Will Mister Stevens ever recover?

[PaulTheSoave]

I could not believe my eyes when I came home after a jolly day out. Wonderful sunshine, a nice walk for around 20 miles and a few glasses to finish it off. I have often compared M Stevens with Jimmy White. I was nearly convinced (i still was a bit doubtful though) he could win this, after yesterdays display.

This blow on the chin must be nearly as bad as the world final 2005. I hope he will be back, but i doubt it as Matthew Stevens is not committed to the best of 9-ers.

Mr. Stevens, i wish you the best for next season and come back into the top 16.

what is your opinion?

[dannyd0g]

I think it all depends how much he wants it. We all know he's a top player, but at the moment there's more top 16 players than spaces, and many of them are much younger and hungrier than MS. Some players have careers that last more than 20 years, some come and go a lot quicker. Who knows what Matthew will be. But I'm sure most people wish him good luck.

[RaNeN]

I think he is a fighter. He will be back next year!
A future world champion for sure.

[Ellena]

I think he is a fighter. He will be back next year!
A future world champion for sure.

I really hope you're right , i for one , think that "next year" is to soon. He'll need more than a year to recover . He needed 1 year after the 2005 final and i have the feeling this year's "blow on the chin" is worse than the 2005 one.
I hope he'll manage to get back in the top 16 next season, where he belongs.

[ADR147]

i think the extra round will do him good - he needs to play more matches to get back to match sharpness - the top 16 don't play enough anymore.

[moondan]

I think Matthew will be back he is far too classy not to be.
Every credit to Murphy and I think he will take some stopping now.
This will hurt Mathew far more than his other defeats but it may just make a man of him.
Next season in the qualifiers will teach him a few lessons but he will get through and toughen him up.

[Nina]

I think he is a fighter. He will be back next year!

This phrase reminded me of someone else, and the thought he is indeed like that someone frightened me...
I very much want to see him World Champion one day, I hope he'll make it.

[Miss_S]

I've given my view on another thread, but I'm sure he'll be back. This is gonna make him stronger, and maybe the extra round will motivate him to work even harder.
As always I wish Matthew all the best.

[davis_greatest]

Would be good to see Stevens make it back. (Wouldn't even mind seeing him as Davis's opponent in next year's final - although a Davis-Hendry clash would be THE one to watch.)

I didn't see his match against Murphy - what happened in those last 6 frames? Did Matthew collapse or did Murphy just up his own game?

[Miss_S]

Matthew collapsed,basically. He had loads of chances and didn't take them. Murphy played well,even though I hate to admit it... Mon Selby in the semis!

[snookerlass]

Matthew will be back, of that I am sure. He will get over this defeat and learn from his mistake. He will in my opinion get stronger.

[missneworleans]

I think Matthew will have a long time to recover. Davis finally recovered after that astonishing lose to Taylor on final black!

[pat39]

I think Matthew will still have a lot to offer next season. If he wins his qualifying match at the UK and World Championships nobody will want to play him in the 1st round.

But he must knuckle down in the best of 9 matches because that's his best chance of getting back into the top 16.

[Ginger Freak]

I believe it is going to be really hard for Stevens to recover from this. lets not forget, it was a match he needed to win to stay in the top 16.

His confidence is shot to pieces as it is, but after losing that match he must be thinking his game has collapsed. A lot depends on how motivated he is to prove he can still hack it come the Grand Prix next season.

Even though I was watching the Higgins/O'Sullivan match, I must admit to paying more attention to Stevens' table for most of the session! (I was sat so I could see both tables) and it was horrible to watch. Stevens never looked like he was going to get that final frame even when he was 12-7 ahead. The shot where he followed through on the black was typical of his game all day, lack of confidence means lack of concentration means mistakes like that.

He never looked confident even at 11-5 up on a former champion! What's he going to be like in the qualifying cubicles next year?

I hope he gets that form back, but he is going to have to work long and hard this summer to work out what is going wrong, because he is better than this.

Best of luck Matthew!

[craigslater]

I think he is a fighter. He will be back next year!
A future world champion for sure.

Agreed RaNeN well said