GWENT snooker star Mark Williams continues his bid to follow up his China Open success with victory in the Thailand Masters when he meets England's David Gray in the first round later today.

Meanwhile fellow Gwent professional Lee Walker bowed out with a 5-1 defeat by Scotland's Alan McManus.

Steve Davis, still as enthusiastic as ever after 24 years on the pro-circuit, continues his bid for a return to snooker's elite top 16 tonight.

The six-times world champion, now 44, refuses to accept that he can no longer compete with the game's younger generation.

Davis, currently 19th on the provisional world list, knows an extended run in the richest overseas event ever staged would significantly improve his chances of reclaiming the top-16 status he held for a record 20 consecutive seasons until 2000.

"A few wins here and there and I can get back," said Davis, who has won 28 world ranking tournaments - including the 1992 Asian Open in Bangkok - and lies second only to Stephen Hendry with 33.

And after whitewashing McManus 5-0 to reach the second round of last week's China Open in Shanghai, Davis is confident he can also make an impact on the last leg of snooker's Asian swing.

The first hurdle for Davis is Stoke's Dave Harold, who captured the Asian Open crown in Bangkok nine years ago when ranked 95th in the world.

They have met on six previous occasions, Davis recording four victories, but the veteran campaigner knows the difficulty of his task.

"Dave's a good, solid match player and, anyway, every match is really tough these days. The general standard has never been higher."

If Davis does get through his next opponent will be Joe Perry or Ken Doherty, the defending champion.

In matches played, local hero James Wattana scored a 5-4 victory over Finland's Robin Hull in the final qualifying round.

Wattana snatched two frames on the black and another on the pink. Six first round ties were contested and every seed survived. Peter Ebdon beat Stuart Pettman 5-1 and Stephen Lee, struggling with a damaged cue-tip, only squeezed past John Parrott 5-4.