Stephen Lee gained revenge for one of the most disappointing results of his career as he reached the second round of the Irish Masters in Dublin this afternoon.
Lee lost 6-4 to Stephen Maguire in a poor-quality semi-final at the European Open in Malta earlier this month. But the world number five was in much better shape today - defeating Maguire, who had gone on to take that European title, 5-0 to book his place in the last 16.
Lee said: "Stephen is full of confidence after Malta and is one of the toughest first-round draws I could have had.
"But he didn't play anything like as well as he can, and I took what was there to beat him.
"I'm still not 100% right but I feel my form is just around the corner and I tend to play well in Ireland, so it might happen this week."
Lee, runner-up in the 1999 Irish Masters, compiled breaks of 43, 75 and 54 to clinch victory in less than two hours.
He was joined in the second round by Wembley Masters champion Paul Hunter, who hit top form to whitewash Welshman Lee Walker 5-0.
Hunter, a semi-finalist in last year's event, fired in runs of 57, 116, 53, 99 and 61 to cruise through.
The 25-year-old Leeds player was delighted to re-discover his touch after a below-par performance in Malta, where Tony Drago beat him 5-2 in the last 16.
Hunter said: "I'm glad I got that match with Tony out of my system, because I doubt I'll ever play that badly again.
"It was a terrible match. But I played really well today, and this is all good practice for the world championship."
World number 81 Walker headed to Dublin, having just secured his Crucible place at the Embassy World Championship qualifiers in Prestatyn.
But the 28-year-old could manage a highest break of only 43 as he failed to trouble Hunter.