How good was PRIME Stephen Hendry actually? 

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

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!

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

@@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.

Hence the nickname 😀

Hendry had a lot of cue power.

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

I agree

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

@@alanchamberlain9902 Ronnie is 10x worst than that

@@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.

It`s not about this year though is it.

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.

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

True but also respectively in different stages of their careers

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.

@@CagedPaps agreed

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

Possibly

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.

No.

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

Like his mum and his sister?

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

@@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.

@@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.

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!

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

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

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

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.

@@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

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.

Greatness is measured in world titles.