Hendry will now face Dubliner Ken Doherty in the last eight - the man who beat him in the 1997 final.

Davies won the opening frame of the evening but Hendry restored the four-frame advantage he held going into the session with a well-constructed 51 break.

Hendry manoeuvred the cue ball around expertly in the third frame and a break of 37 was enough to stretch his lead to 8-3.

Davies looked a dejected figure in the next as he missed a relatively simple black and Hendry took advantage with an 81 break.

Hendry resumed control after the mid-session interval, breaks of 54 and 63 extending his lead to seven frames.

The 33-year-old also won the next two to move with one frame of a place in the last eight.

Davies again missed a simple chance in the 16th frame and Hendry rattled in a 70 break to progress.

The Scottish star is now looking forward to a day off and said: ‘‘It’s nice to have an extra day off to relax and get some practice in.’’

And speaking about his eagerly-awaited clash with Doherty, Hendry added: ‘‘Ken had a fright in his

match so he might come out more relaxed in the next round, thinking that he might have gone out.

‘‘I haven’t been pushed yet but there’s no way it’s going to be a result like that in the quarter-finals. This is where the tough stuff really starts.’’

Anthony Hamilton takes a 9-7 advantage over Mark Williams into tomorrow’s final session.

A tense first frame came down to the black and Hamilton capitalised on a missed attempt by Williams to extend his lead to three.

However, Williams is a gutsy performer and he hit back with a break of 60. Hamilton missed a great chance to put the next frame beyond doubt, but Williams could not take advantage and found himself three adrift.

Worse was to follow for the Welshman in the next frame as Hamilton, thanks to a break of 61, stretched his lead to 8-4 at mid-session interval.

The number two seed came out fighting after the break and immediately cut Hamilton’s lead to three.

Williams also won the next before Hamilton hit back in the 15th frame. The last frame of the session

was a tense affair but Williams edged it to boost his hopes for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, John Higgins produced a devastating performance to lead fellow Scot Graeme Dott 8-0 in their second round clash.

After inflicting a 10-1 defeat on James Wattana in his first round match, Higgins carried on where he left off and scored three century breaks to move within five frames of a quarter-final place.

Dott has been through an emotional week after being told that May Lambie, wife of manager Alex and mother of his girlfriend, had tragically died of cancer during his first round match with Robin Hull.

He battled bravely against Higgins but in the end had no answer to the 26-year-old’s consistent, heavy scoring.

Breaks of 41 and 71 were enough to clinch him the first two frames before a well-constructed 107 extended his lead.

Dott could not halt the Higgins onslaught as another break of 72 left him four adrift at the mid-session interval.

The break did not affect Higgins’ concentration as a frame-winning 101 moved him into a 5-0 lead.

The world number three also won the next before a fantastic 124 clearance secured him the seventh.

Dott had an opportunity to build a frame-winning break in the eighth, but missed a simple red into the bottom corner.

Higgins was not about to let Dott off the hook and he took the frame to end a miserable session for the Glasgow professional.

In the other match, Stephen Lee looked in good touch as he opened up a 7-1 lead over Australian Quinten Hann.

Hann reduced the deficit to 2-1 with a 53 break, but Lee took control after the mid-session interval.

The world number eight registered breaks of 64, 46, 136, 39 and 73 to give himself a great chance of reaching the last eight.