Stephen Hendry: biography, achievements

Stephen Hendry - a player in snooker, which many consider the greatest in the history of billiards. In his asset - a huge number of world records: the amount of prize money, the number of centuriy-breaks, titles, etc. He was the first Scottish player to set an example for the next generation of snooker players. In the 80s Steve Davis dominated this game , and the 90's were owned exclusively by Hendry. His advantage over the opponents was so obvious that some of them purely psychologically lost before the match. In this article we will describe a brief biography of the snooker player.

A family

Stephen James Hendry was born in Edinburgh (Scotland) in 1969. The father of the future snookerist had a business selling fruits and vegetables. When the boy was seven years old, Hendry's family moved to Fife. Then the parents divorced, and the hero of this article, along with his mother, went to the South Queensferry.

Snooker

Soon, Stephen Hendry was carried away by billiards. Scotland was just needed a new player, because since the 1950's no one could win the title. Stephen managed to do this at age 14 at the 1983 National Championship. Naturally, he chained to everyone's attention. 15 years - this is the age in which the amateur world championship defeated Stephen Hendry. Snooker became for him the main occupation in life. At the age of 16 a young man received professional status.

Carier start

In his first season, Stephen Hendry reached 1/16 of the tournament "Mercantil Credit Classic" and reached the first round of the World Cup. But, unfortunately, he was overcome by Willie Thorne. Season Stephen finished only in 51st place.

1986-1987 became more successful for him. Snookerist defended his champion title and passed in the quarter finals of Mercantil and the Grand Prix. Hendry was stopped by Joe Johnson, who rose to 23rd place in the ranking. Nevertheless, Stephen began to speak of Davis as the likely successor. Of course, the venerable Johnson taught Hendry a few offensive "lessons", but this did not affect the determination of Stephen. On the contrary, he even more wanted to become the best snooker player on the planet.

New level

In the same season, Hendry Stephen was seen and appreciated by entrepreneur Ian Doyle. He became the manager of a young player. Their cooperation formed the basis for the creation of the company "110 sport". Now she deals with the affairs of most top players.

In the third season, snooker Stephen Hendry began to win in rating tournaments on a regular basis. He won the British Open and the Grand Prix. Also, Stephen defended his Scottish title and won at the Australian Masters. At the end of the season, Hendry took the fourth place in the ranking. Everyone realized that the young man was a new phenomenon in snooker.

The next season, Hendry Stephen did not do well. He did not win a single rating tournament. But snookerist won the "Masters" in New Zealand and Wembley. This allowed the hero of this article to take the third line in the final rating.

Triumph

The 1989/90 season was a triumph for the billiard player - to the titles of the winner of Wembley and Scottish Masters, "Outdoor Open", "Dubai Classic", snookerist added the World Cup cup. 21 is the age in which Stephen Hendry did it. The career of the young man has reached a new level. He took the first line of the world ranking snukeristov.

In the following season, Stephen was unable to defend his champion title. But he won a couple of tournaments, "Masters" and five rating competitions. This before him, no one could do (this record holds and to this day).

Stability

1992 - this is the year when he returned his championship crown to Stephen Hendry. Snooker actively developed, and the young man has many new competitors. The most colorful were John Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan. Nevertheless, the billiard player continued to dominate, steadily winning 2-3 rating competitions a year and holding the first place in the standings. In 1994 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and was named the sportsman of the year (voting in the BBC).

In 1996, Stephen became the world champion for the sixth time. Billiard player equaled this indicator with Steve Davis and Ray Reardon. In 1997, Hendry planned to win the championship cup for the seventh time. Snookerist easily reached the finals, but met there with Ken Doierty, who, like the hero of this article, planned to become the first. Stephen lost to him with a rather unexpected score - 18:12. Nevertheless, in the overall rating, the billiard player has already won the first line for the eighth consecutive time.

New attempt

In the next season (1997/98), Stephen Hendry again could not climb Olympus. The most offensive for the snooker was that he was beaten by Jimmy White. Prior to this, Stephen defeated him in the finals four times. Everything became even worse when Hendry was seized the first line of the rating. This was done by John Higgins, having won the tournament in Sheffield. Stephen was very upset, because he was proud of the first place in the ranking no less than the champion titles.

