The Welsh Open qualifiers commenced on Tuesday at the Aldersley Arena in Wolverhampton.
Jimmy Robertson and Matthew Stevens were among the early winners as the first round of the last Home Nations event of the season began.
Robertson, who impressed en route to a semi-final spot in last week’s Players Championship where he lost to eventual champion Neil Robertson, edged Peter Devlin 4-3.
Devlin had established a two-frame lead early on but Robertson fought back to eventually prevail with a break of 53 in the final frame.
Aided by contributions of 96, 66, 62, and 53, Stevens recorded a more comprehensive 4-1 defeat over Joe O’Connor to guarantee his involvement in his home tournament.
The Welshman, a former UK and Masters champion, is currently battling for tour survival and is provisionally outside the top 64 on the end-of-year rankings list.
Countryman Jamie Clarke was the first player to make it through after a 4-2 victory against Farakh Ajaib, but Jackson Page bowed out following a 4-1 reverse to Mark Joyce.
Elsewhere, Robbie Williams and Ben Hancorn sealed one-sided triumphs against amateur top-ups Sanderson Lam and David Lilley respectively.
An unusual schedule sees the Welsh Open qualifiers take place over a stretched six days, just one day shy of the tournament itself that starts at the end of the month.
On Wednesday, the needlessly slow process will continue with eight more matches and Scottish Open champion Luca Brecel among those entering the fray.
Live coverage is available on the Eurosport Player and Matchroom.Live.
Click here to view the draw (scheduled times in CET)
Featured photo credit: WST
