Steve Davis, OBE (born 22 August 1957)[3] is an English former professional snooker player from Plumstead, London. Known for dominating the sport during the 1980s, when he won the World Championship six times and was ranked world number one for seven consecutive seasons, he is remembered particularly for contesting the 1985 World Championship final with Dennis Taylor, the black-ball conclusion of which attracted a record 18.5 million British viewers. He is a well known public figure and is generally viewed by his peers as one of the greatest players of all time. Today, Davis combines his ongoing playing career with his role as a television analyst and commentator for the BBC's snooker coverage.
In addition to his six world titles, Davis's career achievements include three Masters and a record six UK Championship titles. He has won a total of 28 ranking events, tied with John Higgins, and behind only Stephen Hendry,[4] and has won over £5.5 million in prize money.[5] Davis has compiled more than 350 competitive century breaks,[2] including the first officially recognised (and first televised) maximum break in professional competition, in 1982. During the 1987/1988 season, he became the first player to complete snooker's Triple Crown by winning the UK Championship, Masters, and World Championship in the same season. His other accomplishments include winning the World Doubles Championship four times with Tony Meo and winning the World Team Classic/World Cup four times with England.
Davis won his last world title in 1989, and captured his last major title when he won the 1997 Masters at the age of 39, but he has continued to play snooker at a high level into his 50s. He reached the final of the 2005 UK Championship at the age of 48 and was still ranked inside the top 16 when he turned 50 during the 2007/2008 season. He reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Championship at the age of 52, making him the oldest quarter-finalist since Eddie Charlton in 1983.[6] He won the World Seniors Championship in 2013.
Outside snooker, Davis has competed in pool tournaments, notably playing on Team Europe at the Mosconi Cup between 1994 and 2004, helping the team win the event in 1995 and 2002. He is also noted for his participation in poker events, having reached the final stages of several televised tournaments. Since 1996 he has been a regular broadcaster with Phoenix FM and an expert in the progressive rock genres of Zeuhl, RIO and the canterbury scene. A keen amateur chess player, he has co-authored two chess books with grandmaster David Norwood and is a former president of the British Chess Federation. He has also published several books on snooker, as well as three cookbooks. He has appeared on a number of popular British TV shows, including I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2013. He was made an MBE in 1988 and an OBE in 2001.
Contents
-
Early career 1
-
Dominance of snooker 2
-
Black-ball final 3
-
1990–2005 4
-
2005–2010 5
-
2010-present 6
-
Legacy 7
-
Other sports 8
-
In other media 9
-
Personal life 10
-
Performance and rankings timeline 11
-
Career finals 12
-
Ranking finals: 41 (28 titles, 13 runner-ups) 12.1
-
Non-ranking finals: 76 (53 titles, 23 runner-ups) 12.2
-
Variant event finals: 1 (1 runner-up) 12.3
-
Team finals: 11 (9 titles, 2 runner-ups) 12.4
-
Pro-am finals: 2 (2 titles) 12.5
-
Maximum breaks 13
-
Notes 14
-
References 15
-
External links 16
Early career
Steve "Romford Slim" Davis was introduced to snooker by his father Bill, a keen player, who took him to play at his local working men's club at the age of 12,[7] and gave him Joe Davis' instructional book How I Play Snooker.[8]
They studied the book and built Steve Davis's own technique on it in the 1970s.[9] He started playing at the Lucania Snooker Club in Romford, where at the age of 18 the manager of the club brought his talent to the attention of Barry Hearn, chairman of the Lucania chain of snooker halls.[10][11] Hearn became Davis' friend and manager.[12] Paid £25 a match by Hearn, Davis toured the country, taking part in challenge matches against established professionals such as Ray Reardon, John Spencer and Alex Higgins. Around this time he was given the nickname "Nugget" because, according to Hearn, "you could put your case of money on him and you knew you were going to get paid."[10]
Davis won the English Under-19 Billiards Championship in 1976.[13] One of his last wins as an amateur was against another future professional Tony Meo in the final of the Pontin's Spring Open of 1978.[14] A year later he successfully defended his title, this time defeating another of his future rivals, Jimmy White, 7–4 in the final.[15] Davis turned professional on 17 September 1978[16] and made his professional television debut on Pot Black, where he played against Fred Davis.[17] He made his World Championship debut in 1979,[18] losing 11–13 to Dennis Taylor in the first round.[19]
Dominance of snooker
Davis came to public prominence after his performance at the 1980 World Championship, where he reached the quarter-finals, defeating defending champion Terry Griffiths en route,[20] before losing to Alex Higgins.[21] Davis won his first major title in the same year – the UK Championship – during which he beat Griffiths 9–0 in the semi-finals and Higgins 16–6 in the final.[22][23] This began an 18-month period of dominance. He won the Classic and then the International Masters and English Professional titles in 1981,[13] and became the bookmakers' favourite to win the 1981 World Championship, despite being seeded only 15.[24] Davis reached the final by defeating Jimmy White in the first round, Higgins in the second round, Griffiths in the quarter-finals and defending champion Cliff Thorburn in the semi-final.[25] Davis's 18–12 victory over Doug Mountjoy in the final confirmed bookmakers' early predictions, and in celebration his manager Barry Hearn charged across the arena to lift him up in the air.[26] He would go on to reach seven out of the next eight world finals.[27] Peculiarly, Davis's first four world finals were each against a player of a different nationality, something that had not occurred before or has since.
