John Higgins admitted he was ‘all over the place’ after returning to action for the first time since his father's death with a workmanlike 4-3 win over youngster Jack Lisowski.
The defending champion was far from his best as he managed to avoid an opening-round defeat by Lisowski at the Wyldecrest Park Homes Welsh Open in Newport.
While Masters champion Ding Junhui was also tested in his first match in Wales, world number one Higgins struggled before eventually despatching 19-year-old Englishman Lisowski.
Tearful Higgins, who was playing for the first time since his father - also called John - passed away earlier this month, told worldsnooker.com: ‘My mum told me to come down and do my dad proud.
‘I'd not picked up a cue, but to play was what my dad would have wanted. I was thinking about him being here last year.
‘I was all over the place today, I couldn't concentrate. But it was good to be back playing.’
Lisowski let the Scot know he was in a game by sneaking the first frame in a flying start featuring some lovely shots.
He was less accurate in the second as Higgins brought it back to 1-1 and the slip-ups continued as Higgins produced several 50-something breaks to go 3-1 up.
Higgins was making mistakes of his own, however, and after a 47 saw Lisowski take it to 3-2 the youngster levelled the match.
However, Higgins' class told in the end as Lisowski wasted his opportunity and the world number one held on to set up a last-16 clash with Dave Harold, who overcame Ricky Walden 4-3 earlier.
In the evening session local man Ryan Day thumped veteran Jimmy White 4-0 in less than an hour in their qualifier.
Having breezed into a 2-0 lead, Day produced a 125-break and was then ready to close out the match. He secured the win with a black before carrying on to finish with a 102 and set up a first-round clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan.
In the first round proper Jamie Cope edged a gruelling match 4-3 against Rory McLeod.
This afternoon, Ali Carter had to come from 2-1 and 3-2 down before beating Barry Hawkins 4-3 while Mark King was a 4-1 winner over Michael Holt.
Matthew Stevens beat Anthony Hamilton 4-2 in their qualifying round match.
In the early session, Ding survived a stern test to progress. The Chinese player quickly found himself 2-0 down to Marcus Campbell in the best-of-seven-frames encounter but fought back to triumph 4-3.
The tournament has a new format this year with shorter matches and no interval, and Ding, who will meet either Mark Allen or Rod Lawler in the last 16, is a fan.
He said: ‘I prefer not to have an interval because it makes it more like practice when you are playing all the time with no breaks.
‘In the interval I tend to just practise anyway, so I prefer to just keep playing. I felt relaxed today and played well.’
