My dad's method in his madness was to try every sport and then observe what I liked. I played football, tennis, golf, cricket but I loved my snooker.

The relentless pursuit of perfection has been my problem over the years. It's maybe held me back.

I've been semi-successful. I've done all right but I'm not the player I was. Who do I think will win the world championship? John Higgins. Have I been good for snooker? I don't know.

My dad's method in his madness was to try every sport and then observe what I liked. I played football, tennis, golf, cricket but I loved my snooker.

I thought 'How can I stop playing or give myself an excuse to stop playing? So I snapped my cue on Friday. It was quite fun doing it. It's gone.

Today I got so annoyed with myself that I lost my patience and walked away from a game that, with hindsight, I should have continued [on quitting a game early on against Hendry]

My hearts not been in it this year [2005], and I've not been playing well, but I keep on winning.