He followed up his world title win with a 9–0 final victory over Dennis Taylor in the International Open and then retained the UK Championship with a 9–0 whitewash over White in the semi-finals and a 16–3 win over Griffiths in the final.[28] This began a period of six months in which Davis and Griffiths contested almost all the major tournament finals. During this run, in January 1982, Davis made snooker history when he compiled the first televised maximum break at the Classic at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham, against John Spencer.[29] Davis won a car for the achievement.[30] This was also the first televised maximum break. Davis subsequently lost 9–8 in the final against Griffiths.[31] In 1982, Davis won his first Masters title, defeating Griffiths 9–6 in the final.[32]
Davis's 18-month period of dominance ended at the 1982 World Championship, when he succumbed to the so-called "Crucible Curse", losing 10–1 against Tony Knowles in the first round.[19] Later that year, he couldn't win a third consecutive UK title as he lost in the quarter-finals against Griffiths.[33] Following those two setbacks, he won the World Doubles Championship title with partner Tony Meo.[13] In 1983 Davis regained the world title with a session to spare in the final, defeating an overwhelmed Thorburn 18–6; Thorburn had seen his previous three matches go to a deciding frame and a late finish.[34] Davis lost 16–15 to Higgins in the 1983 UK Championship final, despite having led 7–0 at one point of the match.[35] In 1984, he became the first player to retain his world title at the Crucible Theatre by beating Jimmy White 18–16 in the final.[36] He also regained the UK title in 1984 defeating Higgins 16–8.[37]
Black-ball final
At the BBC Two.[38] The black-ball finish was voted the ninth greatest sporting moment of all time in a 2002 Channel 4 poll.[39]
Davis and Taylor met again in the final of the 1985 Grand Prix, but this time Davis won in the deciding frame. At 10 hours 21 minutes, it remains the longest one-day final in snooker history.[40] In the 1985 UK Championship final Davis trailed 8–13 against Willie Thorne, who missed a blue off the spot which would have given him a 14–8 lead. Davis won the frame and then seven of the next eight to win 16–14.[41] At the 1986 World Championship, Davis defeated White 13–5 in the quarter-finals and Thorburn 16–12 in the semi-finals,[42] Davis's opponent in the final was Joe Johnson, who had started the tournament as a 150–1 outsider. Davis lost the match 12–18.[43] The result did not affect his position at the top of the world rankings, as he had won the UK Championship, the Grand Prix and the British Open in the 1985/1986 season. At the end of 1986 he beat Neal Foulds 16–7 to retain the UK Championship.[37]
Davis started 1987 by winning the Classic, beating defending champion Jimmy White 13–12.[44] At the World Championship, he defeated Griffiths 13–5 in the quarter-final, and White 16–11 in the semi-final.[45] In the final he again met Johnson, and established a 14–10 lead after three sessions. Johnson reduced Davis' lead to 14–13, but Davis won four of the next five frames to win the match 18–14 and regain the title.[46] In beating Johnson he became the first player to win the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship in the same year.[47] In December he retained his UK title with a 16–14 final win against White.[37] In 1988 retained the Classic, claimed his second Masters title with a 9–0 final whitewash of Mike Hallett (the only final whitewash in the event's history),[32] won the World Cup with England and won his fourth Irish Masters title. In the World Championship Davis defeated Hallett 13–1, Tony Drago 13–4 and Thorburn 16–8 en route to the final, where he met Griffiths. Davis established a 5–2 lead after the first session, but Griffiths levelled at 8–8 after the second. On the second day of the match Davis took ten out of thirteen frames to win 18–11 and claim his fifth world title.[48]
