Day Secures Welsh Open Spot

Welshman Ryan Day booked his place in the final stages of this year’s BetVictor Welsh Open after putting on a fine display of break building to beat China’s Chang Bingyu 4-2.

Day now joins compatriots Matthew Stevens, Jak Jones, Jamie Clarke and Andrew Pagett in qualifying for their home event. However, fellow Welshmen Lee Walker and Jackson Page have fallen at the first hurdle. Duane Jones also lost his clash with Ashley Carty 4-2 this afternoon.

Day took the opener with a break of 134, before losing the following two to trail 2-1. However, further contributions of 51 and 116 helped the three-time ranking event winner to three frames in a row which saw him win 4-2.

Ali Carter earned his place in Newport with a 4-2 defeat of Lei Peifan. The Captain made the quarter-finals 12 months ago, before being forced to withdraw and hand Ronnie O’Sullivan a bye due to suffering from migraines.

Graeme Dott edged out Steven Hallworth 4-3 to secure a trip to Newport. Iran’s Soheil Vahedi eased to a 4-1 win over 12-time women’s World Champion Reanne Evans.

Yuan Sijun whitewashed Fraser Patrick 4-0, while Zak Surety defeated Barry Pinches 4-2 and Hammad Miah defeated Ross Muir 4-2.

The qualifying round runs throughout this week in Wolverhampton, with players needing to win one match to book a place at the final stages at ICC Wales in Newport. The top 16 seeds are seeded through to the final stages which run from February 28 to March 6 – for ticket details click here.