St Leonards star secures World Championship place

Snooker star Mark Davis has booked his place in the Betfred World Championship.
Mark Davis has qualified for the Betfred World Snooker Championship. Picture courtesy World SnookerMark Davis has qualified for the Betfred World Snooker Championship. Picture courtesy World Snooker
Mark Davis has qualified for the Betfred World Snooker Championship. Picture courtesy World Snooker

The St Leonards-based cueman earned a spot at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield after winning his final round match at the qualifiers this afternoon (Wednesday).

Davis, the world number 38, overturned a 5-4 deficit from yesterday’s first session to beat 27th-ranked Chinese potter Lyu Haotian 10-7.

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See also: * St Leonards star one win away from World Championship place* St Leonards star edged out in epic English Open final* Hollington target county cup gloryThe 46-year-old was never ahead during the first session. Haotian took the first two frames and although Davis pulled one back with a break of 54, Haotian edged the fourth to lead 3-1.

After Davis won two in a row to level at 3-3, Haotian clinched frames seven and nine, either side of Davis taking the eighth, to hold a narrow advantage overnight.

Davis began the second session with a superb break of 122 to level at 5-5 only for Haotian to reply with an 83 in the next to go ahead again.

English Open runner-up Davis then reeled off three straight frames to turn a 6-5 deficit into an 8-6 lead.

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A run of 65 helped Haotian pull one back, but Davis won frame 16 to go within one of victory at 9-7.

Frame 17 was a nail-biting affair before Davis, who lost to Haotian in the quarter-finals of the recent Indian Open, held his nerve to claim it 72-65 on a respotted black.

It was Davis’s third victory at the qualifiers, having previously seen off Fergal O’Brien 10-4 and Rod Lawler 10-6.

He and the 15 other qualifiers will join the world’s top 16 ranked players in the event proper, which will start this coming Saturday and continue through until Monday May 6.