The greatest.

[bonoman1970]

if your steve davis ,(the greatest player in the history of the game) how do you cope with losing 6-0 ,6-0 and 5-1 ? t(premier league)tell me how without snapping your cue in half?

[DandyA]

easy ... he is sensible enough to know he is one of the greatest players ever - he knows he is getting on a bit (in snooker terms) but the crowds still love to see him ...

he achieved his ambition to still be in the top 16 of the world at the age of 50 - now he's out of the top 16, he has to go the qualifiers at Pontin's but he put a very brave face on that ... he said words to the effect "maybe the extra match practice will do me good" ...

of course, it's frustrating for him and his fans to see him miss balls he'd have potted for breakfast in the 80's but I would say to him ... keep going Steve as long as you can - we love watching you, we love seeing you at tournaments ...

oh, and on an aside, I'm 6 months older than him so it's also nice seeing him miss balls I miss too ...

[DandyA]

oh and also just to add, he's been doing OK in the ranking events hasn't he? thought he'd made a couple of quarter finals this season so far?

[Templeton Peck]

Those scorelines are kind of strange considering the good run he's having in tournaments recently. He could be having problems with the stop-clock now he's getting on a bit.

[Rane]

Had it been in the end of the eighties it would have been a different matter, but he has been on a decline for a long time now, so it can´t be so big a surprise. That happens in all sports if you don´t retire, when you are on the top. If Steve Davis had retired in 1989, then he also would have been involved in the neverending discussions on this site about who was the best ever.

[RocketRoy1983]

Its painful for me watching Davis and Hendry in their decline. From great pasts they are struggling although still maintaining top 16 status (ALTHOUGH DAVIS IS 22 AND PROVISIONALLY 29) and I find it very hard watching them over the last few years.

[dantuck_7]

I think its harder to deal with for Hendry - it wasn't that long ago that he was dominating the game. Davis has accepted his decline and adjusted his game to suit, the run in the UK championship 2005 was a bit of an exception where he found some magical form.

[gby4]

Those scorelines are kind of strange considering the good run he's having in tournaments recently. He could be having problems with the stop-clock now he's getting on a bit.

He made 143, the highest break ever made in PL last year, so the stop-clock can't be the reason why he has done better in ranking tournaments.

[Templeton Peck]

His game has really slowed down recently, very negative and overly tactical. He obviously feels his tactical expertise is the one area of the game where he still has the edge over other players, so if he's taking this new approach into the League then maybe that's why he's losing so heavily because the format doesn't really lend itself to that kind of game. He's trying to play tactically instead of going for the shots and doesn't have enough time to make up his mind quickly....The other reason could be that his scoring has really gone downhill this season and the regular tournaments allow him to compensate with matchplay but he has nothing to fall back on in the League. I don't get to watch the League so I'm just guessing so I'd be interested in what others think.

[hegeland]

His game has really slowed down recently, very negative and overly tactical. He obviously feels his tactical expertise is the one area of the game where he still has the edge over other players, so if he's taking this new approach into the League then maybe that's why he's losing so heavily because the format doesn't really lend itself to that kind of game. He's trying to play tactically instead of going for the shots and doesn't have enough time to make up his mind quickly....The other reason could be that his scoring has really gone downhill this season and the regular tournaments allow him to compensate with matchplay but he has nothing to fall back on in the League. I don't get to watch the League so I'm just guessing so I'd be interested in what others think.

I've only seen a few league matches but I think you're spot on here. From what I've seen Davis has not played well at all this season scoring wise, but he's sort of resorted to snooker a la Thorburn and - somehow - managed to get very good results in the rankers.

[dannyd0g]

If Steve Davis had retired in 1989, then he also would have been involved in the neverending discussions on this site about who was the best ever.

he still is anyway - his name is always mentioned in those discussions.

Had he retired in 89 the question would have been what could he have gone on to achieve.

[wildJONESEYE]

if your steve davis ,(the greatest player in the history of the game) how do you cope with losing 6-0 ,6-0 and 5-1 ? t(premier league)tell me how without snapping your cue in half?

simple he isnt the Greatest and he lost 5-1 to the greatest 6-0 to 2nd best player in the world today and 6-0 to a player he lost to 6-0 last season in the league....

[darrus]

Oh God. Again.
Can we have at least one thread here without getting into discussion about three points that determine who is better?

Wild, you've got me lost a bit here 2nd best player today is Maguire - and he's not playing in PL. And also the only match Davis lost 0-6 last season was with Ding - and they haven't played yet?

To the point. It's obvious that Davis is struggling big time with the shot clock - he's forced to rush the shots, just barely manages to strike the ball before the time is out, with one, two seconds left. Whereas in other tournaments he's playing deliberately slow, trying to be as precise as possible with his aim and positional play. His matches are usually among the longest at tournaments - but he wins them.
But the main thing is that Davis has accepted - and can be only admired for being able to do that - the fact that he's not the player he once was. Right now if Ronnie, Higgins, Ding, Murphy play well, they should beat him. It's just the way of things. He's in with the fighting chance, but he goes into the match thinking reasonably and knowing what he can and can't do.
He was visibly upset when Ronnie bit him 6-0, but it wasn't such an unexpected result. If he loses 0-6 to say Adrian Gunnel - now that will take some coping.

I don't know what he is thinking, but sometimes it looks sort of 'Can I stay in top16 when I am 50? Yes I can. Wow, I rock! Can I still reach later stages of the tournaments even when I'm over 50? Yes I can. Wow, I seriously rock!' type of thing.

[wildJONESEYE]

Wild, you've got me lost a bit here 2nd best player today is Maguire - and he's not playing in PL. And also the only match Davis lost 0-6 last season was with Ding - and they haven't played yet?

maguire is the second in the Rankings but i dont rate him better than Selby theres so much lacking in maguires game when push comes to shove...Selby has more to offer

and yes my mistake he lost 6-0 to Ronnie im sorry....so hes got another 6-0 to look forward to on thursday lol

[darrus]

Well, maybe he takes one frame off Ding and this will mean he's done better than last year

Selby too has done not much better than Maguire since last year's WC, so...
But I won't get into discussion who is second in the world right now, because... I don't know