Steve Davis v Dennis Taylor, 1985 Snooker: World Championship

Hello, and welcome to another Crucible classic match. Today we're

going to feature perhaps the most famous final of them all - the Black

Ball final, 1985. The one where it finished way after midnight and was

watched by 18.5 million people. Of course, it featured the then-three

times champion Steve Davis and 36-year-old Dennis Taylor, he of the

upside down glasses. Now, at the time, snooker had never been more

popular. Steve Davis was hoovering up titles, he had already won four

that season, and there was just no shaking him from the top of the

world rankings tree. He was, it appeared, invincible. Playing Dennis

Taylor in the final of the World Championship was another day in the

office for me. I'd never struggled with Dennis Taylor on a snooker

table. In the period of time up until then, I had given him some

real battering. Well, I was hoping that Steve Davis would get beaten in

the semifinal. But, sure enough, he got through to the final. I was

still really looking forward to it, because I had won my quarterfinal

match with a session to spare and I'd also won the semifinal with a

session to spare. So, without doubt, definitely playing the best snooker

I had ever played in my career. He had won the Rothman's Grand Prix the

year before and all of a sudden he was getting into some good form.

But, of course, in the public's eyes, I was going to slaughter him.

The demolition began. Davis was hugely impressive in the first

session, rock-solid safety and sure-footed potting and he destroyed

Taylor 7/0 in that opening session. In fact, as Taylor sank

disconsolately into his chair, one bookie slashed the odds for a

whitewash from 300 to one to 100 to one. Surely, it couldn't get any

worse for Dennis, could it? Well, that's a perfect strength shot

by Steve and he's got another nice one to play. And Dennis has caught

that much too thin, which has brought the white back now halfway

down the table and given Steve a chance for red into this right-hand

corner pocket. Well, just a touch too far on the

blue. I think he'll handle it all right, but he would have liked to

have been just a little bit straighter.

Well, I wonder what Dennis is thinking? Perhaps hoping that it's

going to change - his luck certainly isn't in at the moment.

For the first time, he got in a little bit of trouble, but can still

play the plant, one onto the other one here, leave himself on the

black. I think Steve is just checking if

that top red will go into the right-hand corner pocket, so he

doesn't need to disturb the reds yet.

Well, he obviously saw that a couple of shots ago.

And how's that for a really beautiful stroke?

Obviously trying to make another plant here out of these two reds.

And that red is enough to leave Dennis needing snookers once again.

So, Steve Davis, 64 ahead. And 59 on the table. Leaving Dennis snookers.

Well, Steve Davis, he's real riding on the crest of a wave at the

moment. Brimful of confidence. Now, can he clip this one back? Of

course he can! And just look at that positional shot there. Colossal

check side - really magnificent. Well, a perfect performance by Steve

Davis, eight frames to nil. I spent most of the afternoon sitting in the

chair watching Steve make break after break and pot ball after ball.

He just never looked like missing - and he was like that, Steve, he used

to walk around the Crucible as if he owned the theatre. Dennis got off to

a diabolical start, and I was absolutely flying T just looked like

it was going to be a complete annihilation. And then the wheel

fell off. He stretched across the table to pot a green. If the green

goes in the corner pocket, it's 9/0. Well, Steve Davis there at full

stretch - in fact, overstretched. I potted the green and the pink to win

my first frame. At last, one for Taylor. One out of nine. He relaxed.

I stalled and overnight it was 9/7. I felt like I had lost that first

day's play. I had an awful night's sleep. The fightback was well and

truly underway. Taylor was playing like a man possessed and the

once-cool world champion was beginning to look like he was losing

his exposure. So from 8/0 and 9/1 behind, Dennis found himself 7/9

behind and when he won three of the next five framings, remarkably there

was only one frame in it - 10/11 now. And in frame 22, Taylor has a

very good chance of levelling the scores.

