Oldham Civic Centre seems an unlikely venue to play host to sporting history but 30 years ago today it staged a notable snooker first.
Steve Davis, who would dominate the decade, compiled snooker’s first officially ratified 147 break on January 11, 1982 during the Lada Classic.
His opponent was John Spencer, who had himself made a maximum in a televised tournament three years earlier. There were, however, two reasons why the break was not a TV first.
The most obvious was that the TV cameramen had decamped to McDonalds for a break of their own and so did not record it.
Also, the pockets were judged not to be of regulation size and so the 147 was ruled unofficial.
But Spencer himself knew the importance of what he was doing. After potting the pink, he staged a mock faint before getting back up to slot home the final black.
By 1982, Davis and his manager, Barry Hearn, were cleaning up on the table and through myriad off table activities.
Snooker was big TV business in Britain and Hearn exploited the many earning opportunities and began to open up new markets around the world.
Hearn said recently that he made so much money by 1982 that he was considering retirement, indeed briefly tried it until realising that a life of leisure is no match for the thrill of the business world.
So it was that Davis arrived in Oldham off the back of an exhausting overseas promotional trip and was so tired that he was said to be falling asleep at the venue between matches.
His maximum remains a great watch and by no means straight forward. The importance of the occasion is obvious from the commentary, not the solemn punditry of the mellifluous John Pulman but in the over-excited tones of David Taylor, not a regular ITV commentator but drafted in to help out.
To be fair, you could hardly blame him. This was an historic moment and there were to be further iconic 147s from Cliff Thorburn at the 1983 World Championship and Kirk Stevens at the 1984 Masters.
There were eight maximums recorded in the 1980s but the hike in standard, number of players and number of tournaments has seen them become much more common. There have been eight this season alone among the 85 on the official list.
And there have been many, many near misses, none more famous than when Ken Doherty missed the final black during the 2000 Masters final.
Davis is of course still going strong. He was an apt figure to construct snooker’s first official 147 and remains a player so many others still look up to.
It was a slice of history, of snooker magic, and despite the passing of 30 years, remains timeless.
Watch it here.
23 comments:
I genuinely think that Ken was never the same after that miss, it really played on his mind for years.
Nice piece Dave H. I remember watching that at a very tender age and getting very excited by it. The crazy thing is though, Davis was the World Champion at the time having just clinched his first of six world crowns and was right at the start of his period of domination, and yet here we are 30 years later and of all the thousands of frames played in the mean time he's yet to repeat the feat.
Thanks for taking us back Dave. I never get tired of your well written historical accounts.
Roland brings up something quite interesting. Davis hasn't done it since! Does this perhaps have to do with different styles of play, compared to Hendry's long list of maximums, or is Hendry and Ronnie just superior break builders in general?
these days if a player boke off like that we'd assume frame (/match) fixing.
I think its different styles. Hendry, O'Sullivan and most of the modern greats from the early 90's had one goal. Get in and win in one visit. If they had to play safe on 45 they were disappointed.
The older players had a slightly different goal. Win the frame at all costs. They would take what was there but by all accounts, dont try anything that might let your opponent in. As a result, players like Taylor, Griffiths and Thorburn, all world beaters in their own right, had relatively few maximums.
He has done it at least once, check out his 147 in Budapest on YouTube!
Dave, could you try and find out how many maximums Steve has made in total, even in practice?
An iconic moment in sport. Potting the final pink to get on the black using side and the rest is indelibly imprinted on my mind.What a shot!!!!
It's funny now to listen to John Pulman's commentary because it was as if nothing special was happening. Thank God for the Silver Fox who was co-commentating and was so excited about what was happening, as was I. Sport don't get any better.
Ray, not a lot excited Pully. He was usually anaesthetised by large quantities of Whisky
I really hope that Eurosport and the BBC will celebrate this achievement and show the 147 frame in it's entirety. Perhaps in the interval of the Ronnie / Ding match. A suggestion for you to take up with your guvnors perhaps Dave? I think many people would welcome this.
There would be rights issues as it was an ITV event
"The most obvious was that the TV cameramen had decamped to McDonalds for a break of their own and so did not record it."
I bet John Spencer wasn't "loving it".
Its on you tube
whats on, you tube?
It's good, but it still is not anywhere near as good as any of Ronnie O'Sullivans maximums. His 147's are the best as they are fastest.
It was a great night, I remember it so well and was fortunate that I was on the front row. After the match ended, a chap called Elton Welsby came out with some champagne and asked the audience to hang around a little. John Spencer was a treasure, cracking jokes and no sense of resentment at all. Steve was utterly mobbed afterwards, so never did get his autograph!
@725 Climbers have climbed Everest faster than Hillary and Tenzing, but I don't see them walking away with knighthoods.
H i David. Indeed, The first televised 147, was on January 11th, 1982. A great moment in snooker history.
Three years ago,On January 11th, 2009, David Vine sadly passed on. Sympathies to his Family and frieds.
Great and well respected names in snooker. David Vine, as a presenter, Steve Davis, as a player.
David Vine should be one of the 4 faces, should you carve (non-player) snooker legends in a Mount Rushmore type monument.
As for the 147, that pink alone made it legendary. Ronnies 5 minutes 20 seconds was ofcourse genius, but so was the 5 hours 20 minutes 147 by Cliff. Let's just not compare them. Why should one be 'better' than the other?
All maximums are equal, but some are more equal than others.
Faster is better 8.48, so Ron's are the best!!!
Faster is better? Why?
Faster is better: the FASTER O'Sullivan retires, the BETTER.
Ronnie is the best player because he is very very good and the fastest at being good. It makes his fans like me, smile.
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