Mark Davis is fighting for his snooker life again at World Championship qualifying, but is excited for the challenge ahead as he looks to avoid more ‘brutal’ defeats and return to the Crucible.
The 53-year-old has been a professional since 1991, making his Crucible debut in 1994 against Terry Griffiths, but his pro status is under threat as he heads to the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield this week.
He will certainly need to win his opener against Gao Yang to have a chance of maintaining professional status, while the following round against Tom Ford could also be crucial.
The Battler from Hastings has come through World Championship qualifying 11 times, but the last four years have all ended in deciding frame defeats, with two 10-9 losses coming on Judgement Day – the final round of qualifying.
With the chance to stay on tour and reach the Crucible, but also the prospect of an unknown future away from the game, it’s understandable Davis is both nervous and excited.
‘The last two or three years I’ve had to go there needing to win to stay on. I’ve got to win probably at least two this year. So honestly, it’s both of those,’ Davis told Metro.
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‘I’ve been a pro 35 years, on the tour non-stop. It’s quite exciting that I’ve actually played some decent stuff there the last three years.
‘The last three years, it’s been 10-9, 10-9, 10-9, two of them have been on the black, so it’s been pretty brutal, but at the same time, this has been the event where I’ve actually played some of my best stuff.
‘I just go there, try my best and I’d love to have another season or two because I do feel there’s some decent snooker left in me. My results and performances might argue with that, but I do feel there’s some decent stuff there.’
With his 54th birthday coming up in August, the question of what would come next if he does fall off the professional tour is looming.
The former world number 12 is not panicking over that, saying that it is a possibility that has been floating between the front and back of his mind for a decade.
‘If it’s not to be, it’s not to be. I’ll come back and see what I do, see what I want to do, and then we go from there,’ he said. ‘But I’ll just give this everything I’ve got and see where we are at the end of it.
‘I’ve been taking it one season at a time for the last 10 years, really. Not thinking the worst, but just being realistic.
‘I keep my eyes open for anything that could come up away from snooker. But obviously you take your eye off the ball and it can affect your game. I just wanted to focus on the game, but I don’t really know.
‘I’m coaching and I want to build that up. I’d always do that, if I’m still playing or not.
‘You can’t force anything, but I’d love to stay involved in the game. I love the game. It’s been a massive part of my life. I’ve been on the tour 35 years, so I think I’ve got a lot to offer.’
It has been a disappointing season results-wise for Davis, which leaves him scrapping for his professional life, and he feels things have got tougher on the table since turning 50.
‘Just silly little errors, not really down to pressure. If it’s pressure, I can handle that,’ he said. ‘If I twitch a ball, I don’t mind. I can accept that, that’s just being human, but it’s just as I’ve hit my 50s, I see more lapses, just little things that pop in and you can’t take your focus off any ball, the game’s too hard and you’ll miss anything.
‘That’s cost me so many matches. But yeah, listen, it is why I’ll just try my best and probably, the performances probably haven’t been as bad as they look on paper. There’s been a lot of deciders in there, I’ve been only one or two balls away from actually winning those matches, which put a completely different spin on the on the season.’
Davis has been practicing hard with the likes of Jimmy Robertson, Barry Hawkins and Stuart Bingham ahead of the qualifiers, along with working with coach Chris Henry, so preparation has been good.
He goes to Sheffield looking to regain a piece of history having previously been the player to qualify for the Crucible more than any other.
His 11 visits as a qualifier has been matched by Dominic Dale and since overtaken by Ryan Day’s 12, which was news to Davis.
‘Another record I’ve lost, is it? Oh, I didn’t know that,’ he said. ‘I knew it was it was close. I know Dominic was there, I didn’t know RD slipped in on the outside there, did he?
‘Well, listen, we’re trying. I’d love to play there again, especially at my stage in my career, my age. I’d love to have another go there.
‘I’m not worried about records or anything, but it’d just been lovely to play there again and give it another go.’
Of the deciding-frame defeats in recent years, none are more memorable than the black ball loss to good pal Joe Perry, having missed a good chance to win on the pink.
That result looked like it would end Davis’ run on the professional tour, although he just survived, but he says Judgement Day is just as intense wherever you are in the rankings, with the carrot of the Crucible in front of you.
‘That last game, no matter where you are, is always huge because everyone wants to play at the Crucible,’ he said. ‘It’s so edgy.
‘That pink against Joe, it hurt no more if I’d have been 30 in the world and missed out to get to the Crucible. It would have hurt just as much as it did. It’s an amazing place, even though I’ve been there loads of times.
‘The qualifiers are great. They seem to build and build over the years and are a really, really massive event. Good crowds all the way through. It’s in Sheffield, the home of snooker, so we always get good crowds here. The set-up’s great, so it’s really good.
‘I think everyone looks forward to it, even though there’s a lot of pressure on a lot of players. We’ll see how we go, see who can handle it and who can get themself in a position where they can play their own game. It’ll be good, mate.’
Davis takes on Gao over two sessions on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon in Sheffield.