Misplaced Pages

Mark Davis

Davis at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born	(1972-08-12) 12 August 1972 (age 52) St Leonards, Sussex, England
Sport country	England
Nickname	The Battler from Hastings
Professional	1991–present
Highest ranking	12 (June 2013 and March–May 2014)
Current ranking	52 (as of 16 December 2024)
Maximum breaks	2
Century breaks	287 (as of 15 December 2024)
Best ranking finish	Runner-up (2018 English Open)

Mark Davis (born 12 August 1972) is an English professional snooker player from St Leonards in Sussex. He became professional in 1991, and for many years was considered something of a journeyman; however, he vastly improved his game in the late 2000s, and as a result in 2012 made his debut in the top 16. The highlights of his career so far have been winning the Benson & Hedges Championship in 2002 (earning him an appearance at the Masters), and the six-red snooker world championships three times (in 2009, 2012 and 2013). Davis reached his first ranking event final in 2018, losing to Stuart Bingham in the final of the English Open.

Career

Davis made his debut in the main draw of the World Championship in 1994, losing in the first round to Terry Griffiths. In the following year he won his first match at the Crucible, beating Ken Doherty in the first round before being knocked out by Peter Ebdon in the second. Davis came close to losing his Main Tour status in the late 1990s, but recovered in the early 2000s to return to the top 48. Reaching the quarter-finals of the 2001 Regal Scottish tournament, his second career quarter-final, was the main catalyst for this. His success in reaching the 2008 World Championship came after two poor seasons, leaving him at No. 58 in the rankings. He opened the 2008/2009 season strongly by qualifying for the Northern Ireland Trophy and defeating local hope Joe Swail 5–4 in the first round, before beating Ding Junhui 5–4 in the last 32 in one of the best wins of his career. He was beaten 5–2 in the last 16 by Ali Carter. He followed this up by also qualifying for the Bahrain and UK Championships, though in the latter he was forced to pull out early in his last-32 match against Joe Perry, due to a stomach upset. He exceeded his 2007/2008 ranking points total after only five of the eight events of the 2008/2009 season. Davis won the Six-Red World Championship in 2009. In 2010, he reached the second round of the World Championship for the first time in 15 years by defeating sixth seed Ryan Day.

He also qualified for the 2010 Shanghai Masters event where he reached the last-eight beating Marco Fu and Stephen Maguire on the way before surrendering a 4–1 lead against Jamie Burnett and going out 5–4. However, his strong performances continued and took him to a career-high ranking of 18.

2011/2012 season

Davis qualified for all but two of the ranking events in the 2011–12 season. He could only advance beyond the first round in the Australian Goldfields Open, where he lost 3–5 to Mark Selby in the last 16. Davis played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events during the season, reaching the final of Event 4, where he lost to Selby 0–4. This result was a large contributory factor to Davis finishing 16th on the PTC Order of Merit, inside the top 24 who made the Finals. At the Finals he beat Tom Ford, before losing to Stephen Maguire in the last 16. Davis' season came to an end when he suffered a heavy 2–10 loss, while feeling unwell, in the World Championship to Ali Carter. He finished the season ranked world number 19, with the elite top 16 places still eluding him.

2012/2013 season

Davis started the 2012–13 season very successfully by reaching the first ranking event semi-final of his 21-year professional career at the Wuxi Classic. His run included wins over local favourite Ding Junhui, Jamie Burnett and Graeme Dott to set up a last 4 clash with Stuart Bingham who had won the previous week's Asian PTC. He trailed 0–4 at the mid-session interval, before coming back to play inspired snooker to lead 5–4 in the best of 11 frames match. However, Bingham then levelled the contest before compiling a 134 break to win the decider and end Davis' hopes of a first ranking final. At the Six-red World Championship he claimed the title by defeating Shaun Murphy 8–4 in the final. The winner's cheque of £40,000 is the biggest of his career to date. In the Australian Goldfields Open Davis saw off Jack Lisowski (5–2), home favourite Neil Robertson (5–1) and Martin Gould (5–2), to reach his second successive ranking semi-final. There he played close friend Barry Hawkins and was beaten 4–6.

At the UK Championship he beat Cao Yupeng 6–1 in the first round and led three-time champion John Higgins 5–2 in the second round, before withstanding a fightback from Higgins which included a 147, to win a decider. Davis saw off Matthew Stevens 6–4 in the quarter-finals, however his lack of experience on the big stage showed in his semi-final against Mark Selby, as he was beaten 4–9. Davis qualified for the 2013 Masters tournament thanks to his form earning him a place in the top 16. At his first outing in the tournament for 13 years he faced world number nine Mark Allen in the first round and lost 2–6. This began a dip in form for Davis as he lost in the qualifying round of the Welsh Open, the first round of both the World Open and Players Tour Championship Finals and in the second round of the China Open. However, he was still ranked 16 in the world at the cut-off for the 2013 World Championship, but was forced to qualify due to world number 28 and reigning champion Ronnie O'Sullivan deciding to defend his title after taking a year away from professional snooker. O'Sullivan was therefore the number one seed, meaning Davis dropped out of the top 16 who were guaranteed a spot in the event. Davis beat Liang Wenbo 10–6 in qualifying. He faced four-time champion John Higgins in the first round and claimed the best win of his career by winning 10–6 and played Stuart Bingham in the last 16. The match proved to be very tight, but from 10 to 10 Bingham pulled away to win 13–10 with Davis saying afterwards that he had done well to win 10 frames such was his disappointment at the way he had performed. However, he finished the season inside the top 16 for the very first time, at world number 13.

