Veteran Steve Davis edged closer to a sensational win over holder John Higgins in the second round of the snooker world championship on Friday.
Davis, who resumed with a 6-2 lead, ended the penultimate session 9-7 ahead to move to within four frames of victory.
A winner of six world titles, one less than record holder Stephen Hendry, Davis got through the qualifiers to play in this year’s tournament after dropping out of the world’s top 16.
Most observers thought that the 52-year-old had turned up in Sheffield merely to make up the numbers, before settling back into his role as a BBC pundit.
Making a record 30th appearance at the Crucible Theatre, Davis clearly loved the warm welcome he got on emerging through the famous curtains before his first-round match with Mark King.
Having failed to reach the second round in the last three years, he was expected to put up a brave fight, placing his opponent under pressure at times, before bowing out gracefully.
Davis’ return to the TV sofa was put on hold, however, when he edged to a 10-9 win following a last-frame decider.
With a match against fellow Briton Higgins his reward for beating King, few people gave Davis much hope of progressing. He has, however, produced an inspired performance to suggest he could pull off one of the tournament’s biggest ever upsets.
It is a long time since Davis made such an impact in a sport he dominated in the 1980s.
Nicknamed “The Nugget,” the Englishman won his first world title in 1981. The last of his six triumphs at the Crucible came in 1989 when he thrashed John Parrott 18-3.
Davis is snooker’s elder statesman, competing against many players who were not even born when he first tasted success in Sheffield.
Davis is at center stage at a time when his long-time manager, Barry Hearn, now chairman of snooker’s governing body, is attempting to breathe new life into the game.
As a result of Hearn’s involvement, players now enter the arena with their choice of music belting out over the sound system. Davis’ appearance and demeanor appears at odds with this new innovation and he appears to belong to another era, but he will put those thoughts aside when he resumes battle with Higgins.
Thirteen years since his last major tournament win, Davis is amazingly on the verge of dumping the holder out of the tournament.
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