Information AboutSteve Davis |
Steve Davis, ''' OBE ''', (born August 22 , 1957 , Plumstead , London 2) is an English professional Snooker (and to a lesser extent Pool ) player. Davis has won more Professional snooker titles (including six World and six UK Championships ) than any other player. Although he hasn't won a major title since 1997, Davis continues to play snooker at a high level, retaining his place in the elite world top-16 players almost every year. For 2007/2008, he will be ranked no. 15. In the world of pool, he instituted the annual Europe vs. US Mosconi Cup team Nine-ball competition. Davis has also developed a television career as a studio analyst during the BBC's extensive snooker coverage. He has also had some success playing Poker . SNOOKER CAREER Amateur days After a successful Amateur career that saw him win age-group titles in both snooker and the game of English Billiards (He won the Under-19 Billiards Championship in 1976 ), Davis played at the Romford branch of the Luciania snooker empire and the talent of this youngster was brought to the notice of Barry Hearn by Vic Harris .4 Davis ended his amateur career with international honours and by winning the WMC & IU snooker title. One of his last wins as an amateur was against another future professional Tony Meo in the final to win the Pontins Open Championship. Early career Davis turned professional in September 1978. He made his TV debut on Pot Black on which he played namesake Fred Davis . He made his debut at the World Championship A Year Later , losing 11-13 to Dennis Taylor in the first round. His performance at the 1980 tournament saw a significant improvement as he reached the quarter-finals, knocking out defending champion Terry Griffiths en route, before losing to Alex Higgins . Glory years (1980s) Davis won his first major title in the same year - the UK Championship - during which he comprehensively beat two of his close rivals, Griffiths 9-0 in the semi-finals and Higgins 16-6 in the final. Soon after the UK title, He won the Wilson's Classic and then the Yamaha International Masters and English Professional titles before reaching his first World final in 1981 , having again seen off Higgins and Griffiths in the second round and the quarter-finals respectively, as well as reigning world champion Cliff Thorburn in the semi-finals and a young Jimmy White in the opening round. Davis' 18-12 victory over Doug Mountjoy in the final ushered in an Era of dominance - he would reach seven of the next eight finals - and in celebration his manager Barry Hearn famously charged across the arena to lift him up in the air. He followed up his world title win with a 9-0 final victory over Dennis Taylor in the Jameson International and then emphatically retained the UK Championship with a 9-0 win over White in the semi-finals and a 16-3 win over Griffiths in the final. In 1982, he made TV sporting history when he compiled the first televised 147 maximum break at the Lada Classic at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham , against John Spencer 5, though he was beaten 9-8 in the final by Griffiths. He made amends for that defeat in February by beating Griffiths in the final of the Masters , the first of his three titles there. Falling victim to the Crucible Curse affecting first-time world champions on their return to the Crucible, Davis suffered a shock 10-1 loss to Tony Knowles in the first round at the 1982 World Snooker Championship , and was also denied a third consecutive UK title with defeat in the quarter-finals to Griffiths. Following those two setbacks, he won the first of four World Doubles titles with partner Tony Meo . Davis regained the world title the following season with a session in the final to spare, defeating an overwhelmed Thorburn, who had seen his previous three matches go to a deciding frame and a late finish, 18-6, and a year later became the first man to retain his title at the Crucible Theatre by beating Jimmy White 18-16 in the final. Davis lost 16-15 to Higgins in the 1983 UK Championship final, despite having led 7-0 in the opening stages. He regained that title in 1984 by beating Higgins 16-8 and thereafter held it until his defeat in the semi-finals in 1988 to the up-and-coming Stephen Hendry , comprehensively beating Neal Foulds in the 1986 Final and then White 16-14 in the close-fought 1987 Final . Davis had looked set to lose the 1985 Final to Willie Thorne who, leading 13-8 in the best of 31 frames match, missed a blue which would have given him a 14-8 lead. Davis won the frame and then seven of the next eight to win 16-14. He gained a measure of revenge over Taylor shortly afterwards, winning their , having seen off White 13-5 in the quarter-finals and Thorburn 16-12 in a gruelling semi-final, Davis faced 150-1 outsider Joe Johnson in the final, but surprisingly lost 18-12 to the Yorkshire man. The result didn't affect his position at the top of the world rankings, as he had won the UK, the Grand Prix and the British Open in the past year. At the end of 1986 he beat Neal Foulds to win the UK Championship. 