Congratulations to Steve Davis who ahead of yet another season on the professional circuit, celebrates his 52nd birthday today…
Ranked 23rd in the world, Steve may not be the player that he once was but to remain that high in the rankings is still quite some achievement in itself. Having enjoyed a decent 2008/9 season in which he reached two quarter-finals however, can he realistically expect to climb even higher, even into a top 16 position for next season?
On paper he has a genuine chance, currently lying in 20th place on my latest provisional rankings, just 455 points behind Peter Ebdon in 16th. If he can record similar results to last season when he generally won his opening round match to qualify for the venues, then he will certainly be there or thereabouts.
A crucial element to his 2008/9 season however was the amount of deciding frames he won to progress to the next round of tournaments. Incredibly, Steve managed to win all six of his matches which went to a ninth and final frame, victories that ultimately made the difference between him consolidating his position in the top 32 or perhaps heading the way of contemporaries such as Jimmy White and John Parrott.
Already this season he has lost his opening match, in a decider to the relatively inexperienced Matt Selt, not a good start and one that will see him slip further down the rankings come September and the conclusion of the tournament out in Shanghai. While it is obviously still early days (indeed he lost his opening match last season), with just six ranking events this season he cannot afford many more results like this if he is to remain in contention for that top 16 place.
Still, the biggest compliment to Steve is that even at 52, we are still even talking about him as a realistic shout for the top 16. If I had to put money on it I would say that he will not make it, but he remains as hard to shift as ever and will no doubt leave some of the younger players tied in knots at some point this season with his tactical nous!