Day sees off former Bejing champion

Ryan Day and Stephen Maguire will lock horns in the first of this year’s semi-finals at the Honghe Industrial China Open.

But while Scot Maguire cruised to victory in his quarter-final clash with Englishman Nigel Bond, Welshman Day was pushed considerably harder by compatriot Mark Williams.

Maguire whitewashed golden oldie Bond 5-0 in their best-of-nine frame clash at the Beijing Sports Gymnasium, while Day dug deep to edge former world champion Williams 5-3.

“It was a very good game. It was a good quality match, with good breaks and safety,” reflected a delighted Day, who has faired well in the Far East this season having also reached the Shanghai Masters final in August.

“I’m happy to have come out of it on top. My all-round performance was solid. I showed a bit of self-belief to win from 3-3.”

It was two-time world champion Williams who took the early initiative by winning the opening frame with a break of 61, only for Day to level matters when he dished up with a composed 52 clearance.

And it got even better for the young Welshman as he won the next two frames against the more experienced Williams to lead 3-1 at the interval.

But back came Williams following the resumption, squaring the match thanks to a cool 108 break in the sixth frame.

However, Day raised his game, edged 4-3 ahead with a 76 break before winning the eighth and deciding frame for a meeting with Maguire in the business end of this week’s £250,000 tournament.

“Stephen Maguire obviously played well, so it’s going to be a tough match,” predicted Day.

“We are good friends and we are both in form, but hopefully it will be me who gets through to the final.”

A disappointed Williams – the most successful player ever in tournaments in the Far East, having won five ranking events on the continent – admitted bad luck had cost him his place in the semi-finals.

“At 3-3 I went into the pack (of reds) but didn’t land on a red,” he said. “If I had done it might have won it (the match). But I played okay, good luck to Ryan in the next round.”

Meanwhile, Glaswegian Maguire was too strong for Derbyshire’s Bond as he cruised to victory in just 96 minutes.

Breaks of 65, 57, 52, 105 and 55 did the damage as this season’s Northern Ireland Trophy champion marched into the semis.

“To win any match 5-0 is a good result, so to win a quarter-final against Nigel, whose been playing some of the best snooker of the week, is fantastic,” reflected Maguire.

A shellshocked Bond admitted: “Stephen’s in great form, he’s been one of the top four players this season.

“It was a hard game, I didn’t do much wrong, I just missed a couple of balls and played one loose safety.

“I didn’t get much table time because he didn’t miss much. He just played better than me.”