Steve Davis joined his fellow veteran Jimmy White in the draw for the final stages of the Shanghai Masters after a typically dogged effort to put away Gerard Greene 5-3.
The Pontin's holiday centre here in Prestatyn holds great memories for Steve. He played here as an amateur in the 1970s and made his name as one to watch in the pro ranks.
“The room I played in had very special memories for me as an amateur,” he told me.
“I watched all the legends play here in the 1970s and made a bit of a reputation for myself here so it was nice to come back.
"I remember the excitement I felt coming here for a week of snooker and I had a bit of that before I set off yesterday.
"You approach it differently as a professional but it's still got the same feel to the place. Only the road signs have changed."
Steve signed loads of autographs after his match. Like Jimmy, he is still one of snooker's biggest names and, regardless of form, will remain so as long as he plays the game.
5 comments:
It's sad that the coverage you give to two players well past their best isn't matched by that of the new players.
No wonder they are still two of the biggest names if the specialised snooker press hardly mentions any of the new,up and coming players.
Weren't there 6 other games completed this lunchtime?
To be fair to Dave, Steve and Jimmy are two of the biggest names around and it is only natural that people will want to read about them. Also Dave does pay attention to some of the younger players, for example his piece on Stephen Craigie last month certainly brought to my attention a player who seems to have huge potential.
I can understand Anons points, but to many people, myself included, guys like Steve Davis and Jimmy White ARE snooker. There aren't many people (besides Hendry, O'Sullivan, and possibly Alex Higgins) who have done more for the game than these two, which is why Jimmy's win today for example will gain lots of attention, and why Davis remains one of the BBC's leading pundits.
Equally, in terms of new faces, if anything we are going through a period at the moment where there is a changing of the guard. You need to look at Mark Williams, Ken Doherty, Stephen Lee, Matthew Stevens and Davis dropping out of the top 16 recently to realise this - with possibly one or two other big names heading off to Prestatyn in the near future if they don't improve their run of form.
Sam T
"It's sad that the coverage you give to two players well past their best isn't matched by that of the new players.
No wonder they are still two of the biggest names if the specialised snooker press hardly mentions any of the new,up and coming players.
Weren't there 6 other games completed this lunchtime?"
Yes there were, four of which were won by those new faces Fergal O'Brien, Anthony Hamilton, Dave Harold and Andy Hicks!
Of the other two, I have blogged about Ricky Walden before and am on record in admiring Judd Trump's talent
One of the first things you learn in journalism is this: names make news
Jimmy and Steve are two huge names in British sport so to ignore them would have been crazy
Other players will get loads of coverage if there are successful
Dave,
I understand the fact that Steve and Jimmy are two of the biggest names in UK sport so people do want to read about them.
The only problem I have is the coverage is to the detriment of other players.I would imagine your blog is read by true snooker fans who want to know about all the players not just a select few.
If other players cannot get fair coverage on a specialised blog what hope do they or the game have?
If snooker wants to thrive again surely it needs new personalities?
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