Steve Davis turns his back on Hazel Irvine as BBC pundit refuses to talk to host | Other | Sport

BBC presenter Hazel Irvine was given the cold shoulder by Steve Davis during Monday’s live coverage of the World Snooker Championship. Davis was in the studio for the afternoon session, with John Higgins facing Ali Carter in the opening round. During one particular segment, Irvine teased Davis by bringing up his defeat to Dennis Taylor in the 1985 final.

Davis was the heavy favourite to beat Taylor and clinch Crucible glory for the third year in a row. However, the match went down to a deciding frame, which saw both players miss several opportunities to pot the black. Taylor eventually did so, winning his first World Championship title in a major upset.

Irvine reopened old wounds by bringing it up on Monday, saying: “I’m enjoying that one I must say, and not just the live play here that we’re enjoying because there are many other ways to keep yourself entertained in snooker mode, all on the iPlayer.

“Offerings such as Davis vs Taylor: The 85 Black Ball Final. Steve’s seen that one actually, every single night in his dreams for 41 years.

“The Gods of Snooker and Pot Black, where you can remind yourself exactly what these legends looked like in their earlier years.”

In response, Davis jokingly turned his chair away from Irvine and refused to even look at her as she continued to tease him.

“Just to show you exactly how Steve feels about that, there he is, he’s not talking to me because I’m promoting all of that,” she said.

Millions of people watched the 1985 final, which is fondly remembered as one of the greatest snooker matches of the previous century.

Davis won every frame in the opening session to lead 7-0 and Taylor was never ahead in frames until the match was over. The decisive frame lasted a whopping 68 minutes and the result marked Davis’ first defeat in a ranking final.

Reflecting on his victory four decades later in an interview with the Irish News, Taylor recalled: “When Steve walked out to pot the black that everyone thought he would pot, he said his arms and legs had gone and felt like somebody else’s.

“Cutting the black was harder than people thought it was, and he overcompensated. When you’re under pressure, you hit that type of shot thick. His brain said: ‘Don’t hit it thick’ but he then hit it too thick.

“The one I was left with was definitely easier than the ball that Steve missed and it’s just amazing to think 40 years later people are still talking about it.”

Since retiring from snooker, Davis and Taylor have both transitioned into punditry, which often results in the conversation switching back to that fateful night in 1985.

“I love working with him because he makes me laugh in the gallery every night,” added Taylor. “To think it was 40 years ago and people still come up and chat with you.

“Parents have a story to tell their kids where they were that night because it was 20 past 12 when it finished and 18.5million people were watching it.

“When you hear people’s stories about where they were and what they were doing at that particular time, you never get fed up with it.

“You would think Steve would get fed up with it but when we do these evenings together, we re-enact the frame and set the balls the way they were.

“Steve’s great about chatting about how he felt, myself chatting about how I felt. The beauty about it is I get to pot the black at the end every night.”

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