I don’t know how people could hate him, there’s absolutely nothing offensive about him. He was awesome and his attacking style was great for the game. There were two reasons he became unpopular, he kept beating the game’s most popular player (Jimmy White) in the same way that Davis did in the 80s (Alex Higgins). Also, his domination in the 90s became a bit frustrating again like Davis in the 80s. However, the game has reached unbelievable levels and for that we have to give Hendry a lot of credit.
@@jamescarpenter6585 Seems a few haters are still lurking. I think Ronnie fanboys hate on him sometimes because he's still got a legitimate claim for GOAT, largely because of the dominance factor that Ronnie never really had, and impact on the game in terms of revolutionizing the attacking style as you say and raising the bar. There probably would be no class of '92 if it wasn't for Hendry. I remember specific ways he changed the game as well, like forcing players to find a way to get safer off the break and not nudge the bottom red into the wrong place (previously safe) off the break because more than half the time he'd sink it off his first shot and he was in. Was certainly all business at the table, but comes across as a top bloke now as well.
Ronnie and Stephen are the best snooker players ever. They both have the drive, determination, killer instinct, aggressive way of playing and are such fascinating individuals to listen to and learn from. God bless them both 🙏 👍👏❤❤
I agree. As a match player there was none better, only Steve Davis and Reardon come close. O'Sullivan is an unbelievable player, the best ever in terms of natural ability but doesn't quite have the temperament of those three.
As a big white fan, Henry was difficult to root for, but if Jimmy wasn't around I would of rooted for him. I think because Jimmy came so close, it was tough to watch. Now with time I am just glad we got to see great snooker, regardless of winners.
Hendry played a lot faster then what people make out! He was like a whippet round the table and the most aggressive player always went to break the reds and get on the black
Absolutely and I'm astonished how few seem to realise that - even among snooker fans. I started watching snooker right around the time Stephen won his first world championship and he was incredibly dynamic and agressive in his game and when it comes down to it, he really pushed the boundaries of what's required to make it in professional snooker.
For me the best all round player, sorry for the Ronnie fans, but professionaly speaking...he had a granite mental strength that Ronnie had lacked many times.
Most dominant player in the history of the game, through the 90s particularly. Ronnie has longevity and better stats (partly because of it), but if dominance over a 5+ year period is your criteria, Hendry is still your man, then Davis. All depends how you define the GOAT question really.
@@dalenewton9697 Longevity is the one thing Hendry didn't have - and the reason his numbers are now behind O'Sullivan, although it's taken Ronnie until his mid to late '40s to get there. But to assess the "greatest", you have to compare players at their peak, taking into account all aspects of their ability. What gives Hendry the edge over anyone else was his ability to play his very best under the greatest pressure. His temperament was far superior to O'Sullivan and enabled him to dominate over a prolonged period the game in a way that Ronnie has never done. This is the quality which sets apart the best in many other individual sports too.
@@dinoramone6761 I agree with most of that and would only quibble that there is some objective interpretation of what 'the greatest' means which requires any particular criteria being a non-negotiable. There are a few people here (I think 'fanboy's or 'trolls' in most cases) implying or making categorical claims that dominance is not relevant, or that the only thing that matters is the 'number of ranking titles' accumulated, etc., but this is objectively wrong as the debate reveals that people do indeed consider other factors to be relevant, and one of those is dominance, as you say. For this reason I think Davis, and Hendry still have a legitimate case for thee 'GOAT' title. All depends on how you define the terms/criteria I think. Hendry wasn't one of my favourite players ( I was a Jimmy fan like many others), but one thing that stays with me is just how fucking dominant and consistent the guy was, and how he forced the game to change and players to up their game to get anywhere near him. Sometimes just little things too. For example I remember how he basically forced a bunch of players to change how they broke off, because he would sink so many long reds off their breaks.
It's not easy Liam to please everybody I played semi professional football and came to golf through football as a lot of golfers have so I enjoyed both keep up the good work you have a great back up team and I am looking forward to the new season so all fellow golfers have a great season and as I always say we are so blessed just to be able to enjoy our golf 😊
Stephen Hendry had that killer instinct which made him different from the rest. He was the best snooker player. Ossulivan more talented but Hendry was greatest.
