Judd Trump accused Dominic Dale of slow play after narrowly scraping past the veteran in the first round at the Welsh Open.

Trump has been desperately searching for form recently, with opening-round defeats at the UK Championship, Masters and German Open undermining his reputation as the sport's new great hope.

An early exit appeared on the cards again when he trailed Dale 3-1 in a best of seven, but he found a way through and then told his opponent his tactics had cost him.

He said: "Dominic was too slow for himself and it caught him out towards the end. He usually goes for his shots but he took no chances today."

Trump will next face Andrew Higginson, a 4-2 winner over Michael Walsey, although world No.1 Mark Selby crashed out.

Mark Williams lost 4-1 to Robert Milkins, although may have had other things on his mind as his wife was in labour, but there were no distractions for Stuart Bingham as he beat Craig Steadman 4-0.

Ding Junhui also enjoyed a whitewash, his against Mark King, while Tom Ford sprung a minor surprise by seeing off Ricky Walden 4-1.

Graeme Dott beat Fergal O'Brien 4-2.

ice hockey A resurgent Braehead Clan bounced back from a recent poor run to dominate the Hull Stingrays 4-1 last night at the Braehead Arena.

The home side rarely looked like relinquishing their early lead after Matt Hanson put them ahead within two minutes. Robert Farmer and Ash Goldie were both to net for Clan before Hull's Jeff Smithnetted midway through the third to set up a close finish.

But with their goaltender off in a desperate bid to find a way back into the match in the final seconds, Jordan Krestanovich capitalised as he broke away to rifle home into an empty net.

The win is Clan's first in five games, with Paul Gardner's men next match being away to Nottingham on Saturday.