Tales of Terry

[pottr]

Mr Davidson, last night I was speaking with a Mr Maurice Redding and we were discussing great players to have played in the Hinckley League...

I then sat quietly and listened to a tale of a man (whose name he couldn't quite remember) who had hammered him in the individuals one snowy night in Glenfield. The snow was that bad he wasn't going to go.

I guessed it was you immediately but kept quiet and allowed him to build your legend within the story. "This guy" he said "was a practice partner of Cliff Thorburn"

He told me how you broke off, snookered him, he played into the pack and you snookered him again. He escaped and you won the frame with a 93 break from nowhere.
Second frame, he broke off and you made fifty... Snookered him and cleared up with sixty odd.

In his words... "I'd never seen anything like it" Best of three!

When I told him your name, you should have seen his face light up. He's told the story to a few and no one could quite remember your exact name.

I did giggle when he called you Tony Davidson or Terry Davis... He was nearly there.

Anyway... Thought it was a nice story.

Jack

[mythman69]

I didn't know Terry was a practice partner for Cliff Thorburn . . .

Great post!

[j6uk]

Its not like Tel to keep a story like that quite
I remember him saying he would get a call from Willy Thorn for practice sessions, on the condition that he broke-off every frame and was only aloud to smash the pack from the back, then Willy would clear.
Another good story..

I didn't know Terry was a practice partner for Cliff Thorburn . . .

Great post!

[scottley]

Yeah, nice story.

[mythman69]

Its not like Tel to keep a story like that quite
I remember him saying he would get a call from Willy Thorn for practice sessions, on the condition that he broke-off every frame and was only aloud to smash the pack from the back, then Willy would clear.
Another good story..

He should have played with Shaun Budd . . . he loved smashing the pack on the break.

[chrissmall147]

Bit off a legend is our terry. Go on my son.

[pottr]

Bit off a legend is our terry. Go on my son.

High praise indeed from someone with your pedigree Chris... And thoroughly deserved. I don't think Terry gets enough kudos for his enthusiasm and wealth of knowledge he shares with the forum.

I didn't know Terry was a practice partner for Cliff Thorburn . . .

Neither did I and my source may have been confused... The man himself will be able to confirm/deny.

[DeanH]

I didn't know Terry was a practice partner for Cliff Thorburn . . .

Great post!

maybe it was a case of "he's from Canada so he must be a practice partner for Cliff Thorburn..."
cant wait for TD to reply to this, great story

[pottr]

I don't think the guy I was speaking to had any knowledge that of Terry's Canadian connection.

[itsnoteasy]

Great thread Pottr, well done Terry, this makes what you put up with off us duffers in the coaching section even more remarkable, thank you so much for your time and patience, I know I couldn't do it.

[Terry Davidson]

pottr (& all):

I had completely forgotten this part of my somewhat bumpy career, so I went downstairs and checked my trophies and sure enough I did win the individual in that league. I was never a constant practice partner for Cliff although I have practiced with him both in Canada and also in England when he lived there. Also, as j6uk says, I did practice with Willy Thorne quite often and although some of it was serious, Willy for the most part liked to run balls and he did that very well after an open break from the back of the pack.

I'm sure a lot of people didn't believe me when I said I could play an awful lot better in the 80's and I'm happy to have some support and confirmation, but even at that standard I didn't quite qualify to play one of the pros for their tickets although I came close one season. I also won the Leicester County Championships in 1986.

The likes of Steve James, David Roe, Gary Wilkinson, Martin Clark, Gary Filtness, Steve Ventham, Paul Fryatt, Robert Marshall (member on here), Stefan Mazrocis, Mark Johnson-Allen, Nigel Gilbert, Andy Snell, Mark Bennett, Jeff Cundy, Joe Grech, Paul Tanner, Alan Trigg, Darren Morgan, Jim McNellan, Nigel Bond, Jimmy Allen, George Wood, and a host of others were my weekly competition on the pro-am circuit that existed then. Believe me, competition was TOUGH and I believe that really helped my own game improve. Most of those players listed above went on to become professional with a few of them getting into the top 16 or even the top 8 I believe in Darren Morgan's and Gary Wilkinson's case.

Probably a lot of you won't recognize a lot of those names although some of them are still around and still playing pretty well, like Nigel Bond and I believe Gary Wilkinson played in the Seniors thing along with Darren Morgan.

Terry

[DeanH]

some great names in the list there

[j6uk]

I do doubt you Tel but, even if I didn't I'd still give you a bit of 80grit because its in my nature
Two things are for sure: I'm a snook so, there is nothing in our tugs on my behalf and two., You do love too 'drop a name knobby'

The likes of Steve James, David Roe, Gary Wilkinson, Martin Clark, Gary Filtness, Steve Ventham, Paul Fryatt, Robert Marshall (member on here), Stefan Mazrocis, Mark Johnson-Allen, Nigel Gilbert, Andy Snell, Mark Bennett, Jeff Cundy, Joe Grech, Paul Tanner, Alan Trigg, Darren Morgan, Jim McNellan, Nigel Bond, Jimmy Allen, George Wood, and a host of others were my weekly competition on the pro-am circuit that existed then. Believe me, competition was TOUGH and I believe that really helped my own game improve. Most of those players listed above went on to become professional with a few of them getting into the top 16 or even the top 8 I believe in Darren Morgan's and Gary Wilkinson's case.


Terry

[itsnoteasy]

Don't want to bring a downer on it, but how far away from that standard are you now Terry?, and if you are below it what do you think is holding you back, apart from old age lol(sorry couldn't resist that one).

[Terry Davidson]

itsnoteasy:

I gave the game up for 10 years and got back to it in 2005. So besides a ton of really bad flaws I just don't have the stamina it takes to play multiple matches in one day. I also think as you age you lose a lot of your hand-eye coordination which makes it difficult unless you have a technique with very few moving parts to coordinate which I'm only reaching now.

It's very difficult to compete at 68yrs old against some of these 'hard bellies' as Lee Travino said about golf but I enjoy playing in tournaments anyway and love the game.

Terry