Davis won the first ranking event of the 1988/1989 season with a 12–6 win over White in the International Open; in the same match, he became the first player to make three consecutive century breaks in a major tournament.[49] In October, Davis won the Grand Prix, beating Alex Higgins 10–6 in the final to hold the World, UK, Masters, Grand Prix, Classic and Irish Masters titles simultaneously. However, his four-year unbeaten run at the UK Championship came to an end in December with a 3–9 semi-final loss to Hendry.[50] He did not win another major title that season until the 1989 World Championship, where he beat Hendry 16–9 in the semi-finals before going on to complete the heaviest victory in a world final of the modern era with an 18–3 win over John Parrott, his last world championship to date.[51] In October he retained the Grand Prix, beating Dean Reynolds 10–0 in the final, the first whitewash in a ranking event final.[52] By the end of the 1980s, Davis was snooker's first millionaire.[13]
1990–2005
In the [54] He reached the semi-finals of the World Championships in 1991 and 1994.[55][56] He also won the Irish Masters in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994, the Classic and the Asian Open in 1992, the European Open in 1993, and consecutive Welsh Open titles in 1994 and 1995. His successful defence of his Welsh Open title in 1995 is to date his last ranking title.[57] Davis's last victory in a major tournament came at the 1997 Masters. Trailing his opponent Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–8 in the final, he won the next six frames to secure a 10–8 win.[58]
After a season which saw Davis reach only one ranking event quarter-final, Davis dropped out of the top 16 for the [54] He was runner-up in the 2004 Welsh Open to O'Sullivan, losing 8–9 after having led 8–5.[62] In 2005 he reached the quarter finals of the World Championship, losing to eventual winner Shaun Murphy.[63]
2005–2010
At the 2005 UK Championship, held in York, Davis reached his 100th major career final,[64] and made his first appearance in the UK final since 1990.[37] En route he beat defending champion Stephen Maguire 9–8, a win which included a 145 break; and then Stephen Hendry 9–6 in the semi-finals to reach the final, where he lost 6–10 against Ding Junhui.[65][66] Before the World Championships Davis brushed off suggestions of retirement,[67] and he reached the second round, where he lost to Murphy.[68] Davis's performances through the 2006/2007 season, including reaching the UK Championship quarter-finals and the Welsh Open semi-finals, ensured he was still a top 16 player at the age of 50.[69]
Steve Davis during a match against Ville Pasanen in 2008
He dropped out of the top sixteen a year later, but showed form in the 2008/2009 season by reaching the quarter-finals of both the Shanghai Masters and Grand Prix, the first time he had reached consecutive ranking event quarter-finals since 1996.[70] At the World Championship Davis lost in the first round 2–10 against Neil Robertson. After the match he again dismissed talk of his retirement.[71]
In the first two tournaments of the 2009/2010 season Davis failed to qualify for the televised stages as he lost 4–5 against Matthew Selt in the Shanghai Masters and 0–5 against Mark Davis in the Grand Prix.[72][73] In the next tournament, the UK Championship, he defeated Michael Judge 9–7 to set up a first round match against Hendry,[74] which he lost 6–9.[75] Davis started 2010 by failing to qualify for the Welsh Open and the China Open, losing 2–5 against Dominic Dale and 3–5 against Mike Dunn respectively in the final qualifying round.[76][77] In March he qualified for the World Championship for a record 30th time by defeating Adrian Gunnell 10–4.[78]
In the first round Davis defeated Mark King 10–9, becoming, at the age of 52, the oldest player to win a match at the Crucible since Eddie Charlton beat Cliff Thorburn in 1989.[79] In the second round against defending champion John Higgins, a 1–20 favourite, Davis led 6–2 after the first session, 9–7 after the second session, and ultimately won 13–11, a win Clive Everton described as "the greatest upset in the 33 years the Crucible has been hosting the championship."[80] This made him the oldest world quarter-finalist since Charlton in 1983. In the quarter-final match against Australian Neil Robertson, Davis recovered from a 2–12 deficit to force the match into the third session, eventually losing 5–13.[81] On 29 April 2010, to mark the 25th anniversary of their black-ball final of 1985, Davis appeared with Dennis Taylor before the beginning of the first semi-final, to stage a humorous re-enactment of their historic final frame. Taylor entered the arena wearing a pair of comically oversised glasses, while Davis arrived sporting a red wig.[82]
