Judd Trump underlined his status as tournament favourite with a 6-1 demolition of Barry Hawkins on Tuesday afternoon.
The world number one is a third of the way to the Triple Crown already having won the UK Championship prior to Christmas, where Hawkins was his final victim, and the popular local once again had to play second fiddle here.
This was much more one-sided, too, and after missing an early opportunity, Hawkins soon found himself 4-0 down after a series of typically ruthless breaks from Trump.
That continued after the interval with another half-century and while yet to register a break of more than 60, Trump was on course for a place in the quarter-finals with his opponent clearly struggling.
Hawkins avoided a whitewash with a break of 70 in the next before Trump made sure to sign off in style, his break of 112 a fitting end to a dominant display, evidence that his B-game is good enough to win plenty of matches now.
Trump is now one win away from a new record for prize money in a single season and has now reached at least the quarter-finals of 19 of the last 20 tournaments he has contested, with Ding Junhui the final hurdle to clear in his bid for that latest milestone.
A magnanimous Hawkins said: "I didn't think I had done that much wrong in the first four frames. Judd is playing some great stuff and every time I made a mistake he capitalised."
Allen impresses with easy win
Mark Allen joined Trump in the quarter-finals, setting up a match with Mark Selby, as he saw off debutant Si Jiahui 6-2.
Si had his moments in the match, turning the opening frame into a 40-minute scrap and using a break of 103 to level it in the second, but ultimately Allen had too much for the 22-year-old.
Breaks of 111 and 70 saw Allen go into the interval with a 3-1 lead, and although Si pulled the next one back the Northern Irishman responded with a break of 94.
And when Si missed a straightforward red at the start of the eighth frame, Allen grabbed the chance with a break of 80 finishing the contest.