2013/2014 season

Davis reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open but lost 5–3 to Mark Selby. At the 2013 Six-red World Championship he defended his title by defeating Neil Robertson 8–4 in the final. Only a week later he won his next tournament, the General Cup in Hong Kong, beating Robertson again in the final, this time by 7–2. A second ranking event quarter-final of the year came at the Shanghai Masters with comfortable 5–2 and 5–1 victories over Ali Carter and John Higgins. However, he then squandered a 4–2 lead over Xiao Guodong to be beaten 5–4. At the Masters he forced a decider in the first round against Mark Selby, having been 4–0 down but lost the 55-minute final frame to be defeated 6–5. In the quarter-finals of the German Masters, Davis lost in an extremely close match with Rod Lawler 5–4. Davis was an automatic qualifier for the World Championship for the first time in his career this season and said before the event that his minimum goal was to win through to the quarter-finals, but he was beaten 10–5 in the first round by Dominic Dale. Davis hung on to his top 16 ranking at the end of the season as he was the world number 16.

2014/2015 season

Davis began his season at the Australian Goldfields Open, with his quarter-final match against Stuart Bingham containing ten breaks above 50 in the nine frames played, which Davis edged 5–4. In Davis' fourth ranking event semi-final he lost 6–2 to home favourite Neil Robertson. His second quarter-final in a ranking event of the year came at the UK Championship, but he was defeated 6–1 by Judd Trump. He followed that up with a semi-final showing at the minor-ranking Lisbon Open where he was whitewashed 4–0 by Stephen Maguire. Davis was beaten 3–2 by Stuart Bingham in the final of the non-ranking Championship League.

Davis' consistent season continued as he restricted John Higgins to just 38 points to thrash him 4–0 in reaching the last eight of the Indian Open, but he lost 4–2 against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Davis progressed through to his fourth ranking quarter-final of the season, the most in a single season of his career, at the PTC Grand Final by eliminating Neil Robertson 4–1. He was unable to play in the semi-finals however, as Bingham knocked him out 4–1. Davis earned a 4–0 early advantage over Ding Junhui at the World Championship and won the first session 5–3. However, he went on to be beaten 10–7.

2015/2016 season

Davis' first quarter-final of the 2015–16 season came at the Shanghai Masters, courtesy of 5–1 and 5–3 wins over Michael White and Shaun Murphy, but he was beaten 5–1 by Mark Allen. He lost in the third round of the UK Championship 6–4 to Stephen Maguire. Davis claimed the World Seniors Championship, his first televised title in the UK, by seeing off Darren Morgan in the final. He failed to qualify for the World Championship for the first time since 2011 after losing 10–5 to Zhang Anda.

2016/2017 season

Davis lost 4–1 to Mark Selby in the quarter-finals of the Paul Hunter Classic. At the European Masters he beat Shaun Murphy 4–1 and Liang Wenbo 4–3 to reach another quarter-final and was defeated 4–1 by Ronnie O'Sullivan. His third quarter-final of the year came at the Scottish Open after he squeezed past Mark Williams 4–3, but he was heavily beaten 5–1 by Marco Fu. Davis knocked out Ronnie O'Sullivan 4–3 in the second round of the Welsh Open after being 3–0 down and then made the event's high break of 144 as he eliminated Fergal O'Brien 4–2. Davis lost 4–3 to Scott Donaldson in the fourth round. He could not reach the World Championship for the second year in a row after being defeated 10–7 in the qualifiers by Yan Bingtao.

Personal life

Davis lives with his wife Claire, their son Jack and their daughter Milly.