Davis started the 2010/2011 season by qualifying to the televised stages of Shanghai Masters, whitewashing Rod Lawler 5–0,[83] but lost in the first round 3–5 against Jamie Cope.[84] He lost his qualifying matches in the next two tournaments, he lost 1–3 against Peter Ebdon in the last 64 of the World Open[85] and 2–9 against Mark Joyce in the last 48 of the UK Championship.[86] He also participated at the Players Tour Championship, where his best results came at the Paul Hunter Classic, where he reached the quarter-finals, but lost 1–4 against Shaun Murphy.[87] He finished 67 on the Order of Merit.[88] Davis also reached the final of the World Seniors Championship, but lost in the final 1–4 against Jimmy White.[89] He reached the third qualifying round of the German Masters, but was whitewashed by Ryan Day 0–5.[90] Davis lost his first qualifying matches of the next two tournaments. He was beaten by Joe Jogia 3–4 in the Welsh Open[91] and 4–5 by James Wattana in the China Open.[92] He narrowly reached the last qualifying round of the World Championship, by defeating Jack Lisowski 10–9, but lost against Stephen Lee 2–10.[93]
2010-present
Davis started the
|
|
|
|
|
1954–1959
|
|
|
|
|
1960–1969
|
|
|
|
|
1970–1979
|
|
|
|
|
1980–1989
|
|
|
|
|
1990–1999
|
|
|
|
|
2000–2009
|
|
|
|
|
2010–present
|
|
|
|
Player of the Year by the Snooker Writers Association
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Current number one is marked in italic.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Winners of the Professional Matchplay Championship (1952–1957) in italics. Winners of the challenge matches (1964–1968) in bold.
|
|
External links
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b c d
-
^
-
^ a b c d
-
^ Snooker Scene, September 1978, page 14–15
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b c d e f g h i
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b c d e
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b c d e
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^ http://www.matchroomsport.com/news/champion-champions-group-seeds-announced/
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8617149.stm
-
^ a b c d e
-
^ a b c d
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b c
-
^
-
^ a b c
-
^ a b
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^ (subscription required)
-
^ a b c
-
^ a b c
-
^ a b c d e f g h i j
-
^ a b
-
^ a b c
-
^ a b c
-
^ Snooker Scene, September 1983, page 7
-
^
-
^
-
^ Snooker Scene, October 1984, page 9
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b Snooker Scene, October 1985, page 7
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^ Snooker Scene, October 1986, page 9
-
^ a b c d e f g h
-
^ Snooker Scene, July 1987, page 13
-
^
-
^ a b c d
-
^ a b
-
^ Snooker Scene, November 1990, page 19
-
^ Snooker Scene, July 1991, page 6
-
^ Snooker Scene, June 1991, page 24
-
^ Snooker Scene, August 1991, page 17
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ (subscription required)
-
^
-
^ Snooker Scene, July 1998, page 14
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ a b
-
^
-
^
-
^
-
^ Snooker Scene, March 1991, page 14
References
-
^ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
-
^ New players on the Main Tour do not have a ranking.
-
^ Players who have Invitational Tour Cards to compete in events, where there are places available.
-
^ The event ran under different name as Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009 to 2009/2010).
-
^ The event ran under different names as Australian Masters (1979/1980 to 1987/1988 and 1995/1996), Hong Kong Open (1989/1990) and Australian Open (1994/1995).
-
^ The event ran under different name as German Open (1995/1996 to 1997/1998).
-
^ The event ran under different name as Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011 to 2012/2013).
