IAN Preece admitted he is bamboozling even himself at just how profitable his long-potting game is becoming after scraping his way into the second round of the Coral Scottish Open, writes Ross Lawson.

The Newport cueman had an almighty tussle with Michael Wild on Tuesday evening, eventually prevailing 4-3 at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena.

That was despite his game being far from flawless, with neither player registering a break of 50 or more in the entire match.

It showed exactly why the two sit beside each other in the rankings, with world 110 Preece believing his exceptional long-distance snooker was the difference between the pair.

“In seven frames I don’t think I’ve missed a single long ball,” said Preece, who plays Robert Milkins this afternoon.

“But other than it’s not been a brilliant performance, it was really scrappy from both of us and a bit of a fight to get over the line.

“When you’re struggling then you have to do that, I had a bad record of deciding frames last year and this was my first of this season so there were definite nerves with that.

“To be honest, I was dreading it, I just tried to stay calm and I didn’t miss in the last frame so I’m delighted with that confidence boost.”

Cwm’s Mark Williams is also into the last 64 – he plays Michael Holt this afternoon – after easing past Rod Lawler 4-0.

Williams took the first two frames before breaks of 74 and 61 saw him over the line against the Liverpudlian.

But while Preece and Williams made it through, their Gwent counterparts, Lee Walker and Jak Jones, exited at the first hurdle.

Cwmbran’s Jones was whitewashed 4-0 by former world champion Graeme Dott, while Newbridge’s Walker lost 4-1 to Northern Ireland’s Joe Swail.

Swail went into a 2-0 lead thanks to breaks of 80 and 87 but Walker hit back courtesy of a century.

Another run of 80 in the fourth frame gave Swail a 3-1 advantage and the former Crucible semi-finalist wrapped things up in the next.

Of the other Welsh players competing in Scotland, Ryan Day, Dominic Dale, Matthew Stevens, Duane Jones, Gareth Allen, Daniel Wells and Michael White all won their first round ties.

However, as well as the Gwent duo, Jamie Jones and David John also made early exits.

Watch the Scottish Open live on Eurosport 1 and Quest, featuring daily studio analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.