HOME favourite Ryan Day took just 48 minutes to end the hopes of Jimmy White at the Wyldecrest Park Homes Welsh Open last night.

Crowd loyalities at the Newport Centre were divided between people's champion White, known as the Whirlwind, and Welshman Day but there was no contest on the night.

The Pontycymmer cueman fired in runs of 125, 68 and 102 as he eased through in less than an hour.

And his next match could be just as quick as he faces rapid potter Ronnie O'Sullivan tomorrow evening.

"Last week I couldn't hit a barn door in practice, but I played well today," said Day. "When Jimmy was playing in the qualifiers I was following the live scoring and rooting for him, because I knew it would be a great atmosphere. I'm looking forward to playing Ronnie now."

Day had a miserable run of form earlier in the season, particularly in the Players Tour Championship events, and dropped out of the world's top 16.

"I had a barren spell and I was losing to players I should never lose to," he said.

"I was trying to grasp something but kept losing and I was feeling dejected. It knocked me for six. After the PTC series finished it was a relief because I could look forward to the UK Championship. I beat Jamie Burnett 9-5, from 4-2 down, and since then I've had more belief."

Gwent star Mark Williams plays his first match of the tournament at 1pm this afternoon.

The world number two from Cwm takes on Hong Kong's Marko Fu.