-
^ The event ran under different names as China International (1997/1998 and 1998/1999)
-
^ The event ran under different names such as International Open (1981/1982 to 1984/1985, 1986/1987 to 1996/1997), Goya Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986) and Players Championship (2003/2004).
-
^ The event ran under different names such as British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982 to 1983/1984).
-
^ The event ran under different names such as Asian Open (1989/1990 to 1992/1993) and Thailand Open (1993/1994 to 1996/1997).
-
^ The event ran under different names such as European Open (1988/1989 to 1996/1997 and 2001/2002 to 2003/2004) and Irish Open (1998/1999).
-
^ The event ran under different name as Professional Players Tournament (1982/1983 and 1983/1984), LG Cup (2001/2002 to 2003/2004) and Grand Prix (1984/1985 to 2000/2001 and 2004/2005 to 2009/2010).
-
^ The event ran under different name as European League (1992/1993 to 1996/1997).
-
^ Final decided on an aggregate score over three frames
-
^ Final was decided on a three-man round robin basis, the third person was John Dunning.
-
^ a b c d e f g h No play-off. Winner decided via a league format.
-
^ Information about score of the final is not available.
Notes
Steve Davis made the first maximum break in professional competition in 1982.
Maximum breaks
Pro-am finals: 2 (2 titles)
Team finals: 11 (9 titles, 2 runner-ups)
Variant event finals: 1 (1 runner-up)
|
Legend
|
|
UK Championship (2–1)
|
|
Masters (3–0)
|
|
Premier League (4–3)
|
|
Other (44–19)
|
|
Non-ranking finals: 76 (53 titles, 23 runner-ups)
|
Legend
|
|
World Championship (6–2)
|
|
UK Championship (4–3)
|
|
Other Ranking (18–8)
|
|
Ranking finals: 41 (28 titles, 13 runner-ups)
Career finals
|
NH / Not Held
|
means an event was not held.
|
|
NR / Non-Ranking Event
|
means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
|
|
R / Ranking Event
|
means an event is/was a ranking event.
|
|
MR / Minor-Ranking Event
|
means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
|
|
Performance Table Legend
|
|
LQ
|
lost in the qualifying draw
|
#R
|
lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
|
QF
|
lost in the quarter-finals
|
|
SF
|
lost in the semi–finals
|
F
|
lost in the final
|
W
|
won the tournament
|
|
DNQ
|
did not qualify for the tournament
|
A
|
did not participate in the tournament
|
WD
|
withdrew from the tournament
|
Performance and rankings timeline
He was a supporter of the Conservative Party.[187]
Davis lives in Brentwood, Essex,[183] and divorced from his wife Judith in 2005 after 15 years of marriage. They have two sons called Greg (born 1991) and Jack (born 1993).[184] In 2012, Greg Davis entered the Q School, with the aim of winning a place on the professional snooker tour.[185][186]
[182] is the Orient chairman.Barry Hearn and fan most of his life,Charlton Athletic football club; he has been a Leyton Orient Davis is on the board of [180]
In 1988, Davis was named the
Personal life
In 2013, Davis participated in the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here![177] He finished in eighth place.
In 1986 he joined musical duo Chas & Dave and several other snooker stars of the time (under the name "The Matchroom Mob") on the novelty record "Snooker Loopy", which was a Top 10 hit in the United Kingdom.[173][174] A year the later they released a follow-up single, the "Romford Rap", though this only reached #91 in the UK charts.[175] Since 1996 he has presented a show dedicated to progressive rock and the Canterbury scene on his local radio station, Phoenix FM.[176]
He has published numerous other books, five relating to snooker: Successful Snooker (1982),[163] Frame and Fortune (1982),[164] Steve Davis: Snooker Champion (1983),[165] Matchroom Snooker (1988)[166] and The Official Matchroom 1990;[167] two relating to chess in 1995 with David Norwood: Steve Davis Plays Chess[168] and Grandmaster Meets Chess Amateur.[169] He also authored three cookbooks in 1994: Simply Fix – the Steve Davis Interesting Cookbook No 1 – Interesting Things to Do With Meat,[170] Simply Fix – The Steve Davis Interesting Cookbook No 2 – Interesting Things to Make with Poultry,[171] and Simply Fix – the Steve Davis Interesting Cookbook No 3 – Interesting Things to Make Using Vegetables.[172]
In 2007, his image was used as the epitome of "reliability" in a series of advertisements for Irish Life.[161] He featured in a spoof online viral promoting the Nintendo DS game World Snooker Championship Season 2007–08, in which he parodied a Nicole Kidman Brain Training advert.[162] In 2010, Davis made a cameo appearance in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret as himself.[159] His other TV appearances include a guest slot on the Christmas 1981 edition of The Morecambe and Wise Show.
