Davis ready for return to York

Steve Davis returns to the scene of his finest recent achievement when he contests the Maplin UK Championship in York this week.

The 49-year-old rekindled memories of his 1980s heyday by reaching the final of this tournament last year, beating Stephen Maguire, Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry before meeting his match in Chinese teenager Ding Junhui.

That performance helped the six-time former world champion claim the highly respectable position of 11th in this season’s rankings, and the Nugget is still an extremely tough proposition on his day.

“It was a thrill to play such good snooker in York last year,” said Davis, who also has six UK titles to his name.

“In reaching the final I played some of the best stuff of my career.

“But it doesn’t surprise me when I play well these days. In fact I find it very frustrating when I don’t.

"The standard on the circuit is so high though that you need a few factors to come together to get to a final.”