Day dominates Dale in opening session
Ryan Day leads fellow Welshman Dominic Dale 6-3 after the first session of Sunday's £250,000 Roewe Shanghai Masters final.
The Bridgend potter got off to a flying start in this year's best-of-19 frame showcase at the 8,000-seater Grand Stage venue.
Chasing his first ranking event title and a winners' cheque of £48,000, the world number 16 opened with a cool century (105) break to lead.
Neath's Dale, whose last ranking event win came 10 years ago at the Grand Prix in Bournemouth, quickly levelled the match, winning the second frame 71-33. And the world number edged 2-1 ahead thanks to a break of 54 in the third frame.
Day responded with his second century (115) to square matters before the mid-session interval, before taking the lead courtesy of a 76 break following the resumption.
The 27-year-old took the next 65-21 and then pocketed a 74 break to lead 5-2. A run of 59 made it 6-2 - his fifth frame on the spin -to leave Dale with work to do.
But his opponent hit back with a break of 84 to trail by just three frames ahead of Sunday night's concluding session.
This year is the first time two Welsh players have contested a ranking event final since Mark Williams and Matthews Stevens played each other in the 2000 World Championship in Sheffield.
Williams won the Crucible crown that day with an 18-16 victory.
The runner-up in Shanghai stands to pocket £22,500, while Preston's Ian McCulloch looks likely to land the highest break prize of £2,000 for his 133 run against former world champion Shaun Murphy in the first round.
