The Thailand Masters got under way in Bangkok today with a first-round win for Fergal O'Brien.
The Dubliner, beaten 5-4 by Joe Perry in the first round of last week’s China Open, made amends by being the first player to claim a spot in the last 16 with an unspectacular 5-2 victory over Mark Davis.
O'Brien will meet either Stuart Pettman or, more likely, Peter Ebdon for a quarter-final appearance.
"It wasn’t a great match but I just won it with 30s and 40s," said O’Brien. "In fact I played better against Joe Perry last week but ended up losing.
"I stayed in Shanghai after that match until Friday and put in a lot of practice there. It was important for me to win this match after losing in the first round in China," he said.
"I’m trying to come to tournaments with my focus on winning them as a lot of players tend to hang around in the top-16 for a long time without ever winning".