Snooker:Welsh cueman Mark Williams ousted Scotland's Stephen Hendry 5-2 to stride into the Grand Prix quarter-finals in Glasgow today.
Hendry struggled for rhythm in front of a home crowd and was outplayed by Williams, who scored more heavily than the seven-times former world champion towards the end of the match.
Given the reputation of both men - Williams has also twice been world champion - the patchy play in the opening stages was desperately disappointing.
The top break in the opening three frames was a mere 28, which helped Williams take the third to lead 2-1. Hendry had won the second frame despite a best run of 13 - pink and black.
However the standard improved and Williams took command of the match as Hendry continued to fail to piece together anything substantial.
Williams, 34, looked like sealing a 5-1 win but broke down after a run of 57 in the sixth frame when he rattled an easy red in the jaws, allowing Hendry an unexpected chance.
The 40-year-old capitalised and cut the gap to 4-2 despite given Williams a second chance.
However, that was as good as it got for Hendry, and Williams clinched his place in the last eight following a break of 55 in the next frame.
Despite his win, Williams was underwhelmed by his performance and gave himself little chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Looking ahead to the last-eight draw, Williams half-joked: "Fingers crossed someone might chuck Willie Thorne's name in and I can draw him. Because if I play like that he's the only one I could beat."
Peter Ebdon, another past Crucible champion, produced a fine streak of form to seal a 5-3 win over qualifier and fellow Englishman Mark Davis.
From 3-2 down, 39-year-old Ebdon rattled off breaks of 88, 135 and a match-winning 64 to take his place in the quarter-finals.