championship and Tour Championship, or to be a seed for the Crucible. There's a lot riding on it. I'm no different, I'd love to have a good run and secure my places."
BetVictor Welsh Open champion Mark Selby saw his winning streak end as he lost 5-2 to world number 61 Liu Hongyu. Breaks of 104, 56 and 102 helped China's 20-year-old Liu to one of his best wins on tour so far.
World Champion Kyren Wilson fired breaks of 100, 93, 65 and 119 as he saw off Hammad Miah 5-2. Stan Moody enjoyed a 5-3 success against Zhang Anda - the second time this season he has beaten world number ten Zhang. Teenager Moody compiled runs of 60, 123, 55, 75 and 68.
Antoni Kowalski made a 133 in a 5-3 victory over Matthew Stevens while Wu Yize beat Jackson Page 5-4 in a battle of two of snooker's best young talents. Page, a semi-finalist here last year, came from 3-1 down to 4-4 only for Wu to make a 102 in the decider.