Snooker icon Steve Davis was forced to bite his tongue after BBC presenter Hazel Irvine brought up the 1985 Black Ball Final. As Wu Yize and Shaun Murphy's epic World Snooker Championship final went to a deciding frame, Irvine reminded viewers that this was just the fourth time in the competition that such an instance had occurred.
During a break from the action, cameras cut to Irvine, who was sitting opposite Davis and John Parrot in the BBC studio. Irvine pointed to Davis and claimed he knew all too well about what a deciding frame meant, reminding the snooker hero of his chastening defeat to Dennis Taylor in the 1985 final, which went to a decider. The 68-year-old then feigned to wipe sweat from his brow and bit his tongue as Parrott jokingly asked Irvine: "Did you have to? Did you really have to? [Bring that up]"
Davis was the defending champion in 1985. He led Taylor 9-1 in the best-of-35-frame final, only for Taylor to recover to tie the scores at 11-11, 15-15 and then 17-17.
Their stunning 68-minute deciding frame concluded with a fight for the last black ball. The duo's battle was estimated to have attracted 18.5million viewers in the UK.
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The mere mention of the defeat is enougn to being back bad memories for the six-time champion. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2015, Davis claimed the turning point of the iconic match with Taylor was not the tussle for the black, but actually a green ball in the ninth frame, when he was leading the tie 8-0.
"If ever I was going to have therapy, it would not be about the black," Davis said. "Anybody could miss a ball under pressure. The green was a different story because I didn't need to play it. I should have played safe and waited for a better chance.
"If there is one shot in my whole career I want to go back and play again, it is that one. I missed it and it let Dennis in. Dennis loves it, of course. We say that every opportunity he gets in the commentary box he somehow manages to turn the conversation around to the '85 final."
After an epic battle on Sunday, Wu headed into the Monday session with a 10-7 lead. However, Murphy hit back in stunning fashion, winning the first five frames as he moved 12-10 ahead.
After going blow for blow and eventually being tied at 17-17, Wu sealed victory with a break of 85. After the clash, he said: "Since the first session I was feeling nerves all the time. So right now I just want to go to bed. I have been trying to go for the strength for ages. For the past month I have been leading the same life, I am so happy I could get this done today."
Showing great grace in defeat, Murphy acknowledged Wu's performance. The 'Magician' said: "I'd like to be the first to congratulate Wu Yize and his family, and everyone around him for being a wonderful world champion."
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