Snooker / Paul Krishnamurty / 03 December 2011 /

Evergreen Davis has enough to secure handicap against Rocket, says Paul Krishnamurty

Given that 24 years have passed since Steve Davis won the last of his six UK titles, it is testimony to the Nugget's durability that he can still reach the televised stages of this elite event.

And while very few will give him a serious chance of overturning tournament favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan today, let's not forget that Davis pulled off an even bigger shock as recently as the 2010 World Championship, beating John Higgins to reach the quarter-finals. Consecutive 6-2 victories over Ian McCulloch and Andrew Higginson to qualify for York read pretty well, and confirm that he hasn't deteriorated since reaching the final at this same venue in 2005.

A sound argument could be made for backing Davis at [7.6] as a low-risk, high reward trading option, but a more solid, straightforward bet lies in the handicap markets, where he only needs to win three frames to deliver odds of [1.84].

Consider the two men's playing styles. Even at his best, Ronnie is renowned for losing interest and throwing away scrappy frames. Consequently, many a vintage performance from the Rocket have seen him lose the handicap. Davis on the other hand loves tactical affairs, and even if falling well behind early, can be totally relied upon to fight for every point.

Moreover, as Ronnie's army of blindly loyal backers have learnt so many times to their cost, predicting his mood and form is a guessing game. Sure, he's won this title on four occasions, but has also lost six times in the first or second round. Odds-on money buyers could be playing with fire here.

Recommended Bet
Steve Davis @ [1.84] to win handicap (+3.5 frames) (vs O'Sullivan)

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