in the 1990s, his success waned, and he dropped off the main tour in 1997. he was critical of a change to the cloths on competition snooker tables in 1986, which led to the pack breaking open more easily. he was involved in a directorial role for world snooker in the early 2000s. he enters the qualifying event for the world championship most years and managed to defeat tour professional stefan mazrocis in the first qualifying round in 2009.