Barry Hawkins: Edged past Steve Davis in the opening match
Defending champion Barry Hawkins edged into the second round of the World Snooker Shootout with a 45-42 victory over Steve Davis.
The match opened the show at the Circus Arena in Blackpool and it was a dramatic start to the night, with Hawkins fouling early only for Davis to forget the new 'ball in hand' rule.ResultsB Hawkins 45-42 S DavisM Williams 73-0 M Dunn
M Allen 63-11 T Ford
A Hamilton 84-8 S Bingham
M White 64-17 J Perry
M Campbell 63-1 M Stevens
M Selt 58-17 G Dott
J Lisowski 61-35 A Duffy
R Walden 43-43 D Gilbert
*Walden won shootout
J Jones 67-9 M King
D Dale 31-6 P Ebdon
R Milkins 43-30 A Carter
M Holt 54-10
J White 36-69 T Un-Nooh
B Woollaston 50-14 P Davison
A McManus 61-13 F O'Brien
The veteran duly fouled, handing the initiative back, although it was Davis who led for much of the 10 minutes despite fluffing a straight yellow cueing left handed.
But a brief safety duel saw Hawkins handed a chance to get the few points he needed to keep alive his hopes of successive titles.
Mark Williams thrashed Mike Dunn 73-0 thanks mainly to a break of 46 while Anthony Hamilton surprised Stuart Bingham 84-8 with some fluent potting in breaks of 54 and 24.
Mark Allen knocked in a break of 33 against Tom Ford who had his chances, a missed red to the centre finally putting paid to his hopes as the Northern Irishman won 63-11 with more than two minutes to spare.
There was disappointment for the vocal crowd when Jimmy White was crushed 69-36 by Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, the Chinese prodigy rattling in a break of 41 to leave the veteran requiring snookers.
Welshman Michael White overcame a nervy start to beat Joe Perry 64-17 after a break of 59, while last year's semi-finalist Marcus Campbell saw off Matthew Stevens 63-1.
Matthew Selt rattled in breaks of 28 and 25 to overcome Graeme Dott 58-17, while promising youngster Jack Lisowski defeated Adam Duffy 61-35 thanks largely to an early run of 38.
Ricky Walden and David Gilbert were inseparable at 43-43, thus forcing a blue-ball shootout for the first time in the event, and after Gilbert missed his first effort Walden calmly slotted to the left-corner pocket.
Dominic Dale defeated Peter Ebdon 31-6 in a scrappy affair in which Ebdon potted his first ball inside the final five minutes following a lengthy safety duel.
There were also wins for Jamie Jones over Mark King, 67-9, Robert Milkins against Ali Carter, 43-30 and Michael Holt who was a 49-10 victor in his match with Jamie Burnett.
Leicester's Ben Woollaston defeated Paul Davison 50-14 in an edgy affair, while in the final match of the night Alan McManus coolly brushed aside Fergal O'Brien 61-13.
The remaining first round ties will take place on Saturday afternoon before the evening session that will be contested by the last 16.
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