Young people today will never understand how absolutely huge that snooker was back in the day. Especially in the 80s. Entire families sitting around the TV in the living room in nearly every home glued to the big snooker games of the day. Nearly 20 million people watched the late night final of Taylor - Davis in the UK and now, in 2023, it still holds the record for the highest viewership of any TV show after midnight. Was such great times.
I fell in love with this game as a child and begged, pleaded, adjured (and any other verb you can think of) for a snooker table. Finally my dad relented, but not a snooker table, a pool table! I played the living daylights out of that table, often playing well past midnight. I modeled my style after Steve Davis - there was just something about the way he played. Now, at almost 50, it is still the most amazing sport to me. Some days the pockets seem the size of a dustbin then, others, like I am playing with a damn broomstick.
Sounds great. I had a 6ft snooker table when I was about 10, Stephen Hendry was my idol 😂 My brother and I played on it most days for years until we were old enough to join a club. I never get bored of it 😃
Can relate to your story . I managed to get a 6ft snooker table . At the time 1984 it cost about £75 . A cousin helped my dad with the van to collect the table that I saw advertised in the adnews or chronicle newspaper that use to be delivered weekly free . Can still remember sitting in the van holding on to the table on way back . Probably did not sleep that night and clearly remember the next day just could not wait to get home from school to play on my snooker table. Unforgettable memories.
I had a 5' x 2.5' table - i had snooker and pool balls - i think I managed to get a century once. I learnt how to swerve the ball watching Eddie Charlton on Pot Black. Some of the shots I played on that table would have brought the house down!
Remember watching that legendary final back in 85 on a late Sunday night, my parents let me stay up to watch. Probably the best come back ever, 8-0 down against the unbeatable Davis, we all thought Dennis has no chance.
YES Alex Higgins Was IN UK Championship at Preston final of 1983 Alex Was 7+0 adie against Davis a only 7 frames to B UK winner But Alex Higgins He won UK 16+15 yes
It seems that Steve had a problem closing out matches against Irish ☘️ men, after having held a big lead. About a year and a half earlier, Alex Higgins had managed to reel him in, 16-15, having earlier trailed him 7-0. in the 1983 United Kingdom Championship Final. Dennis went one better, having lagged 8-0 after the first session of the 1985 World Championship Final, eventually staggering over the line on the last black, winning 18-17, having never led by so much as one frame until the very last pot of the match. At the time in 1985 some ill-informed people were saying it was a fix, but snooker was big business in the 80’s and winning meant lucrative offers from businesses who wanted successful players to endorse their products. In my view only a fool would take a bribe to lose and Steve Davis is a multimillionaire, and definitely not a fool. Nevertheless, it’s incredible that someone so composed as Steve at his peak lost two such contests. It just goes to show what nerves and self doubt can do to even the best of players in a long contest.
Lucky to have watched all these live on TV, a part from the first clip of the miss for the 147. 1985 was incredible, that final frame, the experience of watching it with my parents and grandparents passed midnight will stay with me forever.
@@EnglishPoolandSnooker I remember watching the first clip live. I saw him punch in the final red and genuinely thought it was impossible for him to miss in that break. I felt sick for him when he missed the black. Was gobsmacked.
Some amazing games there. Couldn't believe the first one. And poor old Jimmy White. Loved finally seeing the famous 1985 finale after hearing about it for so long. Really enjoy the videos you've posted. I've subscribed and looking forward to more.
caroline elliott Thanks! Unfortunately it was never to be for Jimmy, if Davis & Hendry had not been around he probably would have won several world titles
The greatest player to never have won the World Championship. Hard work beats talent every time & I’m personally not a fan of Hendry but he trained for the titles.
Not being funny, but Jimmy should have won back-to-back World titles at least....he should have beaten Parrott in '91, and the following year he was 14-8 up against Hendry but could only sit and watch Hendry reel off 10 frames in a row!!
I can watch a million fail videos, but can’t bring myself to watch past the first two here Just gutting to miss the 147 on the black . Heartbreaking stuff
Hard to believe that 3:05 Un Nooh and 5:13 Doherty could miss those blacks, which any amateur would have fancied, after potting much harder balls in the previous 35. Shows the tension they were under!
