Davis back in form to book 30th Crucible appearance

Steve Davis booked an amazing 30th appearance at the Crucible last night with a 10-4 win against Adrian Gunnell in the Betfred.com World Championship final qualifying round.

Six-times World Champion Davis blitzed Telford's Gunnell at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield.

The 52-year-old took the first two frames with breaks of 43 and 65, then Gunnell pulled one back with a 45. A 50-minute fourth frame went the way of Davis on the colours and he went 4-1 up with a run of 88.

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He nicked two more scrappy frames on the colours for a 6-1 advantage. Gunnell got his cue arm going in the last two frames, making a 104 – which could have been a 147 had he not missed the penultimate red – and a 113 to give himself hope ahead of last night's session.

But those hopes were shortlived as Davis reeled off four of the first five frames to secure his spot at the Crucible.

"I'm delighted. I felt like a player today. I was really fired up," said Davis. "Adrian said it was the best he's seen me play for a couple of years and I think I agree with him."

Joining Davis will be Sheffield-based Liang Wenbo who romped to a 10-2 win over Rod Lawler. Liang lost the first frame but then took the next eight.

Today, Ken Doherty will play Joe Swail with the winner reaching the televised stages of the tournament.

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