Davis makes first ranking final for nine years

Steve Davis reached his first ranking event final for nine years with a 6-3 defeat of Marco Fu in Cardiff today.

The 46-year-old will contest the 99th major final of his career when he bids to land the top prize at the Welsh Open and a jubilant Davis had to pinch himself to believe he was back in the snooker big time.

“In some ways I can’t believe I’ve reached the final but I always knew I could play the game,” Davis said.

“I’ve found handling the pressure difficult but that hasn’t been a problem in this tournament.

“It just goes to show you can never predict what will happen in snooker these days.”

World number 11 Davis made breaks of 80 and 79 in building a 3-1 interval lead before Fu closed to within a single frame with a run of 83.

Davis made it 4-2 with a 105 break and claimed a 5-3 lead with a run of 55 after Fu had secured the seventh frame with his 52.

Fu had a chance to make it 5-4 but botched a safety shot in frame nine and Davis did enough to get over the line.

“I sensed the match was going my way and that I had the upper hand,” he said.

Davis won the last of his 28 world ranking titles by capturing the Welsh Open title for a second time in 1995.

A month later he finished runner-up in the International Open but has not appeared in a ranking tournament final since.

His last major title came at Wembley in 1997 when he recovered from 8-4 down to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-8 to win the Masters.

Davis had not won a match all season before arriving in the Welsh capital but returned to form by ending a 19-match losing run to John Higgins, beating the 1998 world champion 5-2 in the third round.

The six-time world champion then edged Robert Milkins 5-4 in the quarter-finals before battling past Fu, who had knocked out Matthew Stevens, Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry en route to the semis.

Davis becomes the oldest ranking event finalist since Welshman Doug Mountjoy appeared in the 1989 Dubai Classic final at the age of 47.