Paul Hunter and Matthew Stevens will put their friendship aside next week when they go head-to-head for a place in the Embassy World Championship quarter-finals.
Indeed, Hunter promises it will be a painful experience for his Welsh friend when they meet over the best-of-25-frame clash.
The 24-year-old Leeds professional sailed into round two with a 10-5 victory over Ali Carter.
Qualifier Carter at least added some respectability to the scoreline after facing an embarrassing whitewash.
The Tiptree professional lost the first eight frames and eventually closed the deficit to 9-5 before Hunter put him out of his misery.
"I've got a good record against Matthew so I'm going to win," Hunter joked. "He might actually be slight favourite because he has got a good record here having reached the final and two semi-finals.
Elsewhere Stephen Hendry potted his way into the World Championship record books yet again as he began the second round of the tournament against fellow Scot Drew Henry this afternoon.
Hendry's break of 115 in frame six was his 100th century at The Crucible since making his debut against Willie Thorne in 1986.
It also enabled him to draw level at 3-3 with Henry, who shocked the seven-times champion by opening up with the first three frames.
Hendry's ton of tons is a superb achievement as John Higgins, his nearest rival, lags behind on 63.
Yet 34-year-old Hendry wasn't exactly in good humour as he left the arena. For the second match running he failed to produce his best snooker.
The world number six, attempting to win his first world crown since 1999, was sluggish against Gary Wilkinson.
The match resumes tomorrow morning with a further eight frames before concluding tomorrow night with the final nine frames.
The eventual winner will play Alan McManus, the world number 15, or O'Sullivan's first-round conqueror Marco Fu.