Steve Davis

D.O.B. 22 Aug 1957




Lives Brentwood, Essex



Last 5 Seasons23-29-15-11-15



Turned Pro 1978



Ranking Tournament Victories 28 - World Championship 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989; UK Championship - 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987; International - 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989; Lada Classic 1984; Mercantile Credit Classic 1987, 1988, 1992; Grand Prix 1985; 1988, 1989; Welsh Open 1994, 1995; British Open 1986, 1993; Asian Open 1992; European Open (Feb) 1993



Last season World Snooker Tour prize money

£43,275



Highest Tournament Break 147 - Lada Classic 1982

Davis reached an incredible landmark in 2010 by appearing in the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship at the Crucible for a record 30th time.

He achieved that by beating Adrian Gunnell in the final qualifying round, and joked that his new ambition in snooker was to play at the Crucible at a greater age than Stephen Hendry would ever be able to…a mark he has now set at 52 years old.

But once the Nugget got going at snooker’s most famous venue, he could afford to set his sights on the greatest prize of all. A nail-biting 10-9 defeat of Mark King in the first round was followed by an extraordinary 13-11 defeat of John Higgins. Beating a man in the prime of his career and defending the world title must go down as one of the supreme achievements of Davis’ glorious career.

The manner of victory was also magnificent as he took a tense 24th frame with a brilliant shot on the final brown, doubling it to a middle pocket and nudging the blue away from a side cushion - surely the shot of the season.

“To beat John Higgins, one of the greatest players to have held a cue at the Crucible, as the champion, is just amazing. I had a tear in my eye through shock and belief,” said snooker legend Davis. “I've been as focused in the build-up to this event than any I can remember. I've really enjoyed the challenge of getting ready for it.”

That was where the fairlytale ended, however, as he lost 13-5 to eventual champion Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals.

The earlier part of the season yielded little success for Davis, though he did qualify for the final stages of the Pukka Pies UK Championship, where he lost to old adversary Stephen Hendry. He finished the campaign in 22nd place on the ranking list.

Davis insists he has no plans to put his cue away for good. “I’m not sure it’s about bowing out in style, more like hanging on for grim death really,” he said. “I’m going down the walls slowly with my finger nails embedded, screeching down. To me it’s nature, you go up the rankings and then you down the rankings. The challenge is how long it takes.”

In 2007, Davis achieved his ambition of retaining his official top 16 place when he turned 50, though he dropped out of the elite the following year.

He achieved a remarkable milestone at the 2005 UK Championship by reaching his 100th major final.

After knocking out Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire, Ken Doherty and Stephen Hendry, his run was finally ended by Chinese whizzkid Ding Junhui who triumphed 10-6.

His previous major final was at the 2004 Welsh Open when he led Ronnie O’Sullivan 8-5 only to lose 9-8. The Rocket was his victim when Davis won his last major title – the 1997 Masters when he took the last six frames of the final at Wembley to win 10-8.

Emerging in the early days of snooker’s development as a major television sport, Davis came to dominate the green baize throughout the 1980s. He won his first world title in 1981 when he beat Doug Mountjoy 18-12 in the final and his sixth in 1989 with a record 18-3 thrashing of Parrott.

Perhaps more famous than Davis’ victories, though, were his two defeats in the Crucible final. In 1985 he lost 18-17 on the final black at 12.20am to Dennis Taylor in one of the most memorable occasions in all of sport, watched by 18.5 million BBC2 viewers. "It’s all there in black and white," Davis observed with typical deadpan humour. The following year he went down 18-12 to rank outsider Joe Johnson.

The man nicknamed the Ginger Magician recorded snooker’s first televised maximum 147 at the 1982 Lada Classic and received a Lada car for his troubles. He has won 28 ranking titles in all. He was made an MBE in 1988 and an OBE in The Queen’s New Year Honours in 2001.

Father-of-two Davis is a keen poker player, having become a regular competitor in the annual World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas. He loves collecting and listening to soul and prog rock music and once hosted a radio show called Interesting Soul. He is also an accomplished chess player and a former president of the British Chess Federation.