Davis cruises past Cao

Mark Davis was a convincing winner in round one of the UK Snooker Championship yesterday (Sunday).
By The Newsroom
Published 3rd Dec 2012, 08:00 BST

The St Leonards cueman saw off Chinese qualifier Cao Yupeng 6-1 to set up a second round showdown against four-time world champion John Higgins on Wednesday evening.

World number 16 Davis - seeded in a full ranking event for only the second time in his career - came through the opening frame 69-22 with a top break of 41.

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He then breezed the second 108-0 thanks to runs of 58 and 50 before overturning a 56-point deficit to clinch the third via a superb 79 clearance.

The 40-year-old opened up a commanding 4-0 cushion going into the interval after winning the next 92-0 with the help of a 68. Yupeng got himself on the scoreboard by edging the fifth 76-55 despite a Davis 51.

But Six Reds World Champion Davis moved within one of victory by claiming frame six 69-2 with a best effort of 37 and finished the job by bagging the seventh 93-28 aided by runs of 38 and 48.

It was the most decisive result of the tournament so far and Davis will now be setting his sights on a third full ranking event quarter-final of the season having reached the last four of the Wuxi Classic and Australian Goldfields Open back in the summer.

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UK Championship second round draw: Mark Joyce v Ali Carter; Stuart Bingham v Stephen Maguire; Mark Williams or Mark King v Ricky Walden or Luca Brecel; Graeme Dott v Shaun Murphy; John Higgins v Mark Davis; Matthew Stevens or Dominic Dale v Marco Fu; Neil Robertson or Tom Ford v Barry Hawkins; Ryan Day v Mark Selby.