Stevens Admits to Watching YouTube and 'Not Much Else' — Yet Still Books Crucible Return at 48
Qualifying Result and Context
Matthew Stevens will contest the 2025 World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre having defeated Stuart Bingham 10-7 in qualifying — a result that, on paper, represented a significant upset given Bingham's status as a former world champion and heavy favourite heading into the match. Stevens, ranked 48th in the world, enters Sheffield's famous one-table arena for the first time since 2022, confirming that the veteran Welshman remains capable of producing results that belie his current standing on the world rankings.
The victory over Bingham was not built on a foundation of rigorous preparation. Stevens has been candid — and at times disarmingly self-deprecating — about the fact that competitive snooker occupies only a fraction of his daily routine at present. His home, he confirmed, does not contain a full-size practice table. The 48-year-old's preparation has instead consisted of watching archive footage of his own victories on YouTube, a method he acknowledged with characteristic understatement: "Sometimes it works and gives me a lift."
A Career Defined by the Crucible — and Its Heartbreaks
Stevens' relationship with the World Championship is one of snooker's more complex narratives. The Caerphilly-born player has appeared in the one-table setup on six occasions and, by his own account, carries considerable emotional weight from those experiences. Most prominently, he was runner-up in both 2000 — losing to Mark Selby's predecessor as the sport's model of grinding efficiency, Mark Williams — and again in 2005, when he was beaten by Shaun Murphy. Two world final appearances without a title represents one of the more painful records in the modern era of the sport.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, Stevens described his feelings towards the event as a "love-hate" relationship, a phrase that neatly encapsulates the duality of a venue that has provided him with some of the defining wins of his career whilst simultaneously being the site of his greatest professional disappointments. "I've had so many good wins there," he noted. "I've got loads of scars from there, but I wouldn't change anything. I'd probably change one or two results, but that can't be helped."
Stevens on His Draw Preferences — and Honest Self-Assessment
With the Crucible draw yet to be made at time of writing, Stevens was forthright about the opponents he would prefer to avoid. Multiple world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, fellow Welshman and three-time champion Mark Williams, and 2024 UK Champion Zhao Xintong — who has rapidly established himself as one of the most feared players in the world — all feature on Stevens' list of preferred absentees from his section of the draw. His tongue-in-cheek reference to wanting to face the "Class of '62" — players of a similar age and vintage to himself — underscored an awareness of the gulf in consistency between himself and the current elite.
That said, Stevens' record in 2025-26 contains at least one data point that demands respect. Earlier this season he defeated world number one Judd Trump in China, a result that demonstrates the Welshman retains the technical quality to trouble the very best on any given day. The challenge, as he freely admits, is sustaining that level across a best-of-25 or best-of-33 format over multiple days. "It's just keeping it up, I suppose," he said. "I'm still a danger if I play well and can win any match."
The Bingham Match: Underdog Mentality as Fuel
Stevens revealed that Bingham's heavily favoured status in the qualifying match provided him with a psychological edge rather than additional pressure. Viewing the betting market as mispriced, he used the underdog narrative as motivation to prove the odds wrong — a mindset that produced a convincing 10-7 margin in the end. It is a mentality that veterans of the sport often develop over time; the absence of expectation can, paradoxically, be liberating.
By his own admission, Stevens entered qualifying with limited expectations. The combination of minimal practice, no dedicated snooker table at home, and six months of relatively sparse competitive activity made Bingham the logical favourite. That the result went the other way speaks either to Stevens' enduring class or to the unpredictability that makes snooker's qualifying process so compelling — most likely both.
What to Expect at the Crucible
Stevens has not been beyond the first round at the World Championship since his 2022 appearance, and at ranking 48th globally, a deep run would represent one of the more remarkable stories of this year's tournament. However, his defeat of Trump earlier in the season and the measured confidence he has expressed about performing specifically at the Crucible — "I do play better in the World Championship — must be something that clicks" — suggest he should not be entirely discounted. The 2026 World Snooker Championship runs from 18 April to 4 May at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, with coverage available on BBC iPlayer and across BBC platforms.
