Stephen Hendry

Now past his 40th birthday, Stephen Hendry remains convinced that he is capable of winning titles and competing at snooker’s top table.

He showed flashes of his old self towards the end of the 2008/09 season, but not enough to stop him from dropping out of the top eight of the world rankings for the first time since 1988.

Hendry’s best showing in the first half of the campaign came at the Bahrain Snooker Championship, where he beat Ricky Walden, Barry Pinches and Robert Milkins to reach the semi-finals. His form then deserted him as he lost 6-4 to Matthew Stevens.

A first round defeat to Martin Gould at the Welsh Open left Hendry’s top 16 place, unthinkably, in jeopardy, but he recovered with a run to the quarter-finals of the China Open to leave his elite status safe going into the World Snooker Championship.

Hendry had the toughest of draws at the Crucible against old friend and two-times World Champion Mark Williams, but came through that one impressively 10-7, then played superbly to beat Ding Junhui 13-10. “It’s just a fantastic feeling to be involved a in a really great match against another top player,” said the snooker legend. “Age means nothing; it’s complete nonsense. As long as you are prepared to put the work in, the form is still there, the only thing as you get older is perhaps you’re not prepared to put the work in to the amount you used to.”

Up against Shaun Murphy in his 18th Crucible quarter-final, Hendry made a strong start, taking a 4-2 lead. In the seventh frame, he set the tournament alight with a magnificent 147 maximum break. Hendry showed nerves of steel by potting a difficult final pink to a centre pocket before rolling in the black to earn himself a handy £157,000 bonus. It was the ninth maximum of his career – equalling Ronnie O’Sullivan’s record – and second at the Crucible.

However, Hendry was unable to reach those heights in the remainder of the match as Murphy prevailed 13-11.

"The maximum definitely worked against me,” said Hendry. “In the next frame I missed a red Willie Thorne would have potted. I lost the frame to lead only 5-3 instead of 6-2. Normally I would have a sleep in the afternoon, but I never slept yesterday. Obviously I was buzzing from making the 147, but really annoyed at not going into a 6-2 lead. The instant elation you get making a maximum is second to none, but I would swap that for a place in the semi-finals,” added Hendry, who finished the season ranked tenth in the world.

A year earlier, Hendry went one step further at Sheffield, but found O’Sullivan an insurmountable obstacle in the semi-finals. Hendry showed early promise in taking a 4-1 lead, but added just two more frames in a 17-6 defeat.

His last major final was at the 2006 UK Championship. He beat Dave Harold, Mark Williams, O’Sullivan and Graeme Dott before going down 10-6 to Peter Ebdon. His last ranking title was the 2005 Malta Cup when he beat Dott 9-7 in the final.

Generally considered the greatest snooker player ever, Hendry dominated the sport in the 1990s. He won a record seven world titles between 1990 and 1999 and topped the rankings list for eight consecutive years. The records go on and on…36 ranking titles, over £8.5million in prize money, well over 700 centuries and nine competitive 147s.

In 1994 he was made an MBE by the Queen, and twice he has been voted BBC Scotland’s Sports Personality of the Year.

Hendry married Mandy in 1995 and their first son Blaine, born in 1996, is a keen player and has won junior tournaments. Their second son Carter was born in 2004.

He is an expert golfer with a single figure handicap at Gleneagles, which is just a few minutes drive from his Auchterarder home. Hendry also enjoys playing poker with friends Mark Williams and Steve Davis. A fan of Scottish football team Heart of Midlothian, Hendry’s favourite bands include U2 and Suede.