Dennis Taylor has hinted that his old rival Steve Davis may opt to retire after his miserable run of recent form.
Former world champion waits to see if old rival will quit
Dennis Taylor has hinted that his old rival Steve Davis may opt to retire after his miserable run of recent form.
The six-time world champion has reached the main draw in only one out of seven tournaments this season as he has struggled to make it through qualifying.
Davis will also miss out on the upcoming Betfred.com World Championship after suffering a 10-2 thrashing by Stephen Lee in the qualifiers.
And Taylor says that the 53-year-old, who reached the last eight of the World Championship in 2010, may find it difficult to continue if he cannot improve.
"It'll be interesting to see if Steve plays on next year. When I retired it was because playing in qualifiers killed you," he said.
Small crowds
"Suddenly you were in a squash-court environment, with seats for about a dozen people. I just couldn't get used to that. It ended the careers for a few players."
The 1985 world champion retired in 2000 at the age of 51, admitting he no longer had what it took to compete with the best.
"I retired because I was treading water. Playing in qualifiers was the final straw. Steve has still been enjoying playing," Taylor said.
Davis also failed to qualify for the World Championship in 2001 and 2002 before experiencing several years of improved results, even reaching the UK Championship final in 2005.
Taylor added: "It's tough for the first couple of years when you're not there.
"It took a couple of years before I got used to being there but not playing, even though I'd retired at that stage."
