How good was PRIME Stephen Hendry actually?

#snooker #snookerchampionship #stephenhendry #cuetips
Stephen Hendry burst onto the snooker scene as a fresh-faced young Scottish player in the late 1980s.
Few could have predicted then that he would go on to be considered by many as the greatest player the sport has ever seen
So how good was prime Stephen Hendry actually?

[@TheSnookerVault]

Picture quality for 3.28 seconds is the best we could find😑

[@sam29mill2]

I found out if you write it as 3:28 it should give a link to that part of the video.

[@williamlee7672]

Hendry KZbin channel is very good. Actually he wasn’t the most complete player. On his channel, he said his safety was weak compared to others but he made for that by his attacking play. The most complete player is Ronnie as he can play great safety if he wanted to.

[@AD-kv9kj]

Erm...Ronnie was playing all those same tournaments as Hendry since 1992 from age 17-26, including when he was potting world record fastest 147s and so on. Why does everyone act like Ronnie wasn't around when Hendry was winning everything? There wasn't some magic sudden influx of amazing players in the 00s, it was still largely the same top 32...in fact many of the most consistent winners still to this day are from those same 90s players...

[@kashattack]

true, Hendry kept him at bay for a few years but once Ronnie came of age, Hendry couldn't compete with him anymore. He wasn't even that old, he won his last triple crown at 30. After that he didn't win another major title. Ronnie is still winning triple crown events at nearly 50!

[@alanchamberlain9902]

Ronnie was only a kid at 17, that’s like saying why didn’t Hendry win the world title in 85 or 86 silly point. Ronnie wasn’t great when his dad went to prison, sure he had natural talent but he use to throw a lot of games away. Ronnie didn’t start being the complete player till the 00s

[@bigwhite4051]

Hendry won his first world title at 21 , O,Sullivan became a threat from 1995 onwards but Hendry was still number one at that time and for at least another five years . O, Sullivan said that was the time he was at his best and Hendry was still the best. In Hendry,s book he said he started to get the yips in 1998 yet still won the world championship in 1999. He reached the final again in 2002 ,thrashing prime O,Sullivan in the semi final. Only his own admitted complacency against Ebdon stopped Hendrys 8th title. He had his cue broken on a plane and never really had the heart for the game after that. Without the yips it’s not inconceivable that Hendry could have continued to dominate against the « class of 92 » having beaten Williams in a world final earlier.I honestly think without the yips at least ten world titles would have been won by the king of the crucible.

[@christopherpenny6083]

Ronnie was not at his best from 17-26; that is well documented, he was an alcoholic and went to rehab a number of times. Since 26, he has cleaned up and is still the best player in the world at nearly 50. Hendry was done as a winner at the highest level by 30 - that's nowhere near Ronnie's career

[@davidgillespie3814]

Hendry lost his original cue and was never the same. He was the best 😊

[@CagedPaps]

I think what separates Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry from the pack for me, is they dominated a decade each. Davis won 6 all in the 80s, all of Hendry's in the 90s. The late 90s in particular saw a lot of competition that played a style Hendry was known for. Not to put Ronnie down, but he never had anything like that dominance, he's remained in the game. His first and his 7th world championship wins are 21 years apart. Which is an achievement in itself, but when you consider what's required to do it half the time... There's an argument to say it's tougher to win because you've had Selby with 4, Higgins with 4 and countless runner ups, Williams with 3. But Hendry did have competition, 4 finals against Jimmy White, 1 against Doherty and losing it, who went on to lose in the final to Higgins in 98, the same year Jimmy White was back with a break high in the comp. All for Hendry to win in 99 again. I'm just drumming in the notion, it wasn't a dead era with nobodies. And of course let's not forget, Jimmy White beat Steve Davis in the semi final - he was quite good too...

[@neilhurn2685]

Yes hendry and davis dominated each decade but was not as many good players

[@GT-yw8ue]

I totally agree with you. Folk forget a lot of the talent coming up now is from China where players are travelling and staying in the UK for tournaments etc… which gives UK based players an advantage. The 90’s was packed with phenomenal players that could only properly shine when Hendry started to decline. Selby is the most dominant player in the past ten years with four world titles. I think Ronnie is brilliant he’s the most gifted player ever but had he been the same age as Davis I reckon Davis would have came out on top and same for Hendry. He just isn’t consistent and maybe that’s the price of being a natural genius he definitely has mental health problems he’s had to overcome. Focusing on the 90’s Davis was still winning tournaments into the 90’s which people forget and you had Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Matthew Williams and Ronnie (who turned pro in 92) etc… all capable of busting a coupon.

