Why one of snooker's longest-running careers could soon be over as 1990s favourite Mark Davis considers hanging up cue - 'I’ve been lucky'

Joe Davis remains a record 15-time winner of the sport's biggest prize, his younger brother Fred, an eight-time champion, and of course, there is Steve Davis, no relation, who famously claimed six Crucible victories in the 1980s.

What is not so well known is that Mark Davis is also a world champion, becoming something of a specialist in the shorter format of the game, being crowned Six-Red king three times in 2009, 2012 and 2013.

At the age of 53, Davis turned professional back in 1991, a year when John Parrott was world champion, Arsenal were English football champions, Vic Reeves and The Wonder Stuff had a number one with Dizzy and the first website officially became a thing.

Not much changes then, you might think, but the life and times of Mark Davis has probably not followed a natural trajectory.

Indeed, after spending the first 20 years of his career as a classic "journeyman pro", failing to go higher than 19 in the world, the Hastings potter suddenly found some wonder stuff with cue in hand at the age of 40.

He ended the 2012/13 season as world No. 13 before finishing the following campaign at a career-high ranking of 12, reaching semi-finals at the Wuxi Classic and Australian Open, which enabled him to compete at the Masters.

Davis never quite managed to win a ranking event, losing 9-7 to Stuart Bingham in the 2018 English Open final in Crawley before his career began a slow descent which has culminated in him being forced to compete at Q School this week after finishing last season at 66.

His first match at the Leicester event saw him lose 4-3 to 20-year-old Oliver Briffett-Payne on Thursday afternoon.

Which means he could be one more defeat away from hanging up his cue for good as he contemplates a coaching career rather than head for the amateur ranks next term.

”Never say never, but I think so," he told World Snooker Tour.

"I was 50/50 on playing Q School. I don’t like saying things for definite when I might have a change of heart but it is probably unlikely.

"I’m not sure I could do a year on Q Tour, where there are a lot of good players as well."

Davis will get a second chance to challenge for one of the eight tour cards up for grabs at the city's Mattioli Arena when he takes on Arsenii Korolev of Bulgaria on Thursday, May 29, at 13:00.

He will need to win five matches to extend his 35-year spell on the main World Snooker Tour circuit, an unbroken run which he describes as good fortune.

”I do take a lot of pride in that," said Davis, who has two maximum breaks to his name.

"At the end of the day you turn professional at anything, and you want to earn a living. I’ve had two kids and my wife and I needed to provide for them. I’ve done that.

"I would like to have won a tournament over those 35 years, but I haven’t and that is on me. Some of them I haven’t had the mental strength to get over the line, others maybe could have been different if the balls had gone another way.

"There are no excuses, I don’t know how many tournaments I’ve played in over 35 years, but it is a lot.

"I’ve travelled the world and been to places I’ve never otherwise had gone to play snooker. I’ve been lucky."

Beyond the 'Class of '92' comprising Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams, there are not many professionals on the World Snooker Tour who are still competing at the elite level of the sport at a similar age.

Crucible favourites Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White, the six-time runner-up, and 1997 world champion Ken Doherty have only been able to continue via a wildcard for their services to the sport.

All matches at Q School are the best of seven frames, with eight tour cards up for grabs at both events, which run between Wednesday, May 20 until Sunday, May 31.

Davis was a three-time world champion of the shorter format which is played on a standard table but, as the title suggests, has only six reds in an attempt to make the game faster paced.

When conceived, it was hoped that Six-Red would have a similar impact on snooker as Twenty20 in cricket and Davis became the inaugural world champion in 2009 when he defeated Mark Williams in County Kerry, Ireland.

Davis then went on to defeat Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson in consecutive years, winning the 2012 and '13 finals in Bangkok 8-4. Ding Junhui was the most recent world champion in 2023.

Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here to enjoy more content like this.

The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is HBO Max, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports and entertainment in one destination