AYEW: BREWSTER BOOSTER
ON the eve of the World Championship, Steve Davis recalled the days when he helped to send the country ‘snooker loopy’.
On Friday Judd Trump starts his defence of a title that Davis won six times in the 1980s, making him one of the decade’s most recognisable faces.
Millions were glued to their television screens, watching the unravelling dramas as Davis duelled Alex Higgins, Cliff Thorburn and more.
Barry Hearn, at the time Davis’ manager and currently World Snooker chairman, said that he and Davis “transformed snooker from a pastime to the most popular sport on television”.
Davis was among the country’s bestpaid sportsmen in the 1980s, his reward for topping the world rankings
for seven successive seasons.
“Around the time I was ready to turn professional, television was looking to expand its coverage,” said Davis, now 62 years old.
“I was in the right place at the right time. When I turned professional (in 1978) it wasn’t to make money. I wanted to play at a better standard to improve my game. Three years later, I was world champion and the game had gone bizarre. “Television took snooker by the scruff of the neck, everything went silly. I went from being unknown to being well known and it was a real shock.
“The world was going mad around me when I walked down the high street. But people at my local snooker club would soon shoot me down in flames.”
To his clubmates he was ‘Personality Minus’ and satirical TV show Spitting Image gave him the nickname ‘Interesting’ that was latched on to by a public who willed him to lose.
“I didn’t get upset when people wanted me to lose,” said Davis. “I’m British, so I understood it.”
And the more Davis won, the harder he was to beat. “I got used to winning,” he said. “I was going up to the table expecting to pot balls.”
MANCHESTER
CITY are lining up a shock move for
Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos if Arsenal don’t extend his stay at the Emirates.
Midfielder Ceballos (right), who has impressed this season on loan in north London, has been told he doesn’t have a future at Real. Arsenal would like to keep the Spain international on loan for next season but Real want to raise funds by selling the 23-yearold. That could rule Arsenal out and open the door to boss Mikel Arteta’s previous club City.
JURGEN KLOPP’S secret sporting passion can be revealed – padel tennis. And Pep Lijnders, Klopp’s trusted right-hand man at Liverpool, claims the Kop boss is king of the court – and struts around like flashy Irish UFC star Conor Mcgregor when he wins big in daily games at the club’s
Melwood training ground.
German boss
Klopp and his stars have nailed their first league title in 30 years and will celebrate fully today after their final game of the season at Newcastle.
And while legendary bosses Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley plotted their success in the club’s fabled Boot Room, Dutch coach Lijnders admits some of their best tactical ideas have been hatched while playing this game – a mix of squash and tennis on a small indoor court with glass
RHIAN BREWSTER is ready to out-perform Brentford’s BMW today and park himself in Jurgen Klopp’s Anfield showroom.
That’s the view of Andre Ayew, who says his Swansea City strike partner (right) has the talent to burn off their semi-final opponents’ top-rated front three when they clash at the Liberty Stadium in the first leg of their play-off.
Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Olliewatkins have been walls. Lijnders said: “We started playing about four years ago during our training camp in Tenerife.
“We were playing the game with our staff and a few players.at first we didn’t quite know what a padel court looked like and thought it had to be played a bit like table tennis.
“Our media officer looked up the rules of the game on the internet.we didn’t know he had given us the wrong rules until this Spanish chap came by and asked us what on earth we were doing!
“We said: ‘Playing padel tennis’. He laughed and said: ‘Well, I know one thing – you don’t play it like that!’
“When we got back, the owners built a court for us at Melwood and now we are playing this game almost every day. Jurgen is fanatical about it and he’s good too. But we never say he’s the best out loud, otherwise he starts to walk round like Conor Mcgregor.
“The game has been a nice distraction from our daily routine. And yet sometimes we come up with the best ideas to solve issues during these games.
“We sit down on a bench in between two sets and we discuss solutions for football problems. In fact, we do that a lot.
“When you are constantly playing matches or doing top-level training sessions every day, there is no time to wind down.
“These games are the perfect moments to relax.we are playing dubbed the BMW this season, with 57 Championship goals between them for the Bees. But Ayew says Brewster, on loan from Liverpool, can play at the very top level. Ayew said: “He has goals, speed, power. He’s still young and so he has things to improve on, but when we are talking about a pure finisher and talent in front of goal, then he has it all.”