[@sam29mill2]

Yeah Ronnie says he'd rather have dominated like Henry did. Watching Hendry through the 90s I always thought nobody could beat him. I don't get that feeling with any players today. Not even with Ronnie. Saying that the standard is surely higher now than the 90s. I also think it's remarkable that since the era of Ray reardon there hasn't really been many different world champions compared to how many championships have been held. (Ronnie 7, Hendry 7, reardon 6?, Davis 6) so just those 4 alone have won it on 26 occasions between them. Then the likes of Selby, Higgins, Williams all 3 or 4 times champs. Quite remarkable.

[@TheSnookerVault]

No doubt hendry had competiiton but comparing white to Sullivan surely not?

[@CagedPaps]

@@TheSnookerVault If my ramblings came across like that, then no. If anything White was a massive fan favourite, he got cheers that dwarfed anyone else. Hendry had to deal with that, now, he's said and still does on his channel he struggles to get motivated without the crowd. So it probably helped him. But others would be quite intimidated that the majority wanted Hendry to lose. In that respect (fan following) I think White is up there. And I would say beating White in the 80s and 90s wasn't easy. People just like to think the standard was much, much lower because Davis and Hendry dominated.

[@sam29mill2]

1:10 Hendry always says he had no cue power. It's obviously to me when i watch him that he did have lots of cue power, just maybe not as much as some others. I still think the ice man is king of the crucible

[@TheSnookerVault]

Hence the nickname 😀

[@user-bk9fk2tq2z]

Hendry had a lot of cue power.

[@prawnking79]

Arguably the best, definitely top 3.

[@Robc--jd6yh]

Robinson’s expression was nothing to do with Hendry. It was his reaction to a Stephen Maguire crazy shot. Such poor and misleading editing.

[@thomaswelch-dr5gn]

Hendry never played as many competitions as there are today.

[@TheSnookerVault]

That’s like any other sport. Competitions numbers increased over the years

[@user-bk9fk2tq2z]

His yips affected him and his cue stick broke in the aeroplane...he sadly wasn't the same player after that. He still beat Ding Junhui twice in the World Championships, and he was still getting 147s and centuries and he was still a great player in the modern era.

[@clintonoverstreet1531]

It's kinda like Tiger vs Jack argument. Is it purely just a bigger number in a category or do you take other things into consideration? There are arguments for both. There's no way to answer this but if you take both of them at their absolute best ever I give the nod to Hendry.

[@Juventinos]

Stephen Hendry is a winner first and a snooker player second. that's what people don't get. the fire went out. he didn't love the game, he loved winning. so once he won the 7th the fire slowly went away. he had nothing to prove. People were on his case and he proved them wrong again in 2002. But that's about it. he won everything. he concurred all. If the record was 11 world championships he would of won 12. that's the truth.

[@michaeljohnson5365]

Jimmy White and Hendry are 1,000 to win the World title this year

[@Ronnie-us8du]

It`s not about this year though is it.

[@shidy121]

Not just a player a Gentlemen

[@TheSnookerVault]

I agree

[@alanchamberlain9902]

That’s why he cheated and walked out on his wife and kids, great gentleman 😂

[@shidy121]

@@alanchamberlain9902 Ronnie is 10x worst than that

[@garethparr9482]

@@alanchamberlain9902what’s that got to do with snooker? That’s personal and nothing to do with snooker anyone can have difficulty in their personal life.

[@danieloneill9093]

He should have won 9 world titles instead of 7

[@piespeafield]

The goat 🐐

[@Davidp1985]

Hendry was good but he dominated in an era where there wasn’t that much talent coming through until the 92 boys came through, Ronnie,Higgins and Williams. Even they these guys were quickly adding titles at a young age and Hendry was only consistent for about 10 years or so as where the 92 guys still produce Top 8 high quality snooker some 30+ years later. I think if Hendry was a player of the modern era he wouldn’t have won as much as he did back in the day

[@danielosullivan7940]

Reardon has since changed his mind, he knows Ronnie is the greatest

[@koenhughes9267]

Second greatest player after Ronnie, but easily the greatest sportsman in the game.

[@stevethomson4360]

Only competitive maximum on UK soil? 1:55?

[@sam29mill2]

Either that's wrong, or I'm missing the point. I think there has been quite a few 147s before this in UK. Pretty sure Cliff Thorburn made one in world champs in early/mid 80s for a start.

[@stevethomson4360]

@sam29mill2 Yes and Jimmy White had one in Sheffield earlier in the same year

[@charlesscottkelly]

Remember Ronnie, Higgins and Williams where all pros in 1992 so he had to deal with 3 of the greats of the game,but dominated the 90s

[@TheSnookerVault]

True but also respectively in different stages of their careers

[@CagedPaps]

He's 6 years older though, arguably more impressive was defeating Jimmy White in 90, 92, 93, and 94 final. So yeah some great young players coming through but there was some tasty players kicking about who should have been in their prime.

