Mark Davis is one match away from scoring back-to-back 6-Red World Championship titles in Bangkok.
The 41 year-old has Australian Neil Robertson for company in today’s final, to be played over 15 frames.
Despite the fact that his opponent is the world no.1 in the traditional 15-red set-up, Davis must surely start this encounter as favourite given his peculiar pedigree for the shorter format.
The Englishman not only lifted last year’s trophy but also a different 6-Reds World Championship staged in Killarney four years ago.
If he was to add to his tally on Saturday he would should surely be regarded as the undisputed kind of 6-Red snooker.
It is a weird phenomenon as to why he has been so successful here but has enjoyed considerably less joy in the regular game.
What it does point to is that Davis is clearly a good frame clincher under pressure and has no problems clearing the table when the balls are more open.
Another, more unlikely, reason is that the Davis surname just has to dominate some form of snooker in every generation.
Brothers Joe and Fred Davis were the stars in snooker’s black and white days while the ‘Nugget’ Steve was a household name of the 1980s and ’90s.
Now, it seems Mark is adding his name to a very rich Davis entourage under the 6-Reds guise.
Yesterday, Davis ended the last home hope by earning a hard-fought 6-4 victory over Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham and he followed it up by outpointing Mark Selby 7-4 in the last four.
Of course, the final will not be an easy occasion for Davis with Robertson one of the most formidable opponents he would have feared facing.
The 2010 world champion saw off Shaun Murphy 6-3 in the last eight and followed that up by triumphing over Stuart Bingham in a long semi-final 7-4.
Robertson has probably played the best snooker this week so if anyone is going to knock Davis off his perch it will be the Melbourne man.
Either way, it promises to be an exciting finale with the pair dueling for the £40,000 winner’s cheque and, of course, the coveted title.
