Joe Davis
 |
|
| Born |
15 April 1901 Whitwell, Derbyshire |
|---|---|
| Died | 10 July 1978 (aged 77) Hampshire |
| Sport country |
 England
|
| Professional | 1919–1964 |
| Highest break | 147 (1955) |
| Century breaks | 687 |
| Tournament wins | |
| Major | 22 |
| World Champion | 1927–1940, 1946 |
Joseph "Joe" Davis, OBE (15 April 1901 – 10 July 1978) was an English professional snooker and English billiards player. He was the dominant figure in snooker from the 1920s. He won the first 15 World Championships from 1927 to 1946. After his 1946 victory he no longer played in the World Championship but continued to play in other tournaments and exhibition matches and remained the most well-known player until the late 1950s. He was also World Billiards Champion 4 times between 1928 and 1932.
Joe Davis became a professional billiards player at the age of 18, having won the Chesterfield Championship at age 13. In 1926 he reached his first World Professional Billiards Championship final but was unsuccessful against defending champion Tom Newman. He reached the final again the following year and was runner-up again to the same opponent. It was to be a case of third time lucky for Davis when he defeated Newman in 1928 to become the world champion at English billiards for the first time. He would defend his title for the next three years – against Newman again in 1929 and 1930 and New Zealander Clark McConachy in 1932. He contested the final two more times in 1933 and 1934 losing on both occasions to Australian Walter Lindrum.
Coinciding with his peak as a billiards player, Davis's interests shifted to snooker and he helped to organise the first snooker world championship in 1927 and won the tournament by beating Tom Dennis, for which he won UK£6 10s. He went on to win the world championship every year until 1940. Joe's brother Fred, twelve years his junior, was also a snooker player and multiple World Champion. When Joe met Fred in the world championship final of 1940, Joe won 37–36.
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