Welsh Open Day 5

Stephen Maguire lives to fight another day after beating
Sam Baird in a decider. Image: Monique Limbos

The TV rounds of the Welsh Open got underway on Monday and defending champion Stephen Maguire only just managed to sneak through to the next round. The Scot trailed 3-1 at one point but kept the match alive on the final black in frame four. He then forced a decider by winning the sixth and took the match thanks to a 68 break in the seventh. He’ll play Andrew Pagett in the next round after the Welshman beat Gerard Greene 4-3 in the afternoon session.

Fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens also progressed, winning the last three frames to come back from 2-1 down to beat Preston potter Ian Burns 4-2. He’s got a tough match in the last 32 against Joe Perry, who whitewashed Liu Chuang, firing in a top break of 115.

Dominic Dale continued the strong showing from the Welsh contingent as he downed Thailand’s Dechawat Poomjaeng 4-1, despite forgetting to pack his waistcoat. Dale had to hire a replacement bright white waistcoat from a local wedding shop but was unfazed by his change of attire as he hit top runs of 52 and 66. Next up for Dale is world number two Mark Selby who beat Dave Harold 4-1.

One Welsh player not to succeed on Monday was the young Michael White who lost a deciding frame to Xiao Guodong. White started promisingly, hitting breaks of 87 and 139 to go 2-1 up but Xiao battled his way back in and nicked the decider 64-21.

Sheffield teenager Joel Walker showed his potential by pulling out another impressive victory as he defeated world number 13 Mark Davis. It was a tight affair with never more than a frame between the pair, but Walker took the decider 60-1. He now plays the experienced James Wattana after the Thai defeated Tom Ford 4-2, with a top run of 73.

Another up-and-coming teenager Scott Donaldson also secured a victory over a more established player as he beat Dave Gilbert 4-1. Perth’s Donaldson hit a top break of 118 in the opener and he’ll now play Andrew Higginson after the Widnes man beat Jimmy Robertson 4-3.

World number four Judd Trump also came through the last 64 as he beat Scotland’s Jamie Burnett 4-2 whilst John Higgins convincingly saw off fellow former world champion Ken Doherty 4-0.

Marco Fu also progressed thanks to a 4-1 victory over Kurt Maflin whilst Mark Allen hit breaks of 101 and 106 on course to beating Noppon Saengkham 4-2.