Marathon Man Mark Davis discovers the perfect antidote to tiredness after late night epic

The St Leonards-on-Sea snooker star was on the baize until 1:03am on Monday night as he toppled world No.66 Ian Burns 4-3 in a scrappy encounter under the Marshall Arena lights.

The world No.44 breathed a sigh of relief to get over the line and hopes a Milton Keynes stroll with Hawkins will make his next encounter a walk in the park.

“I’m a little bit tired – it’s hard to sleep straight after that and I didn’t get to sleep until quite late. When it finishes that late you’re wide awake and I didn’t get to sleep until about 3 o’clock or something,” said Davis, 48.

“It was just the way it went – it went really scrappy and we were both struggling a little bit and it just dragged on and on and on.

“It was just one of them games, and I’ll just try and learn from it and hopefully improve things for next time. I was just pleased to win in the end.

“Barry Hawkins has a little walking route down by the lake which is quite nice, so I’m just having a little walk there – staying well away from him obviously! It’s quite nice to get a bit of fresh air.

“I struggled to get a practice table as they’re all booked but I’m not really bothered about that – a day off will probably do me good.

“I’ll probably end up watching the darts [Grand Slam] on the computer! I might go home and watch a bit of snooker later but there’s not loads to do with the way it is, is there?”

Davis opened his account with a first frame break of 50 but an attritional affair ensued as Burns’ third frame 54 was the game’s only other visit of note.

The Preston potter teed up a nervy decider but Davis, who reached the second round of German Masters qualifying last week, showed his bottle to battle over the line.

Next up for Davis? It could be practice partner and Bexhill-on-Sea player Jimmy Robertson, who takes on two-time World Championship finalist Matthew Stevens on Tuesday.

The pair practice at O'Sullivans Snooker & Pool Club – in Bexhill – and Davis says he’s relish a clash with his old south coast chum in the last 64.

“I really like Matthew but I practice with Jimmy a lot so from that point of view, I’d like to see it,” he added.

“But I don’t really want to see him as we’re mates and play at the same club, but I’d like to see him win.”

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