Mark Williams, twice world champion in his past five visits to The Crucible, described himself as "only 20% of the player I was 18 months ago" and expressed doubts that "I'm going to get that standard back".

Beaten 5-2 in the Totesport grand prix here by Michael Judge, a Dubliner who stands 42nd in the rankings, Williams said: "I practise hard and I try my hardest in matches but it's just not happening at the moment."

Judge said his victory was the best of his 12-year career "because I've beaten a top player on television". His 70 clearance for the black-ball win to go 3-2 ahead proved crucial.

Williams, with breaks of 57 and 72, showed a couple of glimpses of the form that made him, this time last year, world, UK and Masters champion, but he produced too many mistakes and lacked confidence on long pots.

John Higgins, the 1998 world champion, made the fifth 147 maximum of his career in the third frame of his match with Ricky Walden, earning a bonus of £20,000.

Paul Hunter was given a tough match by another Welsh left-hander, Darren Morgan, before prevailing 5-3. Morgan, the former world semi-finalist and world No8, had plummeted down the rankings after the deaths of first his mother and then his father, apparently losing all feeling for the game in the process. But the enthusiasm of youngsters in the club he now owns rekindled his interest during the summer.

Although Hunter reached 3-1 with a 108 break, Morgan not only took advantage of a couple of his lapses to level but led by 46 in the seventh. But Hunter won that frame in three scoring visits and the next with a break of 126 to clinch his place in the last 32.

Stephen McGuire bizarrely forfeited his opening frame but went on to beat Shaun Murphy 5-2. The tournament director Michael Ganley ruled that the 23-year-old Scot must forfeit the frame for late arrival after he forgot his chalk and left the hall to retrieve it.