By Elliott West
“Keep calm and carry on”.
Matthew Stevens
Introduction
Some snooker players can often be forgotten for their brilliance in the mists of time and one such person who fits that bill is Matthew Stevens. In his pomp, the former No. 4 ranked player, scooped two Triple Crown titles, the 2000 Masters, beating Ken Doherty 10-8 in the final and the 2003 UK Championship where he defeated Gerard Greene 9-7, James Wattana 9-6, Paul Hunter 9-3 and Jimmy White 9-7 to set up a mouth-watering final with Stephen Hendry who was a force to be reckoned with. A battle that ended in a 10-8 victory for Matthew. A player who also reached the finals of the 1998 and 1999 UK Championships and was twice a finalist at the World Championship in 2000 and 2005. He also reached the finals of the 2005 Irish Masters, the 2008 Bahrain Championship and the 2013 World Open. A player who has also 8 non-ranking titles to his name including the 1996 Belgian Masters, 1999 Scottish Masters, 2005 Northern Ireland Trophy, 2005 Pot Black and 2011 Championship League.
The Welsh Dragon
Matthew Stevens was born in Carmarthen, South Wales in 1977, a place that I know very well from my university days. A player who turned professional just after the ‘Class of ‘92’ in 1994 but was very much part of that vibe of the Paul Hunter and Ronnie O’Sullivan period. At his height, he could beat anyone and I never forget that battered extension he carried around for years that resembled something that had lost in a fight with Mike Tyson, battered with a few chunks taken out of it. Yet all the while, Stevens was a polished act, fizzing and flowing around the table and someone who could drown you in his mastery of angles.
Stevens is a player who reminds me a lot of Terry Griffiths. Someone who smashed the Triple Crown at the start of his professional career but sadly isn’t mentioned much anymore. That’s not to say Stevens isn’t still a good player because class may dilute with age but at 46 Stevens is still there plugging away in the background. You may not see him so much on the television tables at tournaments but he is often there on one of the outer tables or battling hard in the qualifiers.
Now living in Llanelli, Matthew is still ranked at 45th, a decent position and far from slipping out of the top 64. A player who has compiled 346 centuries and one maximum break in competitive play at the 2012 FFB Snooker Open. Now in his 31st year as a professional, one of the things I most admire about this Welshman is still his sense of drive and determination. It burns like a glowing ember in his soul and still has that crucial sense of belief that he can cut it amongst the snooker elite. A player who has survived the heartbreak of a divorce and bankruptcy and who has earned more than £2 million in career earnings and who is also a demon poker player and has aspirations of being a property mogul.
