The current holder of the Welsh Open title, Ali Carter, comfortably beat Mark Davis in the first round of this year’s tournament with a convincing 5-1 victory.

It was an ominous start from the 30-year-old, who hit a 120 break in his first frame to put Davis firmly on the back foot.

Carter’s opponent did equaliser in the second frame, but this would be as good as it got for the 37-year-old, as the champion broke into his stride and began to exert his dominance.

And although Carter never truly hit top gear during the remainder of the match, it was still a reasonably impressive performance from the man nicknamed “The Captain”, as he sealed further breaks of 57 and 64.

Whether or not he will be able to replicate the form of 2009 during this week remains to be seen, but he now faces a major test in the form of Australian Neil Robertson in the second round of the competition.

World No. 9, Robertson, sealed a 5-2 win against China’s Liu Song. Although it might look like a routine victory on paper for the Australian, Song managed to hold the 27-year-old to two frames a piece before the interval.

Song admitted he was nervous at first, but soon settled into the match. However, Robertson proved too strong for the 26-year-old, who will now concentrate on qualifying for the China Open next month.

Meanwhile, there was a shock result involving Peter Ebdon, as he was hammered by Barry Hawkings. The 2002 world champion, Ebdon, was whitewashed by the world number 17 in a result which no-one in their right mind would have predicted before the tournament started.

There’s now a strong possibility that Ebdon will lose his place in snooker’s top 16 after this defeat – if he does, it will be the first time in 16 years that he has slipped out of the elite bracket.

And finally, the third Englishman to advance to the second round was Andrew Higginson, after he beat Marco Fu by five frames to two.

The result leaves Ding Junhui as the sole Chinese competitor left in the competition; while Higginson will now face either Mark Williams or Fergal O’Brien in the last 16.

The first round action will resume this afternoon, with the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Shaun Murphy and Stephen Hendry all vying for a place in the next round of the Welsh Open.

Rob Swan