THE much-anticipated clash of the Welshmen turned out to be a damp squib when Mark Williams crushed compatriot Matthew Stevens 5-1 at the Newport Centre yesterday.

Gwent's former world champion was due to face current world champion Shaun Murphy in the last eight later today hoping to improve on a mixed performance.

But the signs were encouraging for the Cwm star as he recovers from the worst slump of his career which left him, like Stevens, battling to safeguard a world top 16 spot - a goal he looks to have accomplished.

He said: "It was an excellent result for me - I thought I played OK in patches again. Matthew missed a lot of easy balls he'd never miss in a million years and I just picked up the scraps.

"I could see he was struggling and I just had to concentrate on my own game and get to five frames before him.

"It's the first time for both of us since getting into the top 16 that we have struggled to hold onto our places. I've certainly felt pressure and I don't know whether that was the reason Matthew played badly. It's not easy playing under that pressure."

Carmarthen's Stevens headed into the match in fine shape after dispatching Mark Davis 5-0 on Wednesday, but that form soon evaporated.

Stevens said: "What a difference a day makes. I felt it was going to be a great match but it didn't work out that way.

"I think we both dragged each other down a bit. One minute you don't feel you can miss, then all of a sudden it turned out to be miss, miss, miss."

Williams took control of the scrappy affair by winning the first two frames, Stevens failing to manage his pre-tournament aim to start quickly in the best-of-nine affairs.

Williams always looked the more controlled player, but even so failed to stamp his authority on a fragmented game. He provided the top break with just 61, Stevens managing a high of only 27.

But Williams was clinical when presented with opportunities and continued to feed off the Stevens scraps to seal his place in the quarter-finals.

Williams is now the last remaining Welshman in the tournament after Bridgend's Ryan Day was knocked out 5-3 by Barry Hawkins.

James Wattana produced the shock of last night by dumping out John Higgins 5-4 while Ronnie O'Sullivan's conqueror, Ian McCulloch, continued his progress with a 5-3 win over Robert Milkins.

Ken Doherty fell 5-3 to Anthony Hamilton and Stephen Lee was impressive in his 5-2 win over Mark Selby.