Kirk Stevens

Kirk Stevens
birthday	17th August 1958 (age 62)
place of birth	Toronto
nationality	Canada
professional	1978-1993; 1998/99
Prize money	£ 296,634
Highest break	147 ( Masters 1984 )
Century Breaks	26th
Main tour successes
World championships	-
Ranking tournament victories	-
Minor tournament victories	-
World rankings
Highest WRL place	4 ( 84/85 )

Kirk Stevens (born August 17, 1958 in Toronto ) is a former professional snooker player from Canada .

Career

Beginnings

Stevens started playing snooker when he was ten. After quickly playing his first Century Break , at the age of twelve he had the chance to play a game against his idol Cliff Thorburn for two dollars , which he however lost. As a 15-year-old, Stevens made some extra money playing snooker matches.

As an 18-year-old Stevens took part in the pro-am event Canadian Open , in which he failed against world champion Alex Higgins . A year later he lost to Ray Reardon in the same tournament . In the same year he took part for the first time in the Canadian Snooker Championship , but he lost to professional player Cliff Thorburn. The next year he defeated Thorburn before becoming Canadian champions with a 10-6 win over Robert Paquette. Also in 1978 he reached the semi-finals of the amateur world championship , in which he lost to Cliff Wilson . Around the same time he became a professional player.

First professional years

Even in his first year as a professional , Stevens had no luck at the Canadian Open , he lost directly to the Englishman Tony Meo . As part of the snooker world championship, he won a victory over eight-time world champion John Pulman , after he had already defeated the South African Roy Amdor . In the semifinals he was eliminated from Fred Davis , who was also eight-time world champion. For the coming season he placed 19th in the world rankings .

The following season , Stevens defeated Joe Johnson from England and Dennis Taylor from Northern Ireland at the Canadian Open , before losing to Terry Griffiths in the semifinals . After an unsuccessful participation in Bombay International he reached the semi-finals in the Canadian professional championship after defeating Mario Morra , in which he was defeated by Jim Wych . Shortly thereafter, he became the youngest semi-finalist at a World Cup when he reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship with victories over David Greaves , Mike Hallett , Graham Miles , John Spencer and Eddie Charlton before being eliminated by Alex Higgins . At the end of the season he was invited to the Pontins Camber Sands , where he was eliminated from Doug Mountjoy . In 1980 he also took part in the Pontins Camber Sands Open , a pro-am tournament, in which he had to admit defeat to Bob Harris . On the world rankings, he made it to 11th place.

He also reached the final of the World Challenge Cup with the Canadian team , which he lost 5-8 against the Welsh team.

At the start of the next season , Stevens reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Open with victories over Kenny Shea and Frank Jonik , in which he failed to Cliff Thorburn. After two unsuccessful participations in the Champion of Champions and Pot Black as well as an opening defeat at the Masters , he won the game for third place at the Tolly Cobbold Classic against Alex Higgins. After another opening defeat and a semi-final defeat at the Yamaha Organs Trophy , he reached the end of the season with a victory over John Dunning the last sixteen of the Snooker World Championship , which he lost to Dennis Taylor. On the world rankings Stevens improved by one place.

Slow rise to the top of the world and drug scandal in 1985

At the beginning of the 1981/82 season , Stevens reached the round of 16 of the International Open and - after two opening defeats at other tournaments - that of the UK Championships . After being eliminated from a group of the International Masters , he moved into the quarterfinals of the World Snooker Championship with victories over Jack Fitzmaurice and Patsy Fagan , in which, however, he had to admit defeat to Jimmy White . On the world rankings, he managed to improve from four places, so that he reached sixth place. He also won the World Team Classic with the Canadian team led by Cliff Thorburn and Bill Werbeniuk 4-2 against the English team .

With the beginning of the 1982/83 season , in addition to the snooker world championship , further tournaments gradually became ranked tournaments over the coming seasons. So Stevens reached the semifinals of the International Open , which had been appointed to the ranking tournament, in which he failed, however, to Tony Knowles . After two restrained results, he reached the semi-finals of the Classics with wins over Tony Knowles and Cliff Thorburn , which only became a ranking tournament in 1984. In the semifinals there, however, he lost to his compatriot Bill Werbeniuk . He then lost his opening match at the Masters and retired early from the International Masters before he reached the quarterfinals of the World Snooker Championship at the end of the season with victories over Mick Fisher and Perrie Mans , in which he failed to Cliff Thorburn. Nevertheless, he fell one place on the world rankings to seventh place.

