Steve Davis is loving snooker now as much as he has done for years, rediscovering the fan within him.
The six-time world champion retired from playing professionally in 2016 but has been a fixture on the BBC coverage of Triple Crown events since.
The 67-year-old admits that his time as a pundit and commentator has not always seen him remain deeply in love with the game he ruled in the 1980s, but that has changed recently.
‘Funnily enough, there was a time a little while I go where I thought, “Oh here we go, World Championship, it doesn’t matter to me who wins. I’ll go up there, do my job and keep my head down”,’ Davis told Metro ahead of this year’s tournament.
‘But as time’s gone on I’m getting more into trying to see who the best players are, who’s going to win it and I’m enjoying it more, remembering what it’s like being a player.
‘I’ve turned a corner, it’s very strange. So I’m looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds. The older players trying to hold back the years, the younger players coming through. It’s a really great time to be a snooker fan now. So many great players.’
Davis has been making the annual trip to the Crucible since his debut there as a player in 1979, a first round defeat to Dennis Taylor which proved not to be their most famous meeting in Sheffield.
The standout memory for the Nugget from that first visit to the iconic theatre was the treatment he got in the national press for eating a ham sandwich during the match.
Before he emerged as a stoic, staid superstar, he was a bad boy!
‘The one thing I remember about my first match at the Crucible. I played Dennis. The newspaper the next day, there was a report that said I brought the game into disrepute by eating a ham sandwich at the table,’ he recalled.
‘What happened was that the match was going on a bit, it was a morning session and it was getting towards the afternoon and I hadn’t eaten since about 7am.
‘The promoter came and asked if I wanted anything, I said “I am a bit hungry, any chance of a ham sandwich?” He brought me a ham sandwich to the table, I was eating it like I was down the snooker club having a practice.
‘The next day in the Daily Star they’d written a thing saying I’d brought the game into disrepute! I was a daredevil back then, I was a bad boy!’
Davis’ involvement in snooker has chiefly been in the media since he hung up his cue, with no interest in coaching or mentoring, but he is very happy to give advice if asked.
Zak Surety, who made his Crucible debut this year, was someone who did go to the Nugget for advice and very much appreciated what he heard, with his career showing great improvement since.
‘I had no desire to be a coach as such on the tour, because standing over a player, watching him play and being in a dressing room is not something I’d get that much enjoyment out of,’ he explained.
‘But if players ask for my opinions on things, I’ve been only too pleased to give them what I think is something that would be of benefit.
‘We [Davis and Surety] sat in a café and we just had a chat and I said try this, see if it works, and it seems like something’s happened eventually.
‘I would only be too pleased to talk to a player about what they feel is right or wrong with their game. But I wouldn’t offer my services as a regular coach.
‘But it was nice. I do know what I’m talking about! But just as some advice, and they can then get on with it.
‘It’s about enjoying it. If you’re not enjoying it you’ve got to work out how to. It’s not just about winning or losing, you’ve got to enjoy being out there. If you’ve got problems with enjoying playing matches, maybe all you need is something to minimise that problem.’
Davis has no issues with enjoying his current role and will not be hanging up the microphone any time soon.
‘I’m enjoying being part of the BBC team, so as long as they’re enjoying it then I’m delighted,’ he said. ‘It’s a great bunch of people, a decent bunch of experts and we all enjoy it.
‘I’m enjoying more watching now than I was 10 years ago. All of a sudden there’s great storylines and so many great matches. Watching players now, you’re forever going “wow, what a shot!” It’s a bombardment. The likes of which snooker fans had never really seen before.
‘The levels have raised. If I can’t enjoy that then there’s something wrong.’