Joe Perry: Winning Welsh Open in 2022 was best moment of my career

Perry beat Judd Trump 9-5 to lift the Ray Reardon Trophy in 2022 but is under no illusion how tough it will be to claim the Welsh Open title this time around.

"It was the best day of my snooker career," the 48-year-old told World Snooker.

"My parents were there, it was on UK soil and it’s a big illustrious tournament – it was really special. To see my mum and dad’s faces at the end made me proud. I’ve had so much help from them so it was a bit of pay back.

"When you play in a big final, if you can come out the victor you are the last man standing, you get your name on the list of winners and it’s a big achievement.

"(Winning the tournament in 2022) came very late in my career, 30 years after turning pro. I have won other events including the Players Championship (in 2015) which was bigger in terms of money, but not in prestige in my eyes.

"I don’t hold out massive hopes of defending the title because it’s really hard to win anything these days. But I’ll be proud to be introduced as the reigning champion," he added.

Perry has been drawn against his friend and training partner Mark King in the opening round on Monday, but admits to having trouble keeping his nerves at bay as he bids for back-to-back titles.

"I’m not one of those to tell lies and say I’m totally relaxed, I have always had to deal with nerves and maybe that’s why I haven’t done as well as I could.

"After all these years I still feel pressure in the early rounds of tournaments," said the current world number 30.

"Mark has been through it before when he won in Northern Ireland. We were all delighted to see him win, and hopefully others felt the same about me. We are long term servants of snooker. 

"I am really looking forward to next week. Llandudno is a lovely place and a lovely venue. The Welsh Open is by far the biggest of the Home Nations events because of its longevity."

The Welsh Open takes place from February 13-19th at Venue Cymru in Llandudno.