Nugget Wins Another Classic
Steve Davis has been involved in his fair share of ‘classics’ over the years, and his 10-9 victory over Jack Lisowski in the third qualifying round of this year’s Betfred.com world championship will almost certainly have given him as much satisfaction as any of them.
Lisowski is one if the most talented youngsters to have graced the game in the last decade and is beginning to make his presence felt amongst the sport’s big names.
Last month, he took world number one, John Higgins, to a deciding frame at the Welsh Open and next week he will feature in the 24-man Players Tour Championship finals in Dublin after finishing in 20th place on the PTC Order of Merit.
The opening exchanges were evenly matched with the scores level at 3-3 before ‘Youth’ took control of the match taking the last three frames including a superb 121 break in frame eight to lead overnight at 6-3.
When play resumed, Lisowski extended his lead to 7-3 with a break of 50.
But, the six times world champion has had his back against the wall numerous times in a professional career that spans five decades, and as the going got tough, Davis got going.
Back-to-back century breaks showed that he didn’t have to rely on an immaculate tactical game nowadays and halved the deficit from four to two.
Lisowski, who has battled through serious illness in recent years, showed his fighting qualities to take the last before the mid-session interval to regain his three-frame lead.
When they returned, it was ‘Experience’ that flourished, with Davis taking three in a row to get back on level terms for the first time in ten frames.
In the next, both players had chances but it was Lisowski who took it on the blue to go one up with two to play.
Once again, Davis was forced into a corner and once again he came out punching, making a timely break of 80, taking the match into the final frame shoot-out.
The decider presented chances to both players, with a break of 38 in the middle of the frame was the difference in the end, and as it has done so many times in the past, Davis’ class got him over the line.
The match lasted a fraction over five-and-half hours, with no frame lasting over half-an-hour, and produced eleven breaks over 50 aswell as three century breaks providing the viewing audience with the kind of spectacle that they want.
Afterwards, Lisowski posted on his Facebook account to his supporters, “Wow just lost 10-9 to the nugget. He's still got it! But no excuses I had my chances (sad face)”
With that kind of mature attitude after a defeat like that, combined with his undoubted on table-ability, Lisowski will quickly become a major force in the game.
