Steve Davis

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 age 12 and gave him an instructional book: How I Play Snooker by Joe Davis.[7][8] They studied the book, and Davis based his technique on it during the 1970s.[9] He began playing at the Lucania Snooker Club in Romford. The club manager brought his talent to the attention of Barry Hearn (chairman of the Lucania chain of snooker halls) when Davis was 18, and Hearn became his friend and manager.[10][11] Paid £25 a match by Hearn, Davis toured the United Kingdom and participated in challenge matches against established professionals such as Ray Reardon, John Spencer and Alex Higgins. Around this time he was nicknamed "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.[12] One of his last wins as an amateur was against Tony Meo, another future professional, in the final of the 1978 Pontin's Spring Open.[13] He defended his title a year later, defeating future rival Jimmy White 7–4 in the final.[14] Davis turned professional on 17 September 1978 and made his professional television debut on Pot Black, where he played against Fred Davis.[15][16] He made his debut at the 1979 World Snooker Championship,[17] losing 11–13 to Dennis Taylor in the first round.[18]

Davis became well-known after his performance at the 1980 World Snooker Championship, where he reached the quarter-finals (defeating defending champion Terry Griffiths in the second round[19] before losing to Alex Higgins}.[20] He won his first major title that year, the 1980 UK Championship, defeating Griffiths 9–0 in the semi-finals and Higgins 16–6 in the final.[21][22]

Over the next 18 months, Davis won seven more events. He won the Classic, International Masters and English Professional titles in 1981,[12] and was the bookmakers' favourite to win the 1981 World Snooker Championship despite being seeded 15th.[23] 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.[24] He defeated Doug Mountjoy 18–12 in the final, and Hearn charged across the arena to lift him up in the air.[25][26] Davis followed up his world title with a 9–0 whitewash-final victory over Dennis Taylor in the International Open, and retained the 1981 UK Championship with a 9–0 whitewash against White in the semi-finals and a 16–3 win over Griffiths in the final.[27] This began a six-month period in which Davis and Griffiths contested almost all the major tournament finals. During this run, in January 1982, Davis compiled the first televised maximum break at the Classic at Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham against John Spencer[28] and won a Lada car;[29] he then lost 8–9 to Griffiths in the final.[30] Davis won his first Masters title that year, defeating Griffiths 9–6 in the final.[31]

His 18-month period of dominance ended at the 1982 World Snooker Championship, where he lost 1–10 to Tony Knowles in the first round.[18] Davis did not win a third consecutive 1982 UK Championship later that year, losing to Griffiths in the quarter-finals.[32] After those two defeats, he won the World Doubles Championship with partner Tony Meo.[12] Davis defeated an overwhelmed Thorburn 18–6 in the 1983 World Snooker Championship, regaining the title with a session to spare in the final; Thorburn had seen his previous three matches go to a deciding frame and a late finish.[33] Davis lost 15–16 to Higgins in the 1983 UK Championship final, despite leading 7–0 at one point.[34] At the 1984 World Snooker Championship, he was the first player to retain his title at the Crucible Theatre by beating Jimmy White 18–16 in the final.[35] Davis won the 1984 UK Championship, defeating Higgins 16–8 in the final.[36]

Davis lost only 23 frames en route to the 1985 World Snooker Championship final, where his opponent was Dennis Taylor. He won all of the frames in the first session to lead 7–0 (extending his lead to 8–0 in the evening session), but Taylor recovered to trail 7–9. From 11–11, they traded frames before Davis forged ahead to lead 17–15. Taylor won the next two frames to level the match at 17–17 and force a deciding frame. With the scores close, Taylor potted the final colours to leave the black ball. The player who potted the ball would win the championship; after a series of safety shots and attempts to pot it, Davis over-cut the black and left Taylor with a reasonably-straightforward pot to secure the championship. The final had 18.5 million viewers, setting records for BBC Two and for a post-midnight audience on British television.[37] The final, later called the "black ball final", was voted the ninth-greatest sporting moment of all time in a 2002 Channel 4 poll; Davis's disbelief and Taylor's triumphant, pointing finger have been replayed many times on television.[38]

