Pickering snooker player Paul Davison to play Judd Trump (From York Press)

Pickering snooker player Paul Davison to play Judd Trump

9:44am Wednesday 28th December 2011 in Snooker By Steve Carroll, Sports reporter

PICKERING snooker player Paul Davison must see off a tricky amateur opponent if he is to book a prized clash with UK champion Judd Trump at the German Masters in February.

The 40-year-old potter’s reward for winning three matches to reach the final stages of the ranking tournament, held in Berlin from February 1 to 5, is to play a wildcard round over the best of nine frames against a qualifier.

His opponent, who will be drawn from the amateur ranks, is yet to be decided.

Should Davison negotiate the round, he will meet Trump, who wowed crowds at York earlier this month when taking the UK crown, in the last 32.

The wildcard round sees Davison on a hiding to nothing, as the professional player is expected to prevail. But he hopes the situation will work in his favour and could give him vital experience on the match table ahead of his tie with Trump.

“You don’t feel as though you should be playing a wildcard but that’s the way the tournaments are now,” he said. “You just have to get on with it. You have to make sure you win your game and get through.

“It’s a no-win situation, in a sense. If you win, people say you should; if you lose, that’s it. If you do lose it’s going to be frustrating when you have won three matches to get through to the final stages.

“There are some good European players out there now and German players so it’s not a foregone conclusion you are going to win.”

Davison added: “It can work in your favour as well. When you get there, you have a couple of days and, if you win your wildcard, you have had a game on the match table and you are settled into the tournament and you are settled into the conditions and the environment.

“Every arena is a little bit different so it has its plus points. I have to put a professional performance in, treat my opponent with 100 per cent respect, do a job on him, beat him, and then prepare for Judd Trump.”

Davison has no fear of playing snooker’s hottest sensation, who beat Mark Allen 10-8 at the Barbican to take his first major ranking title, and believes the key to causing a giant-killing shock will be to take his chances when they arrive.

He is also clear that a strong performance is needed in ranking events over the coming months after below-par displays in the Players’ Tour Championship events leave him needing to pick up much needed points.

“I played him twice last year and won one and lost one,” he said. “We always have good games. He’s obviously going great now and it is going to be a tough game. He is very aggressive when he plays and, if you are like that, you are going to miss every now and again.

“When he does, I have got to make sure I take my chances. No matter who you are playing, and how well they are playing, you always get your chances.”

He added: “The PTCs didn’t go that well for me – not like last year – so I have got to try to get some points back in the main ranking events to compensate for those I have lost. Getting through to the last 32 of a major will be a big help because the points really start jumping up.”