[@TheSnookerVault]

@@CagedPaps agreed

[@alanchamberlain9902]

They were 16/17 when they turned pro 😂😂. You expect them to wi mute world title at that age?

[@jmgrant6881]

Without a doubt, he retired way too early.

[@chrisseed4643]

Great video until get facts wrong about the first 147. For anyone interested I'll give my opinion. Let's be clear Ronnie o Sullivan is the best player to ever play the game. Can't see an argument against that but for me Hendry will always be my favorite as and as Ronnie also admits he changed the game for the better in such an attacking way of playing. So many great players now and some say hendry wouldn't win in today's line up. Well all i can say to that is that you can only beat what's in front of you. Hendry best ever? Not sure. Hendry the guy who changed snooker so the likes of Ronnie and Trump play such brilliant attacking snooker? 100 % Only my opinion guys and would be interested if agree with me or not.

[@kwesi46]

I disagree. Always difficult to compare generations. My opinion is ANY Top class player could compete in ANY generation and that's what made them champions

[@chrisseed4643]

@@kwesi46 fair point pal. I still believe hendry changed the game from pretty dull snooker to attacking exciting to watch snooker but it's all about opinions and I respect yours.

[@user-bk9fk2tq2z]

@@kwesi46 Exactly, great tennis players like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic can hang and destroy the new generation of tennis players...that is what makes Federer, Nadal and Djokovic all-time greats.

[@michaeljohnson5365]

Hendry the 8th anyone?

[@TheSnookerVault]

Possibly

[@user-bk9fk2tq2z]

Sorry, it will never happen. Hendry is one of my favourite players, and he is my mum's favourite, but he will never win any more world championships, It's sad, I wish he got more.

[@davegonnaway6007]

No.

[@Gavinsignlanguage]

I’m massive hendry fans sadly I have to say he will never get 8th he is not in prime anymore

[@user-bk9fk2tq2z]

1:01 Those women think he looks cute :-)

[@dhirajpallin2572]

Like his mum and his sister?

[@pinkypunky2643]

Hendry dominated quite a poor era in snooker. O Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams were much better players than Hendry and played in a tougher era . Ronnie is by far the GOAT and I cant see any player beating his feats.

[@garethparr9482]

So is it hendrys fault he was at his pomp when he was. You can only beat the competition that’s around at the same time. All this comparing eras is bollox!

[@msimndofga-jg2vt]

How can this be when Steve hendry won the world title 6 out of seven times when Williams Higgins and Ronnie was in there pump. 7x World Champion mate. Higgens won’t get there no chance. Higgins, Williams were. not better

[@kurmanova-vx3iq]

Higgins over Hendry...🤣🤣🤣🤣 In any event Hendry is 1 or 2 no matter what

[@cone78omdiaco21]

It’s got to be Ronnie and Hendry 1 and 2 either way ,would Hendry of won 7 worlds in today’s era not sure,he wouldn’t of won so many back to back imo

[@kurmanova-vx3iq]

In my opinion: 1. Stephen Hendry 2. Ronnie O'Sullivan 3. Steve Davis 4. John Higgins 5. Mark Williams I know many of you Ronnie fans will have a go at my ranking for putting Stephen over Ronnie, but this is prime Stephen we are talking about. Prime Stephen did not have the yips that he suffered from later on in his life, and prime Stephen did not have his cue broken. He says that his cue was like an extension of his arm, and he won 5 World Championships with that same, funny-looking cue...so it must have had an impact on him when his cue broke in the aeroplane. Look at some of the great matches between Stephen and Ronnie when Stephen was near the top of his game...like the Victoria thing in 1997 I think it was...when Stephen potted 147 in the final frame. I know that Ronnie is a great legend too, like Stephen. For me, it's hard to choose who is better between Stephen and Ronnie. I would not mind putting Ronnie as number 1 and Stephen as number 2. It is not an easy call to make for me. Maybe Ronnie is number 1, I don't know. I think as he got older, his long potting game went down...I mean Stephen Hendry.

[@jamesali76]

I think Selby, Trump even Robertson is actually better than Hendry,

[@jamesali76]

@@itiaka-tz1nl Hendry era was weaker so he didn't really have much competition. You only see a 147 in years in early 90's nowadays you see one every few weeks by lower rank players. Hendry start losing when other players get stronger like of Williams, Higgins, Selby, Trump and Sullivan gets more consistent in later part of his career but was very inconsistent early

[@dafergy]

Of course there are more 147’s now. There’s 3 times the number of tournaments now. Also the cloths are faster to give you a better split, balls are lighter, better chalk so you don’t get as many kicks and the pockets are more generous.

[@Ronnie-us8du]

Greatness is measured in world titles.