Davis denied by World Champion

St Leonards-based Davis lost 5-2 against John Higgins, who picked up his fourth world title in Sheffield during May, in round one of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday morning.

World no.3 Higgins, a winner of 24 ranking events in total, knocked in a break of 112 en route to a 2-1 lead and shut Davis out in the fourth to lead 3-1 at the interval.

Higgins came through a tight fifth frame to move one away from victory, but Davis, who last week advanced to a career high 15th in the rankings, comfortably won the next to stay alive at 4-2.

Thirty-six-year-old Higgins, from Scotland, sealed victory with a half-century in frame seven. Paul Hunter Classic runner-up Davis is off to South America next week having been invited to compete in the inaugural Brazil Masters.