By Elliott West
Introduction
Paul Davies was a very good player in his time and recently appeared again as a substitute in the Snooker Shootout. Playing Mark Williams, he started off well but perhaps the television atmosphere got to him because in the end his errors caught up with, scuppering his chances and letting his opponent off the hook.
A professional player from 1991-2011, Davies was one of a large group who were in touching distance of winning silverware but never quite achieved their goal. Born in Wales in 1970, Paul was mentored by Bert Garland and reached two Pro-Am finals. No mean feat for someone who reached 35th in the world rankings and reached one major semi-final.
Career
Paul Davies made an immediate impact when he attained his professional status reaching two semi-finals in his first three seasons – the 1991 Dubai Classic and the 1993 Asian Open, losing to John Parrott and Dave Harold respectively. However this unfortunately was his best run in his time on the main tour. Davies never qualified for the World Championship, losing in the final qualifying round four times.
In 1997 he was runner up to Andy Hicks in the Benson and Hedges qualifiers, losing 6-9 in the final round. This frustratingly denied him a place at the wildcard stage at Wembley. He also reached the quarter- final of the 1997 Welsh Open, beating Dave Harold, Chris Small and Ken Doherty before losing to Mark Williams 5-3.
In the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy, Paul came close to defeating Ding Junhui, losing 4-5 to the eventual champion in the last 48. He went on to qualify for the 2007 Grand Prix, defeating Jamie Cope and Stephen Hendry, knocking Hendry out of the tournament but he lost his other three matches and went on to finish in 5th place in his group.
Davies had a good run in the 2007 UK Championship with wins over Kurt Maflin 9-6, Mark Davis 9-8 and defeated Dominic Dale 9-3 to reach the last 32 and earn a place in the televised stages. He went on to play Shaun Murphy and managed to keep the match tight, levelling at 4-4 but as all true champions do, Murphy found that extra gear and won the match 9-5.
Summary
Paul Davies fell off the tour in 2011 but should be proud of his efforts. A player who although was denied silverware, still managed to go deep into multiple tournaments and did win the 2006 TCC Open Snooker Championship, defeating Mark Williams 7-4. A player who made £286,700 in career earnings and had highest break of 142 in the 1993 Benson and Hedges Challenge. Someone who certainly wasn’t a pushover and one to watch out for by an opponent in any tournament of his day.
