Steve Davis

Early career

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, and gave him Joe Davis' instructional book How I Play Snooker.

They studied the book and built Steve Davis's own technique on it in the 1970s. 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. Hearn became Davis' friend and manager. 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."

Davis won the English Under-19 Billiards Championship in 1976. 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. A year later he successfully defended his title, this time defeating another of his future rivals, Jimmy White, 7–4 in the final. Davis turned professional on 17 September 1978 and made his professional television debut on Pot Black, where he played against Fred Davis. He made his World Championship debut in 1979, losing 11–13 to Dennis Taylor in the first round.

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, before losing to Alex Higgins. 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. This began an 18-month period of dominance. He won the Classic and then the International Masters and English Professional titles in 1981, and became the bookmakers' favourite to win the 1981 World Championship, despite being seeded only 15. 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. 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. He would go on to reach seven out of the next eight world finals. Peculiarly, Davis's first four world finals were each against a player of a different nationality, something that had not occurred before and has not 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. 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. Davis won a Lada car for the achievement. Davis subsequently lost 9–8 in the final against Griffiths. In 1982, Davis won his first Masters title, defeating Griffiths 9–6 in the final.

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. Later that year, he could not win a third consecutive UK title as he lost in the quarter-finals against Griffiths. Following those two setbacks, he won the World Doubles Championship title with partner Tony Meo. 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. Davis lost 16–15 to Higgins in the 1983 UK Championship final, despite having led 7–0 at one point of the match. 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. He also regained the UK title in 1984 defeating Higgins 16–8.

Black-ball final

At the 1985 World Championship, Davis dropped only 23 frames en route to the final, where his opponent was Dennis Taylor. He looked set for a third consecutive world title after an opening session of near-faultless snooker gave him a 7–0 lead, which he extended to 8–0 in the evening session, but Taylor recovered to trail only 7–9. From 11–11 the pair 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 as the winner-takes-all ball. After a series of safety shots and attempts at potting it, Davis over-cut the black, leaving Taylor with a reasonably straightforward pot to secure the championship. The nailbiting finale drew 18.5 million viewers, a record post-midnight audience on British television and a record audience for BBC Two. The black-ball finish was voted the ninth greatest sporting moment of all time in a 2002 Channel 4 poll.

1985–1989

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. 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. At the 1986 World Championship, Davis defeated White 13–5 in the quarter-finals and Thorburn 16–12 in the semi-finals, 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. 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.

Davis started 1987 by winning the Classic, beating defending champion Jimmy White 13–12. At the World Championship, he defeated Griffiths 13–5 in the quarter-final, and White 16–11 in the semi-final. 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. In beating Johnson he became the first player to win the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship in the same year. In December he retained his UK title with a 16–14 final win against White. 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), 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.

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. 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. 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. This match in particular was regarded as one of his greatest performances, and was cited in the Guinness Book of Snooker as "The greatest display of potting, break building and safety play ever seen" with the further observation "no-one could have lived with Davis the way he played at the Crucible in 1989". In October he retained the Grand Prix, beating Dean Reynolds 10–0 in the final, the first whitewash in a ranking event final. By the end of the 1980s, Davis was snooker's first millionaire.

1990–2005

After demolishing John Parrott in the 1989 World Final, it seemed obvious that the new decade would see Davis and rising star Stephen Hendry battling for supremacy. However, the mouthwatering prospect of Davis v Hendry World finals never materialised. As with Ray Reardon and his successor Steve Davis, there was to be no World Final showdown between once and future kings. Instead, Hendry became the new king, with Jimmy White as his main rival. In the 1990 World Championship, Davis was denied an eighth consecutive appearance in the final by Jimmy White, who won their semi-final 16–14. Davis was replaced as world number one by Stephen Hendry at the end of the 1989/90 season. He was ranked number 2 for the 1990/1991, 1991/1992, 1994/1995 and 1995/1996 seasons. He reached the semi-finals of the World Championships in 1991 and 1994. 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 was to be his last ranking title.

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. During this period, Davis had been clearly struggling with his game, displaying the classic symptoms of a confidence problem in his technique. His cue action, which was once regarded by his peers as the best in the game, was now in tatters, with Davis seemingly unable to settle on a feathering up drill, going from slow and deliberate in some matches to randomly speeding up in others. He also soon brought comments from commentators with regard to his overreliance on safety play, and over thinking his shots. It was clear that Davis had a serious problem and ultimately one he would never recover from. 1989 proved to be his last appearance in a World Final, unthinkable at the time.

After a season which saw Davis reach only one ranking event quarter-final, Davis dropped out of the top 16 for the 2000/2001 season, and failed to qualify for the World Championship for the next two years. After failing to qualify for the World Snooker Championship for the first time in his professional career in 2001, Davis felt that retiring would be the easy thing to do, but as he still liked the challenge of snooker, he continued playing, and regained his place in the top 16 for the 2003/2004 season. He was runner-up in the 2004 Welsh Open to O'Sullivan, losing 8–9 after having led 8–5. In 2005 he reached the quarter finals of the World Championship, losing to eventual winner Shaun Murphy.

