STEVE Davis eased his way through to the quarter-finals of the Embassy

World Snooker Championship at Sheffield yesterday, defeating Steve

Duggan 13-3 with a session to spare.

The defending champion, who hammered Mike Hallett 13-1 at the same

stage of last year's tournament, said: ''It's nice to be first over the

line. Now I can sit back and watch everyone else battling it out. It

gives me a bit of breathing space.''

Better players than Duggan have suffered at the hands of the world's

No.1 player. The 30-year-old from Rotherham, ranked 50th in the world,

was simply outclassed.

Davis stamped his authority on the match from the start, coming from

60-38 behind to win the opening frame with a colours clearance. ''The

first frame of any match is always important,'' he said. ''I went from

strength to strength after that. Credit to Steve, he never gave up. He

didn't play as well as he did to beat Cliff Wilson 10-1 in the first

round, but then he didn't get as many chances.''

Davis, a 10-5 first-round winner against Steve Newbury, added:

''Obviously, this was an easier match. I started to flow, pot a few

balls, and got rid of any tension playing in the world championship may

hold.''

Surprisingly, Duggan made the two biggest breaks of the match, 76 and

84. He had a chance of beating Dene O'Kane's highest tournament break of

127 in the fifteenth frame, failing on the pink with three reds still

left on the table.

He could not match Davis's consistency. His consolation was a cheque

for #7875 -- the biggest pay-day of his six year professional career --

on his Crucible debut.

Duggan believes Davis will go on to equal Ray Reardon's modern-day

record of six world titles. ''If he plays to form,'' said Duggan, ''I

can't see anyone stopping him. He's still the strongest player in the

world. I only had myself to blame for the scoreline. I didn't take my

chances in the early part of the match.''

John Virgo, a world championship semi-finalist in 1979, was making

world No.2, Jimmy White, fight all the way. Virgo, trailing 5-3 after

the first session and yet to get his head in front, had drawn level at

8-8 by the end of the second session.

White's best effort was a break of 62 in the thirteenth frame, Virgo

responding with runs of 72 and 66. He trailed 40-4 in the sixteenth

frame, fought back with a break of 41, but then left the black in the

jaws of a pocket. White later went in-off the green and Virgo eventually

took blue, pink and black to square the match. The pair play to a finish

this morning.

David Roe, the lowest-ranked survivor, showed no signs of a reaction

after his excellent 10-6 first-round win against Tony Knowles. Roe built

a 5-3 first-session lead over Mike Hallett. The 23-year old from Derby,

seeded 39, made breaks of 69, 50 and 66, to leave Hallett with plenty to

think about. The match continues today.

Liverpool's John Parrott, a favourite to go through to the final in

the bottom half of the draw, poached a 9-7 lead against 1985 world

champion Dennis Taylor.

The pair seemed certain to finish their second session level at 8-8.

Parrott required two snookers on the green to force a re-spotted black

in the sixteenth frame. He got them, then cleared the colours, and

Taylor was so disgusted when he left the black that he walked out of the

arena, conceding the frame without Parrott potting the ball.

Taylor would, no doubt, have been happy to finish the session all

square. But he will have to put that error on the black out of his mind

when the match resumes this afternoon.