Steve Davis Announces Retirement

Steve Davis, the renowned English snooker player, has announced his retirement from professional snooker.

Davis was relegated from the professional tour last year after his ranking fell below the cut-off point.

He played one match this season, attempting to qualify for the world championship, but lost to Fergal O'Brien 10 frames to 4.

Steve Davis won six world titles, level with Ray Reardon, and one ahead of Ronnie O'Sullivan.

He also won three Masters and a record six United Kingdom Championship titles, totaling 81 individual tournament wins.

Davis emerged onto the snooker circuit in the late 1970s and quickly became dominant, winning 81 individual tournaments and nine doubles or team tournaments.

He continued to play well into his late 40s and early 50s, reaching the final of the 2005 U.K. Championship.

Announcing his retirement live on the BBC, Davis said: “My father passed away recently and it was natural time to stop playing.

I should have done it ages ago; I played a bit for my father.

I am delighted to have had such a great time in the game.

I was lucky to have a hobby as my profession.”

Davis added: “It has been fantastic.

The game will move on to other places but I feel like the grandfather of the sport.”

At 58, Davis' recent lack of form was perhaps unsurprising, but his accomplishments put him among the all-time greats of snooker.

As **Clive Everton**, a snooker journalist, once said: a great player can only really be judged on what he has won.