Perry returns to Welsh Open looking for inspiration: ‘I don’t want to fade away’

‘I don’t think my game’s improved at all, to be honest. I’ve always been one of those players…obviously I’m very good to be up in the rankings for so long, but my biggest asset was my consistency. I always played to a certain level, it never dropped that far.

‘I was always in the middle 50 per cent, and occasionally get up to 80-90 per cent, but now I can go from the middle down to 10 per cent and just the odd time up to 80. My levels have changed, I’m not consistent like I used to be. On my day I can produce stuff like I always have, but it doesn’t happen as often as it used to. But that week it all came together, I’d love to know why, I really would.’

Looking back at his amazing run in Newport, Perry does remember finding a bit of form beforehand, specifically a fine performance in beating Lee Walker in Turkish Masters qualifying.

However, he also thinks the killer draw he was handed in Wales helped bring the best out of him, as he downed Cao Yupeng, Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson, Ricky Walden and Jack Lisowski before beating Trump.

‘The draw was insane with how hard it was,’ he said. ‘That might have made a difference. Even in the first round before I got to Wales I had Dave Gilbert and it seemed to keep getting tougher.

‘I think it brought the best out of me. Not that I slack off if I play someone lower-ranked because I know everyone can play, I don’t disrespect anyone, but I knew I had to play really well. Maybe being the underdog pretty much every round helped.

‘Some people like being the underdog. It’s not going to be a disaster if you lose. I’m not going to have to make the dreaded phone call to my dad on the way home explaining where it all went wrong.

‘You lose to a Mark Allen or a Kyren Wilson, you can accept it, it’s easier to take them defeats as long as you play well. That can help you relax and bring the best out in you, it helped me that week, I played well every match. I played how I’d like to play all the time, really.’

A UK Championship quarter-final this season shows that his game has not deserted him since the Welsh Open, but things have not exactly gone as hoped, with results and performances quite unpredictable.

Motivation to practice has proved an issue for the now 48-year-old, but it is not a situation he is happy to accept and intends to put things right, even if inspiration hasn’t arrived just yet.

‘I thought leading up to this event it would make a difference but it’s just not happened,’ he said.

‘It’s a combination of things. I don’t practice anywhere near as much as I used to. I also took myself out of the club environment so I don’t play anyone, I just play on my own.

‘I play Ryan Thomerson maybe once or twice a week, but once upon a time I was playing Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson, Mark Davis two or three times a week, every week of the year. In between I was playing on my own in the club and I was sharp all the time.

‘I didn’t play well all the time but I was always sharp, whereas now, I’ve got no idea what’s going to happen when I play a match. I could be brilliant, I could be awful. When I was on it, usually I’d play alright, sometimes really well, but I’d very rarely play badly.

‘I didn’t enjoy any tournament during Covid, I really did struggle, but I’m sure I’m not alone in that. I stopped putting the hours in then and couldn’t find the drive at all.

‘I probably sound like I’m down in the dumps, but I’m not. I don’t want to fall down the rankings, I will make an effort to stop that and stay in the game as long as I can, because I do love it. You just get in a bit of a rut, you accept how you’re playing, but I don’t really want to do that, I need to put a stop to it pretty quick.’

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