Perry wants Crucible farewell before retirement

Former Welsh Open champion and Masters runner-up Joe Perry has said he will retire from professional snooker when his participation in this year's World Championship ends.

The 50-year-old beat Dylan Emery 10-6 in the second qualifying round in Sheffield and must win two more best-of-19-frame matches to reach the main draw.

"I'll continue to play snooker because I'm going to be in the World Seniors, but my time as a professional snooker player is up at the end of this tournament," Perry, ranked 65th in the world, said in an interview with World Snooker Tour., external

"It's not a rash decision, I've thought about it for the past 12-18 months and I decided midway through this season that enough was enough."

Englishman Perry turned professional in 1992 and won two ranking events - the 2015 Players Championship and, at the age of 47, the 2022 Welsh Open.

His only appearance in a Triple Crown event final was in 2017, when he lost 10-7 to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the Masters.

Sixteen players will emerge from qualifying to complete the field of 32 for the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre, which begins on 19 April.

Perry, whose next match is against world number 33 Yuan Sijun of China, added: "I'm trying as hard as ever out there and if I could play my last match at the Crucible, [that would be] wonderful."