At this point, most snooker reviewers announced the imminent retirement of Hendry's career, because the level of his game compared to the early 90's significantly decreased. In addition, Stephen's back was breathing billiard-players of a new generation (Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Williams, John Higgins, etc.), focusing on that high bar, which asked the hero of this article. But Hendry did not even think about completing his career. As in the distant eighties, his determination to return the billiard crown only increased.

The long-awaited title

In 1999, Stephen Hendry, a bibliography about which is not very extensive (just one book), finally became the world champion for the seventh time. But the first line of the rating snukerist never returned. Billiard player continued to win in a couple of tournaments for the season, but his unconditional leadership is left behind. Nevertheless, Stephen was in the top five of the strongest snookerists of the planet and created them a serious competition.

Sunset career

The following seasons were not very successful for billiards. 2004-2005 Passed for Stephen quite strenuously. Hendry was actively coached by Terry Griffiths. Their joint efforts led the hero of this article to victory in the "Malta Cap". In the final, "Welsh Open," Stephen lost to O'Sullivan with a score of 8: 9. At the "China Open" Hendry was also defeated (5: 9) from the young talent of Dean Jianhui. The result was a terrible performance in the quarterfinals of the World Cup. Snookerist lost to Matthew Stevens with a score of 11:13. Hendry very emotionally commented on this defeat at a subsequent press conference. The only advantage was that the billiard player still got on the second line of the world rating.

Especially the failed 2005-2006 years. Hendry with great difficulty reached the semifinals of the championship of Great Britain. There, with a score of 9: 6, he was defeated by Steve Davis. In the final of the Premier League snookerist also waited for failure. Ronnie O'Sullivan crushed him dry - 6: 0. Then Hendry lost to Alan McManus in the first round of Masters and could not defend the title of champion of Malta. The frisky victory over Robertson 5: 1 (and Stephen made in the match 4 centuri) led to a loss in the quarter finals from Higgins with a score of 2: 5. Has not developed in Hendry and many other tournaments. As a result, the competition between Ronnie and Stephen should have come to an end, as both snookerists just had a terrible season. In addition to all, Hendry lost to Nigel Bond the first round of the World Cup with a score of 9:10. He could not score a black ball.

Only in 2006-2007, Stephen Hendry, whose achievements are presented in this article, again managed to regain the first line of the rating. Other of his victories can not be called equally significant. The brightest performances of the snooker player took place at the Welch Open and the British Championship, where Stephen managed to reach the final. For all, it became obvious that Hendry had lost his old skill and would never be the same again. If the snooker player was in the top 5 of the rating at the beginning of zero, now Stephen dropped below the tenth place.

Versatility

Someone from billiards has a more accurate blow, someone is a master of wins, and some have a genetic predisposition to this sport. However, the great snookerists are united only by one quality - universality. They are good in everything and know how to subordinate their circumstances. Once Stephen planned to become a millionaire by the age of 27 and withdraw from snooker. However, everything turned out differently. 43 years - this is the age in which Stephen Hendry retired. Achievements in the career of this player can serve as role models: in addition to many won titles and established records, the athlete earned more than 8 million pounds.

Hobby

The main passion for the hero of this article is golf. Also, the athlete is considered an avid poker player. He often spends time doing this with his friend Mark Williams.

Personal life

Stephen Hendry, whose biography was presented above, lives in Perthshire county (Ohterarder) with his wife Mandy and children - sons Carter and Blaine. With his future wife snookerist met in the camp of Pontins (Wales) in 1984. Sister Mandy named Maria participated in the billiard tournament, where she took 2nd place. Hendry was at that time 16 years old. Steven's manager Ian Doyle did not approve of their romance. He led the young man to the world championship, and the girl became an obstacle in his way.

After Stephen's game deteriorated, Ian forbade Mandy to accompany the snooker player to the tournaments. In 1990, Hendry won for the first time at the World Championship. By that time, he had already met Mandy for quite some time. Especially they were brought together by a car accident in 1988 in Blackpool. As a result, she received a concussion and a fracture of pelvic bones. For several weeks, Mandy lay in the hospital. A billiard-player often visited his beloved.

For some time Stephen Hendry lived with his wife in Armadale, but before the birth of the first son the couple moved to Perthshire. Their sandstone house with two turrets and four bedrooms is located not far from the private road in Ochterarder. The eldest son of Stephen also plays snooker. He already managed to win one of the tournaments of the Spencers club in the city of Stirling.