Rod Lawler and Stephen Croft, both local Liverpool players, qualified through their sections of the draw on Day One of the Merseyside Professional Championship at George Scott Club in Liverpool.

Lawler (left), priced at 50/1 before play commenced, brushed aside James Leadbetter 5-0 in his opener, before beating Baguillt based Ricky Walden 5-3 and finally Neil Jones 5-1, to take his place in the quarter final line up.

Lawler and Walden shared the opening four frames. Lawler clinched the third on the black before Walden levelled with a run of 93. Again Lawler went ahead and this time Walden drew level with a break of 80. A run of 73 took Lawler ahead in frame seven and this time he pushed on to the line, a run of 53 helping, but victory being secured courtesy of a re-spotted black.

Lawler powered into a 3-0 lead against Neal Jones, with breaks of 64 and 74, but Jones won the next two to come within a frame. The pair shared the next two frames, before Lawler closed out the match with a break of 73.

Jones caused the biggest upset of the day with a resounding 5-1 victory over Dave Harold in round two. Jones clinched victory with a superb 144 total clearance, which sets the pace as the high break.

Earlier Jones sneaked a 5-4 victory over Andrew Higginson. Jones supplied breaks of 51 and 109 and Higginson chipped in with 84 and 55.

In the bottom section of the draw Stephen Croft (right) made his intentions clear right from the start with a 5-0 drubbing of Barry Pinches. The Norwich man has been given odds of 14/1 to lift the title while Croft could be backed at 150/1.

Another 150/1 shot, Stephen Rowlings dumped Nick Walker out with a 5-2 win and then faced Croft, who beat him 5-2 to set up a third round match against Scunthorpe's Jeff Cundy.

Croft stormed into a 3-0 lead, helped by a break of 83, but Cundy gained a toe hold in the match, clinching the fourth on the black. Croft moved 4-1 ahead, but Cundy won the next two, but he couldn't do anything about a run of 51 from Croft in the next, which secured a 5-3 victory and a place in the quarter finals.

Defending Champion Stephen Maguire is billed as favourite to lift the title, priced at 13/2. China's high flying teenager Ding Junhui has been installed at 9/1, just ahead of Joe Perry at 10/1. Michael Holt, Gerard Greene, Ryan Day and Barry Pinches were all priced at 14/1.

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