The defending champion, who has returned home to practice in Wales before his second-round match on Thursday, looked low on confidence before finally booking his place in the second round.

And the 26-year-old blamed poor form and an unresponsive match table for his below-par display.

He said: ‘‘The table was dead, really slow. The cushions were absolutely shocking. I hope they get a lot better as the tournament goes on otherwise I think you’ll see a lot of people struggle.

‘‘It was better during the evening session but it still wasn’t very good. It’s hard work and when you’re struggling it makes you look a bit stupid. It was the first day and perhaps they will wear in a bit.’’

Snaddon, who also struggled to find his best form, described the table as ‘‘disgraceful’’.

The Alloa-based professional admitted that he turned down a couple of the shots during the game because he was not sure how the cue ball would react.

Snaddon said: ‘‘I had a chance to go 7-5 down. I potted the blue and I thought I was going to get it absolutely perfect but it must have bounced six-feet past. What can you do?

‘‘You’ve just got to try and adapt to it. It was exactly the same in Aberdeen last week on the table I played. It was a very poor standard playing in the last 32 of a ranking tournament.’’

Williams will be hoping he can turn on the style in his second-round match scheduled for Thursday.

The talented left-hander will meet either Ireland’s Joe Swail or Sean Storey, who play their first-round match on Wednesday.