Hendry snubs World Championship qualifying to mark two seasons without a win

27 March 2024 , 15:46

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Stephen Hendry will not feature at the Crucible

Stephen Hendry won't be entering qualifying for the World Snooker Championship meaning he will be winless across two seasons.

The 55-year-old excelled in the 1990s and is regarded among the game's all-time greats. He retired in 2012 before returning nine years later, but his comeback has not gone as planned with wins hard to come by. Hendry was expected to attempt to return to the Crucible, where he is a seven-time winner.

That won't be happening though with the veteran not even giving it a go this year. Twelve months ago his qualifying hopes were ended by James Cahill, the nephew of his former wife, as he secured a 10-4 victory. Now Henry has confirmed he won't be competing in 2024 due to several factors.

He said on the WST Snooker Club podcast : "I’ve not entered the World qualifying this year. There’s a couple of reason, it starts the day after the Tour Championship finishes. I’ll have been working for TV all week and obviously not had much chance to practice, which I haven’t really done.

"I’m not going to bother this year. There’s a lot of things to do in between the Tour Championship and World Championship, so I thought I’d give it a miss this year."

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Last year Hendry failed to win in his four matches and this term he is none from five outings as his struggles continue. He claimed some notable victories upon his initial return, seeing off Michael White and Jimmy White, but admits he doesn't do the necessary practice.

Back in September he said: "There has to be a time when I can’t put up with not being able to make a 30 break. It is embarrassing. My relationship with snooker now is… well if it was love-hate before, it is now love-hate-hate. It has never been ‘a comeback’ to try and win things. It has always been to get a wildcard, play some matches and see what happens.

The 55-year-old has failed to win in two years (Getty Images)

"The problem is I don’t practice, and how can you expect to go and do anything if you don’t prepare for it? I am basically on the golf course eight days a week."

Hendry also admits, having once been the biggest draw in the sport, that the current venues he's playing in simply don't inspire him. "I'd play in front of 3000 people in Hong Kong, to a full house, he told SportsBoom.com. "And now I'm playing in a leisure centre with a swimming pool next to it."

"I mean, how do you get yourself up that? That's the problem. All the qualifiers are in venues which are not very inspiring for me. But they have to there and there's a purpose for these qualifiers. But when you've played the venues I have, well you're looking for a wee bit of inspiration to get yourself up.”

Samuel Meade