When Steve Davis confirmed he would take up his invite to
the 2015 World Championships, and drew Jamie Cope in the first qualifying round
no-one could have guessed what would come next.
Cope qualified for the world championships a year previously
and when Davis missed an easy pot in the opening frame he had his first chance.
It didn’t last long as he missed a green with the rest to hand the opportunity
over to Steve but as both players looked nervy at the start, Steve missed a
black off of its spot on 12 before Jamie missed again and the 6 times world
champion had another chance. A mixture of good positional play and a couple of
mid-distance pots helped Steve along to a frame winning 53 to lead 1-0. Jamie
had the first scoring visit of frame two after a shocking safety from his
opponent but another relatively easy miss on 8 showed he was yet to settle. The
opposite could be said of Davis after his break in the first frame and he was
in again nicely in frame two with the reds nicely positioned and after a
stunning plant on 30 he had another frame clinching chance. The break ended on
54 though as he lost position on a colour and put the green safe for insurance.
Steve needed a couple of further contributions to get over the line but he did
that and doubled his lead at 2-0.
From Jamie’s break-off in frame three Steve rolled in a
fantastic long pot and was looking good until missing a red to middle on 27
unexpectedly. Cope wasn’t putting up much fight though and kept letting Davis
off of the hook immediately and after another contribution of 27, he led by 60
with just 59 on and sealed a 3-0 lead. Jamie was not with it at all, and that
was evidenced when he missed another black off of the spot trying to go into
reds early in the fourth. A good chance was never far from the Nugget but he
could not kill frames in one visit continually losing position. A 41 gave him
command of frame four and a good range pot gave him the additional chance
needed to move 4-0 ahead at the mid-session interval.
The best chance after the interval came to Cope but yet
again he missed on 29 and just could not get into his stride. Davis then got in
with 28 to draw within a point of Jamie with three reds remaining. The shotgun
won the safety battle and cleared to the pink with 34 to get his opening frame
on the board at 1-4. The sixth frame of the match was an incredibly tactical
and scrappy affair, but Davis dominated the early stages building a 36 point
lead. Cope made a nice contribution to close the gap to just two points with
three red left. When Davis potted the final red the scores were as he attempted
to clear the colours. The blue was on the side cushion but he was able to cross
double it into the middle to end a lengthy frame.
An early missed black from Steve in frame seven left Jamie
Cope a golden chance and he made a nice 51 before missing an incredibly simple
black off of its spot. Davis couldn’t take advantage though as he fouled by
miss-cueing and chipping the cue ball off of the table and Cope had an easy
chance to seal the frame and pull a frame back at 2-5. Again the eighth frame
was scrappy and the standard of play was deteriorating as these long drawn out
scrappy periods went on. Cope was dominant and his 32 later in the frame sealed
to close at 3-5 and make the last frame of the session very important. An
impressive pot along the bottom rail gave Jamie the first chance in the ninth
but after making a thin cut to the corner on 22 he went in-off ending a good chance.
Steve then knocked in a good range red but when he missed soon after the
scoring opportunity was handed straight back to the man from Stoke and an
additional 41 meant that he only trailed 4-5 coming back for the evening’s
final session.
The first scoring juncture of the second session came the
way of Davis after a shocking safety from Cope. After a couple of good recovery
shots, the break came to a halt when he missed a simple rest shot on 45. Cope’s
chance came shortly after yet he only made 21 before playing safe. It came down
to the final three reds which were mostly safe, with the Nugget leading by 30
points. Jamie potted two of the final three reds in a break of 10 but could not
nudge the final one off of the cushion far enough. Jamie had enough chance and
reduced his deficit to five before missing a tricky blue. A good snooker
produced another chance and he cleared the three remaining colours to level the
match for the first time at 5-5. The best early scoring juncture in frame
eleven came to Davis again. This time he contributed 25 before a kick meant he
lost position on the black. Once again it came down to a safety battle on the
final three reds as Steve led by 31 with 51 remaining. Cope cleared the final
three reds with colours but failed to get on the safe yellow but had cut the
gap to 12 points. In his next chance he potted the yellow but had a kick on the
green, leaving the balls that Davis needed on to clinch the frame and regain
the lead at 6-5.
