HENDRY IS BACK! 2 YEAR TOUR CARD!

Great to see the wonderbairn back ! I hope Stephen can get back to at least 50% of his play before retirement in 12

TheRocket wrote:I cant see him playing to a higher level than Jimmy is doing atm and we know that Jimmy doesnt have much of a success and keeps losing in 1st and 2nd rounds. Just the occasional good match and thats it.

A risky decision by Hendry for sure. Hard to see him enjoying it out there if he loses to people he would easily destroy in his prime.

Hendry could be flying in practice for all we know. Maybe this is what's given him the confidence to come back to the tour.

Hendry was struggling when he retired in 2012. He had a good World Championship that year, but that was a sticking plaster. He was in terminal decline.

Eight years without match practice probably hasn’t reversed that trend.

I have a few things to say about this.

- First, I'm delighted to have the chance to see Hendry play again. I'm looking forward to his matches.


- Should he have been given a wildcard?

I'm not a fan of wildcards. I don't think White or Doherty should have been given one. Hendry, though, I think is entitled to one. The reason I say that is that he retired while he was still in the top 64. He hasn't yet displayed that over two seasons he doesn't deserve to be on tour, like Jimmy and Ken have. If he's not in the 64 after 2 years, I wouldn't like him to get another.

- Will he give up if he plays crap and loses?

Maybe, but people are known to change and mature as they get older. His crying about not being able to win anymore when he retired was very childish "Ooh, mummy, he beat me. I don't want to play anymore". Isn't it possible that he's realised over time you can enjoy snooker even if you lose? That it's enjoyable to be around other players and taking part in a competition?

- He's made it clear he'll only play in a few events.

We'll see about this. If it means he won't play everything, and maybe he'll skip a few things like Gibraltar, then ok. But if he means he's only going to play in the UK Champs and the Worlds, and I get the feeling that this is the case, then it's a bit rubbish really. He'll get a very tough first round draw because of his ranking and lose most likely. If he plays in 50-70% of tournaments though, he should win enough to improve his draw in the big ones.

- WST seem to have quietly snuck in a tour card for Wattana, without making it clear. He's mentioned as having one in this article, though it hsan't been announced elsewhere.

So either the person who wrote the article ballsed up (which would be noteworthy but forgiveable), or WST have tried to get Wattana in without people noticing. Probably because they know it's not a very good decision. OK, he was the first Asian player to do well, but keeping him on tour for life when he's not good enough. What's that about? You can perhaps argue 129 pros (with Hendry) is ok cause Mifsud never plays, but 130

- Is Hendry good enough?

Based on his Seniors performance, I'd say so. He was able to make 50+ breaks at a higher rate than most of the pros on tour. It was only a small sample of frames of course, but the signs are promising. He appears to be at least good enough to get in the 64 after 2 years if he plays enough (no mean feat), and he may even be better than that.

I would be surprised if he was at the business end of tournaments, but it's not impossible.

I'm loving it!!!!! :)

BUT

Its gonna be REALLY tough for him.....

His long potting looked in very good shape on the seniors and break building was also in decent shape....He just needs to tread MUCH more carefully than he used to.....basically don't go for anything that's lower than a 7/10 shot (the same as the rest of them) and he might do ok...... but I get a feeling he wont follow that and still go for the risky frame winner and leave his opponents to clear up.

GO ON HENDO!!!!!!!!

Big mistake by Hendry imo.

When he retired in 2012 after several inconsistent but not disastrous seasons, his legacy was still untarnished from playing on way too long past his peak.

Now unless he either has a good century to frame ratio when he comes back and just gets outplayed by his opponents or he can beat opponents occasionally when matches get scrappy, this will definitely tarnish but not ruin, his legacy

Iranu wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:https://twitter.com/mikedunn147/status/1301113882610749441

Wild’s reply

This just in.

Mark Johnston-Allen is coming out of retirement.

Mildey, spot on as usual.

Actually though, and I mean this, Wild has taken that Mildey joke well.

Some would take it as a personal attack, but I've never seen Wild lose his temper about it. Shows Wildey has a sense of humour about himself.

