Stuart Bingham was the latest first-round casualty at the Betfred World Championship as the 2015 winner was eliminated by Jack Lisowski.
Bingham or defending champion Mark Selby had emerged victorious in Sheffield in each of the previous four years but neither man has been able to make it past the first hurdle this time.
Lisowski had held a 5-4 lead heading into the evening session, which was disrupted when one of the lights went out in the 10th frame, and he secured a 10-7 victory - his first at the Crucible.
"The goal was just to settle instead of having too much pressure on myself," Lisowski told World Snooker.
"I just thought I just want to feel comfortable out there. To make a century in the first frame of the day, that really relaxed me.
"It was amazing just to be able to embrace it and not feel as intimidated as I did in 2013 when it was all just too much for me."
One away!
— World Snooker (@WorldSnooker1) April 24, 2018
📡 @JackLisowski fires in a superb break of 98 after the break, and clears to the pink to go a frame from his first ever win at the Crucible! [9-6]#ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/CrwtT9QOLL
Earlier in the day, Ding Junhui underlined his championship ambitions by closing out victory over Chinese compatriot Xiao Guodong in little more than an hour in the first round.
The world number three held a healthy 6-3 overnight lead and quickly reeled off four frames in a row to clinch a 10-3 win, setting up a clash with either Anthony McGill or Ryan Day next.
It was an encouraging opening display from Ding, whose bid to become the first Chinese player to go all the way in this competition saw him bounce back from an early 2-0 deficit on Monday, notching one century and seven 50-plus breaks along the way.
He told www.worldsnooker.com: "I played well in the end. I just went for my shots and made some breaks. I didn't play a lot of safety, I just went for the shots without caring, it surprised me.
"Xiao is always looking to beat me. You could see in the first session he played quite well at the start to lead 2-0. He's a good player, but he doesn't have that much experience of beating the top 16. He needs more experience to improve."
One of the finest sights in snooker!
— World Snooker (@WorldSnooker1) April 24, 2018
Ding Junhui giving top spin tutorials... 👏 #ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/QulkEGMSMV
Ding's serene progress is in stark contrast to the fortunes of those above him in the rankings, with world number one Mark Selby already eliminated and Ronnie O'Sullivan labouring before eventually coming through.
Ding added: "I'm confident in my form but I try not to worry about form too much, I'm just looking forward to another chance. It's good to smile out there, it takes the pressure away if I play some bad shots.
"Everyone is under pressure here, but Mark Selby had the most pressure because he was the defending champion. It surprised me that he lost in the first round.
"I'd like to play Ronnie O'Sullivan later in the tournament because I want to improve myself and I want to play the hardest ones to beat, to test myself."
In total five top-16 players have been knocked out already after Luca Brecel suffered a 10-6 loss to Ricky Walden.
Brecel was 8-3 down but won the next three frames to increase the pressure, only for qualifier Walden to hold off the comeback and get over the line.
"My mind was a bit scrambled, I was making a lot of mistakes, I just tried to clear my mind," Walden told the BBC.
"(I was) lucky to get through there in the end. The qualifying... if you can manage to scrap your way through, you are sharper for it. That's (been) proven this week."
Another world champion is facing elimination too, with Neil Robertson trailing Robert Milkins 6-3 following Tuesday's evening session.
However, Mark Williams, twice a winner of this tournament, was encountering no problems in his contest against Jimmy Robertson having built up a 7-2 lead.
At one point the Welshman stunned the crowd by sinking a green without looking when snookered.
