STEVE Davis, 9-2 victor yesterday against Paul Wykes at the PowerHouse UK Snooker Championship in York, will be playing for an unusual private stake against his former practice partner Mark King in their second round match on Thursday - a jacket.

Davis accidentally left his jacket in Sheffield earlier this year. He contacted King, who said he would pick it up, which he did. But Steve still hasn't got his jacket back.

"So I'll be playing him for my jacket," the six times world champion quipped.

Of his form, Davis said that just because he won 9-2 didn't mean it wasn't hard. Technically he was quite sound.

"This tournament is a good indication over the longer matches of who is in form and who isn't. It is the first true test of the season," he said.

Dave Harold called his late night 9-6 win over his practice partner Ian McCulloch, beaten by Paul Hunter in last month's British Open final at Telford, 'a war of attrition' though they are close friends.

They had two practice matches with each other last weekend and dined out together in York on Monday night. Harold, the world No 21, led 5-0 at one stage last night but McCulloch fought back to 6-6.

In frame 12 Harold made a dozen foul shots in succession, all misses on a red. But after that he drew clear to win the match.

Harold now plays world champion Peter Ebdon at the weekend.

Updated: 11:13 Wednesday, December 04, 2002