World Snooker Championship: One Sussex ace through – another in agonising miss

Robertson, from Bexhill, booked his place at The Crucible in Sheffield for the first time since 2018 with a crushing 10-2 win over Anthony Hamilton in the final round of the qualifiers on Wednesday.

The world number 27 produced breaks of 91, 88, 75 and two of 67 in a match where he clinched all of the last six frames against his 42nd-ranked opponent.

Robertson, who won all of the final four frames to defeat Belgian prospect Ben Mertens in the previous round, was handed a first round tie against Mark Williams in Thursday morning's draw.

St Leonards-based Davis, though, suffered the agony of losing his final qualifying round match against close friend Joe Perry on the final black in the deciding frame.

Not only did the 50-year-old agonisingly miss out on a place in the sport's flagship event, the defeat also meant the end of his remarkable 32-year stint on the professional circuit.

Davis trailed 46-0 in a nerve-jangling final frame, but came back to lead with a break of 55 only to miss the final pink - which would have given him victory - under the most intense pressure.

World number 31 Perry then potted the pink and a very tricky black to prevail 10-9, but afterwards admitted he felt "so sick" for his opponent, who made one century break and seven others over 50.

Davis had earlier recovered from 5-2 down to lead 7-6 and despite losing two tight frames to trail 8-7, he took the next two in style to lead 9-8. Yet it was Perry who claimed the vital last two.

Former English Open finalist Davis, ranked 67, had pulled off good 10-8 victories over world number 38 Lyu Haotian and Michael Georgiou in the previous two rounds.