It's funny that this GOAT title doesn't really mean anything to either of them anymore. Hendry has always been my favourite because I was a young laddie growing up when he was playing and he was the only Scottish person that was good at anything growing up too. Hendry changed the game forever. He utterly dominated the entire sport for a decade. 7 world titles 5 of them on the trot! He was world number 1 for 8 consecutive years! He was ruthless, focused, formidable and had more bottle than any other player I've ever seen! Ronnie is the greatest naturally talented player ever and I imagine he always will be. Watching him play when he's at his best is simply sublime! He never had the same discipline, self control and temperament as Hendry which is why I think it has taken a longer career to beat all Hendrys records. Ronnie is such an accomplished player now and his mindset is so healthy. My favourite thing about them both now is their genuine depth of respect and admiration for each other. Ronnie happily admits Hendry was his idol growing up and that he classes him in the same category as the likes of Tiger Woods etc as people who utterly dominated their respective sports. Hendry states that he thinks that Ronnie is the greatest player of all time. The RU-vid videos with Hendry interviewing Ronnie are really great. Hendry is actually surprisingly really good at interviews. It's very clear throughout these videos that they hold each other in very high regard and its brilliant to see the two greatest players ever like that with each other!
@Dave thanks mate. Have you watched Hendry's RU-vid channel " Cue Tips "? It's tremendous! Honestly, it's probably my favourite thing to watch at the moment. Really helpful Videos with him giving us mortals tips, advice and demonstrations on how to improve our game. His laid back interviews with his guest players are interesting, inciteful and entertaining. His recent one with Steve Davis is brilliant. I can't believe how funny Davis is and how good their banter is with each other!
@@graemejack9040 Being Scottish and loving snooker from the 80s, higgins was our man, but Davis destroyed him, and Jimmy, and most others to be fair. I developed a serious dislike for Davis as a snooker player in the 80s, in part because he was winning, but also because how boring a player he was, and he was, he took very little chances, but he was brilliant in his own game. Then we heard rumours there is a young Scottish lad who might be better than Davis. In short, Hendry after a couple of years dislodged Davis by playing all out attacking snooker which had never been seen before, or played in a calculating manner as he done it, no drink or drugs involved. Never compare Hendrys game to the game Davis played, they were night and day. On a postscript, i like Davis now, he is a decent lad doing the commentating, but lets not forget how boring and arrogant he was in his pomp in the 80s, his interview after the 85 final with Taylor summed him up at that time, he could barely congratulate his opponent on winning, yes he lost, but he had already won it three times at that time. History has been kind to him and his handler hearn.
@myt mt I agree with everything you said mate. I didn't compare Hendry with Davis though? I have to say I do like Davis now. I loved his recent appearance on Hendry's cue tips channel. He's actually pretty funny and they both have good banter with each other.
scampbell777 Hendry probably the greatest winning machine, but for godblessed natural ability I'd have to say Ronnie O'Sullivan . when O'Sullivan is in full flow I think he's the Greatest player I've ever seen , and the best to ever pick up a Cue.
As a Jimmy White fan I never liked Hendry that much. I still have nightmares over that missed black in 94. However credit where it clearly is due, Hendry is now the best pundit on the BBC, tells it as it is and you understand why he was such a champion. Top bloke.
If I wasn't a Scot I may not love Hendry as much as I do. Everyone wanted Jimmy to win a world title including me but having said that Hendry was extremely attacking too. He always looked to break the pack at the earliest opportunity. He was cold as ice when he was in the balls and he had them too! A true champ, amazing sportsman and great Scot
Hendry was the best of his generation changed the way people break build to more attacking style would never play a safely shot over a hard pot amazing at his best unplayable at times didn't he go unbeaten for about 3 half years and no one will beat that record
I am utterly surprised that Stephen Hendry wasn’t given a nickname, his nickname should have been The Terminator, he was so much like the character played by Schwarzenegger in the first Terminator movie.
Interesting, his take on Jimmy White. Similar approach to the game, plus Jimmy would probably not be the player he was when you would take the gambling etc away from him, as that was how he felt best.
Jimmy has since come out and admitted he was either snorting coke or smoking crack for 4 of their meetings, not to mention whispers of him throwing one of them to clear a dept. Sadly he probably never had much of a chance against Hendry in those finals.
I was a massive Jimmy supporter & was gutted at his losses to Hendry, but Hendry is a winning machine, & awesome in his prime, second only to Ronnie....
The greatest until Ronnie came along and reached his peek. Hendry was incredible to watch, he never missed a pot. Centuries galore, with his look and walk round the table. Had everything persona, talent, hunger to win separated him from the rest . 2nd best in history obviously ronnie o'sullivan, is the greatest ever.
I’d still rate hendry as no 1 with both at their peak but yes it’s a fine line, ronnies obviously continued to play a lot longer but it’s taken him 3 times as long to get equal terms with hendry
Hendry is the most dominant player in the history of the game, through the 90s particularly. Ronnie has longevity and better stats (partly because of it), but if dominance over a 5+ year period is your criteria, Hendry is still your man, then Davis. All depends how you define the GOAT question.
Most dominant player in the history of the game, through the 90s particularly. Ronnie has longevity and better stats (partly because of the longevity), but if dominance over a sustained period is your criteria, Hendry is still your man, then Davis. All depends how you define the GOAT question really.
