The sheer dominance of World Champion Mark Selby and Crucible regular Stephen Maguire ensured that spectators of the first day evening session had very little to see.
With both players opening up mammoth leads against their respective opponents, the two matches were as good as over by the end of the first session.
However, multi-World Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has left himself with a lot of work to do when he returns to the table on Sunday.
O'Brien no match for the World's best
Selby was pitted against experienced campaigner Fergal O'Brien who overcame the longest frame in snooker history to make the Crucible stage. In a tense opening frame where both players struggled to grasp the speed of the table, it looked as though the Irish outsider could drag a long contest out of the World number one.
Yet Selby mucked his way through the opener before formulating a 50 break in frame two. He then began to find his feet as O'Brien all of a sudden began to look down the barrel of an unwanted record.
Breaks of 63, 77 and 56 helped Selby to an 8-0 lead as the possibility of only a second ever whitewash became apparent. Fortunately for the Irishman he managed to register on the scoreboard in the final frame of the session.
Selby then came out all guns blazing in the evening session with his highest break of the match, a neat 92. With the World Champion just one frame away from the second round, O'Brien required six points to ensure he did not leave the Crucible with the lowest points tally in World Championship history.
Yet O'Brien is a tough character and managed to put another frame on the board, before being edged out in the twelfth to lose 10-2 and exit the competition.
Maguire shows his class as he dominates the table
A much tighter contest was predicted as the two players ranked closest in the opening round draw went into battle. However, the match was to follow the same outcome as the other side of the divider, as qualifier Stephen Maguire showed his class against World number 15 Anthony McGill.
Just nine places separating the Scottish pair was apparent from the off, as they traded blows with two half-century breaks apiece. McGill took the fourth with a break of 55 before he experienced an excruciating period away from the action.
Maguire went on to win seven consecutive frames with compilations of 97, 60, 50, 59 and 57, whilst McGill potted just one ball. He was able to show some resilience in frame twelve, only for Maguire to trump him with a 58 as the contest finished 10-2 at just about the same time as Selby's success.
Gary Wilson fights back against the legendary O'Sullivan
In contrast, top 16 seeds Ronnie O'Sullivan and Kyren Wilson undertook a much tougher afternoon session against their respective opponents. Headliner O'Sullivan looked to be in great form as he made breaks of 57, 58, 63 and 58 in the first three frames alone against Gary Wilson.
The qualifier struck back with a break of 54 to open his account for the first time at the Crucible, only for O'Sullivan to execute the first century break of this year's competition, reaching 122 in typical Rocket fashion.
At 4-1 many would have expected O'Sullivan to run away with the contest. He added another in the sixth, only for World number 59 Wilson to show his determination before the session ended. Breaks of 64 and 63 drew Wilson back in before O'Sullivan failed to build on a formulation of 63 as Wilson left the score 5-4 overnight.
Grace fails to give up
Like O'Sullivan, World number 14 Kyren Wilson raced into a healthy lead against his opponent David Grace. A tight opener went the way of the young hotshot before a break of 58 gave Wilson clear air. World number 51 Grace edged the third, a prelude to both players sharing time at the table with a frame and 70-plus break apiece.
Another tight encounter ensued, with Wilson coming off better by six points. The star from Kettering then added the seventh as he went 5-2 ahead. Yet Grace was not willing to let his Crucible debut filter out as a break of 56 helped him on his way to the last two frames of the session.