 He won this match 10–9 and then defeated Michael Judge 10–8 to set up a meeting with Jamie Cope for a place at The Crucible.Cope was to prove too strong for Joyce as he ran away a 10–5 winner.Despite starting from the first round of qualification, Joyce managed to qualify for the televised stages of the UK Championship for the first time in his career, beating six-time World Champion Steve Davis 9–2 in the final qualifying round.