Liang Wenbo's domination during his 4-1 demolition of Poramin Danjirakul in his first match of the tournament on Monday was such that it has left pundit making adjustments to their list of pre-tournament favourites.
In another wild card match, Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm, the world No. 33, cruised to a 4-2 victory over two-time former national champion Somporn Kunthawung of Chiang Mai.
Liang Wenbo, the 2005 world under-21 champion who has also performed on the world professional Main Tour over the two seasons, got down to the business from the word go and there was no looking back for him.
In the four frames that Liang Wenbo's way, Poramin did nothing wrong, probably due to the plain fact that the young Thai was hardly given a chance to do anything at all.
Poramin's only chance of making an impression on the sizeable crowd at the venue came in the fourth frame and he did not baulk on it as a break of 61, the highest of the match, helped him avoid a duck.
Ratchapol was expected to come across some trouble against Somporn and the Thai star had his share of problems on the table on Monday. He needed two crafty breaks of 50-plus to help him cross the line.
In Tuesday's matches, Liang Wenbo is expected to have another smooth sailing in his last 16 round match against qualifier Chatchawal Rutphae and Ratchapol should be able to get past Tumthong Chuenban without any major trouble.
Also on Tuesday, Phaithoon Phonbun takes on Passakorn Suwannawat, the 2006 Asian youth champion who upset local snooker star Wanchana Poomjaeng 4-3 on Sunday evening, and veteran Praprut Chaithanasakul faces Nitiwat Kanjanasri.
Frame scores:
Sunday evening's Last 32 round: Passakorn Suwannawat beat Wanchana Poomjaeng 4-3 (34-104, 63-40, 29-66, 1-73(73), 108-21, 62-6, 61-54)
Monday's wild card round: Liang Wenbo (China) beat Poramin Danjirakul 4-1 (92-17, 82-8, 62-10, 36-81(61), 50-6); Ratchapol Pu-Ob-Orm beat Somporn Kunthawung 4-2 (54-65, 72-16, 67(50)-13, 51-65, 77(57)-20, 79-26).
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