- Stephen Hendry
Infobox Snooker player
Name = Stephen Hendry
Caption = Stephen Hendry
Born = birth date and age|1969|1|13
Birthplace =South Queensferry, Edinburgh
Nationality = flagicon|Scotland Scottish
Nickname = The Golden Boy,
The Maestro,
The Ice Man
Professional = 1985–
High ranking = #1 (9 years)
Current rank = #6
High break = 147 (8 times)
Centuries = 710 (as of 23/1/2008)
Prize money = GB£8,257,210
Ranking wins = 36
Other wins = 32
World champ = 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE (born
January 13 ,1969 inSouth Queensferry ,Edinburgh ) is a Scottish professionalsnooker player and seven-time World Champion. He spent a record eight consecutive years at no. 1 in the world rankings and was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at 21. [ [http://www.biogs.com/famous/hendrystephen.html Stephen Hendry] . Biography at biogs.com.]Hendry is one of the most successful players in the history of the sport, with his
World Snooker Association official profile stating that he is "generally considered the greatest snooker player ever". [ [http://www.worldsnooker.com/players_head_to_head-8583.htm Hendry's official profile on www.WorldSnooker.com] ]nooker career
Amateur years (1981–1985)
Hendry started playing snooker in 1981, aged 12. Two years later he won the National U-16 Championship. He also appeared on
BBC 's Junior version ofPot Black . The following year he won the Scottish Amateur Championship and also became the youngest ever entrant in the World Amateur Championship. In 1985, after retaining the Scottish Amateur Championship, he turned professional. At 16 years and three months old he was youngest ever professional.Professional career (1986–1988)
In his first season he reached the last 32 in the
Mercantile Credit Classic and was the youngest ever Scottish Professional champion. In the next season he retained that title and reached the quarter-finals of both the Grand Prix and World Championship, and the semi-finals of the Mercantile Credit Classic. Hendry andMike Hallett combined to win that year's World Doubles Championship. In 1987/88 Hendry won his first world ranking titles, the Grand Prix and the British Open. He also claimed three other tournament victories, retaining both the Scottish Professional Championship and the World Doubles Championship (with Hallett), and the Australian Masters. By the end of that season he was ranked world no. 4 and was voted theBBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year .No ranking titles came his way the following season, although he did win the New Zealand Masters and also his first Masters at Wembley.
Glory years (1989–1999)
The 1989/1990 season saw the beginning of Hendry's period of dominance. That year he won the
UK Championship ,Dubai Classic , Asian Open, Scottish Masters, Wembley Masters and his first World Championship. This saw him rise to the summit of the World Rankings at the age of 21. The following season he set a record of five world ranking titles in a season and recorded a hat-trick of Masters. In 1991/92 Hendry regained the World title, adding to the victories in both the Grand Prix and the Welsh Open. He won the Masters, too, and achieved his first competitive 147 break, in the Matchroom League. A year later he retained both his World Championship title and a fifth consecutive Masters crown. The following season he retained the World Championship, narrowly beatingJimmy White 18-17 in the final.In 1994/95, after being awarded an MBE, he won three ranking events, including another World crown and the UK Championship, both of which were retained the following year. His run of successes continued in 1995/96 with three titles, including the World Championship, where an 18-12 victory in the final against
Peter Ebdon saw him equal the achievement ofRay Reardon andSteve Davis by notching up a sixth World crown. In 1997 he wonBBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year award for a second time and added another three ranking titles to his collection, althoughKen Doherty denied him a sixth consecutive World championship by defeating the Scot 18-12 in the final.Hendry's dominant position in snooker appeared to be on the wane, as the only ranking event he won in the 1997/98 season was the
Thailand Masters . He also lost his World no. 1 place for the first time since 1990 and was eliminated in the first round of the World Championship, losing heavily to White (4-10). 1998/99 began with an embarrassing 0-9 first-round loss in the UK Championship to unseededMarcus Campbell . However, a resurgent Hendry won the last two events in the campaign - the Scottish Open and a record seventh World title. After beatingRonnie O'Sullivan 17-14 in their semi-final, he emerged as a convincing 18-11 winner over future double World ChampionMark J. Williams . This is Hendry's last World Championship title. Since then he has won only five titles but has never dropped out of the Top 16 in the rankings.Recent years (1999–present)
In 1999/2000 he lifted one ranking title, the British Open, where he made the fifth 147 break of his career and the first maximum in a ranking final. By Hendry's high standards the 2000/2001 season was a disappointment, as he failed to win a ranking event for the first time since 1988 season and reached only one final. Still he won the European Open the next season and came close to an eighth World Championship. Having eliminated defending champion O'Sullivan in the semi-finals (17-13), he lost narrowly to Ebdon in the final (17-18). The Welsh Open in 2002/2003 and British Open in 2003/2004 came his way, with his victory in the
