White suffers first-round defeat

Jimmy White was dumped out of the Northern Ireland Trophy after a 5-3 first-round defeat by Barry Hawkins.

White led 2-0 but fell 4-2 behind and, even though a 52 saw him peg a frame back, Hawkins held his nerve to win.

"It's disappointing not to perform," said White, who is down to 65th in the world rankings.

"It was very scrappy. My safety game was really poor and I kept leaving him with easy balls. It got a bit frustrating in the end."

He added: "I just love playing, but it does get frustrating when you're playing well and you don't produce it on the match table.

606: DEBATE What did you make of Jimmy's defeat?

"Your safety is a huge part of your game, if you don't get that going then you'll find it hard to score."

Hawkins will now meet Marco Fu in the next round and he believes there are some promising signs of improvement in White's game.

"Playing Jimmy was nerve-racking. I've always supported him and got on well with him," he said.

"I know he's been struggling in the last two years, but it's still tough to play him.

"He's obviously hitting the ball better than he has done for a couple of years and I think he can get back up the rankings."

Qualifiers Mark Davis, who beat Joe Swail 5-4, and Stuart Pettman - a 5-1 winner over Nigel Bond - are also through to the second round.

And Ken Doherty needed until past midnight to see off Gerard Greene 5-2.