STEVE DAVIS (England)

World ranking: 14

Age: 41

World Championship best: Winner 6 times (1981, 1983-84, 1987-89)

Best ranking event performance: Winner 28 tournaments - Embassy World Championship 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989; UK Championship 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987; International Open 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1989; Lada Classic 1984; Mercantile Credit Classic 1987, 1988, 1992; Grand Prix 1985, 1988, 1989; Regal Welsh 1994, 1995; British Open 1986, 1993; Asian Open 1992; European Open 1993

1998/99 ranking form: Grand Prix - R1, UK - QF, Irish - R1, Welsh - QF, Scottish - R1, Thailand - QF, China - R2, British - R3.

Six Embassy world titles and a total of eight finals - seven in successive years - established Steve Davis as one of Britain's top sportsmen of the 1980s.

Davis won the world championship for the first time in 1981, beating Doug Mountjoy 18-12 in the final, and although he was thrashed 10-1 by Tony Knowles in the first round a year later, it was to prove no more than a hiccup during his glory.

Davis went on to claim five more championships and he also lost in the final twice - 18-17 to Dennis Taylor in 1985 and 18-12 against 150-1 outsider Joe Johnson the following year.

Davis has collected 71 titles - 28 of them ranking events - and the list includes six UK Championships..

After going two years without a tournament success, Davis proved he is still capable of competing with the best when he came from 8-4 down to defeat Ronnie O'Sullivan 10-8 in the 1997 Benson & Hedges Masters.

Davis, compiler of nearly 300 centuries in his career refuses to contemplate retirement while he is still capable of holding his own against the younger generation and is hoping to staying in the world top 16 for a 20th successive year.

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