John Higgins did his best to banish the memory of his Malta Cup collapse against Graeme Dott by reaching the last eight of the Rileys Club Masters at Wembley tonight.
By cruising to a 6-1 win Higgins extended Chris Small's losing start to the season.
Higgins, the 1999 Masters champion, won 6-1 and now faces compatriot Stephen Hendry or Stephen Lee.
Victory was a relief after going down 6-5 to Dott having led 5-2 in a remarkable semi-final.
"That was a bad, bad loss but I suppose it makes you try even harder," said Higgins.
"But I do feel I am coming back into my best form. At least I'm getting in positions to throw matches away.
"I've not even been doing that in the last two or three years.
"I'm delighted to have won because I've been here before and come unstuck in the first round."
Higgins knocked in breaks of 106, 60, 47 and 48 to lead 4-0 before world number 12 Small from Edinburgh stopped the rot.
Higgins, who has compiled five maximum breaks in competition, saw the possibility of a sixth in frame six - but he only reached 65 before missing the ninth black.
He did take the frame and then won the match with bits and pieces in the seventh.
