Epic Davis victory ends Higgins title defence
Steve Davis held off a Higgins comeback and held his nerves to edge an amazing 13-11 victory, to book himself into the 2010 Betfred.com World Championship quarter finals.
Grown men were crying, spectators sat with fingers crossed and you could hear a pin drop in the normally noisy media centre.
His opponent missed a mundane red, but somehow, amidst all the crushing tension, Steve Davis, in his 30th year at the Crucible, held on to his shredded nerves to conjour up an amazing shot to double the brown, dislodge the blue from the cushion and then pot it and the match ball pink, for an amazing 13-11 win over John Higgins.
When John Higgins started the day with 70 and 115 to level the match, it look as if Steve Davis' impossible dream was going to come to an end.
Davis gritted his teeth once again and opened the nineteenth frame with 37 before missing a red he tried to punch in along the top cushion. Higgins settled in for a break but unaccountably missed the lbue on 22 and that let Davis in to seal the frame with 46.
Thirty nervous minutes later it was 11-9 to Davis. He opened with 49, let Higgins in to respond with 41, but the Scot missed the blue, having done all the hard work and Davis struggled in the blue and added the pink with the rest.
That signalled another Higgins comeback, as the defending champion, who wasn't going to let his title slip without an almighty struggle, ran in 59 and 56 to level the match yet again. And at this time he looked the stronger player and became favourite in many viewer's eyes.
Higgins got the first chance in the next, but squandered it on 16. David chipped in with 26 and then 35 to inch ahead, and stand within a frame of victory.
What proved to be the final frame was pure theatre. Higgins got in and made 42. But then he missed and Davis, sweating a pint of blood on every shot, made 33.
It came down to the colours, which where everywhere but where you'd want them to be. Davis got yellow and green, and played to leave himself to double the brown off the cushion. But the blue was also tucked under the cushion. He summoned a huge breath and produced the perfect shot, doubling the brown and kissing the blue down the cushion to sit over the corner pocket.
Theoretically it was pretty straightforward to pot blue and land on an easy pink to the centre, but at this stage of the match, just holding your cue the right way round required a supreme effort. Davis sucked in his cheeks, drew another lungful of oxygen in and sank the easy blue and as teh crowd went delirious, slotted the pink in the centre pocket.
John Higgins was the first to congratulate Davis on his win. "I said to him afterwards he's the greatest in my eyes," said Higgins.
If Steve Davis is the ultimate ambassador for our sport, or any sport, then John Higgins runs him a pretty close second.
Gracious in defeat Higgins couldn't speak highly enough of Davis' achievement.
"It's [The Crucible] the best place in the world to be if your playing well and on top of your game but it's also the worst if your struggling.
"It was tough out there, I struggled out there but every credit to Steve, I'm taking nothing away from the great man.
"For me he is the greatest, to be playing at 52 years old and to perform to that standard, it's just incredible.
"I was and yet wasn't surprised at the pressure he put me under.
"I knew he would be able to play good stuff, because although not doing great over the past few years he as put in some excellent performances.
"But to compete the way he did, at his age is amazing.
"The red I missed in the last was bad. My cueing was not great out there, I was snatching on everything.
"I missed some crucial pots in the match and the balls never forgive you, if you do that.
"I knew he was going to clear up to win the match, I just knew it.
"It's disappointing because last year I held myself together so well under pressure but this year I was just all over the place.
"He was definitely the better player. For long periods of the match I was just trying scrap it out with him.
"There were times out there when his cue ball control was a lesson to me.
"I'll go home now and dust myself down, but I would like to see him the final against maybe my fellow Scot Graeme Dott.
"Obviously it's going to be tough for Steve to win the tournament. Last year I had some monumental battles and at the end I was dead on my feet, so at 52 years of age it's going to be tough.
"Steve was my childhood hero but I hated him out there,it's about being professional.
"After the balls have been potted though,it's all over and you become normal again, so I shook his hand and wished him all the best.
Even the ice cool Steve Davis owned up to having a tear in his eye after his epic performance.
"I wasn't crying but I had half a tear in my eye because of the shock, the belief and a little bit of emotion. But I wasn't 'booing'." insisted Davis.
"Until I potted the final pink and held myself together while I was shaking like a leaf, perhaps I didn't believe it was going to happen.
"Obviously winning the event is massive but in terms of individual performances and pride of performance it's got to be so much up there."
Speaking of his match-winning double on the final green Davis said "These types of shots are judgement shots, you either get them or you don't.
"Against players like John Higgins you don't get many chances and you've got to take them.
"There were a couple of shots earlier in the session where I regretted not going for the ball. You never know, you may not get a better chance.
"I think the best players do become quite aggressive animals towards the end of the frame."
"It's probably second only to beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the Masters [1997] when 8-4 behind, but to do it at the Crucible may make it maybe even a bit higher, especially against John, who is such a hard, hard player.
"I always thought he was going to win the match - we've seen John pull it out of the fire so often I thought he was going to do it again.
"He didn't get going enough and kept giving me hope. I still thought he was going to get over the line, but somehow I dragged up some pots. It used up everything, I'm glad I've got a couple of days off.
Davis continues to defy the record books and will now face Neil Robertson in the quarter finals.
You have to look as far back as 1983 to find a quarter finalist older than the fifty-two year old Davis. That was Eddie Charlton who was 53 at the time.
