Introduction

Devlin was a highly-rated amateur player a few years ago. He beat Richard Haney 8-6 in the final to win the 2016 England Under-21 Championship. It took him just a few years after that victory to achieve his dream of being a professional snooker player. In 2020, he qualified at the first time of asking at Q School, defeating Mark Vincent, Jake Nicholson and former professionals Thor Chuan Leong, Kuldesh Johal and finally, John Astley.

Devlin got his debut season off to the best possible start at the 2020 European Masters. After beating Zak Surety in the opening round, he pulled off a massive scalp in Mark Williams by beating him in the deciding frame 5-4. Devlin progressed to the Last 16 after overcoming Joe O’Connor before losing to eventual finalist Martin Gould. He also beat Zhao Xintong, Mark King and Anthony McGill in the WST Pro Series and Jack Lisowski in the Snooker Shoot-Out. He finished 114th in the rankings at the end of the finished season.

Devlin has also been very active outside snooker. He is an amateur rapper and has sung about Love Island, the British weather, being offended and betting in sports. He produced a lot of his material on his Youtube channel.

Peter agreed to do the interview after having one or two beers. I know, he’s the ultimate fighter.

Enjoy!

Interview – Peter Devlin

Snooker Reflections

CoR: How did you get involved in snooker in the first place?

Peter Devlin: I believe snooker is very much in the blood. It’s the biggest addiction that anyone can have! Once you get involved, you can’t go back on that. I suppose it shows by exactly how many people give up and come back.

I had a very traditional, bog-standard introduction to snooker. It started with playing pool with my Dad on a weekend in the social club. It wasn’t just the sport itself, but I enjoyed the competitiveness. I threw tantrums and broke cues when I lost. I was only 7! But credit to my Dad for that. He used to wind me up for losing and it certainly grew my competitive spirit. When I then took the upgrade to snooker, it went from there.

But again, it wasn’t just the sport I fell in love with. It was also the positivity of being good at something. There was the feeling of having a snooker family of club regulars who believe in my ability.

CoR: Have you had time to reflect on your first professional season?

Peter Devlin: I had, but I was actually hoping to have about a month off to rest and relax a bit. But I ended up doing a month of building work after my Mum’s garage roof leaked! Not what I was hoping for obviously, but I had some time off and that was good overall.

CoR: Is it reassuring that you are enjoying the summer while the others have to sweat it out at Q School at the moment?

Peter Devlin: It is certainly a relief that I am not in Sheffield at this moment! I’ve got plenty of years of experience dealing with how difficult Q school is, and I’m glad to not be there. Fingers crossed I will never have to go again! It is the ultimate pressure cooker.

Reflections on his Rookie Season

CoR: What would you say were your highlights and lowlights of your season?

Peter Devlin: I’ve been lucky enough to say I’ve had quite a few highlights this season. It’s easy to get on the tour and just fade away and take nothing from it. But I’ve had some amazing experiences.

Turning pro of course was the best feeling of my life. Beating Mark Williams 5-4 with a century in the decider also felt unbelievable. Getting to the Last 16 of my first ranking event was a great feeling. Also, having the opportunity to do some unique things like appearing on BBC Radio 1, or rapping live on Eurosport at the Shoot-Out! Things like that were great fun and stuff that I couldn’t have expected when I first started out.

The lows of the season came towards the second half. Practice facilities were closed and pro-ams and amateur tournaments stopped. The main tour calendar became very slow-moving as there were many weeks between events and I was losing my sharpness. I was losing more matches because I kept going into events feeling cold. The World Championships was a particularly low point because I felt terrible in that match.

CoR: Was rapping in front of Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Shoot-Out a tad weird?

Peter Devlin: Rapping in front of Ronnie was indeed weird.

We can all respect and admire him as a player but let’s be honest, his behaviour on the day was pretty poor in my opinion. Your job as a pundit and presenter is to make people feel at ease, to help them come across well in front of the camera, and to therefore do good for viewing figures. It’s lucky I’m very confident and carefree because he would have made anyone feel really uncomfortable on that stage. He didn’t give me eye contact once throughout the whole interview, and I was clearly addressing him and speaking to him in parts of it. I was taken aback a bit by it. But I suppose that’s who he is.

The actual rap itself, surprisingly enough, was totally unplanned. No part of me whatsoever expected it. So when I was asked to do it, my mind was racing thinking of how to avoid it. But then I just got on with it. You only live once. It’ll always be a memory I won’t forget! I had to make it up on the spot for the most part, but it turned out pretty good. And I didn’t embarrass myself, despite their best efforts!

CoR: For obvious reasons, it must be a horrible and weird time to start being a professional snooker player. How do you occupy yourself while staying sane being cooped up in Milton Keynes?

