By Saj Chowdhury BBC Sport Online, The Crucible

The arrival of James Wattana was like a breath of fresh air to the world of snooker.

Here was a player from Thailand at the age of 19 rapidly climbing up the ranks in a game which was largely dominated by British, Irish and a few Australian and Canadian players.

To have someone from Asia take the sport by storm, was both remarkable and admirable.

He became the eighth player to earn more than �1m from the table and reached the semi-final stage of the World Championship in 1993 and 1997.

He also won back-to-back Thailand Open titles in 1994 and 1995.

"I haven't been doing well for the past four or five years," he told BBC Sport Online.

"Looking back you used to be able to get away with not doing so well if you had a good safety game.

"Now if you are not scoring and break building then you won't win the game."

His frustration was brought to the fore when he exited this year's World Championship at the hands of John Higgins, 10-1, in the first round.

"I've not been practising consistently. There are too many weaknesses in me now and the confidence is just not there," he added.

"It's not the best preparation really if you know that you are facing John Higgins in the first round."

He said that Ebdon is the ideal role model to follow in the modern game.

"Next season I'm going to have to spend a lot of time with him. He is one of the toughest and hardest players to beat on the circuit," said Wattana.

"We've been friends for a long time and he is the best player to practise with."

It would be sad to see James Wattana leave snooker with a whimper rather than a bang, but with his top 32 ranking under threat it would take a great effort for the Thaiphoon to rediscover his form of old.

"I'm going to try and hang around in the game as long as I can. But I have to start winning again."