Matthew Stevens looks back philosophically on an up and down career so far, but is clear that it is far from finished yet, both on the professional tour and now the Seniors circuit.
The 47-year-old became an iconic player in the late 1990s and early 2000s as he routinely reached the latter stages of the sport’s biggest tournaments.
Winning the UK Championship and Masters were the highlights, but two Crucible final defeats left him agonisingly close to becoming world champion.
It is 22 years since his one and only ranking title, but sees the Seniors as a good chance to lift trophies again, starting with the new British Seniors Open, starting on Boxing Day in Derby.
The Welshman will play alongside Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, Joe Perry, Dominic Dale, Alfie Burden and two as-yet-unannounced stars, who Stevens is hoping will be further past their peak than some candidates.
‘I’m not getting any younger, so the more opportunities the better and it’ll be a good opportunity,’ Stevens told Metro of his Seniors debut.
‘I don’t know if Mark [Williams] or John [Higgins] are going to be in this tournament. With the change of the rules to all over-40s there could be some big names. You’ve got Bingham, Selby, Higgins, well, most of the top 16, to be honest. So I hope it’s Tony Knowles and Neal Foulds!’
Stevens is not the force he once was but is still extremely capable and has started the new season well, unbeaten in eight matches.
‘It’s been a good start to the season,’ he said. ‘I felt like I was hitting the ball well.
‘What you’ve seen with Joe Perry and Rob Milkins winning tournaments in the last few years, that does give you a boost, seeing them win. You feel you can do it yourself.’
If Stevens were to triumph again it would be a very popular story as he has been viewed as an underachiever in the sport, partly due to tragic circumstances.
His father Morrell unexpectedly died in 2001, which was a turning point in his life, while the loss of great friend Paul Hunter in 2006 was also an extremely difficult and impactful experience.
Snooker has become less of a serious pursuit due to those tragedies and Stevens accepts that he has looked to enjoy himself more than really knuckle down to achieve success.
Speaking last season, friend of the Welshman Stephen Maguire said both players could have won more tournaments with more focus.
‘As me and Matthew Stevens say, we’ve got stories,’ said Maguire. ‘Not a lot of the boys have got stories, they’ve got titles but they’ve not got stories. Maybe it’s a good thing, I don’t know.’
Asked if he sees it that way, Stevens said: ‘Yeah, I suppose. I think we’ve had too much fun to be dominant in the game, but having said that, I wouldn’t change anything.
‘I’ve lived my life and that’s the way it is, but I’ve had an up and down career off the table. So I don’t really take the game too seriously.
‘Maybe if things would have been slightly different off the table then my attitude would have been different, that’s the way I look at it but I’ve enjoyed my career and hopefully I can still win one or two more things.’
Explaining how much Morrell’s death impacted his career, he said: ‘Obviously my dad used to go everywhere with me and when he passed away, that really took the edge off.
‘I still reached World finals and stuff after that, I won the UK after that. But I wasn’t playing as much, I was just too inconsistent.
‘When I did lose, it didn’t really hurt it at all and that really hasn’t changed. Obviously, you don’t want to lose, and it does hurt for about 10 minutes afterwards, but that’s about it. But that’s the way life is, you know, things happen.’
Stevens has tried to work with experts on improving his mentality for the game, but without much success.
‘I did try it, but trying to talk sense into me, that’s quite a hard thing to do,’ he said. ‘I do psychologists’ heads in after 10 minutes and they just sack me off! You can’t work out what’s going on in my head.’
It is far from doom and gloom, though, with a career to date that most players ever to pick up a cue would be absolutely thrilled with.
Both on the professional tour and now in World Seniors action, Stevens is also clear to point out that he still believes he can lift trophies again.
‘I’ve done all right,’ he said of his career so far. ‘A couple of World finals, won the UK, three UK finals, obviously won the Masters as well. I can’t complain. I would have liked to have done more, but I’m not finished yet.
‘I still love competing. Going up to Sheffield for the World Championship qualifiers especially. It’s more of a challenge more than anything now. I enjoy playing the better players, youngsters coming through to show that I can still play. And that’s when I think I do actually perform better.’
It won’t be youngsters he takes on at Vaillant Live in Derby on 26-28 December, but there will be a chance to become the British Seniors Open champion, live on Channel 5.