Davis defeats world number 10

The St Leonards cueman beat 10th-ranked Mark Allen 4-3 in round one of European Tour event four, the Paul Hunter Classic, in Fuerth, Germany.

In a match televised live on British Eurosport, Davis, ranked 17, took the opening frame only for Allen to reply with the next two, the latter thanks to a break of 79.

Davis raised his game to clinch the fourth and fifth frames - aided by a very good 51 in the latter - to lead 3-2. Allen, the World Open champion of 2012 and 2013, levelled at 3-3 with an 80, but Davis rattled through the decider in a single visit with a superb 88.

The 41-year-old then saw off six-times world champion Steve Davis 4-2. Continuing the form he showed in the latter part of the Allen match, Mark bagged the first two frames with breaks of 87 and 78.

Steve made a 71 to pull one back only for Mark to restore his two-frame cushion with an 85. Steve, now ranked 52, got back to 3-2 with the help of a 60, but a 52 - Mark’s fourth half-century of the match - took him over the line in the next.

Davis’s progress was halted in round three by a 4-2 loss to 8th-ranked Stuart Bingham. A 62 gave Davis the opener and although Bingham levelled, Davis went back in front with an 81.

Davis began the fourth frame with a 53, but Bingham came back to clinch it with a 74 and never looked back. The Essex potter pocketed the next two with runs of 66 and 69 to book his place in the last 16. Davis heads to Thailand next week for his defence of the Six Reds World Championship.

Jimmy Robertson, meanwhile, continued his good start to the season with two more wins in the same event. The Bexhill potter saw off Belgian amateur Wan Chooi Tan 4-0 and world number 21 Tom Ford 4-1 before losing 4-2 to 22nd-ranked Martin Gould.

Robertson came through his opening match with a top break of 42 and later went 3-0 up against Ford with a best effort of 41. Ford stayed alive thanks to a run of 88 in the fourth frame only for Robertson to seal victory with a 71 in the next.

World number 45 Robertson led in four of the first five frames against Gould, yet ended up losing three of them. A 56 gave Robertson the opener and he began the second with a 62 only for Gould to come back and pinch it.

Gould went 2-1 up courtesy of a 59, but Robertson levelled via a 53. A closing 61 gave Gould a 3-2 lead and Robertson scored just one point in the sixth.

He remains in the top 10 of the European Tour order of merit, however, and in a strong position to qualify for the PTC Grand Finals in March.