Steve Davis signed 10 x 8 colour photo

Steve Davis, OBE, (born August 22, 1957, Plumstead, London[3]) is an English professional snooker (and to a lesser extent pool) player. Davis has won more professional snooker titles (including six world and six UK Championships) than any other player. Davis' most successful spell came during the 1980s, when he was snooker's world number one for seven years and reached eight world finals, culminating in him becoming the sport's first millionaire. Such was Davis' dominance in the 1980s, a popular saying suggested that he was on television more often than the Prime Minister of the time. Although he hasn't won a major title since 1997, Davis continues to play snooker at a high level, retaining his place in the elite world top-16 players almost every year. For 2007/2008, he will be ranked no. 15. In the world of pool, he instituted the annual Europe vs. US Mosconi Cup team nine-ball competition. Davis has also developed a television career as a studio analyst during the BBC's extensive snooker coverage. He has also had some success playing poker. After a successful amateur career that saw him win age-group titles in both snooker and the game of English billiards (He won the Under-19 Billiards Championship in 1976), Davis played at the Romford branch of the Luciania snooker empire and the talent of this youngster was brought to the notice of Barry Hearn by Vic Harris.[6] Davis ended his amateur career with international honours and by winning the WMC & IU snooker title. One of his last wins as an amateur was against another future professional Tony Meo in the final to win the Pontins Open Championship.Davis turned professional in September 1978. He made his TV debut on Pot Black on which he played namesake Fred Davis. He made his debut at the World Championship a year later, losing 11-13 to Dennis Taylor in the first round. His performance at the 1980 tournament saw a significant improvement as he reached the quarter-finals, knocking out defending champion Terry Griffiths en route, before losing to Alex Higgins. Davis won his first major title in the same year - the UK Championship - during which he comprehensively beat two of his close rivals, Griffiths 9-0 in the semi-finals and Higgins 16-6 in the final. Soon after the UK title, He won the Wilson's Classic and then the Yamaha International Masters and English Professional titles before reaching his first World final in 1981, having again seen off Higgins and Griffiths in the second round and the quarter-finals respectively, as well as reigning world champion Cliff Thorburn in the semi-finals and a young Jimmy White in the opening round. Davis' 18-12 victory over Doug Mountjoy in the final ushered in an era of dominance - he would reach seven of the next eight finals - and in celebration his manager Barry Hearn famously charged across the arena to lift him up in the air. He followed up his world title win with a 9-0 final victory over Dennis Taylor in the Jameson International and then emphatically retained the UK Championship with a 9-0 win over White in the semi-finals and a 16-3 win over Griffiths in the final. In 1982, he made TV sporting history when he compiled the first televised 147 maximum break at the Lada Classic at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham, against John Spencer, though he was beaten 9-8 in the final by Griffiths. He made amends for that defeat in February by beating Griffiths in the final of the Masters, the first of his three titles there. Falling victim to the Crucible Curse affecting first-time world champions on their return to the Crucible, Davis suffered a shock 10-1 loss to Tony Knowles in the first round at the 1982 World Snooker Championship, and was also denied a third consecutive UK title with defeat in the quarter-finals to Griffiths. Following those two setbacks, he won the first of four World Doubles titles with partner Tony Meo. Davis regained the world title the following season with a session in the final to spare, defeating an overwhelmed Thorburn, who had seen his previous three matches go to a deciding frame and a late finish, 18-6, and a year later became the first man to retain his title at the Crucible Theatre by beating Jimmy White 18-16 in the final.Davis lost 16-15 to Higgins in the 1983 UK Championship final, despite having led 7-0 in the opening stages. He regained that title in 1984 by beating Higgins 16-8 and thereafter held it until his defeat in the semi-finals in 1988 to the up-and-coming Stephen Hendry, comprehensively beating Neal Foulds in the 1986 final and then White 16-14 in the close-fought 1987 final. Davis had looked set to lose the 1985 final to Willie Thorne who, leading 13-8 in the best of 31 frames match, missed a blue which would have given him a 14-8 lead. Davis won the frame and then seven of the next eight to win 16-14. Ironically, one of his most memorable matches was one he lost: the 1985 World Championship final against Dennis Taylor. Davis seemed set for his third consecutive win, with an opening session of near-faultless snooker giving him a 7-0 lead, which was extended to 8-0 in the evening session, before Taylor bounced back to trail only 7-9. From 12-12 the pair traded frames before Davis forged ahead to lead 17-15. However, Taylor clawed his way back to 17-17 and the match went into a deciding frame. With the scores close, Taylor potted to the final colours to leave the black as the winner-takes-all ball. After a series of safety shots and attempts at potting it, Davis overcut the black, leaving Taylor with a reasonably straightforward pot to secure the championship. The nailbiting finale drew 18.5 million viewers, a record post-midnight audience on British television and a record audience for BBC2.