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DATELINE - Tuesday 17 February and Stephen Hendry is fighting to stay in the Welsh Open. He is 3-4 down to Middlesex's Martin Gould and facing the prospect of another first round defeat. But Hendry has a chance to square the match at 4-4 and send the match into a decider, which will surely follow if he sinks a routine red.
Suddenly there are oohs and ahhs from the Newport crowd as Hendry misses. He backs away from the table having blown his chance. And Gould hardly believing his luck steps in and mops up for a 5-3 victory. Gould a part time poker dealer could well have dealt Hendry with a very cruel hand- as he now faces a real struggle to stay in the top 16.
When asked by the press in what must have felt like the torture chamber to any professional losing a match, one of Stephen's press conference quotes just about summed up his entire season "It was just one of those days". From Hendry's point of view the season has become one he'd rather like to forget. The results in ranking tournaments paint a very depressing picture.
Northern Ireland trophy lost in Round 1 to Stephen Lee
Shanghai Masters lost in Round 1 to Ricky Walden
Grand Prix lost in Round 2 to John Higgins
Bahrain International lost in Semi final to Matthew Stevens
UK Open lost in Round 1 to Stephen Lee
Welsh Open lost in Round 1 to Martin Gould
The China Open now becomes a critical tournament for Stephen. For so long those players who dreaded the thought of facing Stephen will be rubbing their hands at the thought of taking on a Hendry in the Chinese city with the Scotsman running on empty in terms of confidence
If Stephen loses round 1 in Beijjing he'll arrive in Sheffield for the World Championships facing the prospect of dropping out of the top 16.
Should Stephen lose his opening round in Sheffield then he will have a very difficult choice to make- Option 1 would be to carry on, but have to pre qualify for tournaments. Having to pre qualify at Prestatyn would be a chastening experience after what he has achieved. But sport isn't let alone snooker is not based on sentiment it is based on hard results, and ranking points- nothing else.
Hendry is a very proud man-and if he is relegated from the elite 16, would a man who was and is used to winning be able to reconcile himself to the thought that his chances of winning would be somewhat reduced.
The qualifying school is notoriously tough-those who find themselves experieincing it for the first time after relegation can find themselves pigeons ripe for the plucking- as those on the way up sense a chance to make a name for themselves by beating a fading star.
No longer is it turn up and complete the formality of winning a qualifying match against for example against the world number 30. Those ranked 17-32 are hardened match players. Just look at the problems Ken Doherty has encountered. He has failed to qualify for any tournament. In short Doherty has found himself slipping further and further down the rankings to the point where is more known these days for his work as a TV pundit- this could well signify that Doherty will be announcing his retirement before too long.
So where did it all go wrong for Hendry. Is it just a lack of confidence or is there another factor- personally I think it is a combination of a lack of confidence and desire. Confidence is a fragile commodity for any sportsperson. The confidence was brutally shattered by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi finals in Sheffield last year. And with the close season lasting only three months such a crushing defeat can linger in the mind. The 5-1 defeat Stephen received at the hands of Stephen Lee in Belfast would have chipped further away at his confidence.
That is when sportspeople do ask themselves 'Do I really want to keep doing this'. In Stephen's case it is harder because he has won everything- and to have to endure 4/6 first round exits represents a massive fall from grace. Is it saturation point. Maybe it is.
Every dominant snooker player from every generation has experienced the same as Stephen. It happened to the late John Spencer, Ray Reardon and of course Steve Davis. Davis though is the exception, he was able to re-adjust his goals; and adopted the approach of I'll just enjoy myself and not expect too much. In short not actively chasing more records took a lot of pressure off him.
Can Hendry do what Davis did- I'm not sure he can, which leaves Stephen with option 2- retirement. And when Stephen arrives in Sheffield in six weeks time he'll have a stark choice to make. If I was to make a guess I think Hendry would take the second option and the Scotsman would wave goodbye to the sport he has competed in for 24 years at the venue where he made his first appearance on television in 1986.
Suzy Jardine
footygirl74
Images by www.FocusStacked.co.uk
). Yes his confidence is shattered and he has been accumulating battle scars for a good few years now. But his ability isn't the same anymore neither: it's only natural at 40. Eyesight just a tad less sharp, less resilience to tiredness, slightly shorter attention span - nothing that would effect every day's life but does count at the top of competition. He will not come back to his former level, it's just impossible.
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