Davis in trouble at Crucible

Mark Davis will have to stage a spectacular turnaround to reach the last 16 of the Dafabet World Snooker Championship.
Mark Davis is 7-2 down against Dominic Dale after the opening session at The Crucible Theatre in SheffieldMark Davis is 7-2 down against Dominic Dale after the opening session at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield
Mark Davis is 7-2 down against Dominic Dale after the opening session at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield

The St Leonards cueman ended last night’s (Wednesday’s) opening session of his first round match against Dominic Dale trailing 7-2 at The Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Davis will therefore need to win eight of a possible 10 frames in the second session this afternoon if he is to set up a second round meeting with Michael Wasley, conqueror of world number two Ding Junhui.

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Welsh qualifier Dale never looked back after building an early advantage, as Davis could only snare the third and seventh frames of the evening on his first outing as a seeded player on the sport’s biggest stage.

But it could have been so different for world number 12 Davis who, after losing the opener, was on the brink of taking the second frame with Dale needing a snooker. Dale, though, forced Davis into four fouls – after failing to kiss a red – before knocking off 30 to develop a 2-0 lead.

Reigning six-reds world champion Davis did edge the third with runs of 25 and 44, but could only must 20 points in the next three frames as Dale enjoyed a string of high-scoring visits.

The 41-year-old Davis gave himself a glimmer of hope by taking a tactical seventh frame before 24th-ranked Snooker Shoot-Out winner Dale inflicted further damage in the last two encounters of the night.

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