Michael Holt must have been a very proud man last night as he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-3 for his greatest win in his career.

The youngster produced a solid display which stunned O’Sullivan, who failed to shine.

Earlier, Ryan Day won the all-Welsh battle in the Malta Cup to dent Matthew Stevens' hopes of retaining his top 16 place.

There were vital ranking points at stake for the two practice partners and friends with Day standing at No 18 in the latest provisional list and Stevens at No 21.

But it was the 26-year-old from Pontycymmer who progressed 5-3 and now meets Fergal O'Brien in the Last 16.

"It was a big game for both of us in terms of the top 16," said Day. "We are the best of mates so it's awkward to play Matthew. We shared a drink last night, we're not the sorts to avoid each other before a match.

"But once we got out there I was determined to win. I'm feeling relaxed and hopefully I can go on from this and get further in the tournament."

Day took the first frame on the colours after Stevens had missed the pink with one red left, then went 2-0 up with a break of 53.

Former UK and Masters champion Stevens hit back with a 74 and opened the next with a 55 only for his opponent to clear superbly with 71.

Stevens won frame five with a 42 then Day went 4-2 up with a 63. He had a chance to seal victory in the next but missed a tricky final brown into a baulk corner.

Graeme Dott, the 888.com World Champion, reached the quarter-finals with a 5-3 defeat of Tom Ford.

He knocked in runs of 66, 53, 135 and 44 in a high-quality match, Leicester's Ford making 100 and 62.

Dott will now play Shaun Murphy in a battle of the last two world champions.

Murphy is becoming something of a comeback-kid in this event - he recovered from 4-2 down to beat Ricky Walden 5-4 yesterday and today repeated the trick from 4-3 behind against Stephen Lee.

The Rotherham potter enjoyed breaks of 129, 101 and 125 - his third ton making it 4-4. Both players had chances in the decider but when Lee played a poor safety with three reds left, his opponent cleared to the blue with 32.

"It's the first time I have beaten Stephen and that means a lot to me," said Murphy. "The clearance in the last frame would have been easy in practice, but when you are nervous every ball looks hard so I was pleased with how I dealt with the pressure.

Results

S. Murphy-S. Lee (continued) 5-4; S. Murphy-R. Walden 5-4; M. Stevens-R. Day 3-5; G. Dott-T. Ford 5-3; B. Hawkins-M. King 1-5; R. O’Sullivan-M. Holt 0-0; M. Fu-A. Carter 2-5

Today’s programme

4pm F. O’Brien-R. Day; S. Hendry-N. Robertson; 8pm K. Doherty-A. Higginson; S. Maguire-P. Ebdon; M. King-R. O’Sullivan