The following season began for Stevens with a semi-final defeat at the Australian Masters , before he won the Canadian professional championship with a 9-8 win over Frank Jonik . After a non-fighting task at the International Open , he reached the quarter-finals at the Professional Players Tournament , which he lost to Tony Meo . After two restrained tournaments he reached the quarterfinals at the Classic after victories over the two Scottish players Eddie McLaughlin and Murdo MacLeod , in which he lost again to Tony Meo. Shortly afterwards he defeated the Englishmen David Taylor and Steve Davis (who would later go down as the "Dominator of the 1980s" in snooker history) at the Masters , before losing to Jimmy White 4-6. In this game, of all things, he played the third officially recognized maximum break in the ninth frame (before that only Steve Davis played some in 1982 and Cliff Thorburn in 1983). For Stevens it was the only career maximum. He then reached the semi-finals of the Tolly Cobbold Classics before he was eliminated from the International Masters in the group stage. At the end of the season he reached the semi-finals of the Snooker World Championship with a victory over Ray Reardon, among other things , which he lost to Jimmy White at 14:16 (for White there would be the first of a total of six World Cup final defeats). As a result, he climbed to fourth place in the world rankings.

In the following season 1984/85 he reached the finals of the New Zealand Masters right at the beginning , where he had to admit defeat to Jimmy White. After several restrained tournament finals, Stevens reached the quarter-finals at the Grand Prix , in which he was defeated by Dennis Taylor , who was to win the World Cup final at the end of the season, which was to go down in snooker history under various names. He then moved into the semi-finals of the UK Championship , this time losing to Steve Davis (who should lose in the World Cup final at the end of the season). In the new year he reached the round of 16 at the Classic before losing the opening match at the Masters .

It was followed by Stevens' career high point, which should develop into a career low. At the British Open he defeated Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor, among others, so that for the first time in his career he should move into a final of a ranking tournament. He lost this with 9:12 against the South African Silvino Francisco , after he had already led 0: 5 and Stevens had come up to 8: 9. But already during the final, this high point developed into a low point: Francisco - who like Stevens lived near Chesterfield - had heard from a friend that Stevens was under the influence of stimulants during the final. Francisco confronted Stevens while using the toilet, i.e. during a break in the game, with the accusation, which a reporter from Daily Star overheard and recorded. After an opening defeat at the Irish Masters , the World Snooker Championship began . On the first day of the World Cup, the Daily Star featured this first snooker drug scandal as a cover story. As a result, Stevens admitted being addicted to cocaine and having put about £ 250,000 into the addiction in the past six years . Still, Stevens only won about 52% of his games; of 140 professional games by the end of the 1984/85 season, he had only won 73. Stevens began therapy in his Canadian homeland in the summer of 1985, but his career continued to decline. Ironically, Silvino Francisco was convicted of smuggling cannabis in 1997 and sentenced to three years in prison. For Stevens the season ended with a World Cup round of 16 defeat by John Parrott and the deterioration by one place to fifth in the world rankings.

Crash to world number 68

After a bad start to the 1985/86 season , Stevens made it to the quarter-finals at both the Grand Prix and the UK Championship , which he lost to Tony Knowles and Dennis Taylor . After a defeat at the beginning of the Classic , he reached the final of the Belgian Classics invitation tournament . He then lost his opening match at the Masters before reaching the round of 16 at the British Open and losing to Willie Thorne . At the end of the season, Stevens reached the quarterfinals of the World Snooker Championship after victories over Dean Reynolds and Eddie Charlton , but he drew the short straw against Tony Knowles. On the world rankings he slipped four more places to ninth place. He also lost with the Canadian team in the 1986 World Cup final against the Irish team around Alex Higgins, Dennis Taylor and Eugene Hughes .

At the beginning of the next season , Stevens reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Professional Championship and the Scottish Masters before losing his opening games in the first two ranking tournaments of the season. After a second round defeat at the UK Championship , he reached the final of Pot Black , in which he had to admit defeat to Jimmy White . After two more restrained tournaments, he moved into the round of 16 at the British Open for the second time in a row, which he lost to David Taylor . At the end of the season, Stevens lost his opening games at the World Snooker Championship, among other things , so that he slipped to the 21st place in the world rankings. He also failed for the second time in a row with the Canadian team in the final of the World Cup against the Irish team.

At the start of the 1987/88 season , Stevens moved into the semi-finals of the Canadian Professional Championship , in which he lost to Jim Bear . After an opening defeat, he reached the round of 32 at the Grand Prix and the UK Championship , before two further opening defeats in ranking tournaments followed. At the end of the season he moved with a 10: 7 win over the Welsh Mark Bennett in the main round of the Snooker World Championship , but he was immediately defeated by his compatriot Cliff Thorburn. On the world rankings Stevens lost another 16 places, so that he slipped to 37th place.

