Davis must qualify for World Champs

Currently 17th in the world rankings, the St Leonards cueman will not be in the top 16 at the season’s third ‘cut-off point’ next week.

Davis, who has been knocking on the door of the top 16 all season, was beaten 4-0 by 10th-ranked Ding Junhui in round one of the Welsh Open on Monday morning.

Chinese star Ding, last year’s Masters champion, took just 50 minutes to reach the second round, rattling in breaks of 81 and 50 in a fine performance against Davis, who scored just nine points in the match.

Davis earned his spot in Newport - the fifth time out of six he has reached the venue stage of a ranking event this season - courtesy of a 4-2 victory over Jamie Burnett in the final round of the qualifiers on Saturday.

The first four frames at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield were shared after Davis led twice. He went ahead for a third time after potting the all-important final red in frame five and comfortably took the sixth.

See Friday’s Hastings Observer for the full article.