Just can't quite reach it so going for that useful extension.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING Terrific applause here from the

packed audience at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, all for this

man, Dennis Taylor, who has now made the final all square at eleven

frames each. Level for the first time in the match. The next frame

was understandably very tight - very nervy - and in fact it all came down

to the brown. Dennis 14 points ahead here, 22 points on the table.

I'm not so sure that Steve can't get through there.

He's worried about this one - the two balls not too far apart. Steve

14 points behind. The world champion then survives and

he is very relieved at that. Leading now 12/111 -- 12/11 he has not been

behind in this match so far. But how unlucky was it for Dennis Taylor to

take that green and land the cue ball right on the brown . And this

is pot-able. In fact, he has not much choice, Dennis, but to go for

this, I would think. Well, I'm sure we'll see Dennis here

trying to get the black in the middle of the baulk cushion and the

white on this back cushion. He has just bounced off the cushion

now - we may even see Dennis play this off the back cushion.

Oh dear. Dennis walked quickly back to his seat - knew as soon as he

struck it, he'd made a mistake. The defending world champion, then,

the black at his mercy, to go back two frames ahead.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING A terrific final and Steve Davis

leads 13/11. It is amazing to think that after that merciless start from

Steve Davis, the two men walked into the an arena for the final session

on the final night separated by just two frames. Davis leading 13/11.

Most people have reckoned that the match wouldn't even get to a final

session. But here we go, in frame 25.

After all the build-up, all the ballyhoo, all the tension, Taylor's

cue action straight as an arrow for that first red.

Sad to say there was a slight snatch in his action for that one, though.

As usual, the first few minutes of a session very important. They can do

so much for a player's confidence either way, and all the more so in

the final session of a world final. 'S what they're playing for, the

trophy for the game's first blue riband event, first won by Fred

Davis. Stavs stavs, of course, no relation but in contention for the

trophy. Joe's younger brother having won it eight times.

Taylor absolutely still - just as everything is here at the Crucible.

It was a big risk to take but one that he thought would pay off. He

was to make the pot, he was hoping to get the white ball at least back

into the baulk area and certainly not to bring the red with it.

The first to win 18 frames wins the title.

Perhaps not quite held the white ball as much as he would have liked,

but nevertheless still on his intended red.

There's tremendous concentration and self-discipline gone into this

break. All this coming from Taylor's first

significant mistake. He desperately needed the first

frame, I think, tonight. But all he can do is sit and watch.

Which means that Taylor now needs snookers.

Not that he's going to get much chance to play for them, I think.

A century, and Steve Davis will be -- no century, but Steve Davis will

be happy with that. A frame-winning 84. -- 86.

Well, we thought that Davis would take two reds, two blocks and leave

a snooker behind the black. I think that he can get by the black to hit

the red, but unless the contact is perfect, there's every chance that

he could go in off it. Taylor taking no risk - playing off

two cushions, instead. Davis still needing a snooker plus a

clearance. To win this 26th frame. Well, he missed a similar shot this

afternoon. 39 in front, 27 on the table. And

the frame effectively over. Taylor reduces the deficit to two

frames Davis still leads by 14 frames to 12. Dennis Taylor was no

stranger to the pressure of a Crucible final, he had been to one

six years earlier and lost it to grifts Griffiths. But this match was

a whole lot closer than he he had experienced back then. They shared

the next six frames, with Davis now 17/15 ahead and requiring just one

more for victory are forgot world number one and with it a fourth

world title. But there were a few more twists and turns to come

because in frame 33, Davis opened up with 31, Dennis came straight back

at him with a knock of 42 and in fact it's the northern Irishman who

leads by 11 points. Well, I wouldn't like to have to play this one, Jim.

Approximate No, the difficulty of this shot is that because the red is

so hard to pot along the cushion, he's probably going to play the

snooker, and that takes the pressure off him.

The Irish champion fighting back once again.

