Player Profile - Steve Davis
DOB: 22 Aug 1957
Lives: Brentwood, Essex
Provisional Ranking: 29th (Main Tour) Ranking Points this Season
Last 5 Seasons: 11-15-13-11-25
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 Seasons Prize Money: £85,150
Career Prize Money: (up to start of 2007/08 season): £5,512,030
Highest Tournament Break: 147 - Lada Classic 1982

Despite a disappointing end to the 2006/07 season, Davis achieved his ambition of retaining his official top 16 place when he turns 50.
The Nugget reaches his half century in August and, with players in their early to mid-20s increasingly dominating snooker, his achievement in remaining among the elite must be highly commended.
His best run last term came at the Welsh Open in Newport when he beat Dave Gilbert, Graeme Dott and Anthony Hamilton to reach the semi-finals, only to lose to eventual winner Neil Robertson 6-3. He also appeared in the quarter-finals of the Maplin UK Championship, losing 9-6 to Dott.
The draw for the 888.com World Snooker Championship threw up an intriguing match as Davis faced old adversary John Parrott, also now his co-pundit in the BBC Studio.
Despite coming from 6-1 down to 6-6 then from 9-6 down to 9-9, Davis could not finish the job, losing his chance in the deciding frame when he suffered an unlucky in-off on the last red.
"It was a very exciting match, but obviously very disappointing," he said. "The recovery rate from losing is a lot quicker now.  I mentally recover a lot quicker – I get my sense of humour back quicker.  But it’s disappointing to go out in the first round in any tournament especially the World Championship because you don’t feel part of the tournament.  What I play for now is the enjoyment, and you don’t enjoy it when you have to sit around watching the rest of the tournament unfold."
Davis 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.
"I would like to have gone one step further," said the snooker legend. "But I’ve had a great week. I didn’t make the most of my scoring opportunities in the final and on the day Ding was stronger."
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 golfer and poker player. 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.

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