Davis snatches win from jaws of defeat

Mark Davis came back from the brink of defeat to win his opening match at snooker’s Australian Goldfields Open this morning (Wednesday).
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Jul 2013, 09:58 BST
Mark Davis scraped past Paul Davison in round one of the Australian Goldfields Open. Picture courtesy World SnookerMark Davis scraped past Paul Davison in round one of the Australian Goldfields Open. Picture courtesy World Snooker
Mark Davis scraped past Paul Davison in round one of the Australian Goldfields Open. Picture courtesy World Snooker

The St Leonards cueman was 4-3 down in the best of nine frames first round clash and needed snookers in the eighth, but drew on all his reserves to pull off a 5-4 victory.

Davis, the world number 16, took the opening frame 70-37 thanks to a break of 66 only for 73rd-ranked Davison - playing in the last 32 of a full ranking event for only the second time - bagged the second 128-5 with a 112.

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A 55 helped give Davis the third 80-0, but he lost the fourth 73-51 despite a top run of 36 to his opponent’s 28. An opening 61 gave Davison the fifth 70-46 even though Davis came back with a 43 and the lead for the first time.

Although Davis restored parity again at 3-3 by claiming the sixth 104-4 with all his points coming in a single visit, Davison fashioned his second century of the match with a 124 to grab the seventh 130-0.

Davison stood on the cusp of victory when he led 60-20 in the eighth with only 35 points on the table. Davis refused to lie down, however, and clawed his way back into it on the colours before laying a snooker on the pink and clearing the last two balls to snatch the frame 61-60.

Davis was again in trouble in the decider when he trailed 49-10 before rallying to take it 58-50 on the pink. His opponent in the last 16 tomorrow will be Alfie Burden, who won 5-2 in a high quality match against Michael Holt with top breaks of 136, 53, 66 and 68.