Mark Allen got his season up and running in perfect fashion as he overcame Daniel Wells at Kaspersky Riga Masters qualifying in Preston. The Antrim potter is looking to build on what was the biggest season of his career to date last time around.

Allen became a Triple Crown title winner for the first time in January when he saw off Kyren Wilson in a Masters thriller at Alexandra Palace. The 32-year-old will be hoping to reach similar levels of success during this campaign and he got things off to a competent start with a 4-2 win over Wells. Allen, ranked 16th in the world, made composed breaks of 93, 63, 79 and 62 on his way to victory.

World number nine Wilson was also in action in Preston and he was pushed to a deciding frame against Dominic Dale, but prevailed a 4-3 winner. There was never more than a frame between the pair, but it was Wilson who progressed with a top break of 66.

Chinese sensation Yan Bingtao overcame a difficult opening round draw to defeat Martin Gould 4-1, while Scotland’s Anthony McGill delivered a harsh introduction to Tour debutant Kishan Hirani, running out a 4-0 winner.

Jack Lisowski, Ben Woollaston, Rory McLeod, Xiao Guodong, Stephen Maguire and Joe Perry were also among the winners on day one of the Riga Masters qualifiers. Former world champion Stuart Bingham was the highest profile casualty, losing 4-0 to Niu Zhuang, despite the Englishman having his chances in the first three frames.

Allen is 1.13 to defeat Peter Lines on Friday, with the latter priced at 5.50 for an upset success.