Snooker: Reynolds scales Davis peak.
By Clive Everton
DEAN REYNOLDS, whitewashed 10-0 by Steve Davis in the final of the Rothmans Grand Prix in October, beat him 9-7 to reach the semi-finals of the Everest World Matchplay Championship at the Brentwood Centre late on Saturday.
The Grimsby left-hander's semi-final opponent on Wednesday will be Jimmy White, who won the last seven frames in a row to turn a 5-2 deficit into a 9-5 win over Doug Mountjoy.
Reynolds, 15th in the world rankings at the start of the season, has improved provisionally to eighth.
He had a gilt-edged opportunity to beat Stephen Hendry, so far the man of the season with four first prizes, in the Stormseal UK Open at Preston, but missed a simple pink when leading 22-0 in the deciding frame and did not have another shot.
Davis came to Brentwood a 16-12 loser to Hendry in the UK final and is going through a patch where he is making more unforced errors than usual.
' There are certain times that are better than others, ' said Davis.
' I 'm a very good player.
I can't be perfect. '
Davis swept to 3-0 but missed the easiest of blues on the brink of 4-0.
Reynolds won that frame, the next on the pink, two more on the black, and the last of the afternoon to lead 5-3 at the interval.
He made it 6-3 with a 90 break, and after 52 minutes of tactical battling potted the pink for 7-3 and ran away with the next to go five up with six to play.
After this extraordinary eight-frame losing streak, Davis won four in a row to close to only 7-8, but two elementary mistakes in the following frame, failing to reach the yellow when rolling up behind it for a snooker, and failing to pot a red at close range along the top cushion, prefaced a run of 48 with which Reynolds secured his most notable scalp.
PAGE
Judo: Stevens justifies selection.
By Edward Ferrie
THE British National Championships at Crystal Palace at the weekend once again saw Wolverhampton dominate the proceedings, with their fighters Elvis Gordon, at heavyweight, Densign White, at middleweight, Fitzroy Davies, at light-middleweight, and Owen Pinnock the bantamweight all taking gold medals.
There was, however, no Wolverhampton presence in the category which generated the greatest interest this weekend  the light-heavyweight.
Following the Olympic bronze medalist Denis Stewart's decision to retire from competition after a poor performance in the world championships in Belgrade, two months ago, the No.1 spot was up for grabs.
Stewart's bitter rival, the veteran Nicholas Kokataylo, the 33-year-old from Denton, in Manchester, was favourite for the gold medal, but a strong challenge was expected from newcomer to the weight, Ray Stevens, 26, of the London Budokwai.
The reigning Commonwealth middleweight champion Stevens was forced to move up to the heavier weight following a knee injury and a prolonged viral infection.
Stevens's superior speed and technique combined with superb fighting spirit carried him through to the final.
Kokataylo and Stevens was an all-action affair with the Manchester fighter scoring with a leg throw in the opening seconds which almost finished the bout.
A half point was awarded but Stevens fought his way back into the contest scoring with a spectacular sacrifice throw and almost arm locking the much taller and heavier Kokataylo.
Stevens, despite losing the bout, clearly did enough to justify his pre-event selection for the Commonwealth Games.
PAGE
