Welshman Jamie Jones managed to overcome the loss of his cue in the lead up to Kaspersky Riga Masters to beat Rod Lawler. Jones finds himself through to the next round after an impressive 4-2 victory over Rod ‘The Plod’ Lawler and that was despite having to use a cue that was foreign to him.

“I was on the plane yesterday with Michael White and we were sharing a sport tube (to carry their cues),” explained Jones. “Then someone came on and said Michael had to get off the plane because he had booked it late and it was over-booked. The cue case was in his name so he had to take it off.

“So when I flew here my head was gone, to say the least. Luckily a Latvian player turned up this morning with a cue which is exactly like my old one.

“I was able to borrow it and I played as well as I could have done. My own cue has turned up now and I will use it in my next match, so I probably won’t be able to pot a ball!”

Meanwhile, defending champion Ryan Day was beaten 4-3 in the first round in an all-British affair. It was Welshman Day who managed to overcome the Scot Stephen Maguire in the Latvian final last year but he has fallen at the first hurdle this time around.

Elsewhere, world champion Mark Williams avoided a potential banana skin and progressed after a 4-2 win against Ben Woollaston.