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 was the longest one-day final in snooker history.[39] Davis trailed Willie Thorne 8–13 in the 1985 UK Championship final. Thorne missed a blue off the spot, which would have given him a 14–8 lead; Davis won the frame and seven of the next eight to win 16–14.[40] At the 1986 World Championship, Davis defeated White 13–5 in the quarter-finals and Thorburn 16–12 in the semi-finals.[41] His opponent in the final was Joe Johnson, who started the tournament a 150–1 outsider. Davis lost the match, 12–18.[42] The result did not affect his position at the top of the world rankings, since he had won the UK Championship, the Grand Prix and the British Open in the 1985–86 season. At the end of 1986, he defeated Neal Foulds 16–7 to retain the 1986 UK Championship.[36]

Davis began 1987 by winning the Classic 13–12 against defending champion Jimmy White.[43] At the 1987 World Snooker Championship, he defeated Griffiths 13–5 in the quarter-final and White 16–11 in the semi-final.[44] Meeting Johnson again in the final, he established a 14–10 lead after three sessions. Johnson reduced Davis's lead to 14–13, but Davis took four of the next five frames to win the match 18–14 and regain the title.[45] In December he retained his UK title with a 16–14 win against White in the final.[36] Davis retained the Classic in 1988, claimed his second Masters title with a 9–0 final whitewash of Mike Hallett (the only final whitewash in the event's history),[31] 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 his fifth world title 18–11.[46]

He won the first ranking event of the 1988–89 snooker season, a 12–6 win against White in the International Open. During the same match, he became the first player to make three consecutive century breaks in a major tournament.[47] In October, Davis won the Grand Prix final 10–6 against Alex Higgins and held the World, UK, Masters, Grand Prix, Classic and Irish Masters titles simultaneously. His four-year unbeaten run in the UK Championship ended in December with a 3–9 semi-final loss to Hendry.[48] Davis did not win another major title until the 1989 World Championship, where he beat Hendry 16–9 in the semi-finals before the most decisive victory in a world final of the modern era: an 18–3 win against John Parrott, for his last world championship.[49] The match is regarded as one of Davis's greatest performances, and was cited in the Guinness Book of Snooker as "The greatest display of potting, break building and safety play ever seen ... no-one could have lived with Davis the way he played at the Crucible in 1989".[50] He retained the Grand Prix in October, beating Dean Reynolds 10–0 in the final – the first whitewash in a ranking-event final.[51] By the end of the 1980s, Davis was snooker's first millionaire.[12]

Davis was denied an eighth consecutive appearance in the 1990 World Snooker Championship final by Jimmy White, who won their semi-final 16–14.[52] Davis was replaced as world number one by Stephen Hendry at the end of the 1989–90 snooker season, but regained the position until the 1995-1996 season.[53] He reached the World Championship semi-finals in 1991 and 1994.[54][55] Davis won the Irish Masters four times: in 1990, 1991, 1993 and 1994. He won the Classic and the Asian Open in 1992, the European Open in 1993, and consecutive Welsh Open titles in 1994 and 1995. Davis's successful defence of his 1995 Welsh Open title was his last ranking title.[56] His last victory in a major tournament was at the 1997 Masters. Trailing his opponent Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–8 in the final, Davis won the next six frames for a 10–8 win.[57]

After a season in which he reached only one ranking event quarter-final, Davis dropped out of the top 16 for the 2000-2001 season[53] and failed to qualify for the World Championship for the next two years.[58][59] After failing to qualify for the World Snooker Championship for the first time in his professional career in 2001, he felt that retiring would be the easy thing to do; since he still enjoyed the challenge of snooker, however, he continued playing and regained his place in the top 16 for the 2003–2004 season.[53][60] Davis was runner-up in the 2004 Welsh Open to O'Sullivan, losing 8–9 after leading 8–5.[61] He reached the quarter-finals of the 2005 World Snooker Championship, losing to eventual winner Shaun Murphy.[62]

