Steve Davis, the elder statesman of the Crucible contenders, is out of the Embassy World Championship.

Despite a mini revival from 9-4 down the six times world champion slumped to a 10-7 defeat against Nottingham qualifier Anthony Hamilton.

It was a huge disappointment for the 46-year-old, who finished last night's opening session with back to back centuries to trail just 5-4 overnight.

The rot stepped in after Davis lost a 45 minute 10th frame on the black. He never recovered from that body blow as world number 20 Hamilton gained his place in the last 16 against Ulsterman Joe Swail.

From 6-4 to 9-4 Hamilton outscored his illustrious rival 331 points to 17. A heavy defeat looked on the cards.

But Davis gave it his best shot, closing to 9-7 before a missed red allowed in Hamilton for a decisive 61 break.

Davis said: "It was a mixture of strange incidents plus a poxy pink into a middle pocket.

"But had I won that first frame tonight who knows what might have happened. However, I left it a bit late at 9-4.

"I knew Anthony had lost leads before and I just tried to keep the heat on. But he made a good break in the last when it looked as though he had taken his finger off the pulse."

Davis will return solely to his television duties with the BBC.

"It's still a great tournament even if you're not part of it as a player," he added. "You just watch it unfold in a different way."

Hamilton said: "I just kept telling myself if I got a chance just concentrate all my efforts on 10 minutes of snooker.

"But had it gone 9-8 the pressure would have transferred itself and I would have been twitching like a nutter.

"I actually won all the tactical battles against Steve which is unheard of. But I would rather play an attacking player like Joe."

The demise of Davis followed the earlier exit today of 39-year-old John Parrott while Jimmy White, 41, was upstaged on Tuesday by Norwich qualifier Barry Pinches.

The mantle of the oldest player left in contention now passed to 35-year-old Stephen Hendry.