White stunned by Day

Ryan Day made short work of an out-of-sorts Jimmy White to blast into the third round of the Welsh Open at the Newport Centre.

The Welshman celebrated St David’s Day with a 5-0 trouncing of White, who has not won a match since last October.

Day, a quarter-finalist at Newport last year, fired in breaks of 90, 135, 84 and 73 to complete the whitewash in only 82 minutes.

White seemed to fall apart after failing to win the second frame despite a break of 54. He failed to make contact with the last red, left a free ball and Day cleared up before coasting to victory.

“The second frame was a big turning point,” said Day.

“I did a good clearance and put some pressure on Jimmy. Then I had a century and made sure he was still under the cosh.”

Day, 25, was on the same Young Player of Distinction programme as Shaun Murphy, now world champion, and Stephen Maguire, the 2004 UK champion, in 2000.

And Day, ranked 33rd in the world, believes he should have made the same sort of progress as his contemporaries.

“With the standard I know I can produce in practice and in some matches then I feel I should have won a tournament by now,” he said.

“Shaun winning the world title has spurred me on. The standard is so high now that anyone can with tournaments, no matter what their ranking. Hopefully this will be my week.”

White’s latest defeat casts a serious doubt over his continuing presence in the elite top 16.

The 43-year-old came into the tournament in 26th place on the provisional list and is likely to fall further before the China Open later this month.

Matthew Stevens arrested an alarming decline in fortunes with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Mark Davis.

Stevens had not won a match in a ranking event since beating Ian McCulloch 17-14 in the World Championship semi-finals at the Crucible last April.

Three opening round defeats this season saw the Carmarthen star tumble to 20th in the provisional rankings before he faced Davis but Stevens was cool in clinching victory in only 89 minutes.

The former UK and Wembley Masters champion marked his whitewash with a 138 total clearance and contributed further breaks of 68 and 85 to complete the rout.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling the pressure but I haven’t played badly this season,” Stevens said.

“I’ve come up against people playing well so I haven’t been panicking. It would be worse if I was playing badly.”

Ken Doherty, who won the Malta Cup last month, his first ranking title in five years, narrowly avoided an early defeat when he fought from 0-3 and 2-4 down to beat Nottingham’s Michael Holt 5-4.

Doherty, who recovered from 5-8 to edge John Higgins 9-8 in the Malta final, thought he had blown it when Holt potted the last red in the deciding frame.

But the world number 24, who is renowned for his shaky temperament, missed the black off its spot and, with Doherty needing just a simple yellow for the match, conceded.

“Michael had the balls at his mercy,” Doherty admitted. “I think I must have used up all my get out of jail free cards now.”

Robert Milkins, a semi-finalist in last season’s Irish Masters, clinched a third round meeting with Ian McCulloch by edging world number 12 Alan McManus 5-4.