ONE of snooker's toughest match players must be vanquished if Paul Davison is to harbour hopes of reaching the Crucible later this month.

The Pickering potter plays former top 16 stalwart Alan McManus in the second qualifying round of the World Championship at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield today.

Davison edged past Chris Wakelin 10-9 in a dramatic opening round clash on Tuesday night - having led 7-2 following the first session before withstanding a concerted comeback which needed a deciding frame to be resolved.

The 42-year-old hit breaks of 99, 90 and 85 among seven efforts over 40 and will be hoping to bring the same sort of heavy scoring to today's best-of-19 frames encounter against an opponent who has won two ranking tournaments and reached the semi-finals of the worlds during a two decade career.

Davison said: "I played him in China last month in an Asian Tour event and he beat me 4-1 but they were all quite close frames. I lost a couple on the pink and, obviously, I have seen him play for years on the tour.

"You know you are always going to get a hard game with him. He is a tough match player and I will have to be top drawer."

The match begins at 10am with the concluding session at 7pm. The victor will play the winner of the match between Leeds-based Peter Lines and Cao Xinlong in round three on Saturday.