Davis reached his 100th major career final at the 2005 UK Championship in York,[1] his first appearance in the event's final since 1990.[36] He beat defending champion Stephen Maguire 9–8 with a 145 break, and Stephen Hendry 9–6 in the semi-finals before he lost 6–10 to Ding Junhui.[63][64] Davis brushed off suggestions of retirement before the World Championships,[65] and reached the second round (where he lost to Murphy).[66] His performances during the 2006–07 season, including reaching the 2006 UK Championship quarter-finals and the Welsh Open semi-finals, ensured that Davis was still a top-16 player at age 50.[4]

Davis during a 2008 match against Ville Pasanen

Although Davis dropped out of the top sixteen a year later, he returned to form in the 2008–09 season by reaching the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters and Grand Prix – the first time he reached consecutive ranking-event quarter-finals since 1996.[67] At the 2009 World Snooker Championship, Davis lost 2–10 to Neil Robertson in the first round.[68] He failed to qualify for the televised stages of the first two tournaments of the 2009–10 season, losing 4–5 to Matthew Selt in the Shanghai Masters and 0–5 to Mark Davis in the Grand Prix.[69][70] In the next tournament, the 2009 UK Championship, he defeated Michael Judge 9–7 to set up a first-round match against Hendry[71] (which he lost 6–9).[72] Davis began 2010 by failing to qualify for the Welsh Open and the China Open, losing 2–5 to Dominic Dale and 3–5 against Mike Dunn in the final qualifying round.[73][74] In March, he qualified for the World Championship for the 30th time by defeating Adrian Gunnell 10–4.[75]

In the first round, Davis defeated Mark King 10–9. At 52, he was the oldest player to win a match at the Crucible since Eddie Charlton defeated Cliff Thorburn in 1989.[76] 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 won 13–11, a win Clive Everton called "the greatest upset in the 33 years the Crucible has been hosting the championship."[77] 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 before losing 5–13.[78] On 29 April 2010, to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1985 World Championship final, Davis appeared with 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-oversized glasses, and Davis arrived sporting a red wig.[79] Despite having his best run at the World Championship for five years and reaching the quarter-finals for only the second time since 1994, this was his last appearance at the Crucible; he failed to qualify for the World Championship again before his retirement.

Davis began the 2010–11 season by qualifying for the televised stages of the Shanghai Masters, whitewashing Rod Lawler 5–0[80] before losing 3–5 in the first round to Jamie Cope.[81] He lost his qualifying matches in the next two tournaments: 1–3 to Peter Ebdon in the last 64 of the World Open,[82] and 2–9 to Mark Joyce in the last 48 of the 2010 UK Championship.[83] Davis participated in the Players Tour Championship; his best result was at the Paul Hunter Classic, where he reached the quarter-finals before losing 1–4 to Shaun Murphy.[84] He finished 67 on the Order of Merit.[85] He reached the final of the World Seniors Championship, losing 1–4 to Jimmy White.[86] He reached the third qualifying round of the German Masters, but was whitewashed by Ryan Day 0–5.[87] Davis lost the first qualifying matches of his next two tournaments, defeated by Joe Jogia 3–4 in the Welsh Open[88] and 4–5 by James Wattana in the China Open.[89] He narrowly reached the last qualifying round of the World Championship by defeating Jack Lisowski 10–9 before losing 2–10 to Stephen Lee.[90]

Davis playing a trick shot exhibition during the break of the 2012 German Masters final

