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Stephen Hendry makes comeback!


Taylor1996

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Got a real buss playing in the recent World Seniors tournament and thought he'd give it another crack. Apparently, he, Ken Doherty and Jimmy White were all offered (and accepted) a two year invitational tour card.

The skeptics are claiming it is because he is worried Ronnie ''Sullivan is closing down on his record of seven titles and other spiteful sods claiming it is because he is broke. Utter crap on both accounts.

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3 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Got a real buss playing in the recent World Seniors tournament and thought he'd give it another crack. Apparently, he, Ken Doherty and Jimmy White were all offered (and accepted) a two year invitational tour card.

The skeptics are claiming it is because he is worried Ronnie ''Sullivan is closing down on his record of seven titles and other spiteful sods claiming it is because he is broke. Utter crap on both accounts.

Hell, even I'm worried that Ronnie will reach 7!

It's immaterial, though. Hendry IS the best.

It took Hendry 9 seasons to achieve what Sullivan hasn't been able to achieve in 19 years.

People say that the playing pool is stronger than what it was during the 90s. Well, apparently Ronnie doesn't think so: "I would have to lose an arm and a leg to drop out of the top 40".

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Hendry was a winner. He detested losing sovmuch more than the average player. When he retired he was getting beaten by players he felt he should be beating comfortably and was missing shots he used to pot easily which bugged the hell out of him. I also seem to recall him saying the buzz was no longer there for him.

Lets not get carried away here. Hendry had done precious little in his last few years on the tour prior to his retirement in terms of big tournament wins. To expect him to return and recaoture form of the 1990s is wishful thinking but I wish him all tge best and hope he enjoys himself.

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I remember when the Grand Prix was in Glasgow towards the end of Hendry's career I went to watch a session where he was playing Mark Williams.  I thought with 2 former world champs it'd be a good one to watch but it was absolutely honking.  I think the maximum break was something like 37 and they both came out afterwards and said it was the worst they'd played in their entire careers.  Hendry retired not long after and if that was indicative of how he was playing at the time I'm not surprised.  

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To put things into perspective - Stephen Hendry retired in 2012 but had ceased being a winning force in snooker by 2004 when he won his last tournament (the Malta Cup). The last ranking tournament he won was in 2002 in the form of the Welsh Open so you see he had been somewhat of a journeyman by his previous extremely high standards long before he retired. Sure he was still getting to the business end of tournaments bvut for Hendry that was not enough and with the buzz gone that was when he decided to retire.

I would say, perhaps, his perspective has changed. He played in the recent World Seniors and got the buzz from competing again so perhaps that will be enough for him and he'd now accept no longer winning everything he enters is beyond him and wants to just see how far he can go in tournaments now. Best of luck to him.

He may also have been inspired by his great mate Mark Williams who looked washed up a few years ago but turned back the clock to win another world title. His mentality is far different to Hendry's. Hendry was a fiercely intense competitor whereas Williams is so laid back he is horizontal. Perhaps Hendry will take on Williams' outlook to not take things too seriously and just enjoy yourself. If you win then great but if you don't then it is not the end of the world.

Edited by Caledonian Craig
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It makes you wonder about fate and destiny, etc.

Sullivan was on the end of four spectacular flukey pots in the World Championship. You might see one, maybe two, but the fact that he had four makes you wonder.  And if anyone here watched the World Championship, you'll know what I mean. Sullivan had unbelievable luck winning number 6.

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11 hours ago, Taylor1996 said:

It makes you wonder about fate and destiny, etc.

Sullivan was on the end of four spectacular flukey pots in the World Championship. You might see one, maybe two, but the fact that he had four makes you wonder.  And if anyone here watched the World Championship, you'll know what I mean. Sullivan had unbelievable luck winning number 6.

Flukes happen in snooker but they don't help you win a world title. O'Sullivan more got lucky as he could win through against players not at their nest. However, you can only beat what is in front of you. As it went the final was an anti-clinax - the standard was the poorest I remember for some time and coupled with it being a no contest it was an instantly forgettable final.

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5 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Flukes happen in snooker but they don't help you win a world title. O'Sullivan more got lucky as he could win through against players not at their nest. However, you can only beat what is in front of you. As it went the final was an anti-clinax - the standard was the poorest I remember for some time and coupled with it being a no contest it was an instantly forgettable final.

No. I've been watching Snooker since 1990 so I understand the sport and sometimes players get the luck of the baize, but to get an extraordinary fluke in four out of five matches is very strange.

No, flukes can't win you a match, but it can certainly change the flow of a match. I remember one, he was missing a pot by a mile, it took a ricochet against a neighbour red and it went in. 

It's not sour grapes or lack of snooker knowledge on my part. It just struck me as... Eery.

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10 hours ago, Caledonian Craig said:

Regardless of how many flukes there were it never altered the outcome of that final due to the rankness of his opponent. Kieran Wilson was shocking. If you look at all the stats its clear Ronnie O was the better player in what was an awful final.

As I said, I have no complaints about Sullivan winning the whole thing. 

Did you watch all of his matches?

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  • 3 months later...
On 12/7/2020 at 12:26 AM, Och Aye said:

Neil Robertson could get snooker banned. 4 minutes to play a shot. Wish I hadn't started watching this. 

In fairness, if he made a mess of it, he would've lost the match... Probably.

He earned £200k and won a triple crown event. His decision was justified.

Personally, I enjoy the long drawn out frames as much as I enjoy one visit frames... Maybe even more so.

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  • 11 months later...


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