Welsh Open Day 4

Alan McManus progressed to the Quarter-Finals with a fantastic
comeback over Joe Perry. Image: Eurosport

Pankaj Advani added another name to his list of high-profile victims as he defeated Graeme Dott in the last 16 of the Welsh Open. The Indian, who defeated Shaun Murphy in the last round, knocked in breaks of 63 and 73 to lead 2-0 and although Dott pulled a frame back, he secured the surprise win by taking frame four before knocking in 100 to secure the victory.

The other morning session match saw Ken Doherty also book a place in the quarter-finals after a final frame decider win over Tom Ford. Although Doherty led 2-0, Ford pulled it back to 2-2 and the next two frames were also shared to ensure the decider. Both players had chances in the decider but Ford missed the black off its spot allowing Ken the chance to secure the win.

In the evening session, world number 55 Alan McManus kept up his excellent run of form with an extraordinary comeback, winning 4-3 from 3-0 down. It’s the 42-year-olds first time in the quarter finals of a major ranking event for a number of years but this looked unlikely when Perry took the first three frames. McManus battled back to win the next three to force a decider with a top run of 61. Breaks of 27 and 46 in the decider secured the win for McManus.

On the other table, Robert Milkins progressed with a 4-2 win over world number 89, Sam Baird. The match started off in tight fashion with the first four frames being shared but Milkins pulled out a slender advantage by taking the fifth and won frame six on the final black.

In the pick of the afternoon session matches, Stuart Bingham overcame Neil Robertson after another final frame decider. Although Robbo won the first, Bingham knocked in breakd of 74 and 120 to go up but the pendulum swung back the other way as Robertson went 3-2 up. A 52 break from Bingham forced the decider but Robertson was in first but could only make 64. At 64-6 down, Bingham came back with a counter break of 59 to win the match by a single point on the last black.

Any hopes of a Welsh man winning the 2013 tournament were brought to an end when the final Welshman, Matthew Stevens, was defeated 4-2 by Stephen Maguire. Stevens was in control of the match at 2-1 up but Maguire hit back with big breaks of 91, 67 and 106 to progress to the last eight, where he will meet fellow Glaswegian McManus.

Judd Trump, who only just scraped through against Dominic Dale yesterday, enjoyed a more comfortable victory today as he defeated Andrew Higginson 4-1, with top breaks of 87 and 100.

Finally, Ding Junhui staved off a spirited fightback from Mark Allen to progress to the quarter-finals as a 4-2 winner and had Allen not have fluked a red after a very risky shot in the fourth, would have probably whitewashed the Ulsterman. This gave Allen a platform and knocked in an 81 break and then a 66 and had a chance early in the sixth but the defending champion hit back with a 77 break after Allen had missed.