Steve Davis's dominance of the snooker world continued as he won his third world title in four years, becoming the first world champion to make a successful defence at the Crucible.

But Davis showed signs that he was not immune to pressure after suffering a mid-match collapse in the final, in which he beat Jimmy White 18-16 having led 12-4 at the end of the first day.

White began the second day with a break of 119 and won seven of the eight frames in the third session to trail only 13-11.

Davis increased this to 15-11 and 16-12 but White then won three frames in succession to cut the deficit to 16-15.

When White missed a yellow from distance in the next, Davis cleared the colours for a 17-15 advantage but White saved the match with a 65 clearance.

His recovery ended there, though, as a relieved Davis prevented the contest going the full distance by winning the 34th frame.

Although he had hung on to win the title, cracks in Davis's normally resolute composure had been clear for all to see, and would return to haunt him a year later.