Stephen Hendry

Not to be confused with Stephen Hendrie.

Stephen Hendry
MBE
Hendry at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
Born (1969-01-13) 13 January 1969 (age 55)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Sport country Scotland
Nickname
  • The King of the Crucible[1]
  • the Golden Bairn[2]
Professional1985–2012, 2020–2024
Highest ranking1 (April 1990 – May 1998, May 2006 – May 2007)
Maximum breaks11
Century breaks777
Tournament wins
Ranking36
World Champion

Stephen Gordon Hendry MBE (born 13 January 1969[3]) is a Scottish retired professional snooker player and a current commentator and pundit. One of the most successful players in snooker history, he turned professional in 1985, aged 16, and rose rapidly through the snooker world rankings, reaching number four in the world by the end of his third professional season. He won his first World Snooker Championship in 1990, aged 21 years and 106 days, making him the sport's youngest world champion, a record he still holds. He won seven world titles between 1990 and 1999, setting a new modern-era record that stood outright until Ronnie O'Sullivan equalled it in 2022. He also won the Masters six times and the UK Championship five times for a career total of 18 Triple Crown tournament wins, a total exceeded only by O'Sullivan's 23. His total of 36 ranking titles is second only to O'Sullivan's 41, while his nine seasons as world number one were the most by any player under the annual ranking system used until 2010.

Hendry's five consecutive Masters titles between 1989 and 1993 and five consecutive world titles between 1992 and 1996 remain records in the modern era. His 36 consecutive victories in ranking events between March 1990 and January 1991 and his 29 consecutive wins at the Crucible between 1992 and 1997 also remain modern-era records.[4] One of three players to have won all three Triple Crown events in a single season, he is the only player to have achieved the feat twice, in the 1989–90 and 1995–96 seasons. His 777 career century breaks include 11 maximum breaks, putting him in third place behind O'Sullivan (15) and John Higgins (13) for the most officially recognised maximums in professional competition. Awarded an MBE in 1994,[5] he was twice named the BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year, in 1987 and 1996.[6][7]

Hendry's form became less consistent after his sixth world title in 1996 and his career declined in the 2000s, his play increasingly affected by the yips. He reached the last of his nine world finals at the 2002 World Championship but lost in a deciding frame to Peter Ebdon. He won his last ranking title at the 2005 Malta Cup and reached his last ranking final at the 2006 UK Championship, losing 6–10 to Ebdon. During the 2011–12 season, he fell out of the top 16 in the world rankings for the first time in 23 years. He made his 27th consecutive Crucible appearance as a qualifier at the 2012 World Championship but announced his retirement from professional snooker at age 43 after losing 2–13 to Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals. After almost nine years in retirement, he returned to professional competition during the 2020–21 season under an invitational tour card. He played sporadically on the professional tour over four seasons but secured only three wins in 20 professional matches and retired again after the 2023–24 season. He has also competed on the World Seniors Tour and has twice been a semi-finalist at the World Seniors Championship.

  1. ^ Hafez, Shamoon (1 May 2012). "World Snooker Championship 2012: Stephen Maguire into semis". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Stephen Hendry". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 18 March 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
  3. ^ "Stephen Hendry". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Longest Snooker unbeaten run". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  5. ^ "How Queen Elizabeth II honoured snooker's greatest icons including Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump and Steve Davis". Eurosport. 12 September 2022. Archived from the original on 19 September 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.
  6. ^ "Stephen Hendry MBE". BBC Sport. 21 January 2002. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  7. ^ Mitchell, Paul (16 October 2014). "Stephen Hendry wins record seventh snooker title 1999". BBC. Archived from the original on 25 December 2022. Retrieved 25 December 2022.