1987 saw a good start for Davis, as he won the Mercantile Credit Classic in January, beating defending champion Jimmy White 13-12. At the World Championship, he met Johnson in the final again, and regained the title by winning 18-14. In doing so, he also became the first player to win the Triple Crown of Snooker in one year, winning the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship (this feat has since been equalled by Stephen Hendry , John Higgins and Mark J. Williams ). Going into the 1988 World Championship , David had won the Fidelity International and the UK Championship, retained the Mercantile Credit Classic and regained the Masters title (with a 9-0 whitewash of Mike Hallett ), regained the World Cup with England and won his fourth Irish Masters title. In the World Championship itself he rarely , beating Hallett 13-1, Tony Drago 13-4 and Thorburn 16-8 en route to the final, where at 8-8 with Griffiths after two sessions, he pulled away to secure his 5th world title by winning 18-11. In the 1988/89 season Davis won the Grand Prix, beating Alex Higgins in the final, but his unbeaten run of four UK Championship titles came to an end with a 9-3 loss to Hendry in the 1988 semi-final. He did not win another major title that season until the World Championship , when he completed the heaviest victory in a world final of the modern era with an 18-3 victory over John Parrott . In the same tournament he also set the record for the fewest frames conceded (23) at an individual world championship en route to winning it. By the end of the 1980s , he was snooker's first Millionaire .7 Later years That win was, to date, Davis' last world title, though he continued to compete and win tournaments well into the 1990s. His last major win as World number one was the 1989 Grand Prix, in which he beat Dean Reynolds 10-0 in the final; Davis didn't win another major title until the 1992 Mercantile Credit Classic . In the 1990 World Championship, Jimmy White denied him an eighth consecutive final appearance when he won their semi-final 16-14. Davis was replaced as world number one by Stephen Hendry at the end of the 1989-90 Season . For the most part he has retained his place in the top 16, and reached the semi-finals in the World Championships again in 1991 and 1994 . Among other victories, he won four of his eight Irish Masters titles, the European Open , the Mercantile Credit Classic and consecutive Welsh Open titles during the early 90's. His successful defence of his Welsh Open title in 1995 is to date his last Ranking title. Arguably the most memorable of his later tournament wins came in the Masters in 1997 . Trailing his opponent Ronnie O'Sullivan 8-4 in the final, he reeled off the next 6 frames to secure a 10-8 win. That win remains his last in a major snooker tournament. Davis dropped out of the top 16 after the 2000 World Championship and failed to qualify for the championship for the next two years, before subsequently enjoying an up-turn in form and winning his place back in the 2003/2004 Season . He was runner-up in the Welsh Open to O'Sullivan in 2004, losing 9-8 after having led 8-5, while in 2005 , he reached the quarter finals of the World Championships before losing to eventual winner Shaun Murphy . As Of 2007 , Davis has won a record 73 professional titles, 28 of them in ranking events. His record of six world titles in the modern era has been bettered only by Stephen Hendry and no player has yet matched his tally of six UK titles. Davis has also compiled 310 competitive centuries (breaks of 100 or more) during his career.9 Status POOL Although he lost to Steve Mizerak in a snooker/pool Triathlon in 1987, he has taken notable victories in his pool career, including his shock winning streak at the 2000 World Pool Championship , where he cameback from an 8-2 deficit to take 9-8 win over then-reigning World Champion Efren Reyes , following it up with victories over 1997 world champion Ralf Souquet and 1998 champion Takahashi Kunihiko . In 2001, Davis nearly won his first title in pool at the World Pool League. However, Efren Reyes bested him in the final match 9-5.13 Pool commentator Sid Waddell gave him the nickname "Romford Slim", suggesting him to be the UK 's answer to the famous American pool player Rudolph "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone . In pool, he also sometimes known as ''The Prowler'' for his unusual habit of pacing up and down the side of the table during pauses in play, a habit that only manifests itself in pool matches, never snooker. He dislikes -style stripes-and-solids game more broadly known as Eight-ball . OFF THE TABLE Davis became known for his coolness and impeccable conduct in high-pressure situations, earning himself the nicknames "The Ginger Magician" and "The Nugget". 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 ''Steve 'Interesting' Davis''.15 Davis himself has long played upon this image, particularly as a Pundit and Commentator for the BBC 's snooker coverage and as a guest on television quizzes such as '' They Think It's All Over '', with an appealing line in Deadpan humour. He is co-author (with Geoff Atkinson ) of the comedy book ''How To Be Really Interesting'' (1988) and the more serious ''Steve Davis Plays Chess'' (1995) (with David Norwood ).16 In 1988, Davis was named the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year and was made an MBE . He was awarded an OBE in 2001 17 and is currently honorary president of the Snooker Writers' Association .18 Davis has taken up his non-snooker interests in the public arena too. In 1983, he hosted ''The Steve Davis Sports Quiz'' for Channel 4 and later a Soul Music show for commercial radio stations, titled ''Steve Davis' Interesting Soul''. Since 1996 he has presented a show dedicated to Progressive Rock and the Canterbury Scene on his local radio station, Phoenix FM .19 He is also a keen Chess player and was, for a while, the President of the British Chess Federation .20 He also appeared in a Heinz Baked Beans advert 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 ) and Crosse And Blackwell adverts in 1994. He has also become a proficient Poker player, with successful appearances at televised tournaments; one of these included an appearance at the final table together with fellow snooker player Jimmy White , who eventually won. Later, at the 2006 World Series Of Poker , Davis finished 579th in the no limit Texas Hold 'em main event, winning $20,617.21 Davis is a big fan of the French Progressive Rock band Magma , and even organised a concert in London so he could watch them.22 He lives in Brentwood , Essex 23 is divorced and has two sons. Davis is not related to snooker players Joe Davis and Fred Davis . TOURNAMENT WINS Snooker ;Ranking tournaments
;Other tournaments
;Misc
Pool
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