The Thai also whitewashed O'Sullivan 5-0 in the Thailand Open the previous year, the first of his back-to-back victories in the event.

But out of form for some time since losing his top 16 ranking, Wattana has slowly regained his confidence and against O'Sullivan was back to something like his very best.

He took the opening frame with a break of 85 and followed on with a 91 to lead 2-0. O'Sullivan, who only arrived in Beijing on Monday, had nothing left in the locker to combat the onslaught and as Wattana strode to victory, the points aggregate was astonishing.

O'Sullivan, normally a heavy scorer, amassed 25 points in the last frame and a modest 43 in the other four. Wattana's five-frame total suggested the massacre it was - 419.

"The result was a surprise for everyone, but Ronnie didn't seem to be in the right frame of mind," said Wattana.

"I didn't expect to beat him 5-0, but I was very relaxed out there having already qualified for Sheffield and the world championship.

"And beating John Higgins in the Welsh Open has also given my confidence a tremendous boost," said the Thai, who faces Welsh Open winner Stephen Lee for a place in the quarter-finals.

It will be a big disappointment for tournament organisers after O'Sullivan pulled out of last year's tournament at the last moment on medical grounds.

Earlier, world champion Shaun Murphy made a shock first round exit, going down 5-2 to Michael Holt.

John Higgins narrowly avoided following Murphy and O'Sullivan home, fighting back to beat Stuart Bingham 5-4.

Murphy, who has never travelled further than Malta for a tournament, said the long journey had affected his game.

"I was so tired that at one stage I wanted to leave. I've been waking up in the middle of the night and I am absolutely knackered," he said.

"What I have found is that you have got to adapt to changes, in time zone, culture, diet, the lot. I have not," said Murphy, who had not previously journeyed further than Malta to compete in a professional tournament.

"After this experience I have got a much higher respect for the top golfers who fly all over the world, from continent to continent, week after week. I don't know how they do it.

"Michael had never beaten me before but I am sure he came here looking for me. He played really well and took advantage of the mistakes I made. All I did was leave a couple of safety shots short and missed two pots," added Murphy.

Higgins had to claw his way back against Bingham, who led 4-3 and was 63-11 up in the eighth frame.

But a kick caused a vital red to go astray, allowing Higgins to make a 53 clearance to stay in the game.

"I was thinking about going home," Higgins admitted afterwards.

"I thought Stuart would pot that black all day long. Missing it was a godsend for me and I made the most of it."

Higgins' next opponent is Peter Ebdon, who scraped past Mark Selby 5-4, and world No 14 Joe Perry battled back from 4-1 down to beat Adrian Gunnell by the same score.

Graeme Dott had a slightly more straightforward time as he finally broke his duck in China after four previous fruitless visits.

He beat Yu De Lu 5-1 to set up a second round match with defending champion Ding Junhui. 

John Dee

The Nation

Beijing