World Seniors Championship: Steve Davis beats Nigel Bond 2-1 in Portsmouth final
Steve Davis beat defending champion Nigel Bond to capture the World Seniors Championship for the first time.
Last Updated: 21/10/13 2:03pm
Davis, who won six world crowns when dominating the sport in the 1980s, captured his first title at seniors level by edging Bond 2-1 in the best-of-three final at the Mountbatten Centre in Portsmouth.
Bond's bid for back-to-back titles looked on course when he took the opener 74-51 but a 66 break in the second pulled Davis level at 1-1.
In the decider, Davis was in amongst the balls first and a 68 break took him to the brink. Bond tried to force snookers but Davis potted another red and that was that.
On a day which saw the quarters, semis and final contested, Davis had booked his place in the last four by beating last year's runner-up Tony Chappel 2-1.
The other last eight clashes saw Bond oust Canada's Cliff Thorburn 2-1, Dave Harold beat Darren Morgan 2-0 and Jimmy White lose 2-1 to his old nemesis Stephen Hendry, who had become eligible to compete in the event for the first time as he will turn 45 during the 2013/2014 season.
Odds-on favourite
Hendry, who beat White four times in the final of the World Championships at The Crucible, was the 5/6 favourite with Sky Bet heading into the semis but he managed just 15 points in his 2-0 loss to Bond.
In the other last four clash, Davis had trailed 1-0 to Harold but won a tight second frame before taking the decider 74-27 thanks to a break of 51.
After beating Bond in the final, a delighted Davis said: "It's been great fun. I've had a couple of cracks at this and I was thinking I'm going to get close and never win it and obviously the standard will get better as the new players come in.
"So I thought, if I'm going to win it I better get my skates on."
The 56 year-old Davis pocketed £18,000 for the victory.