A poor safety from the shotgun, gifted a chance to Steve
early in the twelfth. For really the first time in the match one of the players
was able to clinch the frame in one visit as a fantastic 96 made it 7-5 now. In
frame thirteen, a poor Davis safety left Cope in with balls open. The break was
certainly not easy to begin with but once he had prime position he followed
Steve’s break in kind with a 93 to close to 6-7 at the mid-session interval.
Steve had a couple of early chances in frame fourteen
amounting to 38 points after he missed a red of average difficulty. When Jamie
missed a much tougher potting attempting to give himself a scoring chance,
Davis was back in again and he had certainly found his form in this session now
with an additional 51 putting him 8-6 ahead. Both players had multiple chances
and missed balls once in amongst the reds and coming down to the final four
reds it was Jamie with a 17 point lead. Davis potted a red and blue to reduce
his deficit before missing a red along the cushion and leaving it for Cope and
he added a red and black to lead by 19 with 43 remaining. Davis then hit the
black coming out of a snooker and left the last two reds on for Jamie to clear
and clinch the frame, trailing 7-8. The first scoring opening of the sixteenth
fell to Cope, but he only made 22 before missing a very risky red and leaving
it for the six time World Champion who himself made 30 before failing to land
on a red from his pack opener. A prolonged safety duel was ended when Jamie
left Steve an easy chance. He added 29 to his score before missing frame ball
pink leading by 40 points with 43 remaining. Steve then gifted a chance to
Cope, who was looking good for the clearance until missing a tough pink which
his opponent got for a 9-7 advantage a frame from a famous win.
Steve Davis had a chance in the seventeenth to seal the deal
until missing an early red with them all there for the taking. Jamie failed to
get on the last red but he laid a brutal snooker and already leading by 28 with
35 on he was in a commanding position. Steve hit the red on the second attempt
but left it on for Jamie to close to 8-9. As Jamie looked to force a nineteenth
and deciding frame, he had the first decent scoring chance in frame eighteen
and it was certainly a good opportunity to do some damage. He was going along
nicely on 47 until missing a fairly simple rest shot and leaving a half chance
for Davis to counter but he ran out of position early in the break and with
Cope still leading by 28 with 67 remaining. A poor safety shot from Steve left
Jamie another chance though and in potting four of the five remaining reds with
colours he did more than enough to send the match into a final frame.
The first chance of the deciding frame went to Jamie Cope as
he looked for a third frame on the trot to win the match. However, he could
only take an early take a 25 point lead before missing a tough red after losing
ideal position. That red was left for Davis to hand him his first scoring visit
of the decider. Davis was going brilliantly, clearing the lose reds and breaking
up the final four reds surrounding the black until losing black ball position
with a poor shot on 53, leading by 28 with 43 remaining. A poor snooker escape
during the safety duel from Steve not only gave away four valuable points but
left one of the two reds on for Jamie. After potting the red with the brown, he
missed the final red trying to power it in down the cushion. Steve also missed
it and left it easy for Cope this time. A big bounce on the blue left the pink
tricky however, and Cope could not even get it in the jaws. After Jamie missed
a shot at the pink from range, Steve managed to pot it from middle distance but
was still left a tricky black with the rest to win it, but it went in and Steve
Davis beat Jamie Cope 10-9, 30 years on from losing the 1985 World Championship
final on the black, and what a superb victory it was after Cope twice came back
from 0-4 to 5-5 and then 7-9 to 9-9.
What a superb match that was between two very tough competitors and if you liked that there a plenty more to come. Tomorrow we have another very special match in 11th place but who? You'll have to come back and find out then.
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