Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis both edged tight matches to book their places in the last 16 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix.
Former world champions both triumph in the final frame
Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis both emerged triumphant in the final frame to book their places in the last 16 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix in Glasgow.
Hendry overcome Dave Gilbert 5-4, while Davis edged an equally tense encounter with Australian Neil Robertson by the same score.
Seven-times world champion Hendry struggled to find his rhythm on his home patch but eventually progressed courtesy of breaks of 69, 70 and 98.
However, he was given a real scare by Gilbert who came from 2-0 down and 4-3 down to take the contest to a deciding frame, but it was Hendry who held his nerve to seal his passage.
"I'm very relieved to get my first win of the season," admitted Hendry afterwards. "I've had a slow start to the season and, when you're not getting the wins, panic starts to set in a little bit.
"I was just thankful David gave me the chance in the last frame - he left me a pot on a blue ball over a corner pocket. I was delighted to get through.
"At times I felt really good. I made a couple of nice breaks, I potted some good long balls and made some good safety shots.
"But it's just the unforced errors which come when you're lacking confidence."
Gilbert, who made breaks of 123 and 88, was predictably disappointed by his defeat and felt he had let his opponent off the hook.
"I chucked it away, I should have won," said Gilbert, who led Hendry 5-1 at the 2007 World Championship before the Scot staged a comeback to triumph 10-7.
"I started badly, but when I got back to 2-2 I really fancied my chances. I felt good out there but I played some slack shots and made too many errors.
"I want to be at the venues and I want to be beating the top players, but I've got to sharpen up.
"If my focus was a bit better and my safety was sharper, then I would have won that match."
Davis also held his composure as he got the better of Robertson in a scrappy encounter.
The six-time world champion could not muster a break of higher than 43 but still did enough to get the better of his rival in a marathon encounter that lasted over four hours.
"That's a big scalp for me," a delighted Davis commented of his win. "I was like granite out there, I had to be because neither of us played great."
A new random draw is being used at this year's event and Davis added: "It's a much better format than last year, the group format didn't really work.
"A knockout style draw is good fun. It's great because there's a good chance a dark horse can come through and win this event."
