Alex Borg booked his place in the third qualifying round of the Dafabet World Championship after completing a 10-4 victory over Marcus Campbell, in Sheffield, yesterday.

Borg, now two wins away from a place at the mythical Crucible Theatre, started the day leading the tie 7-2 and only a debacle of mammoth proportions would have prevented him from making more progress at these early stages of the prestigious tournament at the Ponds Forge venue.

On Thursday, Borg had a superb break of 110 and yesterday he started with another run of 82 to show that he had lost none of his form before wrapping up the contest in the 14th game after Scotland’s Campbell had pulled two frames back to make the score look more respectable.

Today, Borg plays Jamie Cope who reached the next round after a 10-2 win over fellow Englishman John J. Astley.

The winner of the Borg-Cope match will vie for a place at the Crucible with Mark King on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, veteran Steve Davis failed in his mission to qualify for the World Championship as he suffered a defeat that means he stands to lose his tour card for next season.

The 56-year-old has a stated desire to be a tour player at the age of 60, however he needed to beat Craig Steadman at the qualifiers to remain in the hunt for a place in the top 64 on the prize-money list.

Steadman took early control and led 6-3 after the morning session before the 31-year-old Lancashire potter clinched a 10-8 victory for a place in the third qualifying round.