Steve Davis not only showed the other side of his personality, but the other side of the sport in Saturday's sixth T&A Regal Snooker Classic at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre.

Some may have expected the six-times world champion to play second fiddle to John Virgo in the entertainment stakes during the exhibition, but Davis was the leading light.

And that went for the snooker too, as the 42-year-old triumphed 4-3, making breaks of 96, 41, 33, 64, 43, 44 and 47.

Only in the last frame did former UK champion Virgo, 54 next month, show the fluency that took him into the world's top ten in 1979.

He had earlier had efforts of 39, 28 and 29, but they were eclipsed by his smooth 72.

Virgo was, however, suffering from a stiff neck - "I just slept funny last night," he admitted afterwards.

Davis, who kept the crowd entertained throughout with his reaction to MC Alan Hughes' information on the frame sponsors, said after the exhibition was over: "That was good fun. It shows the other side of snooker."

The evening began, in front of a near-capacity crowd, with the T&A amateur champion Howard Mawson facing Davis over one frame.

The 28-year-old from Idle went in-off on the break, and Davis - winner of over 70 major titles - was soon 21-1 ahead, engaging in banter with referee Rick Sands about when the audience could take flash photographs.

"Could you please not take photographs when the players are down on their shots?" said the former professional wrestler and stunt man.

"What constitutes down on your shot?," quipped Davis. "What if I'm half-way down?"

A 28 break helped extend his lead to 56-1, only for a missed blue to let Regal Snooker Club member Mawson in for a reply of 25.

There, and in potting pink and blue to make the final score 70-39, Mawson again showed he could play a bit. The black meant he had bettered his score of 1995 against Jimmy White, when he lost 76-32.

"I thought I would be nervous, but once I got to the table I relaxed," said Mawson.

"It is all about having fun and having a good night, and in Steve you have one of the best entertainers."

The laughs continued in the one-frame doubles that followed, Prestige Windows duo Andy Halliday and Nigel Beck pairing up with Davis and Virgo respectively.

"We're the sleeves rolled-up team and you're the sleeves rolled-down team," shouted Davis to Virgo.

Beck, 28, then fired in a tremendous double after some coaching by Virgo, but Davis' 40 break was telling as the Davis-Halliday combination won 79-24.

After coming off second best in the exhibition, Virgo came into his own with the trick shots - nearly all of which worked first time incidentally - and impressions.

It doesn't matter how many times you have seen the Salford man 'do' Terry Griffiths, Dennis Taylor or Alex Higgins, he has got the mannerisms off to a tee.

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