I just made a similar comment, the first guy pots that tough long red flush into the pocket, then misses the black which in that position is bread and butter for a pro snooker player.
I'm an amateur, and I miss that black 95 times out of 100. But then I don't fancy any shot. Well usually the break off is ok, I only miss the reds occasionally
I'm especially sorry for Un Nooh missed the black ball. His reaction afterwards was like a ten year old child who had just caused a fire accident and burned the house down while his parents were not at home ,He was very scared and didn't know what to do ,It was heartbreaking to watch …It makes me want to give him a hug⋯
I remember watching the Hendry matches as a kid and thinking they were old men. I'm now watching this video and at 38, I'm feeling like I'm the old man compared to them.
Pressure is like a disability. That's why Ronnie is so incredible. He could pot all the colours in the time it takes any other player the time to play one shot. The greatest players thrive under pressure which is what makes Hendry and Davis' misses all the more remarkable
Apparently he wasn’t aware of the £40k bonus when he was playing but yes it must have been a blow. He missed the black for a 147 on two occasions in the same season!!
For me Thepichaya U-Nooh has the ability to become first World Champion from a non-English speaking country (more than Ding Jong Hui or Marco Fu). But it is only my opinion.
The days when we were all focused on watching a game snooker, now social media is a distraction, 85 will always be a classic and that gesture by Dennis Taylor is trademark till this day thank you for the memories guys
Should be kissing Davis’s feet twice daily, without it he’d have had to get proper job, certainly wouldn’t have along with many other mediocre players stolen a living stating the bleeding obvious.
I’ll never forget Ken’s miss on the black for the Max. Being from Dublin myself and would later meet Ken a few times and played a frame, my heart went out to him. He did all the hard work and missed the easy black off the spot and I’d say he still has the odd nightmare over that one.
Some great footage and makes you realise that if the best in the world can miss "simple" shots then there's hope for us all, lol. I love the game and love playing but it can be a cruel mistress........
The Ken Doherty missed black was actually the Masters Final, 2000....I remember watching it as it happened. Stevens won the title, then capitulated against Mark Williams in the World Championship final three months later
Correct Andrew, I was lucky enough to be in the crowd and there was a 80,000 quid Honda Sports car in the lobby as a bonus for anyone who got the maximum, gutted.
@@EnglishPoolandSnooker Yeah, you're right....The "Nearly Man"....which is strange, considering all the titles he won. It just shows you how important that World title is.
Will always be the worst miss as far as I'm concerned... heartbreaking... At least Steve Davis, the top pick here, had the consolation of 3 more world titles to add to his previous 3. Jimmy never got to another world final, poor bloke. Still, he took it with sheer class. When David Vine asked him for his thoughts about Stephen Hendry immediately afterwards, Jimmy was quick as a flash, with no little irony: "He's beginning to annoying me..!" Brilliant
Stevens's face when Doherty missed the black was arguably more memorable than the miss itself. And Doherty has been teased about the miss 147 ever since.
Even Steve Davis could crack under pressure, missing that angled black so near to the pocket. The following shot, Dennis Taylor really took his time over, but still missed it by 6 inches. When he finally potted it, see how much time he took over such a simple shot, because he needed to. Pressure does strange things to mind and body coordination. When u really want to get the important shots, u turn back into a newb. It takes a lot of mental effort and mind tricks to overcome.
I think the same is true in any world class sport...I also follow Tennis and when Federer wasted two MP's in 2019 against Novak at Wimbledon, it was a classic example of a guy who did not adjust himself (setting himself properly) or thinking properly when it was within grasp..
@@Glasschin2.0 This is losing form with age. It happens a lot in snooker and probably most sports that require mind-body coordination. Some players have the ability to play from memory, and can still play reasonably
@@tonybarfridge4369 you say that but he isn’t much older than the class of 92 who are all going strong still. Even by Judd Trumps age 34 he was over the hill in terms of playing his best snooker.
