Steve Davis's 10-2 first-round trouncing by Neil Robertson may well mean that the six‑times champion's record 29th Crucible is also his last. "Once you've got to qualify, you can never assume you'll be back," said Davis, who still relishes competing though he no longer devotes himself to the practice table as he once did. "It was disappointing not to play to any standard at all but Neil played some astonishing stuff at times. The break he made [125 in the penultimate frame] was fantastic."
Davis, who once said that he would not retire until his ranking exceeded his age, currently 51, added: "To me it's not about going out in style. I've gone past that. I'm going down the wall hanging on by my fingernails." Robertson faces formidable opposition next in Ali Carter.
Shaun Murphy, champion here in 2005 , held off Andrew Higginson 10-8 and went straight home to bed. "Headaches, sore throat, sickness" among his litany of ills, he attributed his victory to maintaining his practice schedule for the last fortnight even though he was not feeling like it.
Higginson came all the way from the qualifying competition to within a frame of beating Robertson in the 2007 Welsh Open final and was fulfilling a life's ambition simply by competing at The Crucible.When he led 7-6, an upset was on the cards but Murphy responded when it mattered most by winning the next three frames, going 9-7 up with a break of 107 and clinching victory two frames later.
Stephen Maguire and Jamie Burnett, whose clash in December's UK Championship is under investigation by the Strathclyde Police because of a suspicious pattern of betting on the 9-3 scoreline by which Maguire won, met again last night with the former taking a 6-3 overnight lead with the aid of breaks of 98, 96 and 101.
