Kirk Stevens

For the footballer, see Kirk Stephens.

Kirk Stevens

Born	(1958-08-17) August 17, 1958 (age 66) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sport country	Canada
Nickname	The Man in the White Suit [1]
Professional	1978–1993, 1998/1999
Highest ranking	4 (1984/85)
Maximum breaks	1
Best ranking finish	Runner-up (x1)

Kirk Stevens (born August 17, 1958) is a Canadian former professional snooker player.

Career

Stevens started playing young, achieving his first century break aged just 12. He turned professional aged 20, and reached the semi-finals of the World Championship aged 21. In 1984 he achieved a maximum 147 break in a televised match against Jimmy White in the Benson & Hedges Masters, which remained the only such break ever made in the competition until Ding Junhui achieved the same feat in 2007. ^[2] His stylish choice of attire (he often appeared at major tournaments wearing an all-white suit, as opposed to the traditional black suit with a white shirt) ^[3] and his youthful 'popstar' good looks made him a pin-up. ^[4]

In 1985 he was wrongfully accused of taking stimulants before the final of the Dulux British Open Snooker Championship by South African Silvino Francisco. ^[5] Stevens lost 9–12. Francisco was subsequently fined by the world governing body of snooker, the WPBSA, for the comments. ^[6] The WPBSA accepted that the accusation was false and it is on record that Stevens has never failed a drugs test in the history of his career. Shortly after the comments were made public, Stevens admitted to an addiction to cocaine in his personal life. ^[6]

Although he underwent treatment, his career never really recovered. He dropped out of the top 16 in 1986/87, but continued to play on until 1992/93, before returning home to Canada and retiring from professional tournament play on the world circuit.^{[ citation needed ]}

After returning to Canada Stevens won the Canadian Amateur Championship in 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2008. In 2011 he returned to the Crucible Theatre for the first time since 1988 to play in a "Snooker Legends" exhibition event. ^[7]

On September 23, 2019, Jimmy White published an apology to Stevens on White's official Facebook page stating that in his autobiography Second Wind he misremembered a few stories as occurring with Stevens that in fact did not. These events were widely broadcast in the media and White wanted to make the apology public to prevent them from being repeated. White further stated that he did not intend his words to be interpreted as meaning that Stevens introduced him to crack cocaine or that Stevens ever played WPBSA snooker under the influence of drugs. ^{[8] [ better source needed ]}

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1976/ 77	1977/ 78	1978/ 79	1979/ 80	1980/ 81	1981/ 82	1982/ 83	1983/ 84	1984/ 85	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1998/ 99
Ranking [9]	[nb 1]	[nb 1]	[nb 2]	19	11	10	6	7	4	5	9	21	37	50	68	58	59	[nb 2]
Ranking tournaments
Grand Prix [nb 3]	Tournament Not Held						2R	QF	QF	QF	1R	2R	1R	LQ	3R	LQ	LQ	LQ
UK Championship	NH	Non-Ranking Event							SF	QF	2R	2R	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ
Irish Open [nb 4]	Tournament Not Held												1R	LQ	LQ	1R	LQ	LQ
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held															1R	LQ	LQ
Scottish Open [nb 5]	Tournament Not Held					NR	SF	WD	1R	1R	1R	1R	WD	LQ	Not Held		LQ	LQ
Thailand Masters [nb 6]	Tournament Not Held							Non-Ranking Event				Not Held		LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
China International	Tournament Not Held																	LQ
British Open [nb 7]	Not Held			Non-Ranking Event					F	3R	3R	WD	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ
World Championship	A	A	1R	SF	2R	QF	QF	SF	2R	QF	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Scottish Masters	Tournament Not Held					QF	A	A	QF	A	SF	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A
Masters	A	A	A	A	1R	A	1R	SF	1R	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Irish Masters	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	QF	WD	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Premier League [nb 8]	Tournament Not Held							WD	Not Held		A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters [nb 9]	Non-Ranking Event					Tournament Not Held				Non-Ranking			LQ	Tournament Not Held
Classic	Not Held			Non-Ranking Event				QF	2R	1R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	1R	Not Held
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held															1R	MR	NH
Dubai Classic [nb 10]	Tournament Not Held												NR	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Bombay International	Not Held		A	RR	Tournament Not Held
Pontins Camber Sands	Not Held			QF	Tournament Not Held
Canadian Masters [nb 11]	1R	1R	QF	SF	SF	Tournament Not Held				A	A	A	R	Tournament Not Held
Champion of Champions	Not Held		A	NH	RR	Tournament Not Held
Scottish Open [nb 12]	Tournament Not Held					2R	Ranking Event								Not Held		Ranking
Northern Ireland Classic	Tournament Not Held					QF	Tournament Not Held
UK Championship	NH	A	A	A	A	2R	A	A	Ranking Event
Classic	Not Held			A	A	A	SF	Ranking Event									Not Held
Tolly Cobbold Classic	Not Held		A	A	SF	A	A	SF	Tournament Not Held
British Open [nb 13]	Not Held			A	SF	RR	RR	RR	Ranking Event
New Zealand Masters	Tournament Not Held								F	Not Held			A	A	Tournament Not Held
Carlsberg Challenge	Tournament Not Held								SF	A	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Australian Masters	Not Held			A	A	A	A	SF	QF	A	A	A	NH	A	Tournament Not Held
Pot Black	A	A	A	A	RR	A	RR	1R	1R	F	Tournament Not Held					A	A	NH
Belgian Classic	Tournament Not Held									F	Tournament Not Held
Canadian Professional Championship	Tournament Not Held				SF	Not Held		W	SF	QF	SF	SF	QF	Tournament Not Held
World Masters	Tournament Not Held														1R	Not Held

