Six times world snooker champion Steve Davis was thrashed 10-2 by Neil Robertson in the first round of the World Snooker Championship, but will he be back again?

The ‘Nuggets’ inability to score heavily when given the opportunity proved costly against a clinical Robertson who simply outplayed the snooker legend from the opening frame of the match.

Davis faces the daunting prospect of going through qualifying again next year, as he remains outside the world’s top 16. However, the prospect of doing is one that doesn’t seem to phase him.

“I’m not too sure it’s about bowing out in style,” he said. “I think I’ve gone past that. I’m just hanging on for grim death really. I’m going down the wall slowly with my fingernails.

“You have to take it on the chin because it’s not nice to go out there and play c**p.

“But I’ve gone through the phase where I think I’m bothered now. I have mediocre commitment and occasionally I put in mediocre performances, but I can’t complain.

“If I try to be 100 per cent committed to the game in any way, shape or form, I’m not absolutely sure I would be anywhere near getting to any standard required to win.

“You can push back the hands of time but this is a generation of players who play a game that’s very strong.”

A victory for veteran Davis would have set up a second round clash with Ali Carter, but his BBC commitments will at least ensure he remains a fixture at the Crucible for the remaining action.

“If you hit the switch and nothing happens and you keep hitting the switch and it still doesn’t work, in the end it becomes quite difficult,” Davis said.

“As the day unfolded, the inspiration melted away. You can’t assume you’re ever going to be back at the Crucible. So this could be my last or I could be coming back a few more times.

“I’ve considered whether it would be to my benefit to draw a line, and came to the conclusion there wasn’t really any point.

“You can’t physically get hurt and it’s not like you start to get injuries. The only injuries could be mental and as long as you can take that then why not carry on?

“When it doesn’t go right, I could throw my toys out of the pram and say, ‘That’s the end of it’, but I don’t really see the point.”

Story courtesy of Snookerbreak.com.