O’Sullivan has one foot in the last eight

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN opened up a 10-6 lead on Ryan Day to move within three frames of another World Championship quarter-final appearance. Aiming for a record-breaking eighth Crucible success, the Rocket built on a 5-3 firstsession lead by making Day pay for his wastefulness. A missed yellow from the Welshman proved costly as O’Sullivan made an 82 clearance and, although Day replied by winning a frame, The Rocket did not have to get out of second gear. He reached the break 8-4 ahead as Day’s carelessness was further punished with breaks of 65 and 89. The pattern remained the same after the interval as O’Sullivan cashed in on mistakes with framewinning breaks of 56 and 96. Day responded superbly with efforts of 77 and 75 to keep his faint hopes alive when the action resumes today. Stephen Maguire secured his spot in the last eight by beating Shaun Murphy 13-9. The pair have feuded for two decades following an incident when Maguire was penalised a frame for forgetting his chalk — and the Scot held off a late fightback to seal victory. He resumed yesterday morning with a 10-6 overnight lead and continued his quest to reach the quarters with a break of 68 before Murphy pulled a frame back. Maguire then moved within one frame of victory but Murphy continued to battle, a 67 break earning him the next frame before he took the first after the mid-session interval to trail by three. However, Maguire hit a 127 to set up a meeting with David Gilbert. Maguire said: ‘He looked like he was comfortable in that session, so I was starting to get geared up for a comeback. Once I got my chance, I finished well.’ During Saturday’s session Murphy had fist-pumped after winning a frame and Maguire admitted it gave him motivation. ‘When the fist-pump came out and I thought: “You’re having it” and all my attention went on that,’ he said. Mark Allen edged 9-7 ahead in his last-16 meeting with John Higgins, while Stuart Bingham fended off Jack Lisowski’s comeback to also take a 9-7 lead into today’s session.