Steve Davis tonight became the oldest player to win a match at the Crucible for 21 years with his dramatic, nerve-shredding 10-9 victory over Mark King.
What a performance from a true snooker legend. Davis, 52, became the first 50-something to win a match at the Crucible since Doug Mountjoy in 1993 and the oldest since Eddie Charlton, at 59, defeated Cliff Thorburn 10-9 in 1989.
Davis battled and battled and battled some more in what must rank as his most satisfying victory for several years.
Hats off to him, regardless of what happens in the second round against John Higgins.
Steve's win clearly meant a lot to him and will have meant a great deal to many others as well.
24 comments:
Great match. Probably the best since the Rory Mc match last year.
GO ON STEVE....DO IT FOR THE ESSEX MOB!
What a fantastic match for fans of tactical snooker. And it's great to see two professionals giving 100 percent.
Many congratulations to Steve Davis. Tremendous stuff tonight. His ability to play under pressure is simply unbelievable. And I cannot wait for his comments during press conference. Davis is always very eloquent, and now, with this win under his belt I'm certain he'll have some classy remarks.
As soon as the draw was made several weeks ago - This match had final frame decider written all over it!
When Davis potted that long distance red to virtually clinch the match - I thought he was gonna do an Ebdon style.....C'MONNNN!!!
(He almost did!)
If Davis is to stand any chance against John Higgins - The Nugget has to be on his A game & hope that Higgins is at his B or C Level - as he was in the early stages of his match with Hawkins.
The smart money will be on a Higgins rout of 13-4 or 13-5 proportions - Ofcourse,the perception is that Steve Davis has ALREADY won his 'proxy final' so to speak.
I watched the match unfold on the BBC internet stream - Absolute classic for tension & a textbook demonstration of varied tacticalplay. (as was expected)
The King/Davis match was an oldskool type match - which,with patience - can be just as mesmirising as one-visit century break type fluency.
Hi Dave,
Davis played really well in the 2nd session tonight and deserved the win.
He'll definitely be a top 32 player next season and, from what i've seen of some the guys in Sheffield, he should carry on playing.
Shame the draw has thrown him up against Higgins, considering that some of the top half Davis would fancy beating.
It'll be tough, but superb to see him grace the green baize of the Crucible again.
BTW - What issue will have all the calendar and new tour details...May or June, Dave?
Thanks, Joe
Well done that man!
Gripping towards the end, sweaty palms isn't the word. He is certain to relish the Higgins game. :)
IIRC the head-to-head between the two is mindblowingly in Johns favour.
I'm glad I stayed up to watch it, won't forget that in a hurry. Awesome application from Steve. A legend.
Just a note on the referee? Couldn't believe the commentators on BBC kept saying he was a "really good referee"! I lost count of the number of times he miscounted! Fair play he got the split ball call right though.
To conclude. Very pleased for Steve. Legend.
Dave,
Perhaps not the best or most high-scoring game I've seen in a while but together with Hendry's match this must've been the most exciting and drama-filled match in the entire 1st round.
Great to watch!
Cheers,
Jurgen.
That was simply awesome. Whole family stayed up until near midnight watching it.
Dennis Taylor on BBC commentary said he was having trouble holding the mic steady! And what a bizarre way to end the match too. I was convinced Mark was going to get another snooker any minute, until the pocket intervened.
What a match! An absolute classic and very closely fought. Steve showed us glimpses of his form from the 80s - some fantastic long-potting and decent break-building and hard-as-nails safety! I think he would have won 10-6, had he been able to cut out the easy shot misses (blacks off the spot missed due to a lack of concentration etc!). Overall though, it was totally gripping and it was great to see the Nugget perform..especially after last year's dismal performance at the Crucible. Whilst I hope the Nugget goes on for years more, I think a decent match against John Higgins, the current world champion, would be a fitting end to his wonderful Crucible career...
C'mon Steve!
I have never seen Steve Davis acting like he did after potting the frame ball in that last frame. This proves how much this victory means to him.
Congrats to Steve for winning, and to both players for an exciting and entertaining match!
Good week for the veterans.
The draw, unfortunately, probably means the end of the campaign for both and I will be very surprised at anything other than landslide wins for Higgins and Selby.
What a sweet run to the quarters for Higgins, with Hawkins then Davis. I dont think he could have handpicked them better.
Cant understand why the bookies rate O'Sullivan to have a better chance than the scot.
