Dutch Champion Stefan Mazrocis set the ball rolling in style on day one, posting the first century of the event during a 4-1 defeat of Wales' No. 1 Gavin Pantall.

Defending Champion, Pankaj Advani from India, got his defence off to a solid start, with a 4-0 defeat of Holland's Rolf de Jong, a former World Under 21 finalist.

Pakistan's Saleh Mohammad, beaten in last year's final, is hoping to go one better this year, and he set off in style, with breaks of 62, 66 and 90 in a comprehensive win against Malta's veteran, Joe Grech, who was runner up as long ago as 1987.

Qatar's Mohsen Abdulaziz, a WSA Challenge Tour professional, notched the day's second century, running in 102 on the way to a 4-0 win over Japan's Yusuke Tanaka.

European Seniors Champion, Alan Trigg, from Leeds, made his intentions pretty clear, blasting in a break of 118 against Iceland's Gylfi Ingason.

But Trigg is up against some high quality opposition in the inaugural World Seniors event and India's Geet Sethi, three times the World Billiards Champion, set out with a 3-1 win against Winston Dwyer. But it wasn't the best of starts for Sethi, who flew from India via Heathrow, but his luggage didn't. Sethi has to play in "civvies" and looked far from comfortable.

Fellow billiards stars Joe Minici and Robby Foldvari, from Australia, both started their campaigns in style as did pre-tournament favourite, Dene O'Kane, New Zealand's former World Top 16 player. O'Kane rattled in breaks of 72 and 62 against Northern Ireland's Kieran Erwin.