Shaun Murphy stuttered towards a 6-3 lead against James Wattana in the first session of his Crucible title defence on the opening day of the 888.com World Championship.
Murphy, who won the tournament last year as a qualifier, failed to construct a century break in the opening nine frames but did enough to take a three-frame advantage into the evening session in Sheffield.
Both players missed elementary pots, but it was Rotherham-based Murphy who looked a touch more composed in the scrappy early exchanges of the best-of-19 encounter.
In the opening frame, a nasty kick accounted for Wattana missing a simple red, allowing the world champion to seize an early advantage in the first-round clash.
Murphy, who has been suffering with flu this week, took the second frame by putting together a run of 54, before establishing a three-frame lead in more convincing fashion.
Wattana, 36, edged the fourth but was denied an immediate way back into the match after the mid-session interval as Murphy took advantage of more profligacy.
The 23-year-old Murphy followed up a 55 break with a clearance in the sixth frame after Wattana had misjudged a green on its spot.
He then showed glimpses of his form from a year ago to go 6-1 up, although his Thai opponent stayed in touch thanks to an outrageous fluke in the eighth frame when he potted the brown while trying to escape a snooker. Wattana took the final frame of the session to reduce arrears further.
On the other table, Graeme Dott stormed into a 7-2 lead against former world champion John Parrott.
Dott sealed the opener with a double on the black for a 98 break, and the 28-year-old then took the opening six frames.
Parrott fought back with consecutive frames but missed the deciding black in the final action of the session, losing his chance to reduce the deficit to three.
