Mark Selby began his China Championship title defense with a 5-3 victory over Chen Failing in Guangzhou on Monday.
The former World number one, who hasn’t won on the Main Tour since his successful outing in China more than twelve months ago, was made to work for his passage into the last 64.
Mark Selby is among a group of high-profile names who are jostling for the crucial tournament victory that would help secure a spot in prestigious Champion of Champions taking place this year.
The three-time World Champion could miss out on the Ricoh Arena if he can’t get hold of a Silverware either this week or in the upcoming English or World Opens. He continues his China Championship defense on Tuesday with a fifth against Lu Ming in the first round proper.
Fellow stars Mark Williams and Ding Junhui found themselves in a similar situation, needing to etch their names on a trophy before the 16-man field is confirmed for Coventry.
While Williams easily defeated Kishan Hirani 5-1 though he lost a single frame, home hero Ding went one better with an easy defeat of Brandon Sargeant.
Meanwhile, current world champion and world number one Judd Trump also had few problems as he played much better than veteran James Wattana for a 5-1 triumph in his own held over qualifying match.
Trump came out victorious in the last ranking event in China when he excellently romped to success in the International Championship last month.
John Higgins, last year’s runner-up in Guangzhou, and Barry Hawkins also moved forward – reaching the last 32 with relative ease.
Ryan Day denied Joe O’Connor 5-4, as he held off a late fight back, Matthew Stevens prevailed in a battle of Wales with Dominic Dale, while another former ranking event winner in Martin Gould reversed a 3-1 deficit to power past Scott Donaldson.
Among some of the other names to make it through the opening day were Indian Open Champion Matthew Selt, Kurt Maflin, Li Hang, and Chris Wakelin. The likes of former champion Luca Brecel and Australian Neil Robertson will be entering the fold on Tuesday.
Mark Selby is priced at 1.29 to defeat Ning LU, while LU is available at 3.50.