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Steve Davis OBE

  
  Davis is hugely popular on television, appearing in comedy shows, commercials, sports programmes and chat shows. Steve's bone dry sense of humour also makes him a highly-paid attraction as an after-dinner speaker.  
  THE STEVE DAVIS LEGEND started 32 years ago when he first picked up a cue to play on the dining room table at his parents’ South London home. What followed was the development of a snooker phenomenon who took the game to new heights.  
  By the time he left school at 17, with seven ‘O’ levels under his belt, Steve was already becoming a star of the amateur game culminating in winning the Pontin’s Pro-Am in 1978. Later that year at the age of 21, he turned professional and after a steady baptism his career burst into life in 1980 with victory in the Coral UK Professional Championship - his first major trophy.  
  That victory heralded the start of a ten year period in which Steve totally dominated the sport, winning countless trophies including the World Championship six times, in 1981, ‘83, ‘84, ‘87, ‘88 and 1989, a feat that has never been bettered.It was during this period that Steve received an MBE from Her Majesty the Queen, something that gives him great pride. Subsequently, Steve received an OBE in the 2000 New Year’s Honours List and the prospect of a knighthood at some point in the future does not seem unreasonable.  
  Over the 23 years of Davis’ professional career he has amassed 71 major titles, been a member of the successful English World Cup team on four occasions - captaining it twice - and won the World Doubles title four times.  
  In 1982, Steve had the honour of being the first ever snooker player to compile a televised maximum break of 147 - a feat he achieved in the Lada Classic winning him..... a Lada estate car!  
  After being written off as past his prime Steve shocked the sporting world in 1997 when he won the Benson & Hedges Masters against all the odds. At 8-4 down to red-hot favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final session, Steve won six frames in a row, including the highest break, to win the biggest cheque of his career. That mesmerising performance lead to Steve being voted BBC TV Snooker Personality of the Year.  
  Steve has a massive collection of soul and blues records which he has collected all over the world - he recently spent six months cataloguing them on computer. Steve’s other major hobby is chess and last year he published a book interestingly titled ‘ Steve Davis Plays Chess ‘.  
Back Over the past five years Davis, as well as maintaining his top 16 snooker ranking, has been competing against the best in the world at 9-Ball pool, the most popular cue sport in the world. He has represented Europe in the Mosconi Cup on seven occasions and was a member of the winning side in 1995.
He also stated his claim to be considered a world-class 9-ball pool player, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2000 World Pool Championship where he defeated three former World Champions.