And the 41-year-old – who knocked out Fergal O’Brien 9-7 in the last 16 - needs just four more frames in the best-of-17 showdown this evening to seal his place in the semi-finals.

Bond took the first frame of the match, a scrappy affair between both players, but it was White who settled the quickest.

Breaks of 53, 68, 63, 53 and 51 duly followed to give him the upper hand as Bond really struggled to find any rhythm.

But the experienced 37-year-old dug in to share the spoils at 3-3, despite a highest break of just 35.

However, it was White – bidding to win his first world ranking event for 11 years – who snatched the last two frames and put himself in the driving seat.

In the other quarter-final today, Welshman Matthew Stevens took a commanding lead over his pal Paul Hunter.

Stevens – who stayed at Hunter’s home in Leeds for a couple of nights at the start of the tournament – raced into a healthy 6-2 advantage over the Yorkshireman.

An impressive break of 101 from Stevens set the tone for the afternoon’s action, which the world number nine followed up with breaks of 57, 52, 55, 56 and 82 to edge closer to the semi-finals.

Hunter, the world number eight, had hit back from 2-0 down with a break of 57 to secure the third frame, as well as snatching the seventh with an excellent break of 68.

But Steven only requires three more frames to book his place in the last four where he will meet the winner of the White-Bond match.

The deciding sessions of both quarter-finals resume this evening at 6.45pm.