Stephen Hendry

Name | Date of Birth | Country |
---|---|---|
Stephen Hendry | 13-01-1969 | Scotland |
Career
Hendry started playing snooker in 1981, aged 12, when his father, Gordon, bought him a child-sized snooker table as a Christmas present. Two years later he won the Scottish U-16 Championship. He also appeared on BBC's Junior version of Pot 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 the youngest ever professional. Hendry was managed by entrepreneur Ian Doyle.
In his first season, he reached the last 32 in the Mercantile Credit Classic and was the youngest ever Scottish Professional champion. He also became the youngest player ever to qualify for the World Championship, a record he held until 2012 when Luca Brecel qualified at the age of 17 years and one month. He lost 8–10 to Willie Thorne who then applauded him out of the arena. In the next season he retained the Scottish Professional Championship title and reached the quarter-finals of both the Grand Prix and World Championship, losing 12–13 to defending champion Joe Johnson, and the semi-finals of the Mercantile Credit Classic. Hendry and Mike Hallett combined to win that year's World Doubles Championship. In 1987/88 Hendry won his first world ranking titles, the Grand Prix, beating Dennis Taylor 10–7 in the final, 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 the BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year.
In the 2010/2011 season Hendry could not maintain his unbeaten run in the first round of ranking events, as he lost it at the Shanghai Masters against Martin Gould by 2–5. At the World Open in Glasgow, Hendry recorded 3–0 whitewashes against Bjorn Haneveer and Mark Davis, before he was beaten 1–3 by rival Ronnie O'Sullivan. At the UK Championship in Telford, Hendry was drawn against another old rival, Jimmy White. Despite struggling with his game throughout the match Hendry came through 9–8, rolling back the years by compiling a match-winning break in the deciding frame. In the second round Hendry was defeated 6–9 by Mark Williams. Afterwards Hendry expressed his frustration with his form and revealed that he has been suffering from "the yips" for the last ten years, leaving him unable to cue through the ball and causing him to miss the simplest of shots.