Snooker: Davis going all out for win against Higgins

STEVE DAVIS believes he can rise to the occasion this evening when he takes on John Higgins in the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship.

Victory over Mark King on Tuesday meant Davis, 52, became the oldest winner of a Crucible match since Eddie Charlton beat Cliff Thorburn in 1989.

Ahead of his clash with the world reigning champion from Wishaw, Davis said: "I shall be going in to try to win it. I've made my mind up, I'm fed up of making up the numbers, so I'm here to try to win."

If Higgins – world champion in 1998, 2007 and last year – wins, he could face Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals after the Australian beat Fergal O'Brien 10-5. Robertson meets Martin Gould next.

Two former world champions concluded their first-round showdown as Scotland's Graeme Dott beat England's Peter Ebdon 10-5.

China's Ding Junhui crushed Stuart Pettman 10-1, while world No.6 Ryan Day lost 10-8 to Mark Davis, who will face Northern Ireland's Mark Allen next.

Paisley's Stephen Maguire opened up a 6-3 lead over Stephen Lee, and 2005 champion Shaun Murphy developed an 8-1 advantage over Gerard Greene.