Davis has become known for his coolness and impeccable conduct in high-pressure situations.[64] His initial lack of emotional expression and somewhat monotonous interviewing style earned him a reputation as boring. As a result, the satirical television series Spitting Image gave him the ironic nickname "Interesting".[155][156] Davis himself now plays upon this image and says it helped him gain acceptance from the public.[157] It led to him co-authoring a comedic book, How to Be Really Interesting (1988), with Geoff Atkinson, the front cover of which shows Davis mocking his perceived dullness, dressed in boxing regalia holding a cue.[158] Davis appeared as a commentator for the BBC's snooker coverage and as a guest on television quizzes such as They Think It's All Over and A Question of Sport.[159] He appeared in a baked beans advertisement in the 1980s (featuring snooker commentator Ted Lowe with the pay-off line "really interesting" and Davis 'assessing' his beans on toast as if it were a snooker situation, and chalking his cutlery).[160]
In other media
Davis has also become a proficient poker player, with successful appearances at televised tournaments;[149] these included an appearance at the final table of the 2003 Poker Million together with fellow snooker player Jimmy White, who eventually won.[150] Later, at Event 41 of the 2006 World Series of Poker, Davis finished 579th, winning US$20,617.[151] At Event 54 of the 2008 World Series of Poker he finished 389th, winning $28,950.[152] At Event 56 of the 2010 World Series of Poker he finished 131st, winning $5,491.[153] At Event 22 of the 2011 Grand Poker Series he finished 8th, winning $2,049.[154]
From 1994 to 2007 Davis played in professional nine-ball pool events regularly. He was instrumental in the creation of the Mosconi Cup,[142] and has represented Europe in the tournament on eleven occasions, and was a member of the team's 1995 and 2002 wins;[143] his victory against the US's Earl Strickland clinched the 2002 competition for Europe.[144][145] In 2001 Davis nearly won his first singles title in pool at the World Pool League, however, Efren Reyes defeated him 9–5 the final.[146] Sid Waddell gave him the nickname "Romford Slim" and said he was Britain's answer to the famous American pool player Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone.[142] Davis dislikes eight-ball pool as played on English-style tables in British pubs and clubs, considering it a "Mickey Mouse game" because of its under-sized cue ball in relation to the other balls, but made it clear that he is only critical of the game when it is played with an undersized cue ball.[147] He is also a keen chess player and was for a while the President of the British Chess Federation.[148]
Trick shot World Champion Steve Davis potting a ball under a cloth
Other sports
In the book Masters of the Baize, a detailed comparison and ranking of snooker professionals, authors Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby rated Davis as the third greatest snooker player of all time behind Joe Davis and Stephen Hendry.[139][140] As of 2011, Davis has won a record 80 professional titles from 115 finals, 28 of them in ranking events. His record of six world titles in the modern era has been bettered only by Hendry and no player has yet matched his tally of six UK titles. Davis has also compiled over 300 competitive centuries during his career. In 2011 he was inducted to World Snooker's newly created Hall of Fame along with seven former World Champions.[141]
Legacy
Given an invitational tour card to participate in tournaments for the 2014-15 season, Davis made his return to competitive snooker in the Riga Open in August 2014, losing 1-4 to Robert Milkins in the last 64.[135] He then participated in the Paul Hunter Classic, losing 2-4 to Gary Wilson in the last 128.[136] Davis played in the 2014 Champion of Champions event after qualifying through winning the 2013 World Seniors Championship,[137] losing 1-4 to Mark Selby in the group semi-final.[138]
Davis started the 2013/2014 season at number 51,[127] and his first match was in the qualifying stages for the Wuxi Classic, where he faced James Cahill. After Cahill levelled the match at 2–2, Davis won the next three frames in a row, along with a 131 break in the penultimate frame, to book his place for the main stage of the tournament in Wuxi,[128] where he lost 1–5 against Andrew Higginson in the last 64.[129] Davis then lost at the qualifying stages of the next two ranking events he entered. He lost 2–5 against Higginson at the Shanghai Masters,[130] and 1–4 against Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon at the Indian Open.[131] He than qualified for the International Championship with a 6–2 win against Allan Taylor,[132] but lost at the venue 1–6 against Zhao Xintong in the wildcard round.[133] Davis won his first World Seniors Championship title by defeating Nigel Bond 2–1 in the final.[134] After a defeat by Craig Steadman 8–10 in the second round of the 2014 World Snooker Championship qualification, Davis finished the season outside the top 64 in the money list and dropped off the professional main tour after 36 years.