2005–2010

At the 2005 UK Championship, held in York, Davis reached his 100th major career final, and made his first appearance in the UK final since 1990. 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. Before the World Championships Davis brushed off suggestions of retirement, and he reached the second round, where he lost to Murphy. 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.

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. 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.

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. In the next tournament, the UK Championship, he defeated Michael Judge 9–7 to set up a first round match against Hendry, which he lost 6–9. 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. In March he qualified for the World Championship for a record 30th time by defeating Adrian Gunnell 10–4.

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. 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." 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. On 29 April 2010, to mark the 25th anniversary of their black-ball final of 1985, 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, while Davis arrived sporting a red wig.

Davis started the 2010/2011 season by qualifying to the televised stages of Shanghai Masters, whitewashing Rod Lawler 5–0, but lost in the first round 3–5 against Jamie Cope. 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 and 2–9 against Mark Joyce in the last 48 of the UK Championship. 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. He finished 67 on the Order of Merit. Davis also reached the final of the World Seniors Championship, but lost in the final 1–4 against Jimmy White. He reached the third qualifying round of the German Masters, but was whitewashed by Ryan Day 0–5. Davis lost his first qualifying matches of the next two tournaments. He was beaten by Joe Jogia 3–4 in the Welsh Open and 4–5 by James Wattana in the China Open. He narrowly reached the last qualifying round of the World Championship, by defeating Jack Lisowski 10–9, but lost against Stephen Lee 2–10.

2010–2016

Davis started the 2011/2012 season at number 44, his lowest rank since turning professional. He lost his first qualifying match at the Shanghai Masters 1–5 against Passakorn Suwannawat. After 2010 he reached the final of the World Seniors Championship, but again lost in the final, this time 1–2 against Darren Morgan. Davis also participated at the Players Tour Championship, where his best results came at the Warsaw Classic, where he reached the semi-finals, but lost 3–4 against Ricky Walden. He finished number 26 on the Order of Merit. He qualified for the UK Championship, by defeating both Ian McCulloch and Andrew Higginson 6–2, but he could not qualify to the German Masters as he lost 1–5 against Robert Milkins and also lost in the first round of the UK Championship 1–6 against Ronnie O'Sullivan. Davis then missed the World Open, as he lost his first qualifying match 1–5 against Ian McCulloch, 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 against Shaun Murphy. However, he then did not qualify for either the China Open, nor the World Snooker Championship, losing 1–5 to Rory McLeod and 7–10 to Ben Woollaston respectively.

Davis started the 2012/2013 season at number 51, but could not qualify for the first two ranking events, as he lost 3–5 against Kurt Maflin at the Wuxi Classic, and 0–5 against Michael Wild at the Australian Goldfields Open. 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, but lost 1–6 against Mark Davis in the last 32. Davis qualified for the Shanghai Masters by defeating Alfie Burden 5–1 and Andrew Higginson 5–0. There he defeated Zhu Yinghui 5–1 to reach the last 32, but lost 4–5 against Ricky Walden. He, however, could not qualify for the International Championship after losing his first qualifying match 5–6 against Pankaj Advani. Davis then qualified for the final stages of the UK Championship by defeating Advani 6–5 and Jamie Burnett 6–2, but lost 2–6 against Ali Carter, and he also lost his first qualifying match at German Masters 4–5 against Simon Bedford. 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. He finished number 52 on the Order of Merit. Davis then lost at the qualifying stages of the next two ranking events. He lost 4–5 against Chen Zhe at the World Open, and 0–5 against Mark King at the China Open. At the Welsh Open he defeated Kurt Maflin 4–2 to qualify for the venue stage of the event, where he lost 0–4 against Mark Selby. Davis finished the season in the qualifying stage of the World Championship by losing 7–10 against Maflin.

Davis started the 2013/2014 season at number 51, 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, where he lost 1–5 against Andrew Higginson in the last 64. 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, and 1–4 against Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon at the Indian Open. He then qualified for the International Championship with a 6–2 win against Allan Taylor, but lost at the venue 1–6 against Zhao Xintong in the wildcard round. Davis won his first World Seniors Championship title by defeating Nigel Bond 2–1 in the final. 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.

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. He then participated in the Paul Hunter Classic, losing 2–4 to Gary Wilson in the last 128. Davis played in the 2014 Champion of Champions event after qualifying through winning the 2013 World Seniors Championship, losing 1–4 to Mark Selby in the group semi-final. He entered the 2016 World Championship qualifiers but was beaten by Fergal O'Brien.

