The Return of the Crucible King

By Elliott West

Introduction

‘Fortune favours the brave’ and this saying certainly sums up the unexpected decision of Stephen Hendry to return to the fray and play certain tournaments on the main tour via an invitational tour card for the next two seasons. Hendry famously retired from professional snooker in 2012, citing his decline in form and someone who was prone to the ‘yips’, a loss of fine motor skills, at the tail end of his career. A player who is well known for having won everything in the snooker trophy cabinet, including being seven times World Champion, an eighteen times Triple Crown winner and the youngest person to have ever won the World Championship. A total of 36 ranking and 39 non-ranking titles.

The Poisoned Chalice

Stephen Hendry’s decision to return to the fold is fraught with danger but perhaps the Scot feels he has nothing to lose. A move that could put a massive dent in his reputation, seems to have been outweighed by the fact that he is bored and wants to get the buzz again and compete. To be fair, Stephen has never been that far away from snooker and has kept his hand in by agreeing to play on the Legends and later World Seniors tour.

Having witnessed his display at various Seniors events, I must say that I initially thought that Stephen had made the wrong choice. His play there, was frankly poor and he was prone to missing the elementary pot. However spurred on by a recent impressive run to the semi-final for the World Seniors at the Crucible, beaten by Jimmy White, 4-2 and the fact that he has been working on his game with Stephen Feeney at Sight Right, has changed my initial view. Form may be eroded over time but natural talent always remains intact. Hendry has never lost that hunger to win and combined with a new found inspiration, could be the winning formula to steal matches and possibly the odd title.

Ironically the Covid pandemic, may have bought Stephen some time to improve and fine tune his all round game. Hendry initially said he was delaying his return citing the fact that there was no audience at current tournaments but maybe now his head has been turned. The void of not having a crowd, will work in his favour and settle those initial nerves that he will be feeling when he strikes the cue ball for the first time on a professional baize. Depending on his draw, Stephen could easily pick off the lower ranked player despite not being match fit and there is always the intimidating presence that a former World Champion can wield over an opponent.

The ‘Golden Bairn’ was recently announced earlier this month, to be taking part in the newly created World Snooker Tour Pro Series and will play in Group G, alongside Gary Wilson, Lu Ning, Martin O’Donnell, Liam Highfield, Jamie O’Neill, Zhao Jiambo and Rory McLeod. A revision to the calendar that was designed to fill the vortex left by the cancellation of all Chinese tournaments due to the Corona Virus threat. Hendry also wants to take part in the Welsh Open in February.

Summary

Stephen Hendry is clearly one of the best players that has ever graced the green baize and so it was a surprise that he would take the unprecedented move to return to the main tour. He clearly is a snooker legend and his return will cause the tongue of many a fan to wag. Hendry knows that his decision may be seen by some as foolhardy but the risks clearly outweigh the risks for this former winning machine. Time will tell but it will certainly produce a little piece of snooker history whatever the course of time produces.