Stephen Lee won’t be making any attempts to return to professional snooker, despite persistent calls from fans for him to do so.
The former world number five was a popular figure on the main tour before his suspension for alleged match fixing sent tremors through the sport in 2012.
A wider investigation followed before an independent tribunal found Lee guilty of fixing matches in 2008 and 2009, including a World Championship encounter at the Crucible Theatre.
The Englishman was handed a 12-year sentence in 2014, backdated to when his original suspension began two years earlier on his 38th birthday.
It was the most severe punishment handed to a player in the game’s history until the Chinese match-fixing scandal saw Liang Wenbo and Li Hang given lifetime bans from the sport in 2023.
Lee’s ban effectively ended the five-time ranking event winner’s career, but it did finally finish on his 50th birthday just over a year ago.
That, in theory, meant that the former English amateur champion was free to return and try to force his way back to the big-time.
However, it was always unlikely that we’d see him competing in any tournament sanctioned by or affiliated with the World Professional Billiard and Snooker Association (WPBSA).
Lee owes the WPBSA £125,000 in legal fees related to the court cases and unsuccessful appeals.
When approached for comment in 2024, a spokesperson for the WPBSA told SnookerHQ.com: “Stephen Lee would need to reach a satisfactory agreement with the WPBSA over settlement of his costs before he could play.”
And despite constant calls from supporters for him to launch a comeback, it seems that Lee himself has effectively closed the door shut on that possibility.
In an interview with The Hindu during a recent trip to Bengaluru with former pro Pankaj Advani, it was clear that there was no love lost between him and the governing body.
“I’m still able to enjoy playing snooker at a certain level,” Lee, who has been living in Thailand, told reporter Ashwin Achal.
“But I’m not silly enough to think I’m going back after 12 years – 12 years is too long. I’m not prepared to waste any time battling it out in Q School.”
“And working again for WPBSA does not appeal to me one bit. WPBSA never did anything for me as an association, they don’t help players.
“I lost my wife two years ago. She never wanted me to go back and play professional snooker. I’ve got zero interest in the World Snooker Tour, I’m going to do other things.”
At the height of his tenure on the World Snooker Tour, Lee was a regular presence at the business end of ranking events.
He twice won the Grand Prix that was broadcast on BBC (renamed the LG Cup in 2001), reached the semi-finals of the 2003 World Snooker Championship, and also contested the final of the 2008 Masters where he was denied a Triple Crown glory by Mark Selby.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, who turned professional the same year as Lee in 1992, recently said of his old foe that “I think he could compete.”
“I’ve watched some of the YouTube videos of him. He’s a great cueist. How far he’d get up the rankings, I just don’t know. But yeah, I think he’s fresh, put it that way.”
Fans usually remember Lee’s Rolls Royce cue action, and there was evidence recently that he still possesses a silky-smooth strike when a video circulated of him playing an exhibition with Thai legend James Wattana.
While he hasn’t turned his back on the game completely, Lee appears intent on focusing his efforts on his coaching and business ventures in Thailand and China.
“The power and precision of a clean strike comes as a result of years of hard work,” added Lee, who also revealed that he turned down an opportunity from a promoter to play O’Sullivan in an exhibition.
“You need to put in a lot of hours to understand the cue action. It’s all about striking it with ease, not power.”
“You must stay relaxed and strike through the ball as easy as you can. Of course, everyone’s cue action is personal to them.
“There’s not one cue action that works for all. A lot of players ask me for cue action tips, which feels very nice.
“My son Alfie is with me, he’s going into Chinese pool. He has also been playing some snooker in Bangkok. I’ve signed a few deals to do a few things in China.
“I’ve got a couple of my own little businesses. Things have changed, I’m all good.”
Featured photo credit: Monique Limbos
I’m sorry Lee lost his wife but he’s not exactly showing any contrition with this outburst. The critique of the governing body sounds remarkably bitter.
His son, Alfie, seems to have lost interest in attempting to become a snooker professional.