Stephen Hendry is a snooker player, whom many consider the greatest in the history of billiards. It has many world records: Amount of prize money, the amount of century breaks, titles, etc. He became the first Scottish player to set an example for the next generation of billiards. In 80 years in this game dominated by Steve Davis, and 90 were part exclusively Hendry. His advantage over the opponents was so obvious that some of them lost psychologically even before the start of the match. In this article, we describe a brief biography of billiards.
Family
Stephen James Hendry was born in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1969. When he was seven, the family moved to Hendry Fife. Then my parents divorced, and the hero of this article, along with her mother, went to South Queensferry.
Snooker
Soon Stephen Hendry was blown away by the pool table. Scotland just needed a new player because, by the 1950s, no one could win the title. Stephen did it at age 14 at the 1983 National Championship. Naturally, he was coming to everyone’s attention. Fifteen years old – this is the age in which the amateur world championship defeated Stephen Hendry. Snooker has become, for him, the main occupation of life. At the age of 16, a young man received professional status.
Carrier Start
In his first season, Stephen Hendry reached 1/16 of the “Mercantil Credit Classic” tournament and reached the first round of the World Cup. But, unfortunately, he was defeated by Willie Thorne. Season Stephen finished only in 51st place.
1986-1987 became more successful for him. Snookerist defended his league title and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mercantil and the Grand Prix. Hendry was stopped by Joe Johnson, who rose to 23rd place in the standings. Nonetheless, Stephen began to be mentioned as Davis’ likely successor. Of course, the venerable Johnson taught Hendry some offensive “lessons,” but that in no way affected Stephen’s resolve. On the contrary, he wanted even more to become the best pool player on the planet.
New Level
In the same season, Hendry Stephen was seen and esteemed entrepreneur Ian Doyle. He became the manager of the young player. Their cooperation formed the basis for the creation of the company “110 sport”. Now she takes care of the affairs of most of the top players.
In the third season, snooker Stephen Hendry became in,” scoring tournaments on a regular basis. He won the British Open and the Grand Prix. In addition, Stephen defended his Scottish title and won the Australian Masters. At the end of the season, Hendry took fourth place in the standings. Everyone realized that the young man was a new snooker phenomenon.
The following season, Hendry Stephen did not spend much with success. He hasn’t won a single judging tournament. But the snooker player won the “Masters” in New Zealand and at Wembley. This allowed the hero of this article to take the third line in the final note.
Triumph
The 1989/90 season became for the triumph of billiards – To the titles of the winner of “Wembley” and “Scottish Masters”, “Action Open,” “Dubai Classic,” the snooker added the World Cup. 21 is the age when Stephen Hendry did it. The career of the young man has reached a new level. He took the first row of the snukeristov world rankings.
In the following season, Stephen was unable to defend his title. But he won a few tournaments, “Masters” and five scoring contests. This before him, no one could do (this record stands and to this day).
Stability
1992 – This is the year I made my championship crown of Stephen Hendry. Actively developed snooker, and the young man has a lot of new competitors. The most colorful was were John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan. Nonetheless, the pool player continued to dominate, consistently winning two or three competitions per year and taking first place in the standings. In 1994, he received the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and was named Sportsman of the Year (BBC vote).
In 1996, Stephen became the sixth-time world champion. The billiard player equalled this indicator with Steve Davis and Ray Reardon. In 1997, Hendry planned to win the Championship Cup for the seventh time. The snookerist easily reached the final but met there with Ken Doherty, who planned to become the first hero of this article. Stephen lost it with a rather unexpected score – 18:12. Nevertheless, in the general note, the billiard player has already won the first row for the eighth consecutive time.
New Attempt
In the following season (1997/98), Stephen Hendry again could not climb Olympus. Most offensive to the snooker player was that he was beaten by Jimmy White. Before that, Stephen beat him four times in the final. It all got even worse when Hendry grabbed the first line of the note. This was done by John Higgins, having won the tournament in Sheffield. Stephen was very angry because he was proud of the first place in the scoring, no less than the league titles.
Most of the billiard critics declared the imminent end of Hendry’s career because the level of his game compared to the early 90s has significantly declined. Moreover, in the back, Stephen has infused a new generation of billiards (Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams, John Higgins et al.) Which focuses on the high bar, which defines the hero of this article. But Hendry didn’t think about ending his career either. As in the distant eighties, his determination to hand over the billiard crown only increased.
The Long-Awaited Title
In 1999, Stephen Hendry, a bibliography of which not very extensive (just a book), finally became the world champion for the seventh time. But the first line of the snukerist note never came back. The pool player went on to win in a few tournaments for the season, but his staunch leadership was left behind. Nevertheless, Stephen was in the top five of the best snooker on the planet and created serious competition.
Sunset Career
The following seasons were not very successful for billiards. 2004-2005 passed for Stephen quite energetically. Hendry was actively coached by Terry Griffiths. Their joint efforts led the hero of this article to victory at the “Cape of Malta.” In the final, “Welch Oupen” Stephen O’Sullivan was recognized with a score of 8: 9. On “China Oupen” Hendry, too, was beaten (5: 9) by young talent Dean Tszyunhueya. The result was a terrible performance in the World Cup quarterfinals. Snookerist lost to Matthew Stevens with a score of 11:13. Hendry commented on the loss very emotionally at a subsequent press conference. The only positive point is that billiards is still second in the world rankings.
Particularly disastrous became 2005-2006. Hendry, with great difficulty, reached the semi-finals of the British Championship. There, with a score of 9: 6, he was beaten by Steve Davis. In the Premier League final, the snooker also waited for failure. Ronnie O’Sullivan crushed him dry – 6: 0. Then Hendry lost to Alan McManus in the first round of the Masters and was unable to defend the Maltese title. The frenzied victory over Robertson 5: 1 (and Stephen did in the game four-century) led to a loss in the quarterfinals for Higgins with a score of 2: 5. Did not develop in Hendry and many others tournaments. As a result, the competition between Ronnie and Stephen should be over, as both games of snooker have just had a terrible season. In addition to everything, Hendry lost to Nigel Bond in the first round of the World Cup with a score of 9:10. He couldn’t score a black ball.
Only in 2006-2007, Stephen Hendry, achievements which are presented in this article, again could find the first line of the note. His other victories cannot be called equal. The snooker’s most vivid performances came at the Welch Open and the British Championship, where Stephen managed to reach the final. It became obvious to everyone that Hendry had lost his old skill and would never be the same again. If at the start of zero the Snooker player was in the top 5 of the leaderboards, then Steven fell below tenth place.
Versatility
Someone in billiards has a more precise shot, someone is a master of victories, and some have a genetic predisposition to the sport. However, great games of snooker are united by only one quality – universality. They are good at everything and know how to subordinate their circumstances. Once Stephen planned to become a millionaire at the age of 27 and retire from a pool. However, everything turned out differently. 43 years old – this is the age at which Stephen Hendry retired. The achievements in this player’s career can serve as a model: in addition to numerous titles won and records set, the athlete has earned more than 8 million pounds.