Snooker: Six-time world champion Steve Davis has withdrawn from the Bahrain Snooker Championship at the 11th hour citing medical reasons for his no show in the Middle East.

The 51-year-old has been suffering from an ear infection and his withdrawal means Welshman Dominic Dale has been handed a bye into the quarter-finals in the Gulf.

Dale beat Hong Kong's Marco Fu in the opening round yesterday evening, before admitting: "We were both very nervous because we were expecting Steve to withdraw. We were basically expecting it to be a match for a place in the quarter-finals."

Davis is the fifth player to pull out of the new event with Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Selby and Dig Junhui also not in attendance.

One of the tournament favourites, Ryan Day, is through to the last 16 after a comprehensive 5-2 win against Stoke's Dave Harold.

Day, a finalist at the recent Grand Prix in Glasgow, will now meet his compatriot and practice partner Matthew Stevens after he downed Stuart Bingham 5-0.

Peter Ebdon crashed out to Robert Milkins 5-3 — he is the fourth former world champion to exit the competition so far — but there was an entertaining win for seven-time Crucible winner Stephen Hendry.

He notched two consecutive centuries, a 139 and 111, as he downed Ricky Walden
5-3.

Neil Robertson beat Marcus Campbell 5-4 this afternoon while Joe Perry beat Rod Lawler 5-1 tonight.