Malta Cup of 2005 being his most recent ranking success. However, Hendry regained the world no. 1 position in 2005/2006 due to consistency in reaching the latter stages of tournaments without, by his own admission, reproducing his form of old. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/6603987.stm BBC SPORT | Other Sport... | Snooker | In-form Carter ends Hendry hopes ] ] He is now ranked World number six. Following a disappointing season in 2007/2008 Hendry unexpectedly reached his 12th semi-final at the World Championships, a new record surpassing Steve Davis' 11. In doing so aged 39 he became the oldest player to reach the semi-finals of the tournament since Terry Griffiths in 1992.Records
Hendry has won 65 professional titles (not including his three Scottish Professional crowns). This puts him second on the all-time list of professional championships won behind Steve Davis with 73. [ [http://www.globalsnookercentre.co.uk/files/Players/Global_Europe/Global_Scotland/p_profile017.htm The Global Snooker Centre ] ] However, Hendry is the record holder for ranking titles won, 36. Hendry has won 79 titles (68 professional and 11 amateur).
Hendry currently holds the record for the longest unbroken streak as a top-16 player (21 seasons). This feat is all the more noteworthy since the lowest he has been ranked in the top 16 is eighth. His other career records include: consecutive wins of a single tournament, longest consecutive winning streak (in ranking events), most centuries compiled in one match (7), most centuries compiled in one tournament (16), most centuries in one season (53), most years ranked world no.1, most career centuries and highest total prize money. Until 2007 he held the record for most 147s compiled in competitive play (8), as well as most televised maximums (7), until O'Sullivan took sole ownership of both records during the 2008 world championships. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/7369420.stm BBC SPORT | Other Sport... | Snooker | O'Sullivan 147 sees off Williams ] ]
Playing style
Hendry tends to play at a steady pace. He often uses the now universal tactic of potting the blue with pace and heavy backspin on the white ball to cannon into the pack of reds and develop them for break-building.Fact|date=December 2007 Aside from his break-building consistency, Hendry's ability at long potting was crucial to his success, as was his knack of potting balls in the middle pocket during a break. Throughout his career he has played very aggressively, more often than not attempting quite difficult pots and trying to break open the reds early in a break rather than waiting until all open reds have been potted. In this way he has compiled more than 700 competitive century breaks. [ [http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Centuries.htm Centuries ] ] However, as the standard of his break-building and long potting have declined a little, his aggressive instincts have given his opponents more opportunities than used to be the case. Recently however, since working with Chris Henry, the man who coached Peter Ebdon to the 2002 World Championship, Hendry has placed a greater emphasis on his safety game which has been described by
Clive Everton during commentary as being better than at any stage during his career.fact|date=July 2008Personal life
Hendry was brought up in
Fife , where he attendedInverkeithing High School . He now lives in the small town ofAuchterarder with his wife Mandy, whom he married in 1995, and sons Blaine (born 1996) and Carter (born 2004). He lives close to the Gleneagles and has a single-figure golf handicap. He enjoys poker and has appeared in more than one televised tournament. Hendry is also keenly interested in football, supporting Scottish side Hearts.Fact|date=May 2008When returning to Scotland from the Thailand Open in September 2003, Hendry had his cue broken. The cue, which he had owned since he was aged 14 and had cost him £40, had been used when winning his 7 world titles. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/3199523.stm|title=Hendry's cue crisis|publisher=BBC Sport|date= 1 Sept. 2003] Since the 11 September 2001 attacks, snooker players have been required to put their cues in the holds of aeroplanes, where they are susceptible to damage. [cite web|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/2939779.stm |title=Damages claim over bent cue|publisher=BBC News|date=11 Apr. 2003]
Stephen Hendry was also rated as the greatest player of all time in a book by Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby titled "Master of the Baize". He finished above
Joe Davis ,Steve Davis ,Alex Higgins andRonnie O'Sullivan who were the others in the author's top five. [cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/4444185.stm|title=Hendry rated as best-ever player|publisher=BBC Sport|date=14 Apr. 2005]Honours and Awards
Notes and references
External links
*World Snooker|id=8583
* [http://www.snooker.org/plr/bio/shendry.shtml Player Profile on snooker.org]
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