In the next season Stevens reached in all ranked tournaments only the round of the last 64, only in the UK Championship he lost only in the round of 32 and at the British Open he lost his opening game. This resulted in a fall to 50th in the world rankings.

This downward trend continued in the 1989/90 season. It wasn't until the UK Championship at the end of November that he won his first game; he moved as a result with wins over Nick Dyson and John Virgo in the round of 32, where he lost to Mark Bennett. At the British Open he won another game, but after defeating Jim Meadowcroft he lost directly to Steve Davis . Overall, he won only three of 13 games during the season, so that at the end of the season he fell to 68th place in the world rankings.

Short-term establishment in the top 50 and temporary end of professional career

The 1990/91 season began with a move into the round of 16 of the Grand Prix , before he reached the round of 64 of the Dubai Classics between two opening defeats and lost there against 48-year-old Doug Mountjoy . After two second round defeats at the Classic and the World Masters , he reached the round of 32 at the British Open , in which he drew the short straw against Tony Jones . At the end of the season he lost his opening match in qualifying for the World Snooker Championship after a second round entry at the European Open . As a result, Stevens improved by 10 places in the world rankings and ended the season in world number 58.

At the start of the next season , too , Stevens ensured a good result; when he reached the round of 32 of the Dubai Classics . After a series of defeats at the beginning, he moved into the last 64 at the Classic , in which he lost 5-0 to his compatriot Bob Chaperon . After another defeat at the beginning, Stevens also reached the same round at the Welsh Open in which he lost again with 0: 5 - against Silvino Francisco of all places . At the end of the season he reached the very last (and for him third) qualifying round of the snooker world championship after an opening defeat and two second round defeats , where he failed in the decider against James Wattana from Thailand . Nevertheless, he lost a place in the world rankings, so that he was listed in 59th place in the next season.

But in the next season Stevens did not find the shape of the previous season. During the entire season he won only one game in ten games: In the UK Championship , he defeated the Scots Drew Henry . Because of these - not necessarily clear, but nevertheless numerous - opening defeats Stevens slipped ten places in the world rankings, which is why Stevens temporarily withdrew from the professional tour.

In the coming season, Stevens was still listed on the world rankings, but did not play any more games. At the end of the next season he was listed at rank 162.

Amateur days in the 1990s

After a four-year hiatus, Stevens began to participate in tournaments again in the 1997 Canadian Snooker Championship. He had direct success and won the tournament 6-3 against Charlie Brown. He defended this title the next year with 7: 3 against Tom Finstad after he had lost his opening match against the German Mike Henson in the 1997 World Amateur Championship .

Last professional year 1998/99

For the 1998/99 season he became a professional again, but success never came back. It was not until the China International in March 1999 that he won his first game against Ali Carter , but then he was eliminated. As part of the snooker world championship , he managed to win over Paul Stockwell and Gary Lees before losing to Joe Grech in the fourth round . At the end of the season he lost his professional status to world number 187.

Amateur years

In 2000 Stevens won the Canadian Snooker Championship with a 6-3 win over Bob Chaperon . Also in 2000 Stevens took part in the amateur world championship , but in which he was eliminated in the group stage with only four wins from seven games (including losing to Saleh Mohammadi ). In 2002 he won the Canadian Snooker Championship again, this time defeating Cliff Thorburn in the final. The following year he failed to defend his title when he lost to Alex Pagulayan in the quarterfinals . In the 2003/04 season Stevens took part unsuccessfully in events of the Challenge Tour , in the amateur area he lost in the semi-finals of the Canadian Snooker Championship against Tom Finstad .

After losing in the second round of the 2006 championship also against Finstad, defeated Stevens in the final of the Canadian Snooker Championship in 2007. In 2008 he took again an amateur World Championships in part, relieving himself in the round of 32 the Maltese Alex Borg beaten had to. In his Canadian homeland, he reached the semifinals of the snooker championship, in which, however, he was defeated by John White . In 2012 he took part in the Canadian Snooker Championship for the last time, he was eliminated in the group stage.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Ron Florax: Career Total Statistics For Kirk Stevens - Professional Results. CueTracker.net, accessed on March 12, 2019 (English, for the individual seasons see “Player Profile”).  
2. ↑ Kirk Stevens. World Snooker , January 11, 2015, accessed March 11, 2019 .  
3. ↑ ^{a b} Chris Turner: Player Profile: Kirk Stevens. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2009, archived from the original on January 12, 2012 ; accessed on March 12, 2019 (English).  
4. ↑ Carsten Scheele: 111 reasons to love snooker . Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf , Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86265-607-3 , pp. 88 .

Web links

• Kirk Stevens in snooker Database (English)