Ding Junhui of China eased into the second round of the World Snooker Championship by beating Anthony Mcgill of Scotland 10-7 in Sheffield on Sunday.
The 2016 runner-up displayed in high quality to lead 6-3 overnight and made a break of 134 and scores of 99 and 91 for a 9-5 lead in the first round.
Mcgill, Scotland's world No. 24, tried to fight back to 9-7. However, Ding finished with a stylish 106, one of 15 breaks of more than 50 in the 14th match, to reach the last 16 for the 10th time since he made his Crucible debut in 2007.
"I played well this time, but it is not good enough if I want to win the tournament," said Ding, who will meet Judd Trump in next round.
Ding hasn't been in form this season and he joined Mark Williams, John Higgins, Judd Trump and several big names in an early exit of Snooker China Open in Beijing this month.
Ding lost 6-3 to Thailand's former Asian No. 1 James Wattana in the first round and then admitted that "one bad performance in a game cost you the whole tournament" after the defeat.
"I need to have good concentration for the whole match and be more confident," Ding added, ready for his following match against Trump.
China Open title holder Neil Robertson of Australia completed comfortable 10-1 trash over debutant Michael Georgiou.
England's 2005 winner Shaun Murphy scored a tournament-high 138 and established a 9-0 lead over Chinese debutant Luo Honghao in the first session of the match.
Also, the four-time champion John Higgins took a 6-3 lead over fellow Mark Davis.
Competition continues on Monday as it is scheduled to run until May 6.
