GRAEME Dott is hopeful his first-round victory at the Betway UK Championship on Thursday can finally spark a change in fortune.

The Larkhall cueman has failed to get past the second round of a ranking event this season – being knocked out thanks to inspired performances by the likes of Michael White at the Northern Ireland Open, Liang Wenbo at the English Open and Neil Robertson at the European Masters.

However, he made much more serene progress at the York Barbican on Thursday as he thrashed Wales’ Ian Preece 6-1 to book a second-round clash with Dominic Dale.

“I don’t think Ian played as well as he can play, but I played solid enough – nothing great,” explained Dott.

“I have been a pro for 24 years and I have never, ever been through a spell where people don't seem to miss a ball when I am playing like I have recently.

“It is hard to really beat yourself up when you are losing like that. I have been saying it will turn and hopefully that win will break it up.”

Meanwhile, Glasgow’s Stephen Maguire claims things couldn’t have been easier as he also cruised through round one.

Maguire wasted no time in dispatching an overmatched Cao Yupeng 6-1 – never truly getting out of second gear – although breaks of 54 and 92 in the final two frames were a promise of things to come.

And the 2004 UK Champion was simply relieved to come up against an opponent 95 places below him at 114 in the world.

“It was comfortable – I didn’t play my best but he was not good, to be polite,” said Maguire, who faces Zhao Xintong in round two.

“I gave him the third frame, that was basically just a gift, but it’s a nice game to have under your belt. It was a game that I just wanted to get done and get out of there quickly.

“I’ll take it because I’ve lost a few first-rounders at recent tournaments, so it was nice for someone to play badly against me.

“The tournament doesn’t really start until you’re lucky enough to get to the last 32 or the last 16 anyway.”

Bearsden’s Alan McManus was also in action – fighting back from 5-0 down to trail 5-4 against Michael Wild when the pair were hauled off at the end of the afternoon session, set to resume late on Thursday evening.

Follow the UK Championship LIVE on Eurosport with Colin Murray, Jimmy White, Neal Foulds and Ronnie O’Sullivan.