[personal profile] robinbobin




Hendry bowed out as a veteran, frustrated with losing to players he would have pummelled in his prime

Crucible king: Hendry claimed seven world titles at Sheffield's legendary snooker venue
Crucible king: Hendry claimed seven world titles at Sheffield's legendary snooker venue
Getty

There were no tears and there was no fanfare.

Stephen Hendry retired from snooker yesterday at the age of 43 with the minimum of fuss, barely with a flicker of emotion.

Typical Hendry. His career was founded on being calm at the most difficult moments. Why should that change now?

The Bairn, a nickname that stuck through his career, bowed out as a veteran, frustrated with losing to players he would have pummelled in his prime.

He has business interests in China, such a lucrative market for cue sports, to attend to. A family life to uphold.

Life as a professional snooker player no longer held the appeal it had for the young Hendry, for the player who lost only three matches at the Crucible in a decade.

Opinions will always be split on the issue of snooker's greatest player.

Many will still go with Steve Davis, but Hendry is by a distance the most successful of the modern era.

Stephen Hendry of Scotland playing in the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield
Star in the making: A fresh-faced Hendry at the Crucible in 1987
Getty
Scottish teenager Stephen Hendry (aged 17) with Steve Davis, who is tipped to become the youngest ever World Champion
Tipped for the top: A youthful Hendry in 1986 meets the then all-conquering Steve Davis
PA
Stephen Hendry plays a shot with the rest during the World Championships at The Crucible, Sheffield
Teen prodigy: A spiky-haired Hendry, 19, plays a shot with the rest
Getty
Stephen Hendry sitting on table dressed as a king 1987
King of the baize: Hendry at 18 with a career at the top of snooker ahead of him
Daily Mirror
Stephen Hendry of Scotland with the trophy after defeating Jimmy White 18-12 in the World Snooker Championship Final at the Crucible in Sheffield
First of seven: Hendry lifts the World Championship trophy - at the age of just 21
Getty
Stephen Hendry of Scotland holds aloft the trophy after defeating Jimmy White of England
Reaching the stars: Raising the World Championship trophy - and a smile - in 1990
Getty

He never possessed the crowd-charming appeal of the likes of Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan, but bows out after a record seven Crucible titles, 36 ranking event triumphs, and 775 centuries.

Fittingly he bids farewell after another outing on his most famous stage too.

Hendry likes to joke that he passes his pipe and slippers on the way into the Crucible arena, the message being that this is where over the 27 years of his career he was at his most comfortable, his front room.

It was as a 16-year-old that Hendry turned professional, since when he has amassed £9million in prize money and racked up 127 centuries at the Crucible, three of which have been 147 maximum breaks.

Stephen Hendry at home in 1994
Trappings of success: Hendry with a new silver Bentley in 1994
Rex

Stephen Hendry at home with girlfriend Mandy Tart in 1994
Young love: The snooker champ at home with girlfriend Mandy Tart in 1994
Rex

Kenny Dalglish and Stephen Hendry at golf course in golf cart at Gleneagles in 1993
Golfing partners: Hendry teams up with Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish for a round at Gleneagles in 1993
Daily Mirror

Stephen Hendry with his girlfriend Mandy Tart outside Buckingham Palace after he received the MBE from the Queen
Stephen Hendry MBE: Outside Buckingham Palace with Mandy after receiving his award from the Queen
PA
 

The third of those maximums came in the first round this year, a day after Hendry landed back in the UK from his sixth trip to China of the year.

He was, in 1990, the youngest world champion at the age of 21, and that record stands.

Until this year he was the youngest debutant too, having been 17 years and three months when he was beaten in the first round by Willie Thorne in 1986, but Luca Brecel, the Belgian prodigy, took that mark away from Hendry.

Perhaps Brecel will have a similarly fulfilling career. He can but dream.

Hendry, who was born near Edinburgh and now lives in Auchterarder with wife Mandy and their two children, ranks right in the top bracket of Scotland's greatest sportsmen.

He also won the UK Championship five times and the Masters on six occasions.

Hendry said he "could write a book" on his great Crucible memories.

Stephan Hendry waits prior to his second round match against Allister Carter in the 888.com World Championship in 2007
Ready to go: Hendry backstage ahead of his second round match against Ali Carter in the 2007 888.com World Championship
Getty

Stephen Hendry is mobbed as he arrives at Xi'an airport in China in 2007 for the China Open
Hero worship: Hendry is mobbed as he arrives at Xi'an airport for the China Open in 2007
Getty

Stephen Hendry looks on during the Embassy World Snooker Semi Final match against Ronnie O'Sullivan at The Crucible Theatre in 2004
A rare taste of defeat: 2Crashing out to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-final of the 2004 Embassy World Snooker tournament
Getty
 
Stephen Hendry at the Night Fashion Billiards Club opening ceremony on January 10, 2012 in Nanning
China in his hand: Hendry at the opening of China's Night Fashion Billiards Club in January 2012
Barcroft

He can leave that to the historians though. There are records he set which will surely stand for decades to come, footage of his great victories lives on.

The day he came from 14-8 behind to beat Jimmy White in the 1992 World Championship final stands out.

He beat White in four Crucible finals, and White always vowed he would fight on to prevent Hendry winning an eighth.

Hendry will play exhibitions and has already shone as a broadcaster.

He was supremely calm tonight in announcing his career was finished, but as he remarked earlier this year, being behind a microphone is a poor second best to being in the thick of tournament play.

"Nothing is going to substitute being in there and playing," Hendry said.

"Being in the commentary box in the Crucible theatre as I was last year for the final, it kills you not to be out there and playing.

"It's not a bad second best though and I enjoy it very much.

"It's a new thing for me but snooker is all I know so I'm sure it's something I'll be involved in for a while."



http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/snooker/stephen-hendry-retires-his-career-in-pictures-814942

Date: 2012-05-02 06:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leon-gurman.livejournal.com
да. ушла эпоха.

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