Davis beaten in semi-finals

The St Leonards cueman finished third in the round-robin section with four wins out of six before losing 3-0 to Judd Trump in the last four at Crondon Park Golf Club, Essex.

Up against six of the world’s top 17 ranked players, 14th-ranked Davis made a good start with a 3-1 win over Robert Milkins featuring breaks of 91, 62 and 60. Although he then lost by the same score to Ricky Walden, Davis ended Monday’s programme by beating Ali Carter 3-1 aided by two runs of 60.

Davis began yesterday’s matches with a 3-0 victory against Shaun Murphy with a best break of 53. He then slumped 3-0 against Judd Trump, who made a tournament best break of 142, before finishing the group stage by seeing off Stuart Bingham 3-1 helped by runs of 85, 47 and 43.

Six reds world champion Davis went down 3-0 against Trump in the semi-finals. World number four Trump took the opening frame with a break of 93 and the second with a 77 before a 53 in the third sealed his victory despite a 33 from Davis.

Trump went on to lose 3-2 against Walden in the final. Walden advances to the winners’ group in March, while Trump, Davis, Carter and Murphy will go into group two today and tomorrow where they will be joined by Neil Robertson, Barry Hawkins and Matthew Stevens.