Editing Joe Davis (section)

==Early life==
Joseph Davis was born in [[Whitwell, Derbyshire]], on 15&nbsp;April 1901, the son of Elizabeth and Fred Davis.{{sfn|Williams|Gadsby|2005|page=16}} His younger brother, [[Fred Davis (snooker player)|Fred]], the youngest of the family's six children, would also grow up to become a professional snooker player.<ref name="ODNB">{{cite ODNB |last=Everton |first=Clive |date=23 September 2004 |title=Davis, Joseph [Joe] |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-31013 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/31013 |access-date=11 May 2020 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903050418/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-31013 |archive-date=3 September 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="EBRIT">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joe-Davis |title=Joe Davis |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=8 July 2019 |access-date=24 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622150512/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joe-Davis |archive-date=22 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> His father was a miner when Joe was born, and had become a publican by the time Joe was two years old, managing the Travellers Rest pub at [[Whittington Moor]].{{sfn|Williams|Gadsby|2005|page=16}} Davis was sent to live with his grandparents in [[Newbold, Derbyshire|Newbold]] for several years. By the time he moved back to live with his parents, his father was the [[Landlord#Licensed victualler|landlord]] of the Queen's Hotel, which had a full-size [[billiard table]].{{sfn|Trelford|1986|p=54}} Davis started playing [[English billiards]] at the age of eleven.<ref name="p1">{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001682/19211119/063/0007 |title=Winning Hazards |newspaper=The Sporting Times |date=19 November 1921 |page=7 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |access-date=25 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> From the age of twelve, he took lessons from Ernest Rudge, a billiards player turned entrepreneur, who lived in [[Chesterfield, Derbyshire|Chesterfield]] and had recently opened a [[billiard hall]] in the town.<ref name="p2">{{cite web |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0001914/19210402/087/0005?browse=true |title=Joe Davis. The Rise of A New Billiards Star. Chesterfield Lad's Promise |newspaper=Sports Special ("The Green 'Un") |date=2 April 1921 |page=5 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |access-date=25 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> The lessons took place at Rudge's private billiard room at the end of his garden.{{sfn|Williams|Gadsby|2005|page=17}} Davis would later manage billiard halls owned either by his family or by Rudge.<ref name="ODNB" /> He scored his first {{cuegloss|century|century break}} in billiards at age twelve in an [[exhibition game]] against J.&nbsp;D. Dickens.<ref name="p1" /><ref name="p2" />
[[File:Claude Falkiner 1915.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|alt=Claude Falkiner, standing with his arms crossed|Claude Falkiner {{circa}} 1915]]
Rudge arranged professional matches at his billiards hall in Chesterfield. In December 1913,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000276/19131219/245/0007?browse=False |title=Billiards. George Gray v C. Falkiner |newspaper=Sheffield Evening Telegraph |date=19 December 1913 |page=7 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |url-access=subscription}}</ref> he hosted a week-long match between the Australian billiards player George Gray, and [[Claude Falkiner]] from [[Featherstone]] in West Yorkshire. Davis acted as the {{cuegloss|spot boy}} for this match, giving him the chance to closely observe the technique of the two professional players. At one point during the week, Rudge asked Gray to give his opinion of Davis. Gray played with a {{cuegloss|stance}} that involved sighting with both eyes centrally over the cue, and with the cue running down the middle of his chin. Davis could not focus with his right eye so he played using a stance in which he rested the cue slightly to the left side of his chin, allowing him to sight along the cue with just his left eye.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003212/19210914/134/0007 |title=A Young Cueman. Davis, of Chesterfield, Comes to Town |newspaper=London Daily News |date=14 September 1921 |page=7 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |access-date=30 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> According to Davis, Gray said of him: "the boy will never be a good player until he alters his sighting."{{sfn|Davis|1976|p=20}} Davis was despondent following Gray's assessment of him. Rudge tried to change Davis's technique and stance to make him play "two-eyed" but, since Davis could not play this way naturally, they decided not to persist in trying to alter this aspect of his style.{{sfn|Davis|1976|pp=20-21}}

At the age of 13, Davis beat Dickens to win the Chesterfield and District Amateur Billiards Championship.<ref name="p2" /> The final score over three evenings was 1,500–1,229 to Davis, who received a trophy, a gold medal and a set of [[billiard ball]]s for making a {{cuegloss|break}} of 115, the highest of the tournament.{{sfn|Davis|1976|p=18}}{{sfn|Everton|1985|pp=108–110}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000250/19141204/196/0010 |title=Chesterfield Championship. Master Davis Beats The Holder |newspaper=[[Sheffield Daily Telegraph]] |date=4 December 1914 |page=10 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |access-date=22 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In February 1915, Rudge organised a match between [[Tom Reece]] and [[Willie Smith (billiards player)|Willie Smith]] at Chesterfield. Reece played a practice game against Davis on the afternoon of 11&nbsp;February, because Smith had a business engagement elsewhere. Davis, who was given a {{cuegloss|handicap}} start of 650 points, defeated Reece 1,000–785.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000250/19150212/223/0010 |title=Thirteen-Year-Old Player's Game With Reece |newspaper=Sheffield Daily Telegraph |date=12 February 1915 |page=10 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |access-date=28 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> At the opening of the Victoria Billiard Hall in [[Hasland]] the same year, Davis played the ex-Yorkshire champion F.&nbsp;W. Hughes of Leeds in an exhibition match. Davis received a handicap start of 200 points, and defeated Hughes 600–370, concluding with an unfinished break of 99.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000395/19150330/059/0003?browse=False |title=Hasland |newspaper=Derbyshire Courier |date=30 March 1915 |page=3 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |access-date=28 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> In an exhibition match at Chesterfield against Falkiner on 14&nbsp;September 1916, he lost 232–400, after being given a 150-point head start.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/BL/0000395/19160916/173/0007?browse=False |title=Billiards |newspaper=Derbyshire Courier |date=16 September 1916 |page=7 |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]] |access-date=30 March 2021 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>