Very interesting Steve Davis makes his 30th Snooker World Championships
Last updated 14/03/2010 11:47:12
Steve Davis makes his 30th Snooker World Championships
Televisions loss is snookers gain as the very interesting Steve Davis clinched his 30th World Championship appearance at the Crucible.
Always happy, always optimistic Davis, a six-time champion clinched his place after beating Adrian Gunnell 10-4 in final qualifying for the "Big One".
Now 52 Davis, known as "The Nugget" said: "I'm delighted. I felt like a player today. I was really fired up and played half decent."
But there is no doubt it becomes harder every year to qualify as two-time former finalist Matthew Stevens discovered when he was squeezed out 10-9 to Marcus Campbell.
It is the second successive year that the Welshman, who reached the decider in 2000 and 2005, has failed to qualify for the televised stages.
Davis revealed he and Stephen Hendry are in competition over who can be the oldest to appear at the Crucible but Hendry, 41, has a long way to go.
"It's my competition and Stephen knows about it. If he wants to carry on playing he's got to beat me turning up at the Crucible," Davis said. "He's now got to be there at 53. He's the best player there's ever been in my opinion but I've still got one record he's going to find hard to beat.
"That's my driving force and I've put another year on it now. Every appearance is special. No-one can guarantee you'll ever be there again. It's massive, so exciting."
Ken Doherty, the 1997 champion, plays Joe Swail on Monday, while 2006 winner Graeme Dott plays Jimmy Michie on Tuesday.
After beating Jimmy White in the second stage of qualifying, Doherty is desperate to return to the scene of his greatest triumph.
"I'm just as hungry to go back there and do it again," Doherty said, "Everybody wants to play there. Everybody dreams of it. It's the carrot that dangles for us all. "You look forward to it every year. I missed out last year and it was very bleak. When you don't qualify and have to watch it on TV, it really hurts."
Doherty is the only non-British player other than Cliff Thorburn to win the World Championship but lost in last year's qualifiers to end a 15-year run at Sheffield's famous snooker venue.
After slipping to 44 in the rankings, the Dubliner is determined to return to the world's top 16 and now has to overcome two-time world semi-finalist Swail to guarantee his spot in the televised stages.
The qualifiers began a week ago at Sheffield's English Institute of Sport (EIS) Arena with 108 entrants having reduced to 32.
It is a tough competition away from the gaze of the wider public and the qualification has already seen the exit of 1991 world champion John Parrott, whose loss to China's Anda Zhang means he will drop out of the top 64, and a place on the main tour, next season.
As well as Doherty, Monday's matches also feature 1995 runner-up Nigel Bond taking on part-time croupier Martin Gould and Judd Trump facing Tom Ford.
Tuesday's final day of qualifying sees 18-year-old Zhang, who has already won three qualifying matches, takes on Ricky Walden; Jamie Cope faces Mark Joyce and Stephen Lee, currently bailed following an investigation into suspicious betting patterns, plays Mike Dunn.
The draw for the World Championship took place on Thursday 11 March. Steve Davis starts his 30th campaign against Mark King. Three-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will face China's Liang Wenbo. Defending champion John Higgins will start the tournament on 17 April against Barry Hawkins.
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