Steve Davis, six times a winner of the world championship, recovered from 5–0 down to beat Mansfield's Lee Spick 10–8 in Sheffield last night and ensure his 28th appearance at the Crucible phase of the tournament. "I'm a part-time player really because I don't practise that much but yYou can't beat playing at the Crucible so to get through, even if I fall flat on my face, is brilliant, it's like looking forward to Christmas," said Davis, 51. Ken Doherty, the 1997 world champion, misses out on the Crucible for the first time since 1993 after losing 10–5 to the Northern Irishman Gerard Greene. "I'm on a slippery slope and I'm wondering where it's going to finish,. I'll be back next season but not for much longer after that I wouldn't have thought, not the way things are going," said Doherty, who ended the season having won only two matches.