He really needs to hit the red off the back cushion and hopefully if he

can do that he can may be knock it safe and leave the white tight to

the baulk cushion. This last red could so easily settle

this frame . He will with, he held back a little

bit on that shot, even though he was probably stretching a little bit too

far. Yes, Jim, he seemed to me to be slightly over-reaching. And what a

crucial stage of the frame. Well, they're both feeling it out

there. Dennis missed his more difficult red, but Steve, I'm sure,

should have got that one. Both looking at the scoreboard. There's

11 points in it. Now, he wants the yellow and the

green to make the frame safe. Well, he didn't want to cannon into

the green, hoping to pass it and perhaps pot the green in the centre

pocket, but even though this is difficult, he'll still take it on.

And very anxiously, he looked to see if he'd got the snooker.

Well, how extraordinary. He's very unfortunate, Ted - that was a brave

shot to play. And Dennis has done exactly the

same! 22 points ahead, 18 points on the

table. If he misses this blue, Steve can

win. He'd like to swerve around the pink

but unfortunately the white ball is so tight to the black that he can't

cue at it. Very unlucky for Dennis Taylor. The

world champion still has to take three balls.

The whole audience here at the Crucible now in hushed anticipation.

And it's there! APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

and the audience as thrilled as Dennis Taylor, as he saves the

match, now one frame behind at 17/16.

There's the setting here at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, where

once again we bring you the dramas and excitement, the fun and the

terrible things that happen on a snooker table.

He's going to have to take quite a bit of care and attention here,

because the break is not absolutely straightforward. Still got a little

bit of work to do to keep it going. And still he hasn't got his hands on

the title. Thinking a couple of shots ahead -

that's where he wants the cue ball to finish after potting this

blackment -- black. The camera angle shows you that the

red is pot-able from there. Well, the break goes to 44, and

that's Dennis' 20th break in this final of 40 and above. His highest

is 98. Needed a slight angle - and appears

to be straight on the shot, in which case he's going to have to make

certain he doesn't screw back into the centre pocket.

Not entirely certain whether that red will pot but, even if it did, it

would be very dangerous. He's attempted to play the pot on

the pink. -- tempted to play the pot on the pink.

It takes him into a 57/0 lead and there's now a possible 75 points on

the table. A great effort, then, by the Irish

champion. Any one of those five reds will do

him after the pink. And Dennis going for safety - he's

71 points ahead and there's only 59 points on the table. The world

snooker final goes to its last frame.

LAUGHTER LAUGHTER

All sorts of things very nearly happening - but nothing did - and

he's relieved. The world champion, then, keeping

that cue arm moving. APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

Steve Davis, then, concedes that particular frame and Dennis Taylor,

a very satisfied Irishman, sits there with the frames all square,

17/17. Every time I got close to him he'd pull away again and when he led

17/15 I thought it was all over. Going into the final frame, well,

you just don't know what's going to happen. You're just hoping you get

one chance. I remember absolutely nothing of it, other than the fact I

was petrified, the fact I could lose from that far behind. But I still

managed to keep my end of the bargain up and it got all the way to

the last frame. Excellent shot from Steve Davis, a

very awkward strike for him to cue as well as that and to clip the red

so finely deserves full marks. Well, a terrific shot from Dennis

Taylor there, from that position, right in the jaws of the pocket.

Concentration written all over his face. Looking for his first world

title. And the first loose shot there. But

I don't think it's done too much damage.

Well, this next one's got to be dead right, because he's in big trouble.

. He's played it perfect.

It really is quite remarkable to think that these two players,

despite the normality of this situation, continued to produce

high-class snooker and, indeed, high-quality snooker, as witnessed

in what seemed like a never-ending safety exchange in this final frame

decider and, as the clock ticked way beyond midnight and the television

audiences soared, it was Dennis who finally broke the safety deadlock.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING Well, not too certain on the black

ball spot. But certainly he's on a red into the corner pocket.

Hoping to come down the table a little bit more, to have an easy

pink in the centre, but this is going to be awkward cueing over the

green. Carried too far with the white ball.

He was hoping to be much straighter on this red into the corner.

