Ryan Day is setting his sights on winning the 888.com World Snooker Championship and believes he has a better chance than ever before.

The Welshman has been involved in some memorable matches at the Crucible; in 2004 he lost 10-9 to John Higgins despite becoming the first player to make three centuries on his debut, and two years later he went down 13-10 to Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Day has shown his class over the past 14 months, reaching two ranking finals as well as the semi-finals of the recent Honghe Industrial China Open. Most of his best performances have come overseas but he is now aiming to show his talent back at home in the UK.

"I feel that I have a more rounded game than ever before, and that will stand me in good stead for the 17 days at Sheffield, if I'm there that long," said the 28-year-old from Pontycymmer, who lies seventh in the provisional world rankings.

"Getting into the top eight of the official rankings was one of my goals for the season. But my main goal now is to become 888.com World Champion. I've been to the Crucible three times now and never got past the last 16. But this time I'm going there as one of the most consistent players this season, and that gives me some confidence."

Day faces Irishman Michael Judge in the first round, with the first session to take place at 10am on Sunday April 20, and the concluding session the following day at the same time.

"I've beaten Michael a few times, but the last time we played was at the Welsh Open when he beat me 5-0, so he will be buoyed by that result," Day added. "I took a lot of positives out of the way I played in China so hopefully I can find that form again.

"I have actually been struggling in practice, there seems to be something missing from my game. But I've got plenty of time to sort it out and I'm going up to the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield this week for my final preparations."

The 888.com World Snooker Championship runs from April 19 to May 5.

Eurosport