Kirk Stevens

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

Career Stevens started playing young, achieving his first 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. 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) and his youthful 'popstar' good looks made him a pin-up.

In 1985 he was wrongfully accused of taking stimulants before the final of the Dulux British Open Snooker Championship by South African Silvino Francisco. Stevens lost 9–12. Francisco was subsequently fined by the world governing body of snooker, the WPBSA, for the comments. 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.

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.

Performance and rankings timeline

Performance Table LegendLQ 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-finalsSF lost in the semi-finalsF lost in the finalW won the tournamentDNQ did not qualify for the tournamentA did not participate in the tournamentWD 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.

Career finals Ranking finals: 1 Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score Runner-up 1. 1985 British Open 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 # Winner 2. 1981 Canadian Professional Championship # Runner-up 1. 1984 New Zealand Masters 3–5 Runner-up 2. 1986 Belgian Classic 7–9 Runner-up 3. 1986 Pot Black 0–2

Team finals: 4 (1 title)

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