Final-frame wins for the 'old boys'

Veterans Stephen Hendry, 40 in January and Steve Davis, 51, both wIn in the deciding frame to progress to the last 16.

Stephen Hendry, a four-time winner of the Grand Prix, scrapes past qualifier David Gilbert 5-4.

GLASGOW // Veterans Stephen Hendry, 40 in January and Steve Davis, 51, both won in the deciding frame to progress to the last 16 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix. Hendry, winner of the title on four occasions, fought his way to a 5-4 victory over qualifier David Gilbert while fellow veteran Davis, a three-time GP champion, triumphed by the same scoreline against Australian left-hander Neil Robertson.

Breaks of 69, 70 and 98 helped Hendry progress, but the world No 6, 12th on the provisional rankings, found life tough on home soil. Gilbert, a part-time labourer on his father's potato farm, fought back from 2-0 and 4-3 down to force a decider - and even missed a chance of a maximum 147 in the eighth frame. The world No 43 broke down on 88 having earlier fired in a 123 in the third frame. "I'm very relieved to get my first win of the season," admitted Hendry. "I've had a slow start and when you're not getting the wins, panic starts to set in a little bit.

"I was just thankful David gave me the chance in the last frame - he left me a pot on a blue ball over a corner pocket. I was delighted to get through." Hendry added: "At times I felt good. I made a couple of nice breaks, I potted some long balls and made some good safety shots. "But it's just the unforced errors which come when you're lacking confidence that can be so costly." "I chucked it away, I should have won," reflected Gilbert, who led Hendry 5-1 at the 2007 World Championship before the Scot staged a comeback to win 10-7.

"I started badly, but when I got back to 2-2 I really fancied my chances. "I felt good out there but I played some slack shots and made too many errors. I want to be at the venues and I want to be beating the top players, but I've got to sharpen up. If my focus was a bit better and my safety was sharper, then I would have won that match." Meanwhile, Davis kept his composure to edge into the next round after his match with Robertson, twice a ranking-event winner, dragged on for over four hours.

"The Nugget" mustered a top break of only 43, but said: "That's a big scalp for me. I was like granite out there, I had to be because neither of us played great." A new random draw is being used at this year's event and Davis added: "It's a much better format than last year, the group format didn't really work. "A knockout-style draw is good fun. It's great because there's a good chance a dark horse can come through and win this event."

The defending champion Marco Fu was forced to produce a battling comeback to secure his place in the last 16 of this year's tournament losing the first two frames but winning 5-2 against Pontefract journeyman, Jimmy Michie. Michael Holt also progressed to the last 16 on completing a 5-1 victory over the Irishman Mark Allen. The newly crowned Shanghai Masters champion Ricky Walden suffered an early exit as he lost 5-4 against Ryan Day. Walden had made several brilliant comebacks in winning his maiden ranking title in China earlier this month.

He threatened another fightback when he recovered from 4-2 down to 4-4 against Day, but the Welsh world No 8 showed his break-building class in the decider with a run of 62 to clinch victory. [e-mail]