Kaspersky Riga Masters: Ryan Day takes title

It was a first ranking tournament success for Day - 18 year after turning professional - as he saw off the Scot in the best-of-nine-frame showdown.

The Welshman bagged a £50,000 top prize for his troubles after he dahsed into a 4-0 lead in the final.

Maguire was not about to roll over though as he staged a revival to get back to 4-2 following the interval with a break of 119 and then ones of 35 and 42 to halve the deficit.

A close seventh frame saw Day make a break of 58 before Maguire battled back with 29 and then some good safety play to leave the Bridgend potter needing to escape from a run of tricky snookers.

He was equal to the task though and finally rounded off victory when he sunk yellow and green to end any hopes for Maguire.   

"It has been a long time coming and I’m delighted to win a trophy," Day reflected as he climbed from 18 to 15 in the world rankings. 

"I played well all weekend, in fact the final was the worst I played. I really enjoy playing in Riga."

Day now makes the long journey to to China and the Snooker World Cup, where he will partner Mark Williams in the Welsh team next week.

Day had earlier fought off the latter in the semi-finals of the season-opening tournament, winning 5-4, while Maguire beat another one-time Crucible master Ken Doherty by the same margin in their last-four clash.

Irish veteran Doherty, 47, had the consolation of having reached the semi-finals of a ranking tournament for the first time since the 2011 Australian Goldfields Open.

Riga Masters 2017: Daily results

Friday June 23
Lunchtime session (1100-1300 BST)
Preliminary round (Best of 7 frames)
Anthony McGill 4-0 Tatiana Vasiljeva (Match 1)
Rodion Judin 4-0 Chen Zhe (Match 2)
Alex Borg w/o Mark Selby (Match 3)
Daniel Ward 2-4 Neil Robertson (Match 4)
First round (Best of 7 frames)
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-1 Michael Georgiou (Match 5)
Kurt Maflin 4-3 Alan McManus (Match 7)
Eden Sharav 3-4 Jimmy White (Match 8)
Gary Wilson 0-4 Ken Doherty (Match 9)
Hammad Miah 4-0 Tom Ford (Match 12)
John J Astley w/o Jimmy Robertson (Match 13)
Jamie Curtis-Barrett 0-4 Andrew Higginson (Match 14)
Stuart Bingham 0-4 Mark Davis (Match 15)
Sam Craigie 4-3 Jamie Jones (Match 16)
Oliver Lines 4-1 Christopher Keogan (Match 19)

Afternoon session (1500-1700 BST)
First round (Best of 7 frames)
Matthew Stevens 1-4 Jack Lisowski (Match 17)
Stephen Maguire 4-0 Gerard Greene (Match 20)
Hossein Vafaei w/o Mark King (Match 21)
Paul S Davison 4-2 Zhou Yuelong (Match 22)
David Gilbert 3-4 Joe Perry (Match 23)
Tian Pengfei 4-1 Ben Jones (Match 24)
Robert Milkins w/o Wang Yuchen (Match 25)
Barry Hawkins 3-4 Ryan Day (Match 26)
Craig Steadman w/o Chen Zifan (Match 27)
Ben Woollaston 2-4 Kyren Wilson (Match 28)
Xiao Guodong 1-4 Mark Joyce (Match 30)

Evening session (1800-2000 BST)
First round (Best of 7 frames)
Nigel Bond 4-1 Jackson Page (Match 29)
Noppon Saengkham 4-2 Cao Yupeng (Match 31)
Sam Baird 4-0 Michael White (Match 32)
Alexander Ursenbacher 4-0 Elliot Slessor (Match 33)
Robbie Williams 4-0 Ashley Carty (Match 34)
Mark Williams 4-1 Peter Ebdon (Match 35)
Luca Brecel 4-3 Lee Walker (Match 36)
Stuart Carrington 3-4 Anthony McGill (Match 6)
Robin Hull 4-2 Rodion Judin (Match 10)
Alex Borg 1-4 Zhang Anda (Match 11)
Neil Robertson 3-4 Lukas Kleckers (Match 18)

Saturday June 24
Afternoon session (1100-1800 BST)
Second round (Best of 7 frames)
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 3-4 Anthony McGill (Match 37)
Kurt Maflin 2-4 Jimmy White (Match 38)
Ken Doherty 4-2 Robin Hull (Match 39)
Zhang Anda 4-3 Hammad Miah (Match 40)
John J Astley 1-4 Andrew Higginson (Match 41)
Mark Davis 4-2 Sam Craigie (Match 42)
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Lukas Kleckers (Match 43)
Oliver Lines 3-4 Stephen Maguire (Match 44)
Hossein Vafaei 0-4 Paul S Davison (Match 45)
Joe Perry 4-0 Tian Pengfei (Match 46)
Robert Milkins 1-4 Ryan Day (Match 47)
Craig Steadman 3-4 Kyren Wilson (Match 48)
Nigel Bond 2-4 Mark Joyce (Match 49)
Noppon Saengkham 2-4 Sam Baird (Match 50)
Alexander Ursenbacher 2-4 Robbie Williams (Match 51)
Mark Williams 4-1 Luca Brecel (Match 52)

Evening session (1800-2000 BST)
Third round (Best of 7 frames)
Anthony McGill 4-1 Jimmy White (Match 53)
Ken Doherty 4-2 Zhang Anda (Match 54)
Andrew Higginson 4-3 Mark Davis (Match 55)
Jack Lisowski 0-4 Stephen Maguire (Match 56)
Paul S Davison 1-4 Joe Perry (Match 57)
Ryan Day 4-3 Kyren Wilson (Match 58)
Mark Joyce 4-2 Sam Baird (Match 59
Robbie Williams 2-4 Mark Williams (Match 60)

Sunday June 25
Morning session (1100 BST)
Quarter-finals (Best of 7 frames)
Anthony McGill 2-4 Ken Doherty (QF 1)
Andrew Higginson 3-4 Stephen Maguire (QF 2)
Joe Perry 0-4 Ryan Day (QF 3)
Mark Joyce 1-4 Mark Williams (QF 4)

Afternoon session (1500 BST)
Semi-finals (Best of 9 frames)
Ken Doherty 4-5 Stephen Maguire  (SF 1)
Ryan Day 5-4 Mark Williams (SF 2) 

Evening session (2030 BST)
Final (best of 9 frames)
Stephen Maguire 2-5 Ryan Day