| One of the very best
players of the early 1980s, Kirk Stevens, noted for his white
suits and shoes, never lived up to his potential. Problems with
drugs led a fall down the rankings from which he has to date
never recovered although he is still an active player.
Kirk began playing the game at the age of ten. Two years
later, having already made his first century break, he had
the audacity to challenge his idol, Cliff Thorburn for $2,
but lost - and paid up. By the age of 15 he was playing many
money matches. Looking younger than his age, many older players
thought he would be easy pickings. How wrong they were. By
1978 aged 20 he had qualified for the world amateur championships
where he lost in the semi-final to Cliff Wilson following
which he turned professional.
He reached the Crucible at his first attempt in 1979 but
lost in the first round to Fred Davis. A few months later
however he got his revenge over Cliff Thorburn, beating him
in the final of the Canadian Professional Championship. In
the 1980 Embassy, he became the youngest to reach the semi-finals,
at that time, losing 13-16 to Alex Higgins. Over the next
few years several quarter and semi-final appearances saw him
climb rapidly up the rankings to a peak of 4th at the end
of the 1983/4 season. This followed a second world semi-final,
losing to Jimmy White. It was also against Jimmy a few weeks
earlier that Kirk recorded a 147 in the semi-final of the
Masters at Wembley.
He formed an enduring partnership with Cliff Thorburn and
Bill Werbeniuk in the early World Team Cups and they lifted
the trophy in 1982 after being runners up in 1980. He won
the Canadian title again in 1981 and 1983 but still had not
reached the final of a major event. In fact, he had lost no
less than nine major semi-finals before, in 1985 he met South
African, Silvino Francisco, in the Dulux British Open final.
Although Kirk was a heavy favourite with Francisco not even
being ranked in the top 16, he lost 12-9.
After that match, Francisco accused Kirk of taking stimulants
and a few weeks later he admitted to an addiction to cocaine.
He went back to Canada that summer for treatment and returned
to reach three more ranking quarter-finals the next season
but after that his victories were few and far between. After
seven seasons in the top 16 he dropped out of that group at
the end of the 1986/87 season and a year later was out of
the top 32 as well. He played on until the end of the 1992/3
season maintaining a ranking in the 50s or 60s but then decided
to return to Canada and sort himself out.
Things have improved recently and he won back a place on
the main tour for the 1998/99 season but did not do enough
to retain his place for the following season. He almost managed
to get back again for the 2000/01 season but lost in the final
North American qualifier to Bob Chaperon.
He now seems to have all his drug problems behind him but
unfortunately so are his best playing days and, now into his
forties, it seemed unlikely that he will ever make a really
successful return to the main circuit.
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