Ryan Day admits that finding consistency in his game is the next step after holding his nerve to see off world No.1 Ding Junhui in the first round of the German Masters in Berlin, writes Luke Baker.

Day looked to be on his way out of the tournament when Ding was 4-3 up in their Thursday clash, but the Chinese superstar missed a tricky pink to seal victory which let the Welshman back in.

The world No. 21 sunk the final two colours and produced a match-winning run of 82 in the next frame to win 5-4 and set up a last-16 contest with Alfie Burden on Friday.

For Day, the triumph served as revenge for 12 months ago when Ding beat him in a final-frame thriller at the semi-final stage and the 34-year-old claims confidence is high.

“I held myself together nicely in the final frame and made a good break to win it,” Day said.

“I’m not really worried who I play now – I’m playing with a lot of confidence at the moment and hopefully I can build momentum to the end of the season.

“I’m hitting the ball alright at the moment but I’m struggling with consistency a little bit.

“One day I can play quite well and then the next day, for some unknown reason, it’s not quite there. The top boys play well all the time, so that’s something I’m working on.”

Snooker star Mark Williams

Meanwhile, fellow Welshman Mark Williams has come to terms with the fact he will never recapture past glories after crashing out at the first-round stage in Berlin.

Williams, who won the World Championship in both 2000 and 2003 but whose last ranking event title came in 2011, made just one 50-plus break as he went down 5-2 to Mark Allen.

And while the 39-year-old refused to take anything away from his opponent, he admits he’s not the player he was a few years ago.

“Mark played really well to be honest – he didn’t miss a long ball all game, made a lot of breaks and just played really well throughout,” said Williams.

“I’m happy enough with the way I’m playing at the moment – as I’ve said before, I’m not going to get any better now.

“My quality of game is nowhere near where it used to be and it’s never going to be again, so I’m happy with knowing it’s not going to be that good but still trying my best.”

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