Mark Davis beats Mark Selby at Xi'an Grand Prix
Mark Davis pulled off a superb win over four-time world champion Mark Selby as he and fellow local player Jimmy Robertson reached the last 32 of a World Snooker Tour event in China.
Davis, from St Leonards, overcame Selby, who won the sport's blue riband tournament in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2021, 5-4 in the last 64 of the Xi'an Grand Prix.
It was one of the best wins in several years for Davis, who continues to hold his own on the top-level circuit at the age of 53 having turned professional way back in 1991.
The world number 59 took the first and third frames with breaks of 98 and 129, and although 10th-ranked Selby rallied to lead 3-2, a run of 58 brought Davis level at 3-3.
Selby eased through frame seven to lead again, but Davis edged a tight eighth frame to square the match at 4-4 before comfortably clinching the decider.
The 2018 English Open runner-up was beaten 5-1 in the next stage the following day, however, by young Irish talent Aaron Hill, who knocked in breaks of 131, 102, 97 and 81.
Robertson, meanwhile, reeled off five successive frames to see off world number 26 Joe O'Connor 5-1 in the last 64, making a break of 55 in the last of them.
Bexhill potter Robertson, ranked 36th, was then edged out 5-4 by 57th-ranked Robert Milkins, who made four centuries and a 79 in a remarkable display of break-building.
Robertson, the 2018 European Masters champion, himself began the match with a 130 and later conjured up a 54 to force a decider, which Milkins claimed with a 129.
Davis and Robertson booked their places in the tournament's venue stage with victories over Reanne Evans (5-1) and Cheung Ka Wai (5-2) respectively at last month's qualifiers.