O'Sullivan has lost the last few head to heads, his long potting is probably the worst of the top 16, and sure, while the rest of his game is on a par with Higgins, he couldn't have had a tougher run to the semis, while Higgins will only have to beat one player of note to reach the same stage.
But back to Davis, and the realisation that this is the man who battled it out with such luminaries as Reardon, Miles, Fred Davis and Spencer, to name a few.
He won his first world championship match in 79, a year in which Borg won Wimbledon, and Liverpool won the league.
Chelsea were in division 2, Blackburn in div 3 and Portsmouth in div 4.
Chart hits that year included Village Peoples "YMCA", The Buggles "Video killed the radio star", and Pink Floyds "Brick in the wall".
It almost seems like a different world or a parallel universe now, its that long ago.
Amazing burst of longevity. Great player, great ambassador, ok analyst. Hats off to the nugget.
I just want to say well done to Mark King for the way he handled defeat. he must have been terribly upset to lose a final frame decider but he was very gracious and said some really lovely stuff about Steve Davis.
regards
Dean.
It was an honour to be here at the Crucible last night. It was another vintage Crucible evening.
The atmosphere in the arena was captivating. I watched from a photographer's booth with a couple of the BBC guys and we were getting as excited as the crowd.
Not a good idea in my case as I was stood on a rather creaky chair trying to take photos!
well done steve go and enjoy the match with higgins now and also well done to another mr davis who was equally gritty in beating ryan day this morning
sweaty palms is indeed TWO WORDS....
brilliant for Davis.
feel a bit gutted for Kingy tho...
anyone got a link to the shot king thought davis fouled on?
anyone got a link to the shot that day missed to gift m davis the last frame?
AN EPIC AND INGROSSING EVENING OF THRILLING DRAMA IN THE CONCLUSION OF THIS MATCH. THIS VICTORY CAME OF COURSE, ON APRIL 20TH 2010, THE 29TH ANNIVERSARY, TO THE VERY DAY THAT DAVIS BEAT DOUG MOUNTJOY 18-12 IN THE 1981 WORLD FINAL, TO CLINCH THE FIRST OF HIS SIX WORLD TITLES, AS WE SNOOKER ANNORACKS ARE AWEARE. A THRILLING AND WELL DESERVED WIN IN THIS MATCH, WHAT A WAY TO MARK THE 29TH ANNIVERSAY OF CLINCHING HIS FIRST WORLD TITLE FOR "THE NUGGET." WITH ANOTHER CRUCIBLE VICTORY. WELL DONE DAVIS.
There was far too much shouting out by the crowd last night. This was very unfair, especially to King. I'm glad Beryy Hearn has taken over the mantle now, as he'll at least get football shirts banned from arenas as he has in darts. why do people wear them? Don't they know it's a snooker match?
I have to say I thought Mark King made a tactical error last night getting drawn into tactical battles. I think he would have won it easily if he had turned it into a scoring contest because he certainly looked more fluent in the balls.
Anyway, a great win for Davis...20 years ago a Davis/Higgins match would be top billing so we have history repeating itself! Davis isn't going to beat Higgins, even if it comes down to tactical exchanges because Higgins will hold his own there, so the scoring will decide this match, and I don't think he can beat Higgins in that department. This could well be be Davis's last match at The Crucible so I think he should go out there and just play for fun rather than a win and go for his shots. He kept breaking down in the balls against King but he pulled out some cracking pots under pressure to the extent that he's probably potted more pressure balls than any other player so far this week!
http://www.snookerisland.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=774
I write this as a "Magnet Frame" is in play between Ebdon and Dott.
No way should these be re-racked! Play until someone pots the black!
I have to say these star tables at this year's championship have been awful. Some of the pots being made along the rail's are unbelievable and should never be going in.
Dave, Peter Ebdon lost tonight which means he's out of the top sixteen (and he got there as far back as 1994). Will you be posting about that? I think Ebdon deserves a look at his career and some analysis 'bout his future.
Great Match ,captivating tv,brilliant.
To Anon at 4.28pm ,I dont agree with you about the noisy crowd being a negative. In my opinion the crowd added to the atmosphere. Bar someone shouting when a player is on the shot I dont see a problem with it.
Remeber Hendry's wins against white,the crowd were right behind jimmy but hendry dealt with the situation and won.
As for football shirts? why not? would you stop people wearing acdc tops as well and make everyone wear shirt/tie , Cmon!!
http://blogs.bettor.com/John-Higgins-and-Steve-Davis-take-centre-stage-a10556
Steve couldn't see properly due to ocular migraine!
That man deserves a knighthood now, surely?!
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