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament

NH / Not Held				means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				means an event is/was a ranking event.

1. He was an amateur.
2. New players on the tour don't have a ranking
3. The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1982/83–1983/1984)
4. The event was also called the European Open (1988/1989–1992/1993)
5. The event was also called the Goya Matchroom Trophy and the International Open (1981/1982–1984/1985 & 1986/1987–1992/1993)
6. The event was also called the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993)
7. The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)
8. The event was also called the Professional Snooker League (1983/1984), Matchroom League (1986/1987 to 1991/1992) and the European League (1992/1993 to 1996/1997)
9. The event was also called the Canadian Open (1978/1979–1980/1981)
10. The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989)
11. The event was also called the Canadian Open (1976/1977–1980/1981)
12. The event was also called the Goya Matchroom Trophy and the International Open (1981/1982–1984/1985 & 1986/1987–1992/1993)
13. The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1985	British Open	Silvino Francisco	9–12

Non-ranking finals: 6 (3 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1979	Canadian Professional Championship	Cliff Thorburn	# [10] [11]
Winner	2.	1981	Canadian Professional Championship		# [10] [11]
Winner	3.	1983	Canadian Professional Championship	Frank Jonik	9–8 [12]
Runner-up	1.	1984	New Zealand Masters	Jimmy White	3–5
Runner-up	2.	1986	Belgian Classic	Terry Griffiths	7–9
Runner-up	3.	1986	Pot Black	Jimmy White	0–2

Team finals: 4 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	1980	World Challenge Cup	Canada	Wales	5–8
Winner	1.	1982	World Team Classic	Canada	England	4–2
Runner-up	2.	1986	World Cup (2)	Canada	Ireland	7–9
Runner-up	3.	1987	World Cup (3)	Canada	Ireland	2–9

Amateur finals: 6 (6 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Winner	1.	1978	Canadian Amateur Championship	Bob Paquette	10–6
Winner	2.	1997	Canadian Amateur Championship (2)	Charlie Brown	6–3
Winner	3.	1998	Canadian Amateur Championship (3)	Tom Finstad	7–3
Winner	4.	2000	Canadian Amateur Championship (4)	Bob Chaperon	6–3
Winner	5.	2002	Canadian Amateur Championship (5)	Cliff Thorburn	6–1
Winner	6.	2008	Canadian Amateur Championship (6)	Tom Finstad	6–2

References

1. "Return of the Man in White". WPBSA . April 14, 2011. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2024.
2. Yates, Phil (January 15, 2007). "Snooker: Inscrutable Ding takes maximum break in his stride". The Times. Retrieved May 1, 2011.^{[ dead link ]}
3. Gary Clarke (2008). A Billiards and Snooker Compendium. Paragon Publishing. p. 48. ISBN   9781899820467.
4. John Virgo (2012). Let Me Tell You About Alex - Crazy Days and Nights on the Road with the Hurricane. John Blake. p. 72. ISBN   9781843589570.
5. Burn, Gordon (2008). Pocket money : Britain's boom-time snooker. Faber and Faber. ISBN   9780571236831. OCLC   321008855.
6. "Snooker Association acquits Stevens over drug addiction". The Sydney Morning Herald. October 8, 1985. p. 41. Retrieved May 1, 2011.
7. "Snooker Legends". www.facebook.com. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
8. "Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White". www.facebook.com. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
9. "Ranking History". Snooker.orf. Snooker.org. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
10. "StevensK". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on April 18, 2016.
11. "Kirk Stevens". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020.
12. "Other National Professional Championship". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on January 7, 2012. Retrieved December 25, 2017.

External links

• Cue sports portal

• Profile at World Snooker at the Wayback Machine (archived 5 March 2014)
• Kirk Stevens at snooker.org