Day 4 at the Home Nations is always a very busy and interesting day as the field shrinks from 24 players to just 8. Yesterday was no different. Here is the report by WST:

BETVICTOR WELSH OPEN: DAY FOUR ROUND-UP

Veteran Dominic Dale remained on course to become the first home winner of the BetVictor Welsh Open this century as he beat Jak Jones 4-0 to reach the quarter-finals in Llandudno.

Love is in the air for the 52-year-old as his passion for snooker has been rekindled by the interest of new girlfriend Anne. And there could be no more romantic finish to the tournament than Dale lifting the trophy on Sunday, which would make him the first Welsh winner since Mark Williams in 1999.

A break of 89 helped two-time ranking event champion Dale to a comfortable victory over Jones, setting up a meeting with Elliot Slessor on Friday afternoon.

“I hadn’t practised much for the last five years, but then I met Anne last summer,” said Dale. “We met on a night out in Stroud – she is an artist and I love art so we are very compatible. She is French and knew nothing about snooker, but then she discovered her father loves it and watches on Eurosport. She has learned about the game and is really intrigued by it. Between the two of them, they wanted me to recommit and put more effort in. I am playing for three hours a day now and I’m having my best season for many years. I have been sending her pictures of Llandudno this week and I think she would love to come if I get further.

“To win another ranking title would be unthinkable for me, at my age. But to do it in the Welsh Open would be the icing on the cake. I’m not playing well enough to win it, but if I can find my best game it is possible.”

World number three Mark Allen, chasing a third title of the season, whitewashed Robbie Williams 4-0 with a top break of 110. The Northern Irishman said: “I have come here to win, it would be great to add another Home Nations title to my cabinet. I don’t feel happy with where my game is, but I am happy with my mental attitude. I am fighting for everything out there, choosing the correct shots and giving it my best.“

On Friday at 12pm, Allen faces a tremendous quarter-final with John Higgins, who triumphed 4-3 in an epic battle with Matthew Selt which lasted three hours and seven minutes. Scotland’s Higgins, who has a record five Welsh Open titles under his belt, came from 3-1 down to 3-3, then got the better of a 42-minute decider. Selt had a chance for victory but missed a tricky cut-back yellow to a baulk corner with the scores tied 41-41, and Higgins cleared to the blue to reach his 139th ranking event quarter-final.

Having won ten consecutive matches in this event, Robert Milkins saw his streak ended by a 4-0 reverse against Gary Wilson. Defending champion Milkins was out of sorts and managed a top break of just 21, as BetVictor Scottish Open champion Wilson continued his bid for back-to-back Home Nations titles. 

World Champion Luca Brecel made it to the last eight of a ranking event for the first time this season, beating Tom Ford 4-1 with a top run of 65. The Belgian’s next opponent will be Martin O’Donnell, who saw off Marco Fu 4-2. Slessor fired breaks of 129, 62, 88 and 77 as he beat Fan Zhengyi 4-3.

The above report covers mainly the last part of the day, the “last 16” round, but there were also 8 “last 32” matches played in the afternoon. As always, all detailed results are on snooker.org.

The first match on the TV table in the afternoon featured Dominic Dale and Stan Moody. Why this was the “main” match is beyond my understanding, or maybe not? Ok, Dominic is Welsh, but so is Jak Jones who was playing Hossein Vafaei on the next table and that should have been the main match by the “rules” WST applies in normal circumstances. It was also a far better and more interesting match but hey… Stan Moody has to be “promoted”, right? Jak Jones played really well to beat Hossein Vafaei and was duly praised by Ronnie in the studio. Stan Moody was pretty awful and I’m not sure that being put on the main table is helping him in any way, nor that it is improving his “image”.

Luca Brecel is back. I didn’t see the evening match, but he was outstanding and extremely entertaining in the afternoon.

Anthony Hamilton and Martin O’Donnell managed to seriously delay the the second match on “their” table. Well … they have a reputation to honour don’t they? It wasn’t helped by the fact that they had two re-racks in the first frame 😉. That being said their match featured a 50+ break in every frame bar one. It wasn’t a bad match, it was a match between two really good players, one who is naturally slow and one who has suffered from various physical ailments and injuries over the recent years.

I didn’t watch any of the evening action. I was feeling tired and, anyway, with the 2 hours time difference with the UK, I would never have managed to stay up until nearly 3 am which, in my time zone, was when the last match finished.

I quite like Dominic. Like most, I’d rather not have him singing 😇 but other than that he’s an interesting character. He has lots of diverse interests, is more cultivated than most of the snooker players and very pleasant as a person. He’s also extremely knowledgeable about the history of snooker and snooker equipment. I would be very happy if he managed to win this one. Unlikely, I know, but …