[8] The black-ball finish was voted the 9th greatest sporting moment of all time in a 2002 Channel 4 poll. Davis holding the World Championship TrophyHe gained a measure of revenge over Taylor shortly afterwards, winning their Rothmans Grand Prix final, also in the deciding frame, and with a 2:14am finishing time. At the 1986 World Championship, having seen off White 13-5 in the quarter-finals and Thorburn 16-12 in a gruelling semi-final, Davis faced 150-1 outsider Joe Johnson in the final, but surprisingly lost 18-12 to the Yorkshireman. The result didn't affect his position at the top of the world rankings, as he had won the UK, the Grand Prix and the British Open in the past year. At the end of 1986 he beat Neal Foulds to win the UK Championship. 1987 saw a good start for Davis, as he won the Mercantile Credit Classic in January, beating defending champion Jimmy White 13-12. At the World Championship, he met Johnson in the final again, and regained the title by winning 18-14. In doing so, he also became the first player to win the Triple Crown of Snooker in one year, winning the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship (this feat has since been equalled by Stephen Hendry, John Higgins and Mark J. Williams). Going into the 1988 World Championship, David had won the Fidelity International and the UK Championship, retained the Mercantile Credit Classic and regained the Masters title (with a 9-0 whitewash of Mike Hallett), regained the World Cup with England and won his fourth Irish Masters title. In the World Championship itself he rarely looked back, beating Hallett 13-1, Tony Drago 13-4 and Thorburn 16-8 en route to the final, where at 8-8 with Griffiths after two sessions, he pulled away to secure his 5th world title by winning 18-11. In the 1988/89 season Davis won the Grand Prix, beating Alex Higgins in the final, but his unbeaten run of four UK Championship titles came to an end with a 9-3 loss to Hendry in the 1988 semi-final. He did not win another major title that season until the World Championship, when he completed the heaviest victory in a world final of the modern era with an 18-3 victory over John Parrott. In the same tournament he also set the record for the fewest frames conceded (23) at an individual world championship en route to winning it. By the end of the 1980s, he was snooker's first millionaire. That win was, to date, Davis' last world title, though he continued to compete and win tournaments well into the 1990s. His last major win as World number one was the 1989 Grand Prix, in which he beat Dean Reynolds 10-0 in the final; Davis didn't win another major title until the 1992 Mercantile Credit Classic. In the 1990 World Championship, Jimmy White denied him an eighth consecutive final appearance when he won their semi-final 16-14. Davis was replaced as world number one by Stephen Hendry at the end of the 1989-90 season. For the most part he has retained his place in the top 16, and reached the semi-finals in the World Championships again in 1991 and 1994. Among other victories, he won four of his eight Irish Masters titles, the European Open, the Mercantile Credit Classic and consecutive Welsh Open titles during the early 90's. His successful defence of his Welsh Open title in 1995 is to date his last ranking title. Arguably the most memorable of his later tournament wins came in the Masters in 1997. Trailing his opponent Ronnie O'Sullivan 8-4 in the final, he reeled off the next 6 frames to secure a 10-8 win.[10] That win remains his last in a major snooker tournament. Davis dropped out of the top 16 after the 2000 World Championship and failed to qualify for the championship for the next two years, before subsequently enjoying an up-turn in form and winning his place back in the 2003/2004 season. He was runner-up in the Welsh Open to O'Sullivan in 2004, losing 9-8 after having led 8-5, while in 2005, he reached the quarter finals of the World Championships before losing to eventual winner Shaun Murphy. The 2005 UK Championship, held in York in December 2005, saw Davis' most successful performance at a major tournament for several years. He reached his 100th career final by beating defending champion Stephen Maguire 9-8 despite having trailed 7-4, a win which included a 145 break in the penultimate frame; and then Stephen Hendry (for the first time in twelve years) 9-6 in the semi-finals. In the final he met the rising Chinese star Ding Junhui, who is thirty years his junior - equalling the largest-ever disparity in ages between ranking tournament finalists - but lost 10-6. Despite losing, it took him to 3rd place in the provisional rankings, his highest position in a decade. In the same season he reached the second round of the World Championships, again losing to Murphy. Davis' performances through the 2006/07 season, including reaching the UK Championship quarter-finals and the Welsh Open semi-finals, ensured he achieved his dream to still be a top-16 player at the age of 50.As of 2007, Davis has won a record 73 professional titles, 28 of them in ranking events. His record of six world titles in the modern era has been bettered only by Stephen Hendry and no player has yet matched his tally of six UK titles. Davis has also compiled 310 competitive centuries (breaks of 100 or more) during his career.