Letter to the Editor: Snooker loopy, technology nuts are we? December 2004  

Source: EMPICS

Dear Editor,

Sport and Technology? Don't make me laugh! Or do I mean cry? Snooker players are the lepers of the sports technology world. Golf and tennis have benefited greatly by advancements, but us? We're not even living in the slow lane! We're parked up on the hard shoulder with a breakdown vehicle nowhere in sight.
OK, the balls are better, the cloth is faster and the cushions are more consistent but we live in fear of the dreaded ‘kick’.
Some people within the game are of the opinion that static electricity is to blame. Me? A far more simple and obvious reason, chalk. We will always have kicks as long as we have chalk.
So my question to Sport and Technology’s readers is this: Why can't somebody invent a chalkless tip? We still play with a piece of wood with a lump of leather stuck on top and then we chalk it with a form of grit in order to get the correct amount of grip on the cue ball.
Please discuss in not more than your own words.

Steve Davis
Six times World Snooker Champion

About Steve Davis
Steve Davis has won a total of 28 ranking and 73 professional tournaments in his career representing 73 wins from 100 finals. His most important wins are the six World Championships, six UK Championships and three Masters. He was the No.1 player in the 1980s, before Stephen Hendry came along. Davis was the first to make a ratified maximum break in a major tournament who had a break of 147 against John Spencer in the Lada Classic at Oldham, Greater Manchester, England on 11 January 1982. Three consecutive century breaks were first compiled in a major tournament by Davis; 108, 101 and 104 at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England on 10 September 1988. Davis is one of only five players to win both the World Championship and the UK Championship in the same year. See also this month's Infostrada Sports Databox for more Steve Davis facts.

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