Top seed Mark Allen is out of the Players Championship after losing 6-3 to Joe O'Connor.
In a tournament missing star names Ronnie O'Sullivan, Neil Robertson and John Higgins, Allen was among the favourites as he set about continuing what has been the best season of his career.
But a negative display which drew criticism from Stephen Hendry saw Allen comprehensively outplayed by O'Connor, a ranking finalist at the Scottish Open back in December.
The Leicester potter took the first three frames and was always the aggressor, moving within one of the second round with a fabulous 132 clearance in which he demonstrated Allen-like control of the cue ball.
Allen needed four in a row to pull off a fightback and got the first of them but after he ran out of position in frame eight, O'Connor potted a long red and went on to cooly clear the table to win the match.
“I’ve played a pretty solid match. I don’t think Mark was at his best, but fortunately he gave me a couple of chances I wouldn’t get when he is at his best and I managed to punish him,” O’Connor told WST.
“This is massive for me. It is my first time at the Players Championship, on the main table against the best player of the season by a mile. I’ve turned up, played some good stuff and nicked some frames.
“In practice I have been working on shots that have cost me frames and matches. That seems to have instilled a little bit of confidence knowing I have an all-round game now. My game has been at a good place for a while now and it has just been about waiting for the wins to come.”
On the opposite side of the draw, second seed Ryan Day beat Shoot Out winner Chris Wakelin 6-2.
The first four frames of the match were shared but Day went up a gear following the interval, edging frame five before a 102 break gave him control of the match.
From there the Welshman had few worries and he'll face either Mark Selby or Shaun Murphy next.
