Championship League snooker: Ryan Day edges past Kyren Wilson to progress

The dual ranking-title winner has endured one of his worst seasons in some time - an alarming loss of form seeing the Welshman plummet down the rankings - but he got better as the day wore on in Milton Keynes and saved his best for last.

Despite beating Alfie Burden in his opening match, Day was a long way below his best and was thankful for pinching a close opening frame before winning the next two, a run of 60 in frame two hinting at better to come.

The former Riga Masters hero was made to work much harder in his next match as late replacement Chen Feilong held him to a share of the spoils after tough battle in which Day needed to win the final frame to avoid defeat.

Wilson also found Feilong a tough nut to crack as the latter knocked in a break of 102 before this season's Welsh Open runner-up hit back with contributions of 50 and 79 to ensure the match finished 2-2.

Having brushed past Burden 3-0, Wilson set up a tantalising finale with Day that had appeared on the cards for much of the afternoon, and it is to both players' credit that they were able to produce some fine snooker at the end of a gruelling day.

A typically silky run of 91 ensured it was Day who drew first blood and he appeared to have rediscovered some of his old swagger as he paced around the table with authority to compile a break of 55 in frame two.

True to form, Wilson kept his hopes alive with a brilliant century (111) in the third frame before Day dashed his hopes with a match-winning break of 86 in which he rarely looked in any danger of letting his chance slip.

Speaking to ITV Sport afterwards, Day said: "It looked like it was going to come down to that last game all day long and I think when we were both concentrating and wanting to get through the group, I think you've seen the best match of the day, probably because we were a bit more focused.

"It's a strange situation when you can get through with a high break - Kyren left me a chance in the third frame and I wasn't even thinking about winning the match, I was thinking about taking five reds off the table to stop him getting past 91.

"In the end it was a deciding frame, basically, and luckily I held myself together and got over the line. It was a nice break - a couple of shots early doors that really opened the balls nicely and it's just a matter of holding yourself together then."

For Burden, a day of mixed fortunes ended with a 3-0 victory over Feilong but he made the headlines for different reasons as he opted to take a knee before play got under way against Day, emulating the protests which have spread since the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

The 43-year-old said: "It was very important. I stand behind the fight against racism. It's a disgraceful thing, the well-documented death of George Floyd in America.

"It was my platform to say how I felt about things. We are united together. There is no place for racism in society. That was my platform. I wanted to make my feelings known today."

Harvey Chandler emerged from Group 12 after getting the better of Sam Baird in a winner-takes-all final match.

The duo were locked on the same points and frame difference having both drawn 2-2 with Joe Perry, who ended level in all three of his contests, and having beaten Mark King 3-1 to set the group up for a perfect finale.

Chandler comfortably won the opening frame, before Baird made it 1-1 in a scrappy, nervy second. But the Northamptonshire potter then took a stranglehold on the match with a superb break of 101 to ensure he could not lose.

He then came out on top in another to-and-fro frame to complete victory and clinch qualification.

Wednesday's results and standings

Group 12

1. Ryan Day (Q) P 3 W 2 L 0 D 1 FD +5 Pts 7
2. Kyren Wilson P 3 W 1 L 1 D 1 FD +1 Pts 4
3. Alfie Burden P 3 W 1 L 2 D 0 FD -3 Pts 3
4. Chen Feilong P 3 W 0 L 1 D 2 FD -3 Pts 2

Kyren Wilson 2-2 Chen Feilong

Ryan Day 3-0 Alfie Burden

Ryan Day 2-2 Chen Feilong

Kyren Wilson 3-0 Alfie Burden

Alfie Burden 3-0 Chen Feilong

Kyren Wilson 1-3 Ryan Day

Group 4

1. Harvey Chandler (Q) P 3 W 2 L 0 D 1 FD +4 Pts 7
2. Sam Baird P 3 W 1 L 1 D 1 FD 0 Pts 4
3. Joe Perry P 3 W 0 L 0 D 3 FD 0 Pts 3
4. Mark King P 3 W 0 L 2 D 1 FD -4 Pts 1

Mark King 1-3 Sam Baird

Joe Perry 2-2 Harvey Chandler

Joe Perry 2-2 Sam Baird

Mark King 1-3 Harvey Chandler

Joe Perry 2-2 Mark King

Sam Baird 1-3 Harvey Chandler