Lee considered retiring after losing in the World Championship first round

Trowbridge snooker star Stephen Lee says his current form is down to time spent with former coach Frank Adamson.

Lee, 33, was so out of form last season he dropped to 26th in the world and considered quitting the sport.

He told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "I wanted to enjoy the match arena again. Frank was my coach when I was 14 or 15.

"I was struggling with how I was hitting the ball but I had a lesson with him and he put me right in about five minutes."

Lee set up a last-eight clash with Dave Harold in the Northern Ireland Trophy after victories over Judd Trump and Stephen Hendry in the first tournament of the season.

He said: "I'm striking the ball well, so as long as I do that I should make the weekend.

"I was beating myself up a lot when I was putting the work in and nothing was coming out the other end. Sport is up and down but it's hard to hold form when World Snooker put big gaps in between tournaments. That was annoying me."