White has struggled all season

The 43-year-old will head to Sheffield for the World Championship next month needing to win at least one match to retain his place among the elite.

He has not won a match for five months but appeared to have reversed the trend when he opened a 3-0 lead over Swail.

But the Belfast man fought back to deny White, 29th in the provisional rankings, his first victory of 2006.

"I'm really struggling with confidence," admitted White, who started the season ranked eighth but has only won two matches in six tournaments.

"I'm putting in the work but not producing anything under pressure.

The pressure was really intense and what made it worse was that I knew I wasn't in top form Ding Junhui

"I'll just have to work harder for the World Championship and not have a day off from practising to get myself together."

White faces his regular practice partner David Gray in the first round at The Crucible.

Swail, who compiled breaks of 58, 81 and 67 to secure only his second win over White in nine meetings, is closing in on a return to the top 32 after dropping out last season.

"I feel for Jimmy," he said. "It isn't easy for him and he's under a lot of pressure. It's very sad but he's come up against players in form."

Swail now faces Derby's David Roe, who reached the last 16 of a ranking tournament for the first time in 10 years with a 5-4 victory over Paul Hunter.

It was Hunter's fifth successive loss of the season as he continues to undergo treatment for cancer.

Ding Junhui began his defence of the title in nervous fashion by holding off a stern challenge from Chinese amateur Yang Qingtian.

Ding, who needed a century break in the deciding frame to progress, said: "I'm very relieved to get through.

"The pressure was really intense and what made it worse was that I knew I wasn't in top form."

Mark Williams eased through with an impressive 5-2 victory over Drew Henry.

Williams now faces world number 69 Scott Mackenzie, who beat number five seed Matthew Stevens 5-4.

Stephen Hendry, last year's runner-up, recorded a 5-1 win over England's Barry Hawkins, who had beaten the Scot at the same stage of the Welsh Open earlier this month.

The seven-times world champion won the opening frame on the pink, the third on the black with a 71 clearance, the fourth on the pink and the sixth on the blue as Hawkins failed to take his chances.

"It focuses the mind when you play someone as good as Barry in the first round," said Hendry, who currently tops the provisional rankings.

Ireland's Ken Doherty trailed Australian Neil Robertson 4-2 but fought back to claim a 5-4 triumph and Stephen Lee, who won the Welsh Open for his first title in four years, defeated fellow Englishman David Gray 5-2.