WELSHMAN Ryan Day is desperate to win his home tournament but he’s got the toughest possible start.

The world number 24 kicks-off his Welsh Open campaign at the Newport Centre tonight by taking on snooker legend Jimmy White in a qualifier.

And if he can withstand the Whirlwind then Ronnie O’Sullivan, the most talented player of his generation, is next up in round one proper.

"There's sure to be a great atmosphere as Jimmy is one of the biggest crowd-pullers in the game," said the 30-year-old from Pontycymer.

"He always seems to bring a big following. Should I get to play Ronnie in the next round I will get to sample that all over again – that will drive me on to produce my best.

"I always look forward to playing in Newport it's nice to play in front of your home crowd and to sample the pressure that comes with that."

Day against White starts at 7pm tonight. Fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens takes on Anthony Hamilton at 1pm, while world number five Ding Junhai starts at 11am against Marcus Campbell and number one John Higgins faces Jack Lisowski at 2pm.

Home favourite Mark Williams is not in action until tomorrow when he takes on Marco Fu from 1pm.

"He’s probably one of the toughest qualifiers I could have got," said the Cwm-born star, now number two in the world and fresh from winning the German Masters last week.

"It will be a hard match but I’m on a good run at the moment and hopefully I can keep that going.

"I’ve obviously got a lot more confidence coming into the tournament than in the past few years and it’s about time me, Ryan or Matt performed for the Welsh fans.

"None of us have got to the latter stages and we’ve got to put that right.."

Williams believes the change of format, with the early stages being best of seven frames with no interval, will liven up this year’s Welsh Open.

"John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson are the usual favourites but anyone can win over seven frames so that could help the underdogs," he said.

"We could see a few upsets early on and it will be very important to start quickly.

“It should make for a more exciting tournament and that can only be good for the fans and the players."