Matthew Stevens was a young man in a hurry at Preston last night as he trounced fellow Welshman Mark Williams 9-1 to reach the UK snooker Championship quarterfinals. Stevens, 20, led 7-1 after the afternoon session and then required only 24 minutes to complete an outstanding result.

Only four of the top 16 players remain in the competition - and one of them is former English amateur champion Stephen Lee from Trowbridge. Lee overwhelmed former UK finalist Neal Foulds 9-2, a superb result given that Foulds knocked out world champion Ken Doherty in the previous round.

Lee's quarter-final opponent will be Essex left-hander Mark King, who earlier put out Darren Morgan 9-5.