Snooker legend boldly snubs Stephen Hendry from all-time top three 'standard' list in controversial call

Davis - who won the World Snooker Championship title at the Crucible Theatre six times in the 1980s - has been working with BBC Sport for its live broadcast of this year’s flagship event in Sheffield.

During the mid-session interval of the match between world number one Judd Trump and Gary Wilson on Tuesday night, there was a video segment with Mark Selby ahead of his opening round encounter with Jak Jones the next day.

After the package ended, Davis - who was in the studio along with presenter Seema Jaswal - praised Selby, whom he feels doesn’t receive enough credit for his achievements in the sport.

‘The Nugget’ said: “He’s probably the most underrated player in the game by the general public who don’t watch enough snooker to realise how talented he is.”

Davis went further with his acclaim for the Leicester cueman, saying: “I think he’s top three standard, ever: Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins, and Mark Selby

“Astonishing standard he can produce, relentless stuff, and once he’s in the zone, what a player.”

Looking at the stats and facts of snooker’s most successful

It is difficult to compare different eras in sport, and this was a bold call from 68-year-old Davis, who decided to leave out Hendry from his podium.

Following on from Ray Reardon’s success in the 1970s, Davis took the standard of snooker to a new level in the 1980’s with his work ethic and professionalism. As well as his six world titles, throughout his long, illustrious career Davis won six UK Championships and three Masters.

‘The Plumstead Potter’ was the first player to win all three ‘Triple Crown’ titles, and the first to win all three within the same season. Davis compiled the first official maximum 147 break in professional competition in 1982, and was world number one consecutive for nearly seven years.

His reign at the top of the global standings was taken away by Hendry, who was the undisputed king of the sport in the 1990s, as he remained as the world number one for over eight years - a record that still stands today.

A 21-year-old Hendry became snooker’s youngest-ever world champion in 1990 - another record he still holds - and he won an incredible 29 consecutive matches at the Crucible between 1992 to 1997, another benchmark he retains.

The seven-times world snooker champion from Scotland - who also won 5 UK and 6 Masters crowns - broke century and 147 break records, although a lot of his achievements have since been eclipsed by O’Sullivan, who is aiming to claim a modern-day record eighth world title in the coming weeks in Sheffield.

Looking at the statistics alone, it is difficult to see why Davis has rated both Higgins and Selby above Hendry on his list, but its likely a nod to rising standards within the sport since the turn of the millennium, with pundits saying that levels across the professional player roster are higher than ever before.

Both Higgins and Selby are four-time world champions - they’ve also reached multiple other Crucible finals.

Higgins - who makes up the fabled ‘Class of 92’ triumvirate along with O’Sullivan and Mark Williams - was the player who stopped compatriot Hendry’s long, unbroken spell as world number one when he secured his maiden world championship title in 1998.

Further Crucible crowns arrived in 2007, 2009 and 2011, meaning he has tasted glory in snooker’s blue riband event in three different decades - and he is going for four in 2026. Higgins has nine Triple Crown titles to his name (3 x UK Championship, 2 x Masters), and the 50-year-old nearly added to that count when he made the Masters final at the Alexandra Palace in January.

Selby is in an elite band of players who have won back-to-back World Snooker Championship titles at the Crucible, a feat he realised across 2016 & 2017. Only Davis, Hendry, and O’Sullivan are the other members of that club.

‘The Jester from Leicester’ is also in an exclusive group along with those aforementioned three cueman to have double figures in terms of Triple Crown event titles. Selby won his third UK Championship crown last December when he defeated world number one and then-reigning champion Judd Trump in the final. That was his tenth TC accolade.

Snooker’s world ranking system has been very different since the turn of the last decade - when the Barry Hearn administration came in - with the set-up more dynamic as the rankings get updated after every ranked event. Under this format, Selby has - by some distance - the longest unbroken streak as world number one when he was in front for over four years between 2015 to 2019.