Davis clings on to lead as Higgins struggles at Crucible

With Higgins attempting to defend his Betfred.com World Championship trophy and become the first man to land back-to-back Crucible titles since Stephen Hendry won five in a row from 1992 to 1996, veteran Davis has emerged as his potential slayer.

Davis last won the world title in 1989, and it is too early to predict he could land his seventh this year, but certainly the scalp of Higgins is almost within his grasp after he opened up a 9-7 lead.

Should he win, it would register as perhaps the greatest of all Crucible upsets. Davis was a 500-1 shot for the title before the tournament began, with Higgins 5-1, and the veteran has suggested anyone taking the odds on him would be frittering away their money.

Perhaps not, but there remains a final session to get through this morning, and the lead could quickly evaporate.

Higgins has played more like the long-odds outsider so far, and even though he 'won' yesterday's session by five frames to three it was Davis who left the arena in high spirits after pinching the last of the session.

Eight-all would have meant Higgins going favourite, but with a two-frame lead Davis has an outstanding chance of reaching the 13-frame victory mark.

Former world champion Graeme Dott, needing to reach the semi-finals to reclaim his place in the top 16, opened up a 7-1 lead over his fellow Scot Stephen Maguire.

Dott went on runs of 94, 110, 99 and 59, and Maguire had a top break of 35, from the opening frame, which he lost.

World No 2 Maguire has never reached a Crucible final, and his prospects for this year were left looking bleak.

Both matches reach their conclusion today.

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen last night became the first man to reach the quarter-finals as he completed a thumping 13-5 win against England's Mark Davis.

Davis had won the first two frames of the match but Allen then took control and made three centuries in the match, including a 146 and runs of 131 and 101 in the final two frames.

Allen, 24, said: "I've started to close out matches pretty well now and to finish with two centuries was an added bonus.

"I feel like that form's been coming because I've been making seventies and eighties every time I get in and scoring well."

Sheffield teenage snooker star Joel Walker collected a 5,000 cheque from Ronnie O'Sullivan yesterday and set his sights on one day beating the three-time world champion.

O'Sullivan also backed Walker to win a world title as he handed over the prize to the winner of the Rileys 'Future Stars' competition.

England junior international Walker will put his new-found riches towards paying for snooker equipment and travelling to tournaments, in the hope he can one day compete on the same level as O'Sullivan.

"I think he's the best player ever up to now, hopefully I can beat him one day," said the 16-year-old.

Walker won yesterday's final of a competition which featured almost 1,000 young players.