Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis went from fierce snooker rivals to shut pals, with the BBC pundits even joking about fellow gamers behind closed doorways.
Stephen Hendry has spoken about his dynamic with fellow snooker icon Steve Davis (Picture: Getty Photos)
Stephen Hendry has revealed he has criticised snooker stars throughout personal discussions with Steve Davis. The previous rivals now work collectively as BBC pundits. Davis dominated the game all through the Nineteen Eighties, securing six World Snooker Championship titles and showing in eight finals. The 68-year-old, who claimed 28 rating titles, held the world No.1 place for seven straight years earlier than being overtaken by Hendry in 1990.
The Scot subsequently went on to assert yet another world title than his idol Davis, a report haul he now shares with Ronnie O’Sullivan. The fierce rivalry between the 2 meant Hendry and Davis didn’t at all times take pleasure in a heat relationship. The latter admitted feeling bitter concerning the seven-time world champion following defeat to him within the 1990 UK Championship ultimate. But Hendry has disclosed that their relationship developed throughout their taking part in days, in the end main them to place their harbouring resentment apart.
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Steve Davis has developed a greater relationship with Stephen Hendry now (Picture: Getty Photos)
“Over time, we grew to become nearer,” Hendry wrote on CueTipsPlus. “As we began to go down in our careers we each grew to become friendlier with different individuals.
“We began speaking extra and we might generally spend time slagging off the opposite gamers. It sounds evil, but it surely was all executed with a dry sense of humour, which is what Steve is thought for.” This marked a dramatic departure from Hendry’s preliminary perceptions of Davis, whom he had emulated by way of dedication to the game. “I used to be in awe of him. He had an aura,” Hendry admitted.
“Steve did not communicate to anybody. You’d stroll previous him at a match anticipating an ‘hiya’ and it by no means got here. Should you sat in a room with different prime gamers, they might speak about Steve as if he was above them. I bear in mind pondering, I might actually wish to be talked about like that sooner or later.”
The 57-year-old is now shut pals with Davis and characterises him as possessing a “good sense of humour”. But Davis has beforehand acknowledged he discovered it tough to see the amusing aspect when Hendry began to surpass him.
He regarded his 16-15 loss within the 1990 UK Championship ultimate as a passing of the torch and harboured sturdy animosity in the direction of Hendry. Trying again on his response, Davis recommended his buddy for taking a contrasting strategy in subsequent years.
“One minute I had all of the sweets locked up in my very own little candy jar, the following minute they had been spilled on the ground and Stephen had all of them,” Davis informed O’Sullivan for Eurosport. “For a lot of the 90s I did not like him in any respect, hated him, hated the thought that he was higher than me, I did not even need to acknowledge he existed.
“So the very fact he beat me in that match look again, it was an enormous turning level. However that’s your personal private issues, coping with one thing like that.
“I believe Stephen handled the likes of you [O’Sullivan] and John Higgins coming alongside [better] than I did with him. He was fairly philosophical about the truth that sooner or later he would not be the very best.”
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