I was at Dempster's house watching this. Dempster, if you're reading this, I'll never forget the Saturday afternoons, in the early 2000's, going to the Pizza-Hut 'All-You-Can-Eat' buffet, followed by the cinema. The day we went to see 'Phonebooth' remains one of the finest days, and fondest memories of my silly little life.
This match was the best match play snooker I ever saw Ronnie produce. He left Hendry nothing, his safety play was exceptional, his break building was immaculate and his temperament and focus were superb. If he’d played like this consistently since 2004 he’d have 10-12 world titles by now.
It wasnt Ronnies best performance. It was good but Hendry was terrible here. He played so bad and his body language was terrible. In 2008 i think Ronnie was better. Bcos i dont think Hendry played that badly - Ronnie just punished him everytime he made a mistake. Ronnie made more centuries that game.
@@69elvisrocks Ronnie was pumping Hendry in his pomp as a 17 year old in major finals @UKC finals and leads Hendry 9-4 in finals. Prime Hendry couldn't live with Prime Ronnie . Stats matter in sports not girly feelings 😁👌
@@69elvisrocks suck it up if you don't like these Ronnie vs Hendry H2H.. factual stats Played 13 Finals... Ronnie 9 Hendry 4 WSC SF 2004/8. He was exposed at thirty years old when Ronnie slaughtered him 17-4 & 17-6, and tore two new ones for yapimp Hendry where the sun don't shine Don't brag your queen Hendry the has been hero is not that great as you think. GOAT RONNIE O'SULLIVAN 🐐
I've always thought that Ronnie is most likely the GOAT of the snooker world but, not only that but, he realizes that if competition snooker has a future then the younger players need to be helped. He has made comments about reimbursing these lower ranked players their expenses because he knows that when he and the other greats begin to retire, there must be players to take their place. If these youngsters go broke trying to make tournaments and gain experience then, they'll simply stop playing the game. You can't have World Class snooker matches if no one is there to play. Ronnie has the foresight to see this and is lobbying for the future of the game.
They need to do the hard graft as all before them have so they appreciate the work required and not have their arses wiped which is typical of today's young entitled whiners
@@69elvisrocks What happened to Hendry between 1999-2012? Never won a triple crown tournament for 12 years from 30YO-42YO. What happened happened to Hendry from 2005 -2012? Never won a ranking tournament for 7 years till he retired after getting a pummeling from Maguire 13-2 at WSC? That's from 35YO -42YO. Don't brag your hero's greatness is a myth. Either way Ronnie pummeled him most times. Hendry is no Ronnie. Why do you think that is? Yips. Tip fell off? Lost his cue? Bla bla bla 12 & 7 years he won fuckall as explained above . Ronnie O'Sullivan is the greatest player of all time 🐐
@@69elvisrocks Nobody in the history of snooker had a meltdown, and spat his dummy like Stephen Hendry in a long -format when Marcus Campbell whitewashed him 9-0. I was watching front row and it was a joy to watch. Don't come with the Hendry was unbeatable BS. Hendry was more than beatable. Check H2H GOAT Ronnie vs Hendry, and tell me how your lover boy Hendry fared? 😁🤭🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫 Ronnie is the greatest player whoever played snooker 🐐
Hendry to me definitely looks SAD ... and a bit as if he was tired and just wanted this match to be over so he could retire. The effortlessness of his younger self was missing, and perhaps also the joy I think Ronnie, in today's events still has a passion for the game, and enjoys playing it, win or lose.
@@alanchamberlain9902he wasnt finished after this. I think Hendry was finished after 2006 ended. He became #1 again in 2006 and was pretty good in 2005. He beat Ronnie a few times after this and had a close welsh open final. Drew many times too. But this was a horrible performance from him. He just didnt look to be playing well at all
@@sugs1191 What happened to Hendry between 1999-2012? Never won a triple crown tournament for 12 years from 30YO-42YO. What happened happened to Hendry from 2005 -2012? Never won a ranking tournament for 7 years till he retired after getting a pummeling from Maguire 13-2 at WSC? That's from 35YO -42YO. Don't brag your hero's greatness is a myth. Either way Ronnie pummeled him most times. Hendry is no Ronnie. Why do you think that is? Yips. Tip fell off? Lost his cue? Bla bla bla 12 & 7 years he won fuckall as explained above . Ronnie O'Sullivan is the greatest player of all time 🐐
As a life long Jimmy White supporter, and I know this is going to sound petty, it was a pleasure to watch Hendry sitting in his chair looking forlorn and hurting the same way Jimmy used to when Hendry was clearing up to deny him yet another World Title.