Davis began the 2011–12 season at number 44, his lowest rank since turning professional.[53][91] He lost his first qualifying match at the Shanghai Masters, 1–5, to Passakorn Suwannawat.[92] Davis reached the final of the 2011 World Seniors Championship before losing 1–2 to Darren Morgan.[93] He participated in the 2011–12 Players Tour Championship; his best result was in the Warsaw Classic, where he reached the semi-finals before losing 3–4 to Ricky Walden.[94] Davis finished at number 26 on the Order of Merit.[95] He qualified for the 2011 UK Championship by defeating Ian McCulloch and Andrew Higginson 6–2.[96] Divis did not qualify for the German Masters (losing 1–5 to Robert Milkins),[97] and lost 1–6 in the first round of the UK Championship to Ronnie O'Sullivan.[98] He missed the 2012 World Open, losing his first qualifying match 1–5 to Ian McCulloch,[99] but reached the last 16 of the Welsh Open with three 4–3 victories (defeating Lucky Vatnani, Ricky Walden and Allister Carter) before losing 0–4 to Shaun Murphy.[100][101] Davis did not qualify for the China Open or the World Snooker Championship, losing 1–5 to Rory McLeod and 7–10 to Ben Woollaston.[102][103]

He began the 2012–13 season at number 51,[104] but did not qualify for the first two ranking events after losing 3–5 to Kurt Maflin in the Wuxi Classic[105] and 0–5 to Michael Wild at the Australian Goldfields Open.[106] Davis participated in the Six-red World Championship, where he finished third in Group E (with three wins in five matches) and advanced to the knock-out stage[107] before losing 1–6 to Mark Davis in the last 32.[108] He qualified for the Shanghai Masters by defeating Alfie Burden 5–1 and Andrew Higginson 5–0,[109] defeating Zhu Yinghui 5–1 to reach the last 32[110] before losing 4–5 to Ricky Walden.[111] Davis did not qualify for the International Championship, losing his first qualifying match 5–6 to Pankaj Advani.[112] He qualified for the final stages of the 2012 UK Championship, defeating Advani 6–5 and Jamie Burnett 6–2,[113] before losing 2–6 to Ali Carter.[114] Davis lost his first qualifying match at the 2013 German Masters, 4–5, to Simon Bedford.[115] He again participated in the Players Tour Championship; his best results were in the Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy and the Scottish Open, where he reached the last 16 before losing 3–4 to John Higgins and 1–4 to Ding Junhui.[116][117] Davis placed 52nd on the tour's Order of Merit.[118] He lost in the qualifying stages of the next two ranking events: 4–5 to Chen Zhe in the World Open,[119] and 0–5 to Mark King in the China Open.[120] In the Welsh Open, Davis defeated Kurt Maflin 4–2 to qualify for the event's venue stage[121] before losing 0–4 to Mark Selby.[122] He finished the season in the qualifying stage of the World Championship, losing 7–10 to Maflin.[123]

Davis began the 2013–14 season at number 51;[124] 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 and scored a 131 break in the penultimate frame to qualify for the tournament's main stage;[125] he lost, 1–5, to Andrew Higginson in the last 64.[126] He then lost his next two ranking events in the qualifying stages: 2–5 to Higginson in the Shanghai Masters,[127] and 1–4 to Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon at the Indian Open.[128] Davis qualified for the International Championship with a 6–2 win against Allan Taylor,[129] losing 1–6 to Zhao Xintong in the wildcard round.[130] He won his first World Seniors Championship by defeating Nigel Bond, 2–1.[131] 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 on the money list and dropped off the main professional tour after 36 years.

With an invitational tour card for tournaments in the 2014–15 season, he returned to competitive snooker in the Riga Open in August 2014 (losing 1–4 to Robert Milkins in the last 64).[132] Davis participated in the Paul Hunter Classic, losing 2–4 to Gary Wilson in the last 128.[133] He played in the 2014 Champion of Champions event after qualifying with the 2013 World Seniors Championship,[134] losing 1–4 to Mark Selby in the group semi-final.[135] Davis entered the 2016 World Championship qualifiers, and lost to Fergal O'Brien in his final professional match.[136]

He announced his retirement from professional snooker during a live 17 April 2016 BBC broadcast, citing the recent death of his father as the main reason. Davis entered the Crucible Theatre holding the World Championship trophy, and received a standing ovation from the audience.[136] He continues to play exhibitions, and is a commentator for the BBC's snooker coverage.[136]