Ryan Day wants to make the most of his chances this week at the Players Championship in Llandudno – for more reasons than most. The Welsh ace has already captured the Gibraltar Open and Romanian Snooker Masters titles this month. Victory in his homeland would see him become the first player since John Higgins 17 years ago to win three straight tournaments.
A 6-3 win over world number one Mark Selby pushed Day into the quarter-finals at the Players Championship and also, crucially, moved him above Masters champion Mark Allen and into the world’s top-16. One more win this week would likely guarantee Day a place in the top-16 when the seeding cut-off for the World Championship falls after the China Open, an event he’ll miss out on. With a last-eight tie against fellow Welshman Mark Williams next up on Thursday, Day is keen to get his passage to the Crucible Theatre assured. “This is a big event and I’ll be giving it everything against Mark (Williams) in the next round,” he said. “It’s a massive match for both of us. I’m not in the China Open so the players behind me can still go past me again in the rankings. So I need to go deeper to give myself some breathing space.”
A pair of centuries bookended Day’s win over Selby, with contributions of 107 and 133 helping to see off the world champion. A crucial green-to-black clearance in the fourth made it 3-1 at the interval, just as Selby looked like getting a strong foothold. Day was happy with his efforts in the big moments. “The fourth frame was important because if it had gone 2-2 at the interval it could have been different. Then at 4-3 it looked like going close so I was pleased to play well in the last two frames,” Day added. Day is 12/1 to win the Players Championship, while Williams, also in fine fettle this season, is 8/1.