Very true👌the most underrated player of all time Jimmy,his fault lies with him being so ballsy,and not snookering when he has tht chance🙄🥺🤞yet he still loves the game👊💪👍
I guess it would take a real expert in snooker to verify this, but it appears that O'Sullivan's game continued to improve throughout his career. Clearly here he is better than he was in the 90's, and I would say he was better in 2012 than he was here. Is there any other player who got stronger like that? Has O'Sullivan ever peaked the way that other players have? (If I have a guess at when he peaked it was the 147 he made under protest in 2010 against Mark King.)
I think Ronnie's general game improved up to about 2012 and has been in steady decline since. With regard to past players point of decline I believe the factor that distorts the perception is an underestimation of the increase in general standard that went on in the 80's, 90's and 00's. Also some technical conditions changed which made it more difficult for them.
There was a great video of this match showing just the one visit frame wins only by O'Sullivan in this match. It was terrifying to watch. Seems the powers that be have removed it or the channel that uploaded it. Personally, desperately seeking the quarter final against Anthony Hamilton. An unplayable 1st session in that match I haven't seen in years. There used to be 3 or 4 frames from it on yt but they're also long gone. Sad.
It must have been confounding and confusing to many commentators like Virgo that the player who owned the 1990s just stopped in the 2000s. (Of course, confusing and confounding toHendry, as well.) When do you stop predicting he might win, and/or return to his old form or something like it? Must have been weird.
This is a solid performance but Hendry was terrible imo. Ive seen Hendry put on atleast 6-10 better performances than Ronnie did here. I think Ronnie edges it as the goat but from a performance perspective Hendry put on better displays at the crucible.
Ronnie O'Sullivan is a great break-builder but a dreadful safety and tactical player. Can barely play a safety shot to save his life. He should avoid playing safe and just go for pots nonstop and if he loses by missing a pot, it's better than losing a frame by playing a safety shot wrong and having the opponent clear up afterwards when a pot was available to you. Case in point, at 57:45, he played a horrible safety when he should have just attempted to pot the blue. But instead, he played a horrible safety which Stephen Hendry made mince meat out of.
That's why he spent so long working with Ray Reardon, he knew his safety game was letting him down. Fast forward from here to 7 years later, his safety was as good as anyone else out there.
Ganstaz003 .. m8 .. I think u may b just having a giggle here!! Ronnie's safety game is up there with the very best (he hardly ever plays a shot plain ball, often making the shot far more difficult 2 create the desired angle) & time & time again he has his opponent WELDED 2 the baulk cusion. It's a part of the game that largely goes unnoticed due 2 his constant scoring but it's always there when required.
Overrated match! Ronnie ONLY won because Hendry was making unforced errors repeatedly. Ronnie relied on Hendry's unforced errors to win and couldn't create his own chances from forcing errors through good safety shots. That's Ronnie in a nutshell, who can only win when his opponents gift him chances in a platter. Force him to create his own chances and he appears lost.
Nonsense! Hendry’s errors were caused by O’Sullivan’s superb safety play. It’s no coincidence that his safety play came of age at the same time of him teaming up with Ray Reardon.
@@dannydoyle7040 Spot on, Danny. Gans should take his outdated comments to a place where people ignore how important Ray was to the development of Ronnie's safety.
All your comments here are comedy Gold. You're clearly a ROS hater. He's the world number 1 and world champion twice in the last 3 years. This is at 46 years of age. His all around game is now second to none. His safety has been phenomenal since he worked with Ray Reardon. He's the GOAT and if you disagree well so what. You carry on living in sweet blissful ignorance. 🙂🙂👍👍
