Snooker star Stephen Maguire turns to laser surgery to boost game

Scots snooker player Stephen Maguire is ranked No.2 in the world, but he is hoping he might make No.1 thanks to laser eye surgery.

He knows that overtaking Ronnie O'Sullivan in the world's ranking is a big ask, but he is so impressed by his new eyesight he reckons it can only help him improve his game.

The 28-year-old player, from Glasgow, said: "My eyesight is fantastic now and the whole process was so easy. I'm just starting to practice for the new snooker season and I have my first tournament of the year in Beijing coming up and I've no doubts that it is going to help."

"I am hoping that it will help me win something at least, to be number one would be great but I am willing to admit that sometimes Ronnie has had me in his back pocket. I've managed to get the better of him on the odd occasion so maybe now with my eyes so much improved I could do enough to be ranked number one."

Stephen, who had his laser eye surgery with Optical Express, had been wearing glasses for watching TV and driving for the last couple of years. But last year during the snooker season, he began to worry about his eyesight as he started to struggle to see balls properly on the table and felt his eyes straining under the bright lights of tournament tables.

He said, "I was beginning to get worried about my eyesight as I was struggling, especially after playing for two or three hours in a championship. That had never happened before. I did have glasses for driving and watching TV, but wearing glasses to play snooker just doesn't work. So I was thinking about getting contact lenses, but when I went for the consultation I was told about laser eye surgery. Like most people I was a little scared about undergoing the procedure, but it was all so easy and the results have been so fantastic I wish I had done it ages ago. Who knows, if I had got it done in the middle of last season when I realised I was struggling to see, I might be the world number one by now?"

"The only reason I didn't was because I thought I might have been out of action for a while and it was best to wait until the summer, but now I know I could easily have done it during the season. The whole thing took just 25 minutes, and that was with the laser only being used for 10 seconds in one eye and 20 seconds on the other. I did feel like I wanted to rest my eyes for a couple of hours after, but otherwise I have been absolutely fine."

Stephen has been playing snooker since he was 10, going along with his dad to Glasgow's Q Club. As a teenager, he played in junior tournaments and turned pro when he was 18.

He said: "When you are a teenager you don't think about making money from snooker, you just enjoy it so much you just hope there is a way that you can keep playing. I turned pro when I was 18, but I didn't win my first tournament until I was 22. That was when I really started to think that I might be able to make a proper living out of the game. It felt like quite a long time before winning anything, but I never really thought of giving up. I did sink down as far as 46 in the world rankings at one stage and I told myself that if I sank as low as 64 then it would be time to think again."

After winning his first tournament Stephen's luck seemed to turn around. He quickly moved up through the rankings, jumping from 11 to number two, two years ago. Although Stephen admits that holding onto his number two ranking last year came down to luck.

He said: "I somehow managed to keep my ranking despite never making a final. It wasn't like I was doing badly, I was always up there, but I do wonder how big a part my eyesight had to play in that. Not that I am making excuses, I suppose we will see for sure this year. All I know is that I can't wait to get started."

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