In my opinion, all tournaments should be ranking tournaments, and all tournaments should be invitational. Then all these issues would disappear. If a tournament organiser wanted to invite a famous name, they could do that. If they wanted to invite local players (e.g. German players to the Tempodrom), they could do that.

The real problem is this 128-player rule and the stupid ranking system. This is not 1979 anymore.

if his first tournament is the UK...with its 1v128, 2v127 ranking system - could easily start against Ding/Ronnie/Trump/Robertson....in a qualifying shed....would BBC ask that match to be held over?

I guess he just misses the adulation basically, as money can't buy that can it no matter how much of it you have. Can't see him doing the long slog around the world for month after month, guess we will soon find out if he has it in him to even qualify for the crucible again, I would personally say no, I don't think he will ultimately be able to come through the qualifying but I can see him possibly making the odd quarter final but when he comes up against a top 16 player thats when his runs will come to an end in my opinion.

snoopy2608 wrote:if his first tournament is the UK...with its 1v128, 2v127 ranking system - could easily start against Ding/Ronnie/Trump/Robertson....

When you put it like that........it sounds quite scary as a Hendry fan......

SnookerFan wrote:Actually though, and I mean this, Wild has taken that Mildey joke well.

Some would take it as a personal attack, but I've never seen Wild lose his temper about it. Shows Wildey has a sense of humour about himself.

Wildey is a grand fella. Never expected him to be upset about it. It’s a tribute to a legendary forum figure.

I'm not sure about this at all. Such a brilliant player at his peak. A genius really. But coming back now after 8 years away??

I do wish him well. It'd be great to see him playing well on tv. But I think this will go badly. He will get slaughtered by the likes of Trump, Selby, O' Sullivan etc. That's if he gets that far.

This could be like a once great band breaking up. And getting back together years later. And it's like a karaoke act. I hope it's not a karaoke Stephen Hendry

Holden Chinaski wrote:

Iranu wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:https://twitter.com/mikedunn147/status/1301113882610749441

Wild’s reply

Quality. That’s why he’s our leader

freakmoomin wrote:

snoopy2608 wrote:if his first tournament is the UK...with its 1v128, 2v127 ranking system - could easily start against Ding/Ronnie/Trump/Robertson....

When you put it like that........it sounds quite scary as a Hendry fan......

TBH that might not be so bad, if he loses no big deal, it was to a top player.

If he takes a few beatings from some nobodies it'd be too painful for both him and his fans.

Regardless there isn't much short of drop kicking a baby that'd tarnish the legend that is Hendry.

Welcome back, I wish him the best

SnookerEd25 wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:

Iranu wrote:

Holden Chinaski wrote:https://twitter.com/mikedunn147/status/1301113882610749441

Wild’s reply

Quality. That’s why he’s our leader

Wild is the Barry Hearn of Snooker Island.

Holden Chinaski wrote:This is a good move from Hearn. Snooker's getting a lot of publicity. First Ronnie winning the worlds, now Hendry's coming back. Hendry was even in Belgian news media today.

#earnwithhearn

Holden Chinaski wrote:This is a good move from Hearn. Snooker's getting a lot of publicity. First Ronnie winning the worlds, now Hendry's coming back. Hendry was even in Belgian news media today.

indeed. It can only be good for Snooker if the two greatest players of all time dominate the headlines.

Now we just need Marcus Campbell to return from retirement and the jigsaw will be complete.

Cloud Strife wrote:

TheRocket wrote:I cant see him playing to a higher level than Jimmy is doing atm and we know that Jimmy doesnt have much of a success and keeps losing in 1st and 2nd rounds. Just the occasional good match and thats it.

A risky decision by Hendry for sure. Hard to see him enjoying it out there if he loses to people he would easily destroy in his prime.

Hendry could be flying in practice for all we know. Maybe this is what's given him the confidence to come back to the tour.

if both Jimmy and Hendry bring their practice game to the matches we're in for another world final between them. And this time Jimmy should have the edge. He is still the biggest practice monster out there.