Ronnie O'Sullivan breezed to victory in his first competitive match since the World Championship in April.
O'Sullivan, who has not played a tour match since losing to Stuart Bingham in the quarterfinals at The Crucible, saw off Hamza Akbar 5-1 in Wigan in the first round of qualifiers for the German Masters.
The five-time world champion went into the interval with a 3-1 lead thanks to breaks of 61 and 52, before coming back to seal the win further runs of 58 and 51.
He will now meet Jamie Cope or Stuart Carrington on Sunday for the chance to play in the Berlin ranking event in February.
The 40-year-old has already confirmed he will play at the UK Masters at London's Alexandra Palace in January.