Theres something about the table in the Jimmy/ Hendry match - the colour of the baize, the thickness of the cloth, the pocket leather, the tone of the wood on the rails. Even the colour of the carpet. It all just feels exactly right.
The final black at Steve v Dennis was legendary XD The way Steve just looked crushed after "the worst player in the world with the rest" won the championship hits hard :D
Fred Davis missed a crucial pink against Perrie Mans in the 1978 world semi. His brother Joe was watching in the audience and had a heart attack soon after the match.
Absolutely. 19 times out of 20 he would have easily cleared the rest of the reds up and won comfortably. As he said himself afterwards, it was such an easy chance he was already thinking of picking up the trophy.
@@EnglishPoolandSnooker hahaha maybe it doesn't hurt him as much now but God that must have killed for the year or so after. I was so gutted for him. What a player he was though
I'm convinced it was a guilty conscience. He was caught touching the cue ball when preparing his shot a number of times as the long night wore on. I reckon he touched the cue ball and the referee missed it; he then realised the table was at his mercy. He had to take a dirty win or give Hendry another chance and hope he messed it up.
No wonder Taylor missed that penultimate attempt on the black. Unbelievable cue action caused by the tension. Makes his winning pot look like a miracle 😂
Although every one miss in this video meant something special to the player concerned I find the Jimmy White missed black the most painful for me. I remember watching this match and was willing Jimmy to win after failing 4 times I believe to win the world championship. He had many chances in that last frame. I remember him taking a very risky and brave shot with the long rest and spider among the reds and potted the ball. And when all became easy as we can see with all the remaining reds loose he rushed that black. I could not sleep all night.
I actually think the ‘92 final loss for Jimmy was worse than the ‘94 one as he was dominating the match and had a very good season too. He had a decent 1992 too actually. Hendry was relentless in the 90’s.
most interesting observation! in fact, he stares 3 times in the direction of that other player after the shot, the last he is even already in his seat and starts mumbling something in that direction. Also the other player pots his ball by the sound of it at the exact time he misses and you can see that he for an instant thinks he has potted the ball by the sound of the other potted ball, only when his eyes see the black he realises that he has missed.
Loved this vid, despite the could of/could've thing... That final black shootout between Hendry and Williams was proper tense. Probably only the 1985 World Final that beats that for tension.
Thanks, I don’t know why I wrote “could of” but it has sure come back to haunt me, I receive a message about it every few days over the last 6 months 😂 glad you like the video though, they were great moments!!
Davis’s miss wasn’t the sitter that most people usually claim that it was. The black was about eighteen inches from the right Baulk pocket, looking from Davis’s side of the table and the cue ball was near the side cushion. It would have been a good shot from that angle because it was a big cut needed, which he actually over cut and not under cut, as might have been expected in such a situation.
I think at that high-level play and especially in snooker, there's a small part of every player that roots for their opponent when they're on a potential maximum break. Any of us would hope for the same if we got on a good run...
That 85 final at the end, I remember watching it all with the family, went way past midnight. I believe he dedicated the trophy to his then recently departed Mother........
@@itiaka-tz1nl _He came along in 1985-so his competition was Davis, Alex Higgins, White, Taylor, Thorburn, Knowles, Griffiths, Parrott, Wattana, McManus, Ebdon, Doherty, James, Hallett, ROS, John Higgins, Williams, Hunter, Stevens etc. How that is weak is beyond me_ Very simple. Its weak cause when he was dominating, he wasn't facing the peak versions of those players. He was facing: - defense oriented farts from the 80s that were not scoring heavy enough, except for Jimmy and Davis, and even they are not heavy scorers by modern standars. - young pups in the class of 92, who were only teenagers. As soon as they turned 20, Hendry's domination ended.
Stephen Hendry missing that black because stun would be difficult from near the cushion and too slow it would roll off course across the nap, so he tried to make an angle to avoid following it in, got confused and overdid it. Nightmarish, but the kind of shot which will perversely crop up at a crucial moment.
@@michaeltrumph121 that can happen too with a slight angle. Can hit it straight as here. Either it rolled off or he allowed for roll off but didn't happen. Anything becomes tough under that kind of pressure and mistakes frequently occur