Sadly for Stevens, it is not. Worse still, his wins were in non-ranking events - Northern Ireland Trophy and Pot Black – which means that his diabolical form over the rest of the season has left his place in the sanctuary of the top 16 in real jeopardy.

Amazingly, the Welshman has won only one match in a ranking event all season. He lost 5-4 to Dave Harold in Preston, 9-3 to Stuart Bingham in York, 5-2 to Nigel Bond in Malta and 5-4 to wildcard Scott MacKenzie in China.

His one victory came against Mark Davis in front of his home fans in Wales but that was followed by an embarrassing 5-1 hammering at the hands of Mark Williams. He also lost 6-3 to Graeme Dott at Wembley.

As a result of his terrible form, he is down to number 19 in the provisional rankings and probably needs to reach the quarter-finals to hold on to his place in the world's elite.

It is true that Stevens is a master of the longer format to which two world finals are testament. However, he has never come to Sheffield in worse form and, unless he has been glued to the practice table since China, Matthew Stevens will have to qualify to get here next year.

Prediction: First-round checkout