Snooker:Steven Maguire saw off Ryan Day 6-1 to reach the Pokerstars.com Masters semi-finals despite being nowhere near top form.
The match was scrappy throughout, with Day frequently wasting chances to wrap up frames and Maguire taking advantage.
Though the scoreline appeared one-sided, the Welshman was within one pot of reaching the mid-session interval on level terms.
Trailing 2-1, he moved into a 26-point lead in frame four with just the colours remaining — only to jaw the frame-ball yellow and watch his opponent clear the colours and pinch the frame for a 3-1 lead.
The same pattern repeated itself after the break, as Day ground to a halt on a break of 44 in the sixth frame and a break of 62 to the pink allowed Maguire to move within one frame of victory.
And a run of 61 sealed a similar seventh frame, and victory, for Maguire — who will now face the winner of tonight’s clash between Mark Selby and Mark Allen in the last four.
But the Scot said: “The first session was getting to the point of being embarrassing — maybe if one guy knocked in a hundred it might have spurred the other one on, but it was awful.
“It shouldn’t be like that, (if one player misses) the other guy should just pounce.
“I’ve won two matches without playing well — I could have been out in the first round and I could have been out there. The first priority is to get through the match, you can always improve in the next match, and I’m just hoping tomorrow (I do).”