The first round was held from 18 to 23 April with matches played as the best-of-19 frames over two sessions. Defending champion Joe Johnson played Eugene Hughes, with the match being going to a and Johnson winning 10–9. Steve Davis was 7–1 ahead of Warren King at the end of their first session. King then won six of the next seven frames to reduce Davis's lead to one frame at 8–7. Davis narrowly won frame 16 with a break of 63, then won the next after needing his opponent to make foul shots to win 10–7.