Breaking news: Davis beaten in decider

Mark Davis was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters snooker tournament in the quarter-finals this morning (Friday).
Mark Davis lost 5-4 to Xiao Guodong in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai MastersMark Davis lost 5-4 to Xiao Guodong in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters
Mark Davis lost 5-4 to Xiao Guodong in the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters

The St Leonards potter surrendered a 4-2 lead to lose 5-4 against Chinese cueman Xiao Guodong and miss out on what would have been the fourth full ranking event semi-final of his career.

World number 17 Davis took the opening frame 63-11 with all his points coming in a single visit and although 39th-ranked Guodong clinched the second 88-22 aided by a break of 50, Davis made a 71 to claim the third 77-1 and an 87 to secure the fourth 87-0 for a 3-1 interval lead.

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Guodong closed to 3-2 by rattling through the fifth frame 92-0 thanks to a 67, but Davis moved within one of victory by bagging the next 64-48 after a cracking long brown into the green pocket.

Home hope Guodong stayed alive by winning the seventh 65-23 via a 61 and then levelled at 4-4 by netting an edgy eighth frame in which both players had chances 56-12. He proceeded to bag the decider after doing the damage with an opening 61 and will next face 26th-ranked Michael Holt tomorrow.

It would have been a bitterly disappointing result for Davis, who was hoping to reach his first ever full ranking event final having knocked out four-time world champion John Higgins 5-1 in the last 16 and 2012 World Championship runner-up Ali Carter 5-2 in round one.

But it’s still been a tremendous three-week period in the far east for the 41-year-old. He retained the Sangsom 6-Red World Championship in Thailand a fortnight ago and last week won the General Cup, an eight-man non-ranking event in Hong Kong, beating world number one Neil Robertson in both finals.

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