Scotland's Stephen Maguire romped through three matches to qualify for the quarter final of the Merseyside Professional Championship, and remain on course to become the first player to win the title twice.

Also on top form was Welshman Ryan Day, who reached the quarters from his section of the draw.

Maguire set out with a 5-3 win against Lee Spick. The Scot sailed into a 2-0 lead but was pegged back by Spick who knocked in a run of 58 in the third and then snatched the fourth as well. The next two frames were shared, Maguire compiling 60 in frame five. A run of 72 gave Maguire the advantage again and he held on to clinch victory in the eighth frame.

In round two he faced Welshman Lee Walker, who came through 5-4 against China's rising star ding Junhui. Walker led 1-0 but Ding fired in breaks of 82, a 106 clearance and 84 to lead 3-1.

Runs of 64 and 109 brought Walker level in this high quality encounter. A run of 54 was enough to give Wellingborough based Ding the lead again, but Walker never knows when he's beaten and he levelled with a break of 64 and battled through a close decider to edge over the line.

However Walker couldn't make much impression on the inform Maguire, who rattled in breaks of 60, 97, 60 and 85 in a comfortable 5-1 win.

English Under 18 champion Gareth Coates stood between Maguire and the quarters, but the teenager had no answer at all to the Maguire scoring machine. The Scot powered in breaks of 68m 109, a 65 clearance, 51 and 111 in a very one-sided encounter.

But Coates, who takes up a Challenge Tour place this season, claimed two notable scalps in rounds one and two. First up he dumped out the 1999 Champion and last year's Maximum Man Stuart Bingham, winning 5-3 and then he produced the same result against Bristol's Andrew Norman. From 3-2 down against Norman, Coates ran in breaks of 103, 97 and 88 to turn the match on its head.

Ryan Day set out with a 5-0 win over his North Wales colleague and old adversary from their Welsh Juniors day, Gareth Coppack.  Only one frame lacked a fifty plus break as Day thumped in runs of 67, 81, 52 and 91 and Coppack took a consolation frame with a run of 96.

Matt Selt faced Day in round two, having beaten another Welshman, Paul Davies, in the first match. In fact Selt was a touch unlucky not to compile a maximum in that match, when having taken 13 reds and blacks, the fourteenth red hit the back of the pocket but bounced out, with Selt perfect on the next black.

Day stormed into a 3-0 lead with breaks of 68, 93 and 78 before Selt responded, rattling in 76 and 55 to reduce his arrears. But it wasn't enough as Day sprinted to victory with further breaks of 77 and 95.

And Day kept up his scoring spree against Craig Steadman in the final qualifying round, smacking in runs of 64, 77, 68 and 71 in a 5-3 win.

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