Snooker’s current stars are making the game boring to watch according to Stephen Hendry.
The seven-time world champion dominated the baize with an ultra-aggressive attitude during the 1990, but he has blasted a crop of the sport’s current big names for making the game dull in the lead up to the Masters which gets underway on January 12, with old foes John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan going head-to-head in the opening game. The legendary Scot, now a well respected pundit for the BBC, has been left dumbfounded seeing the likes of Judd Trump, Mark Allen and Neil Robertson curb their natural instincts in favour of no-risk showings.
And ahead of the prestigious 16-man Masters Hendry groaned: “The game’s changed. I can’t believe how negative some of the top players are. There were times in the UK Championship where snooker wasn’t fun to watch for me. Maybe I’m a dinosaur, but I thought snooker was about potting balls. No-one wants to play safeties to open the reds up any more.
“I don’t like watching snooker where people know the shot and walk around the table. In the UK Championship, even Judd Trump was playing no risk snooker. Even if I didn’t fancy a pot I would still go for it. So much gets refused now.”
Hendry was a breath of fresh air when he burst onto the scene in the late 80s after fans had become accustomed to the granite style of Steve Davis, who dominated the 80s with six world titles, and the likes of Ray Reardon and Cliff Thorburn — nicknamed ‘The Grinder’ for his methodical style.
The passing of the torch came in 1989 when Hendry beat Davis in the UK Championship final, and he added: “Neil Robertson is playing 28 or 29 seconds a shot when he plays his best at 22 or 23. I’m not a fan of 30 seconds a shot when there’s an obvious shot. Mark Allen does it a bit where there’s an obvious shot and he’ll still walk around the table and look at everything before playing the obvious shot.”
Previously Northern Irish star Allen had hit back at critics of his slow play at the UK Championship, saying: “My shot time means nothing to me because I try my best. I’ll never, ever apologise for giving 100 percent, if that’s 32 seconds on one day or 22 on another day, I don’t actually care.”