Mark Williams burns the midnight oil to set up all-Welsh clash

It was after midnight at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena when Williams finally saw off Pinches 4-2 in the second round, having beaten China’s Lyu Haotian more than 12 hours before in the first round.

The Cwm potter will now face Neath’s Jones, who raised a cheer from the home fans with a 4-3 victory over Masters champion Shaun Murphy last night.

It was Murphy who made the better breaks with 102, 117 and 70, but Jones won the scrappy frames and got the better of a tense decider by clearing from green to pink.

"I know Shaun has been playing very well, but I thought that he can't keep playing like that," said Jones, who reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 2012.

"I felt that if I could play my game and put him under pressure, he might miss a few. In the decider I just tried to hold myself together.

"I'll just go home and practise now and get ready for Wednesday. I play my best snooker on the big stage. I have struggled in the qualifiers but I have proved that when I play on TV I relish the occasion. I've just got to get there a bit more often."

Also tomorrow Carmarthen’s Matthew Stevens will take on defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan after a 4-3 winner over Ken Doherty.

O’Sullivan, who criticised the tournament’s move from Newport to Cardiff earlier in the day, came from 2-0 down to beat Rory McLeod 4-2 and reach the last 32.

O'Sullivan earlier beat Vinnie Calabrese 4-1 but was made to work hard by McLeod, who missed a tricky green when he had a chance to go 3-0 up.

That proved the turning point as five-time world champion O'Sullivan recovered to 2-1 then reeled off the last three frames with top breaks of 94 and 106.

Judd Trump took just 55 minutes to beat Mark Joyce 4-0, top scoring with 110 and 104. Neil Robertson was also on the right side of a whitewash, beating David Morris 4-0 with a top break of 72.

Ali Carter impressed in a 4-0 win over Mark King while Mark Allen made a 133 in a 4-3 win over Cao Yupeng.