2022 World Seniors UK Championship

[mikee]

That’s the difference between a lot of the older players ,Jimmy still loves the game and has always stuck the hours in and in his mind he can still get better .I know everyone jokes about him playing well in practice ,but practice a lot he does and on his day is still a handfull for anyone on the main tour ,just a shame he squandered his talent with coke and booze in his prime ,he should have had at least two World titles .

[tomwalker147]

This tournament is made up of too many has beens or 'legends', it feels soulless. I remember being envious maybe 7/8 years ago when some of the more senior local league players were getting a chance to play in the seniors before it was televised, I believe the format was best of 3's and the tournament 'proper' was open to either 32 or 64 players.
Now what we see is the likes of Parrott, Johnson, Thorburn being cannon fodder for current tour pro's.

[mikee]

This tournament is made up of too many has beens or 'legends', it feels soulless. I remember being envious maybe 7/8 years ago when some of the more senior local league players were getting a chance to play in the seniors before it was televised, I believe the format was best of 3's and the tournament 'proper' was open to either 32 or 64 players.
Now what we see is the likes of Parrott, Johnson, Thorburn being cannon fodder for current tour pro's.

perfectly put , I also think if Hendry doesn’t even make the final he should retire permanently from the main tour .

[tomwalker147]

perfectly put , I also think if Hendry doesn’t even make the final he should retire permanently from the main tour .

He was terrible last night, Taylor was banging on about how Hendry was playing the best stuff he's seen him play for a while. His cue ball control was woeful, his long potting awful and this was on a table with massive pockets.
If anyone follows Hendry on instagram you'll see his life is cigars, wine, whiskey and golf with the odd bit of snooker. whilst I love the bloke and he's one of my favourite players ever he's doing this free tour card a disservice.

[mikee]

I didn’t know he had played yet ,did he win ? Hendry was a genius player ,loved to watch him in his prime ,hate to see him play now ,every match he plays destroys his legacy

[tomwalker147]

I didn’t know he had played yet ,did he win ? Hendry was a genius player ,loved to watch him in his prime ,hate to see him play now ,every match he plays destroys his legacy

He beat Barry Pinches 3-2 Mike, made a 70 something in frame 1 and you get that hopefulness that the legend has returned but the remainder of the match was horrible. Plays Ken Doherty tonight I believe in the quarters.

[trying]

Hendry appeared to be making a 'sight right comeback' but it doesn't seem to have got off the ground.

[Danger Steve]

He beat Barry Pinches 3-2 Mike, made a 70 something in frame 1 and you get that hopefulness that the legend has returned but the remainder of the match was horrible. Plays Ken Doherty tonight I believe in the quarters.

I actually fancy Ken for this match.

[tomwalker147]

I actually fancy Ken for this match.

Same although I have to say he's on the decline too, I fancy David Lilley for the tournament, he's solid and still on tour isn't he. That said Jimmy does score well still and they're playing on buckets so who knows!

[DeanH]

Same although I have to say he's on the decline too, I fancy David Lilley for the tournament, he's solid and still on tour isn't he. That said Jimmy does score well still and they're playing on buckets so who knows!

Lilley is not on the tour at the mo but has had a couple of Am invites as well has been playing in a lot of Am and Pro-Am comps - I also fancy him for the event (probably jinxed it for him now!)

[mikee]

Hendry’s game was built around long potting ,when that went stage exit left the confidence was gone ,I can’t see him beating Doherty . What Hendry did in the game in a relitivly short period of time was quite amazing ,but the decline was faster than I have seen in any pro ,it was literally instant ,maybe he needed that full time work load of practice with over time every day ,and that’s something you can’t do forever .Ronnie may be the most talented of all time but I would put Hendry as the best match player ever .

[Cue crafty]

I read Hendrys book, the table and me last week, it’s a great read and gives good insight into just how focused and dedicated he was under the governance of Ian Doyle who always pressured him into practice and berated him whenever he didn’t focus. Once Doyle’s influence waned after the sad loss of his wife, Hendry was without a sergeant major screaming in his ear and seemed to form a big part in the already starting decline.

well worth a read for anyone who’s not had the chance yet. By the end of it, you feel Hendrys exhaustion with him and understanding much easier why he retired.

Basically, the edge of the blade that was razor sharp picked up too many nicks over time to ever be as sharp.

[mikee]

It is a good read ,probably one of the reasons he came back because he’s a spender ,he certainly liked to flash the cash .

[tomwalker147]

I read Hendrys book, the table and me last week, it’s a great read and gives good insight into just how focused and dedicated he was under the governance of Ian Doyle who always pressured him into practice and berated him whenever he didn’t focus. Once Doyle ’s influence waned after the sad loss of his wife, Hendry was without a sergeant major screaming in his ear and seemed to form a big part in the already starting decline.

well worth a read for anyone who’s not had the chance yet. By the end of it, you feel Hendrys exhaustion with him and understanding much easier why he retired.

Basically, the edge of the blade that was razor sharp picked up too many nicks over time to ever be as sharp.

It's a very very good book. I was in Bali and as lovely as that place was found I couldn't put the book down at times. I think he was incredibly driven but we probably need to remember he dominated the sport for a whole decade, that must take it out of people. Davis had the 80's, Hendry the 90's. In my opinion the sport hasn't been dominated since.
If we look across all sports it's incredibly rare that anybody has more than a decade of dominance. I follow MotoGP and have been a huge Valentino Rossi fan and his dominance of the 2000's or naughties wasn't replicated in the 2010's.
I think sportspeople lose their edge, subconsciously losing their driven motivation that led them to greatness. I think Hendry let things like his divorce, his cue being damaged, Doyle's departure become an easy way out of the sport and ultimately he lost his drive and began to enjoy the celebrity Stephen Hendry more than being the winning one.

[Cue crafty]

Watched some of the Doherty v Hendry match last night and although Stephen had a few patches of nice play it was pretty painful to watch overall. I'm not really sure what was more painful TBH, the snooker or the commentary, Mike Dunn and Virgo felt that they constantly had to point out reasons for the poor play by both players as they themselves squirmed uncomfortably in their seats watching some of the dire shots.

I watched till Ken was 2-1 up, but then couldn't listen to "This isn't an easy game you know"!! One more time.