Davis started the 2012/2013 season at number 51,[107] but couldn't qualify for the first two ranking events, as he lost 3–5 against Kurt Maflin at the Wuxi Classic,[108] and 0–5 against Michael Wild at the Australian Goldfields Open.[109] Davis took part in the Six-red World Championship, where he finished third in Group E with three wins out of five matches and advanced to the knock-out stage,[110] but lost 1–6 against Mark Davis in the last 32.[111] Davis qualified for the Shanghai Masters by defeating Alfie Burden 5–1 and Andrew Higginson 5–0.[112] There he defeated Zhu Yinghui 5–1 to reach the last 32,[113] but lost 4–5 against Ricky Walden.[114] He however couldn't qualify for the International Championship after losing his first qualifying match 5–6 against Pankaj Advani.[115] Davis then qualified for the final stages of the UK Championship by defeating Advani 6–5 and Jamie Burnett 6–2,[116] but lost 2–6 against Ali Carter,[117] and he also lost his first qualifying match at German Masters 4–5 against Simon Bedford.[118] Davis also participated at the Players Tour Championship, where his best results came at the Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy and the Scottish Open, where he reached the last 16, but lost 3–4 against John Higgins and 1–4 against Ding Junhui respectively.[119][120] He finished number 52 on the Order of Merit.[121] Davis then lost at the qualifying stages of the next two ranking events. He lost 4–5 against Chen Zhe at the World Open,[122] and 0–5 against Mark King at the China Open.[123] At the Welsh Open he defeated Kurt Maflin 4–2 to qualify for the venue stage of the event,[124] where he lost 0–4 against Mark Selby.[125] Davis finished the season in the qualifying stage of the World Championship by losing 7–10 against Maflin.[126]
Davis was inducted into the Snooker Hall of Fame in 2011.
[106][105] respectively.Ben Woollaston and 7–10 to Rory McLeod, losing 1–5 to World Snooker Championship, nor the China Open However he then didn't qualify for either the [104][103].Shaun Murphy, before losing 0–4 against Allister Carter and Ricky Walden, Lucky Vatnani with three 4–3 victories, defeating Welsh Open but reached the last 16 of the [102],Ian McCulloch, as he lost his first qualifying match 1–5 against World Open Davis than missed the [101].Ronnie O'Sullivan and also lost in the first round of the UK Championship 1–6 against [100]Robert Milkins as he lost 1–5 against German Masters but he couldn't qualify to the [99] 6–2,Andrew Higginson and Ian McCulloch, by defeating both UK Championship He qualified for the [98].Order of Merit He finished number 26 on the [97].Ricky Walden, where he reached the semi-finals, but lost 3–4 against Warsaw Classic, where his best results came at the Players Tour Championship Davis also participated at the [96]
This article was sourced from Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. World Heritage Encyclopedia content is assembled from numerous content providers, Open Access Publishing, and in compliance with The Fair Access to Science and Technology Research Act (FASTR), Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., Public Library of Science, The Encyclopedia of Life, Open Book Publishers (OBP), PubMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and USA.gov, which sources content from all federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial government publication portals (.gov, .mil, .edu). Funding for USA.gov and content contributors is made possible from the U.S. Congress, E-Government Act of 2002.
Crowd sourced content that is contributed to World Heritage Encyclopedia is peer reviewed and edited by our editorial staff to ensure quality scholarly research articles.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. World Heritage Encyclopedia™ is a registered trademark of the World Public Library Association, a non-profit organization.