Disappointment for White in Welsh Open

Ali Carter today cruised into the second round of the Welsh Open with a 5-1 victory over Jimmy White today.

White had battled through four qualifying rounds to reach the televised stages in Newport, but never looked like pulling off a shock win over the World Championship runner-up.

Carter, a qualified pilot, took a scrappy opening frame before White levelled the scores with a break of 72.

However, that was as good as it got for the left-hander, who went 2-1 behind after narrowly missing a crucial long black into the top corner pocket.

Carter won the next frame as well to take a 3-1 lead into the mid-session interval, and a superb long red after a loose safety shot from White helped the Essex professional extend his lead.

Carter wrapped up the win in style with a break of 72, his highest of the match, to advance to the last 16.

Defending champion Mark Selby was also on course for a comfortable win, racing into a 4-0 lead over qualifier Paul Davies.

Selby heavily outscored his opponent and rattled in a total clearance of 126 in the fourth frame, going in-off from the final black.

This afternoon's other first-round matches were closer affairs however, with former world champion Shaun Murphy beating Barry Pinches 5-3 and Dave Gilbert beating Joe Perry 5-4.

Pinches threatened to take the match to a deciding frame when he cleared the colours to force a re-spotted black, but Murphy prevailed to advance to the second round.

Gilbert, who beat local favourite Mark Williams last night, secured his second big scalp of the week in a see-saw contest with Perry.

There was never more than a frame in it before Gilbert took the deciding frame 72-0, thanks largely to a break of 49.

Selby duly completed a 5-0 whitewash with a break of 73, Davies managing a highest break of just 27 in the match.