As it turned out, it was quite a tactical last frame and the pressure

on both of us was so intense we were missing balls that we wouldn't

normally miss. And that can be very upsetting at

this stage of the final. Dennis not at all happy about that,

either. This 35th and final frame of the

world final has now been in progress for just over half an hour.

While nobody ever dreamt that it was going to carry on, because I think

they were cancelling programmes, there was people tuned in that maybe

didn't watch snooker before and it seemed to capture the imagination.

And, as the hour reaches midnight, this final frame has been in

progress some 45 minutes. Two points in front and two reds to

go. I'm not sure if he can see that

pink. It appears not. That might help.

He's nine points in front. And that's very sad for Dennis

Taylor. Well, the brown is on the black spot

and... .. The worst place that Steve can finish is straight on the green.

Well, amazingly enough, he has got a snooker from that. In fact, he

avoided the pot on the green in choice, in preference, to the

snooker, hoping to rattle the green in the jaws and leave the white

behind the pink. Under the circumstances, that's not finished

out too bad. 18 points in it, 22 points on the

table. This frame has now been going 55 minutes - the longest frame of

the final. When it got down to the last four colours, I remember

thinking to myself, no matter where the brown finishes, just have a go

at it, don't try a safety shot. Very tense moments here, now, at the

Crucible Theatre. Moving the black just might help

Dennis - he wants the four balls. This is the shot that Dennis is

faced with. I don't think there's any way that he'll play the pot.

We are you a now into the longest frame of the championship - this, of

course, the final frame of the championship, the final frame of the

final. And still we don't know the result.

He could afford to go for the pot. If he only wanted the one ball.

The Crucible now erupting. REFEREE: Can we just quieten down,

please? Thank you. The final frame - the final black.

LAUGHTER (APPLAUSE).

Here we go - after 17 days it's all down to one black ball and if

someone had told us there would be 18.5 million and maybe even more

than that - an awful lot of people were in clubs and places that - they

stayed there until the final finished. So if they would have said

it was going to go to the last black, you would have laughed at it,

but that's exactly what happened. And what do you do with this one,

Dennis? REFEREE: Thank you, ladies and

gentlemen. Certainly going through his mind

that he'd certainly like to play the double.

I have never known an atmosphere like this. John Williams, our

referee, trying to keep the crowd in order.

I'm sure Dennis wouldn't mind my saying, he chanced his arm and it's

come out lucky. CHEERING

. The defending world champion, Steve

Davis, looks hard at that black. The first chance I had was to pot

the black down past the blue spot, the green spot, into the corner and

I gave such a twitch, probably one of the biggest twitches ever seen at

the Crucible, I missed the black by so much it came back round and

nearly in the pocket it was leaning over and that's when I thought it

was all over. REFEREE: Thank you, ladies and

gentlemen. No!

CHEERING He has done it!

CHEERING Dennis Taylor, for the first time,

becomes Embassy World Snooker Champion 1985!

He is so thrilled! And a sad champion, Steve Davis, looks on. The

whole place here at the Crucible erupting for this very popular

Irishman. He is so happy - two major titles this season and also the

Irish Championship. A fabulous picture of a very happy and popular

man. 30 years later, I still meet people and they raise an imaginary

cue above their head and wag their figurer and if they happen to have a

pair of glasses on they turn them upside down at the same time, so as

I said, 30 years on, it's amazing the number of people who still

remember that final. To think that nearly a third of the population

were tuned in to watch us play a game of snooker, where only, you

know, 13 years previously Alex Higgins had won the world

championship in 1972 in a working men's club, the game had come so far

and it just captured the imagination of the public and moved it on

another notch. So, the Black Ball final. It's quite easy to see why

it's considered by many the greatest of them all. Steve? Well, he got

over it! He went on to win three more world titles. But for Dennis it

was just the one - but what a one to win, hey? There's not a day go by,

he says, where a person or a few poem wonder up to him and tell him

where they were when they watched him kiss that little lady on the top

of the world championship trophy.