 Davis won the last of his six world titles in 1989 |
Six-time champion Steve Davis staged a superb comeback from 5-0 down to beat Lee Spick 10-8 and reach the 2009 World Championship at the Crucible. But former world champion Ken Doherty, who recently dropped out of the world top 16 after 15 years, missed out after losing 10-5 to Gerard Greene. "I'm on a slippery slope. I'll be back next season, but maybe not for too long," said the Dubliner, 39. Two-time runner-up Matthew Stevens also failed to qualify. The Welshman lost 10-4 to part-time casino croupier Martin Gould. Mark Williams, who beat Stevens in the 2000 final for one of his two world title triumphs, secured his place in the televised stages after beating Tom Ford 10-5.  | 606: DEBATE |
Stephen Lee, Ricky Walden, Liang Wenbo and Jamie Burnett also progressed. Lee, a semi-finalist in 2003, prevailed 10-8 in a tight contest with 19-year-old Judd Trump. Walden beat fellow Englishman Anthony Hamilton 10-5 while China's Liang cruised past another Englishman, Dave Harold, 10-3. Burnett came from 6-3 behind to beat Dubliner Fergal O'Brien 10-8. Andrew Higginson, meanwhile, will make his Crucible debut after beating Michael Judge 10-4. "I'll enjoy it no matter what, you won't see me with a sad face," said Higginson. "Last season was my worst ever but this one has been better and I've got to a few venues. "I've been to watch two finals at the Crucible so at least I know what to expect." Also through to the televised stages is 1995 runner-up Nigel Bond, who defeated Michael Dunn 10-7. But Scotland's Alan McManus, a former semi-finalist at the Crucible, was beaten 10-6 by Stuart Bingham. Jamie Cope and Michael Holt also made it through with victories over Paul Davies and Welshman Dominic Dale respectively.
Qualifiers for the 2009 World Championships: R O'Sullivan, S Maguire, S Murphy, M Selby, J Higgins, S Hendry, A Carter, R Day, P Ebdon, N Robertson, D Junhui, J Perry, G Dott, M Fu, M King, M Allen (qualified automatically based on world ranking). J Cope, J Swail, S Bingham, M Williams, N Bond, S Lee, M Holt, R Walden, A Higginson, L Wenbo, J Burnett, M Gould, G Greene, S Davis, B Hawkins, R McLeod (won through qualifying).
The draw for the first round of the televised stages of the World Championship will be made on Radio Sheffield at 0945 GMT on Wednesday 11 March. You can follow it live on the BBC Sport website.
| 
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
Bookmark with:
What are these?