August 18th 2024.
Joe Perry, a seasoned snooker player, is excited for the new challenge that awaits him at the age of 50. After setting aside thoughts of retirement, he finds himself fighting for his place on the professional tour this season. It's a daunting task, but one that he is embracing with open arms.
The Gentleman, as he is known in the snooker world, had a tough season last year, causing his professional status to be in doubt for the first time in his 30-year career. With a current ranking of 46 in the world, Perry's provisional end of season ranking is 68, which means he has to work hard and win matches to secure his spot on the tour.
"This is something I've never had to think about before. I've been on the main tour since 1992 and my position has never been in question," Perry shared with Metro. "In the past, my goal was to break into the top 16 at the start of the season. Now, it's a whole new challenge with different pressures, but I'm looking forward to it."
Despite not getting the results he wanted, Perry enjoyed the recent qualifiers, where he played well but was bested by exceptionally skilled opponents. This was a stark contrast to the previous season where he didn't find joy in the game or competition.
Last season, Perry only won 12 matches and after losing in his World Championship qualifying opener, he seriously considered retiring. However, he found a positive distraction in opening his own snooker club, which took up a lot of his practice time. But there was also a negative factor that contributed to his decline in form.
"I was on the verge of quitting. Last year was a disaster for me and there were a couple of reasons for that," Perry explained. "I had a good start to the season, winning my Championship League group and my first qualifier with a 5-0 score. But then I got caught up in the Mark King debacle, which was entirely out of my control."
Perry had defeated King 4-0 in the 2023 Welsh Open, a match that led to King's suspension in March last year due to suspicious betting patterns. While the investigation is still ongoing, Perry can't go into detail but shared that he didn't like the way he was treated and that it ruined his entire season.
After losing five matches in a row in August and September, Perry managed to stop the downward spiral, but then his focus shifted to Joe Perry's Snooker and Pool Palace in Chatteris. "I finally got myself back on track, but then we had the opportunity to buy the premises to open the snooker club. That took over my life and I wasn't playing as much," he said.
Perry didn't want to be an unprofessional snooker player, so he compromised by shuffling his schedule to make time for at least one or two hours of practice each day and seeing his practice partner Neil Robertson once or twice a week. "I'm going to give it my all this year, even though I have my work cut out for me after a couple of tough seasons," Perry declared. "But I'm actually looking forward to the challenge."
Aside from his own career, Perry is also mentoring Robertson, who had a rough season last year but is now showing signs of returning to his top form. "I'm really enjoying working with him, and I hope he feels the same," Perry shared. "He's almost back to his best, and I believe he'll have a win or a near-win very soon."
Next up for Perry is a match against Jack Lisowski at the Xi'an Grand Prix, someone he enjoys playing and would love to mentor in the future. "He's a great player, and once he gets on a roll, he's unstoppable. But even when he's not at his best, it's always an enjoyable game," Perry said. "I'm new to this player analysis role, but I think I could do well with someone like Jack, who has incredible talent but needs some guidance to reach his full potential."
As for Robertson, Perry believes that his simple and disciplined approach to the game will lead him to success. "If his mind is in the right place, it's almost certain that he'll win," Perry said. "But with Jack, it's a bit different. He's immensely talented, but for some reason, it doesn't always translate into wins. Regardless, I'm excited to see what the future holds for both of us."
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