Performance and rankings timeline

1. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
2. The event was called the International Open (1992/1993–1996/1997) and the Players Championship (2003/2004)
3. The event was called the German Open (1995/1996–1997/1998)
4. The event was called the Grand Prix (1991/1992–2000/2001 and 2004/2005–2009/2010) and the LG Cup (2001/2002–2003/2004)
5. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
6. The event was called the Strachan Challenge (1992/1993–1993/1994)
7. The event was called the Asian Classic (1991/1992–1994/1995) and the Thailand Classic (1995/1996)
8. The event was called the Asian Open (1991/1992–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1993/1994–1996/1997)
9. The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009–2009/2010)
10. The event was called the Australian Open (1994/1995) and the Australian Masters (1995/1996)
11. The event was called the Grand Prix Fürth (2004/2005) and the Fürth German Open (2005/2006–2006/2007)
12. The event was called the China International (1997/1998–1998/1999)
13. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
14. The event was called the European Open (1991/1992–1996/1997 and 2001/2002–2003/2004), the Irish Open (1998/1999) and the Malta Cup (2004/2005–2007/2008)
15. The event was also called the Benson & Hedges Championship (1990/1991–2002/2003)
16. The event was called the General Cup International (2004/2005–2011/2012)
17. The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009) and the Six-red World Grand Prix (2009/2010)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2018	English Open	Stuart Bingham	7–9

Minor-ranking finals: 1

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2011	Paul Hunter Classic	Mark Selby	0–4

Non-ranking finals: 10 (8 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1996	Malta Masters	John Read	6–3
Winner	2.	2002	Merseyside Professional Championship	Stephen Maguire	5–2
Winner	3.	2002	Benson & Hedges Championship	Mehmet Husnu	9–6
Runner-up	1.	2003	Merseyside Professional Championship	Stephen Maguire	1–5
Winner	4.	2009	Six-red World Championship	Mark Williams	6–3
Winner	5.	2012	Six-red World Championship (2)	Shaun Murphy	8–4
Winner	6.	2013	Six-red World Championship (3)	Neil Robertson	8–4
Winner	7.	2013	General Cup	Neil Robertson	7–2
Runner-up	2.	2015	Championship League	Stuart Bingham	2–3
Winner	8.	2016	World Seniors Championship	Darren Morgan	2–1

Pro–am finals: 3 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2004	Pontins Autumn Open	Stuart Bingham	2–4
Winner	1.	2007	German Open	Joe Perry	4–3
Runner-up	2.	2016	Vienna Snooker Open	Peter Ebdon	1–5

References

1. "Mark Davis". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
2. "O'Sullivan survives McLeod charge". BBC Sport. 13 December 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2018.
3. ^ "Mark Davis 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
4. "Order of Merit". Snooker.org. 8 January 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
5. "Williams sets up O'Sullivan clash". BBC Sport.
6. "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
7. ^ "In Form Bingham Keeps Run Going". World Snooker. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
8. "Wuxi Classic 2012 results". worldsnooker.com. World Snooker. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
9. "Closing Century Puts Bingham into Final". World Snooker. Retrieved 1 July 2012.
10. "SangSom 6 Red World Championship (2012)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
11. "Six of the Best For Davis". World Snooker. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
12. ^ "Mark Davis 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
13. "Ebdon to face Hawkins in Goldfields final". Eurosport. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
14. "UK Snooker Championship 2012: Higgins out despite 147". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
15. "UK Snooker Championship 2012: Mark Selby beats Mark Davis". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
16. "Robertson edges Ding at Masters". BBC Sport.
17. "Official world rankings issued after the China Open 2013" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
18. "Ronnie O'Sullivan to defend snooker world title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
19. "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
20. "Snooker – O'Sullivan set for another Crucible battle with Carter". Eurosport. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
21. "World Snooker Championship 2013: Mark Davis delighted at win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
22. "Bingham Reaches First Crucible Quarter". World Snooker. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
23. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
24. "Mark Davis 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
25. "SangSom 6 Red World Championship (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
26. "General Cup (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
27. "Breaking news: Davis beaten in decider". Bexhill-on-Sea Observer. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
28. "Masters 2014: Mark Selby and John Higgins into quarter-finals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
29. "Trump charges into German Masters semis". Eurosport. February 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
30. "Davis keen to make his mark". Hastings & St. Leonards Observer. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
31. "World Championship: Dominic Dale and Neil Robertson reach second round at Crucible". Sky Sports. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
32. "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
33. "Robertson To Face Davis in Bendigo". World Snooker. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
34. "Trump To Face Robertson in Bendigo Final". World Snooker. 5 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
35. "Mark Davis 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
36. "Bingham Is Championship League King". World Snooker. 13 February 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
37. "John Higgins beaten 4–0 by Mark Davis in India". The Herald. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
38. "Davis defeats Robertson again". Hasting & St. Leonards Observer. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
39. "Davis suffers another last eight exit". Hasting & St. Leonards Observer. Archived from the original on 18 April 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
40. "World Snooker Championship: Ding Junhui beats Mark Davis". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
41. ^ "Mark Davis 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
42. "Senior Success for Davis". World Snooker. 31 January 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
43. ^ "Mark Davis 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
44. "Welsh Open 2017: Ronnie O'Sullivan knocked out by Mark Davis in second round". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
45. "Mark Davies". onqpromotions.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
46. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
47. "2007 German Open". Global Snooker Centre. Archived from the original on 14 March 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2020.

External links

• Mark Davis at the World Snooker Tour

• Sportspeople from Hastings
• English snooker players
• Living people
• 1972 births
• Six-red World Championships champions
• World Seniors Championship champions