KENT snooker player Gerard Greene will be hoping lightning strikes twice when he takes on six-time world champion Steve Davis in the opening round of the British Open in Telford on Saturday.

Greene, from Rainham, swept through the qualifying stages to take his place in the televised stage against Davis and will be hoping to maintain his impressive form so far this season.

This is the third meeting between the two but the most memorable for Greene is the 9-2 thrashing he dished out to Davis at the UK Championships in 1997.

But with both men in good form, Greene, the provisionally ranked world number 59, is expecting another great battle. He said: "When I beat him I really played well. He missed a few balls and he was going through a bit of a bad patch at that time.

"But he's playing really well at the moment and he'll be red hot favourite to beat me."