What are your thoughts on the return of live snooker for fans?

“In general, we [snooker] were one of the first sports to be back live on TV – I know we didn’t have a crowd – but we restarted before the football. I think it was fantastic for snooker.

“I think it helped having it across Eurosport because everyone was crying out for sport for months and months and for us to be the first live sport back it was really nice for us. I know we’ve got a big following on Eurosport and just to get back into live competitive action, and to see other sports on TV, I think it’s great. It’s exciting times to be back and I feel like I’m starting all over again as a professional.”   

Have you done anything differently to prepare for the World Championships this year? Has there been anything you’ve done differently mentally after being out of professional competitions for longer than usual this year?

“As far as the mental side of things is concerned, I’ve not really done anything differently. The physical side and practice has been different but only because it has to be because we can’t really practice with that many people and we haven’t had that many tournament leading up to it [World Championships]. 

“Normally before the World Championships, I’ll try and arrange as many matches with other players around the Tour as I can to get some match practice in, but with what’s been going on, I’ve probably restricted myself to one or two players and just kept it to the same two while practicing. Other than that, I’ve been playing a little bit more on my way own - it’s such strange times at the moment.”

Do you think the physical conditions will impact on the standard of play generally? Are you in good physical shape and how has this been considered as part of your preparations?

“I always try and do some fitness throughout the season anyway. It’s normally such a busy season travelling here, there and everywhere so I usually stay physically fit. If you’re in a good physical shape you’re going to be in a good state of mind as well. I can’t speak for all players, but it’s been a difficult situation. As far as performance goes, you don’t really know where you’ll be at as we all haven’t played that many matches for so many months. I think there could be quite a few shocks but at the same time I think it could be a fantastic tournament.” 

Do you think this could potentially be the most evenly matched tournament yet? You mentioned we may see some shocks, so do you think practicing in lockdown has created a more even playing field?  

“A little bit. You look at the qualifiers and some of the top seeds who are just outside the top-16 lost yesterday, like Ali Carter, Joe Perry, and I think that’s down to not playing that many matches and being sort of cold as there haven’t been that many tournaments. I think you’re going to get shocks like that, and you’ll probably get a few more at the Crucible as well.

“For me, I hope whoever wins at the Crucible is someone that’s won it in the past. If somebody wins it for the first time, it’ll be fantastic for them, but you’ve also got the situation where it’s not a full crowd; not everyone’s been able to practice, and it almost takes the shine off their win if they’re able to win it. If someone wins it before who’s won it in the past, you don’t get all those questions asked. Hopefully that’s the case but we’ll have to wait and see.”

You’re going for your fourth world title that would put you level with John Higgins and up there with the some of the most successful world champions ever. How would a fourth title rank in terms of your personal career achievements? 

“It would be amazing. I seem to have achieved everything I wanted to achieve in the game and more but why I’m still playing is because I’m still enjoying it and enjoy competing. It’s definitely one of my goals to try and win it again. Hopefully it’ll be this year but if not, I’ve still got a few left to try and win it again for a fourth time. I’ll definitely be going there trying to do my best and it’ll be fantastic if I’m able to win it again for a fourth time.” 

How did you react when you heard there would be a limited number of spectators allowed in the crowd? Some players are looking forward to it, some aren’t as happy with a crowd being there – what do you think about it?

“I was really happy. We played two tournaments at Milton Keynes behind closed doors with no crowd - the first tournament we played was the Championship League, which we have once a year anyway on the calendar behind closed doors and that was something we were used to. The second tournament - the Tour Championship - was tough because that’s one of our biggest tournaments and every year we normally get a full crowd, so to play it with no crowd was difficult. 

“Going to the Crucible, knowing what I’ve experienced over the last few years by winning it and playing in front of a packed audience and knowing what a fantastic venue it is when it’s full, it would’ve been disappointing going there with no-one at all. I know there’s not going to be that many – there are rumours it’s going to be 150-200, so probably 100 on each side – but some is better than none. 

“It’ll definitely be exciting to have some people there and I think it’s the start of what’s to come and hopefully it’s not too far before we’re round the corner and the crowd can get bigger and bigger.” 

In terms of your own lockdown experience, have you just been at home and how has this affected you? 

“I’ve just been at home in Leicester. It’s been tough for everyone but at the same time, it’s been quite nice. We travel a lot here, there and everywhere and I don’t really have that much time at home anyway during the season, so it’s been quite nice to spend some time at home with my wife and my little girl because those times are sort of few and far between. 

“Don’t get me wrong, I’d like the situation to be different and for people not to be having to spend time at home due to the virus and what’s going on... But that’s the way it’s been and it’s been quite nice in a way. 

“I’ve been homeschooling [my daughter] and if the snooker doesn’t go well for the next few years, I can definitely try and aim for teacher of the year over the next few years. My teaching skills are coming on leaps and bounds. 

“One of the other lads, David Gilbert who I played last week, was saying in the first few weeks, he was thinking “I can’t be doing this, I need to get out the house” but now all of a sudden he’s in the house and he doesn’t want to leave! He’s sort of got used to it, so it’s a strange one.” 

When international tournaments start to resume, do you have any plans for the rest of the year or are you taking it tournament by tournament?

“Tournament by tournament at the moment because as much as some of the restrictions have eased at little bit, come the winter, there’s talk of a second wave and this [the virus] coming back so I don’t think you can get too far ahead of yourself. We normally go to China six or seven times a year but that’s been put back now until 2021. Normally from August to November we go three or four times but that’s not going to be the case so I think the calendar will be shuffled and we’ll play a lot more English tournaments. Hopefully we can play some tournaments in China next year but who knows – if the virus comes back that’ll have to be put on the backburner as well.”     

You can watch all the action from the 2020 World Snooker Championships on Eurosport channels and the Eurosport App from Friday 31 July - Sunday 16 August.