Peter Devlin: The Milton Keynes situation has been strange. The atmosphere there became flatter and flatter as the season went on. The novelty wore off. I was finding it difficult to pass time on my own and I was very guilty in some events of falling victim to my mobile phone. Too much screen time can definitely affect me mentally, and it’s something I’m trying to cut down.

CoR: What parts of your game are you planning to work on after your first year as pro now?

Peter Devlin: I haven’t identified any particular clear strengths and weaknesses in my game. It’s about confidence and getting my game to come out in the most important matches for me. The pro tables and conditions did catch me out. But at the moment, with my practice facilities, it’s just something I have to deal with.

I know when I’m on my game, I’m a match for anyone. I already proved that I am capable of beating top players.

CoR: What are your ambitions for next season?

Peter Devlin: My ambition for the next season is of course the same cliché – get into the top 64 and stay on.

However, the pro tour has taught me that it’s not about consistency at all. It’s purely down to performing well in a handful of specific events because of the top-heavy prize money format. First-round wins aren’t enough. My goal for the season is to get to the business ends of tournaments. I want the quarters and semis. I want the buzz of the crowds.

CoR: If it all goes well, are you looking forward to travelling abroad as a professional?

Peter Devlin: Yes I’m really looking forward to going abroad. Hopefully, I qualify for the Turkish Masters because my Dad is badgering me about wanting to get teeth implants! I’ve loved the first season on the tour of course, but it’s not what I dreamed of. It would be lovely to go to great countries, meet different fans, and experience the venues abroad. I’m really looking forward to that.

Straight Outta Leyton

CoR: Aside from snooker, you’ve done a covered a lot of topics through your rapping such as Love Island, the British weather and betting. What’s the creative process like?

Peter Devlin: It has always been a similar creative process with my songwriting. I cannot make beats or backing tracks, so I usually take an instrumental of a reasonably popular song that people will recognise and then use that as a base to write the song to.

The topics always come from something relevant to me, or to other people, or to current events. I could write a song about it something I find relevant or funny. Love Island was big at the time of writing that song, for example. I wrote the football betting song when the football season started. iPhones were being released when I made the iPhone song.

CoR: Your most recent topic is abuse through social media – why do you think so many snooker players receive it so much?

Peter Devlin: The ‘death threat’ song is one of my favourites! It is really bad how players are subject to that kind of abuse.

It’s because some people haven’t got any class. They gamble, cannot take responsibility for it and then decide to lash out at players. Yet social media constantly allows them to do this. With everyone so easily reachable compared to 20 years ago, it allows anybody in the world to connect with players, and send them abuse and death threats if they wish. Social media is great, but it’s also terrible at the same time.

CoR: Has the reaction to that particular song been positive and do you know if WST plan to do something about these concerns?

Peter Devlin: The reaction to that song was amazing, especially on Twitter. A lot of people got behind it and said some very nice things. It’s one of my favourite songs of mine and it turned out really well. My only intention was to make people laugh and give them something to watch that might entertain them.

I was told that World Snooker Tour (WST) wanted to use it on BBC’s coverage of the World Championship, but couldn’t because of copyright issues. But that is still a high compliment. WST are doing everything they can to stop these trolls, but it is extremely difficult because there is only so much they can do. The issue lies more with social media companies themselves.

Mental Health Matters

CoR: Mental health has obviously been one of your main passions. How did you become an ambassador of SOS Silence of Suicide?

Peter Devlin: Over lockdown, I discovered the importance of talking about mental health. A lot of people were seriously affected by the situations in the world, and I saw how it was tearing people apart. Snooker players endure a lot of difficulties under such high pressure in an ‘all or nothing’ snooker tour.

I took part in a charity snooker challenge to raise money for SOS (Silence of Suicide). I then gave a speech about my views on mental health and what goes on in the mind of a snooker player. The charity organisers were watching, and they approached me to become an ambassador because of my passion and good skills in front of the camera. A month later, I turned professional!

Home

CoR: What are your roles as an ambassador?

Peter Devlin: As an SOS ambassador, I am just there to help raise awareness. I always keep them on my social media and try to promote the charity and raise awareness. I am also working on a song called “Dark Clouds”. This will be an original which I have written and composed myself. The rough release date is this October. It is my first serious song, tackling suicide and mental health and rapping about the effects it can have on victims, families and friends. It’s hard-hitting, and if promoted well, I believe the song could get in the charts.

If you have been affected by suicide and need somewhere to talk openly and honestly with someone, please contact Silence of Suicide on:

Telephone receiver: 0300 1020 505
E-mail: support@sossilenceofsuicide.org
Visit: http://sossilenceofsuicide.org

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Acknowledgments

Many thanks go to Peter Devlin for taking his time out to be interviewed by me.

I take no credit for the photos used in this interview. Metro, Eurosport and WST are the owners of some of the photographic material.

All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of content is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the author (Cluster of Reds Snooker Blog).