Retirement

On 17 April 2016, two years after losing his place on the main tour and therefore his professional status, Davis announced his retirement from professional snooker during a live BBC broadcast, citing the recent death of his father Bill as the main reason. Davis entered the Crucible Theatre holding the World Championship trophy and received a standing ovation by the audience. Davis will continue to play exhibitions and commentate for the BBC's snooker coverage.

Legacy

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. Davis has won a record 81 professional titles and was the runner-up in 37 events. 28 of these titles were 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. Davis had a presence perhaps not seen since the days of Joe Davis. His aura was such that stories of opponents booking themselves out of their hotels when they drew him in a match because they knew they would lose are taken as fact and not disputed. His tally of century breaks would no doubt be even more impressive had he not had a habit of steamrolling opponents and racing into a lead, making many breaks of 80 or 90 to clinch a frame and get the next underway rather than taking a risk and going for a century break. Davis had used this tactic against Dennis Taylor in 1985 when he led 8–0 in the World Final and most famously against John Parrott in 1989 when he won 18–3. Davis, who later in his career acquired a reputation for slow play and overt use of tactics rather than break building, was a very different player at his best. His ability to win frames in one visit was perhaps his best attribute, with long potting second to none. Perhaps more importantly, Davis changed the face of snooker on television. At a time when professional players drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes during televised matches, Davis sipped from a glass of water. His clean cut, viceless image became, via Stephen Hendry, the blueprint for the modern game.

Other sports

From 1994 to 2007 Davis played in professional nine-ball pool events regularly. He was instrumental in the creation of the Mosconi Cup, and has represented Europe in the tournament on eleven occasions, and was a member of the team's 1995 and 2002 wins; his victory against the US's Earl Strickland clinched the 2002 competition for Europe. 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. 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. 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 undersized 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. He is also a keen chess player and was for a while the president of the British Chess Federation.

Davis has also become a proficient poker player, with successful appearances at televised tournaments; these included an appearance at the final table of the 2003 Poker Million together with fellow snooker player Jimmy White, who eventually won. Later, at Event 41 of the 2006 World Series of Poker, Davis finished 579th, winning US$20,617. At Event 54 of the 2008 World Series of Poker he finished 389th, winning $28,950. At Event 56 of the 2010 World Series of Poker he finished 131st, winning $5,491. At Event 22 of the 2011 Grand Poker Series he finished 8th, winning $2,049.

In other media

Davis has become known for his coolness and impeccable conduct in high-pressure situations. 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". Davis himself now plays upon this image and says it helped him gain acceptance from the public. 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. 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. 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).

In 2007, his image was used as the epitome of "reliability" in a series of advertisements for Irish Life. 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. In 2010, Davis made a cameo appearance in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret as himself. His other TV appearances include a guest slot on the Christmas 1981 edition of The Morecambe and Wise Show.

He has published numerous other books, five relating to snooker: Successful Snooker (1982), Frame and Fortune (1982), Steve Davis: Snooker Champion (1983), Matchroom Snooker (1988) and The Official Matchroom 1990; two relating to chess in 1995 with David Norwood: Steve Davis Plays Chess and Grandmaster Meets Chess Amateur. He also authored three cookbooks in 1994: Simply Fix – the Steve Davis Interesting Cookbook No 1 – Interesting Things to Do With Meat, Simply Fix – The Steve Davis Interesting Cookbook No 2 – Interesting Things to Make with Poultry, and Simply Fix – the Steve Davis Interesting Cookbook No 3 – Interesting Things to Make Using Vegetables.

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. A year the later they released a follow-up single, the "Romford Rap", though this only reached #91 in the UK charts. Since 1996 he has presented a show dedicated to progressive rock and the Canterbury scene on his local radio station, Phoenix FM.

In 2013, Davis participated in the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! He finished in eighth place.

DJ career

Davis started his Prog Rock show on local radio, then with a guest slot on BBC Radio 6 in 2011. He branched out into club work with a more modern sound in 2015 and has regular slots at London bars and nightclubs. Davis performed with his collaborator Kavus Torabi at the Glastonbury Festival in 2016.

Personal life

In 1988, Davis was named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and was made an MBE. He was made an OBE in 2000, and is currently honorary president of the Snooker Writers' Association. Davis is a big fan of the French progressive rock band Magma, and even organised a concert in London so he could watch them. Davis is on the board of Leyton Orient football club; he has been a Charlton Athletic fan most of his life.

Davis lives in Brentwood, Essex, 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). In 2012, Greg Davis entered the Q School, with the aim of winning a place on the professional snooker tour.

He was a supporter of the Conservative Party for the 1983 General Election.

Maximum breaks

Steve Davis made the first maximum break in professional competition in 1982.

Record against top-16 players

Davis' professional match records against players who have been ranked at world number 16 or higher are below.

Players who have been ranked number one are in bold.