The greatest final ever told

In 1985, snooker was at its height of popularity and the game was watched by millions on television. The final that year was between a youthful Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor who was hungry to pick up this esteemed silverware.

Davis was the snooker poster boy and had been schooled by Barry Hearn to become a potting machine. First winning the title in 1981, he had lost very little apart from a crushing first round defeat to Tony Knowles 10-1 in the opening round of the 1982 World Championship.

Taylor who had nearly missed out in the 1979 final to Terry Griffiths was a seasoned player, having risen through the ranks, coming over from Ireland with a young Alex Higgins to play in exhibitions and working men’s clubs for next to no money.

When the final arrived in 1985, Steve Davis was clear favourite and took a clear lead to go into the final session. Taylor who had recently lost his Mother looked out of the Championship and didn’t look capable of overcoming this heavy lead of 11-8.

However mental attrition seemed to kick into the match and Taylor started to chip away at Davis and managed to level the game at 11-11. Both players showed signs of nervousness with the game swinging between the two camps with a final tie on 17-17.

So it came down to the final frame and Steve Davis was in with an early chance of winning with David leading 62-44 with only four colours left on the table. However he missed the brown and Taylor was able to pot it at long range followed by a difficult blue and pink.

So the final frame was decided on the final black with 18.5 million viewers willing for their favourite to pot it. Davis went for the pot down the cushion but the black stayed out and Dennis Taylor potted it.

So snooker history was made with Northern Ireland winning the day again, recapturing the two wins by Alex Higgins 1973 and 1982. The match ended at a staggering 12.23 am on a Monday morning.