Stephen Hendry is a snooker player who many consider to be the greatest in the history of billiards. He has a huge number of world records: the sum of the prize money, the number of Century breaks, titles, etc. He became the first Scottish player to set an example for the next generation of snooker players. In the 80s, this game was dominated by Steve Davis, and the 90s belonged exclusively to Hendry. Its advantage over the opponents was so obvious that some of them were purely psychologically losing even before the start of the match. In this article we will describe a brief biography of a snooker player.
A family
Stephen James Hendry was born in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1969. The father of the future snookerist had a business selling fruits and vegetables. When the boy was seven years old, the Hendry family moved to Fife. Then the parents divorced, and the hero of this article went with his mother to South Queensferry.
Snooker
Soon, Stephen Hendry became interested in billiards. Scotland just needed a new player, because since the 1950s no one could win the title. Stephen managed to do this at the age of 14 at the 1983 National Championship. Naturally, he riveted everyone's attention. 15 years is the age at which Stephen Hendry won the amateur world championship. Snooker became for him the main occupation in life. At 16, the young man received the status of a professional.
Carier start
In his first season, Stephen Hendry reached the 1/16 of the Mercantile Credit Classic tournament and reached the first round of the World Cup. But, unfortunately, Willy Thorne defeated him. Stephen finished the season only in 51st place.
The years 1986-1987 became more successful for him. The snooker player defended his league title and reached the quarter finals of the Mercantil and Grand Prix. Hendry stopped Joe Johnson, rising in the ranking to 23 places. Nevertheless, they began to talk about Stephen as the likely successor to Davis. Of course, venerable Johnson taught Hendry a few offensive "lessons", but this did not affect Stephen's determination. On the contrary, he even more wanted to become the best snooker player on the planet.
New level
In the same season, Hendry Stephen was spotted and appreciated by entrepreneur Ian Doyle. He became the manager of a young player. Their cooperation formed the basis for the creation of 110 sport. Now she is engaged in the affairs of most top players.
In the third season, snooker player Stephen Hendry began to win in ranking tournaments on a regular basis. He won the British Open and Grand Prix. Stephen also defended his Scottish title and won the Australian Masters. At the end of the season, Hendry took fourth place in the ranking. Everyone understood that the young man has become a new phenomenon in snooker.
The next season, Hendry Steven did not have a very good success. He has not won a single ranking tournament. But the snooker won the “Masters” in New Zealand and Wembley. This allowed the hero of this article to take third place in the final rating.
Triumph
The 1989/90 season was a triumph for the billiard player - to the titles of the winner, Wembley and Scottish Masters, Action Open, Dubai Classic, the snooker player added the World Cup. 21 years old is the age at which Stephen Hendry did it. The career of a young man has reached a new level. He took the first line in the world ranking of snooker players.
The following season, Stephen was unable to defend his league title. But he won a couple of Masters tournaments and five rating competitions. Nobody could do such a thing before him (this record holds to this day).
Stability
1992 - this is the year when Stephen Hendry returned his champion crown. Snooker was actively developing, and the young man had many new competitors. The most colorful were John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan. Nevertheless, the billiard player continued to dominate, steadily winning 2-3 rating competitions a year and holding the first place in the standings. In 1994, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and named athlete of the year (BBC vote).
In 1996, Stephen became the world champion for the sixth time. The billiard player caught up with Steve Davis and Ray Reardon on this indicator. In 1997, Hendry planned to win the championship cup for the seventh time. The snooker player easily reached the finals, but met Ken Doyherty there, who, like the hero of this article, planned to be the first. Stephen lost to him with a rather unexpected score - 18:12. Nevertheless, for the eighth time in a row, the billiard player took the first line in the overall ranking.
New attempt
The next season (1997/98), Stephen Hendry was again unable to climb Olympus. The most offensive for the snooker player was that he was beaten by Jimmy White. Prior to this, Stephen defeated him in the finals four times. Things got even worse when Hendry was taken away the first line of the rating. This was done by John Higgins, having won a tournament in Sheffield. Stephen was very upset, as he was proud of the first place in the ranking no less than champion titles.
At this point, most snooker observers announced the near completion of Hendry's career, because the level of his game compared to the beginning of the 90s has declined significantly. In addition, billiard players of a new generation (Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, John Higgins and others) breathed on Stephen's back, focusing on the high bar set by the hero of this article. But Hendry did not even think of ending his career. As in the distant eighties, his determination to return the billiard crown only increased.
The long-awaited title
In 1999, Stephen Hendry, whose bibliography is not very extensive (just one book), finally became the world champion for the seventh time. But the snooker player did not return the first line of the rating. The billiard player continued to win a couple of tournaments for the season, but his unconditional leadership was left behind. Nevertheless, Stephen was one of the five strongest snooker players on the planet and created serious competition for them.
Sunset career
The subsequent seasons were not very successful for a billiard player. 2004-2005 went for Stephen pretty hard. Hendry actively coached Terry Griffiths. Their joint efforts led the hero of this article to victory at the Malta Cap. In the Welsh Open final, Stephen lost to O'Sullivan with a score of 8: 9. At China Open, Hendry was also defeated (5: 9) by the young talent of Ding Junhui. The result of all was a terrible performance in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. The snooker player lost to Matthew Stevens with a score of 11:13. Hendry commented emotionally on this defeat at a subsequent press conference. The only plus was that the billiard player still got on the second line of the world ranking.
The years 2005-2006 became especially disastrous. Hendry with great difficulty reached the semifinals of the championship of Great Britain. There, with a score of 9: 6, he was defeated by Steve Davis. In the Premier League final, the snooker player was also waiting for failure. Ronnie O'Sullivan defeated him dry - 6: 0. Then Hendry lost to Alan McManus in the first round of Masters and was unable to defend the title of champion of Malta. Frisky victory over Robertson 5: 1 (and Stephen made 4 Century in the match) led to a loss in the quarter finals from Higgins with a score of 2: 5. Hendry did not work out at many other tournaments either. As a result, the competition between Ronnie and Stephen should have come to an end, as both snooker players just had a terrible season. On top of that, Hendry lost to Nigel Bond the first round of the World Cup with a score of 9:10. He could not score a black control ball.
Only in 2006-2007, Stephen Hendry, whose achievements are presented in this article, was again able to regain the first line of the rating. His other victories cannot be called as substantial. The most striking performances of the snooker player took place at the Welch Open and the UK Championship, where Stephen managed to reach the final. It became obvious to everyone that Hendry had lost his former knack and would never be the same. If at the beginning of zero, the snooker player was in the top 5 of the rating, now Stephen has dropped below tenth place.
Versatility
Some of the billiard players have a more accurate hit, someone is a master of wagering, and some have a genetic predisposition to this sport. However, the great snooker players are united by only one quality - universality. They are good at everything and know how to subjugate circumstances. Once Stephen planned to become a millionaire by the age of 27 and resign from snooker. However, everything turned out differently. 43 years is the age at which Stephen Hendry retired. Achievements in the career of this player can serve as an example to follow: in addition to many won titles and established records, the athlete earned more than 8 million pounds.
Hobby
The main hobby of the hero of this article is golf. Also, the athlete is considered an avid poker player. He often spends time in this activity with his friend Mark Williams.