You can only beat who you've got around you. Davis and Hendry were miles better than the players in their respective eras. O'Sullivan has played in a much more competitive era and has been successful for 30 years. Ronnie is the GOAT.
@@Serreski Yeah that's dominance though, as I mentioned, isn't it? Hendry beat everyone around him in a much more dominant fashion that O'Sullivan ever did, and for a sustained period arguably (around 9 years). If your criteria is dominance, Hendry is your man. All depends on how you define 'greatest'!
@@dalenewton9697 Hendry was great but for only a decade and he played far weaker competitors than O'Sullivan, as I said. You cannot compare sports across different eras.
@@Serreski I think there is a legitimate argument that it is not possible to compare compare sports across different eras, but if that is the case then you can't say any one players is the 'greatest of all time', by definition! Every living physicist knows a tonne more about physics than Isaac Newton, for example, but can one therefore make a claim that every physicist alive today is greater than Newton? Not by my definition of the 'greatest', but again it entirely depends on what one defines it to be.
@@dalenewton9697 Thats not really a good example. Newton invented calculus, optics and, oh yeah the theory of gravitation in his garage. Not many modern physicists can lay similar claims (except Einstein, perhaps Hawking).
Stephen talks about Jimmy only for about 1 minute of the video. Always interesting to hear SH thoughts on snooker but this is blatant click bait Misleading title.
hendry was a great player,but for me ronnie is arguably the better player,the standard in hendrys era was no where near as good as todays,so it proves ronnie,whos just won his 7th world title is the greatest,to be world No 1 at 46,its a no brainer.
Interesting because Hendry beat O'Sullivan scoring 8 centuries in the world snooker championships, in the semi. Snooker was its peak back then, as the popularity in the 80's brought in alot of good talent. The harsh reality is that its popularity has dramatically declined since than, and no real good player has emerged, even including Selby. This is why Higgins O'Sullivan and William's are still at the top of the game. 80's were the heyday.
KS even Jimmy will tell you, drinking and whatever else 👃🏻the night before you’re playing in the world final with lack of sleep and half Cutt, only has himself to blame. He had chances just didn’t have the mental strength due to lack of preparation. Shame!
I respect stephen ,what I don't respect is how he speaks of Jimmy white ,Jimmy is a winner, just not the world title I think its very disrespectful of stephen yo speak of Jimmy like that just my personal opinion, and at least Jimmy never gave up like hendry did
For entertainment value, excitement and pure genius, White is off the richter scale, second to One other; and we all Know who that is! And if it wer"nt for them Hendry would be a nobody I know who I prefer to watch, I'm sure the majority would agree!!
@Mystic Knight. Well, that post was just fantastic. 100% solid gold. I feel like i just found a rare treasure. *Thank you.* I often read comments saying that the great players of yesteryear would not even make it to a ranking event 1st round, but these comments are made by people who don't understand how different the playing conditions were then. In the very early days (before chalk cubes) players used to twist their cues into plaster walls for grip. I recently received a set of vintage Crystalate balls (not the newer Super Crystalate) and the difference between them and the current Aramith balls is night and day. Not to mention the heavy cloth they used to play on. (A quick not for anyone thinking about using super glue for tips: Don't do it. Over time it will damage the wood.)
ye but there were only about 4 entrants in each w c, like in the old days when the winner of wimbledon the yr before went straight to the final the yr later.....strange.
Joe Davis picked his opponent to compete for the world title and a simple head to head ensued. No knockout competition. Though he was clearly the best at that time !!
Hate to say it, but Hendry owned Jimmy White, did Jimmy ever beat Hendry in any event? You don't win how Hendry did on just hard work, he was a very gifted player especially the killer instinct. Hendry is to Snooker what Bill Russell is to basketball the greatest winner ever.
White actually beat Hendry quite a lot, including twice at the world Championships. He also beat him once at the master's and once at the U.K. championships. Unfortunately he never beat him when it really mattered, i.e. in finals.
jimmy beat him in the coal lite world championships in the final twice....same format as the crucible the first to 18 frames.....and the pay was better.
Hendry: "I had nothing to live up to because there had never been a great Scottish snooker player." WHAT??? Stephen, you haven't studied your snooker history. A Scotsman, Walter Donaldson, won two world championships (1947, 1954) and appeared in 6 other world championship final matches where, obviously, he came in second.
Jimmy came into my club and offered everyone a drink then got smashed and tried to leave without paying the bar tab, I called him back to pay and he gave me a load of abuse, absolute cretin, and I was a huge fan, now he can do one, I've zero interest in this twat being anywhere near a club, a snooker table or me he was that toxic.
Hahahaha haters will hate. Killer instinct isn't practised your born with it. Yes 50 is alot in 2 weeks but i know there are 10 yr olds making century's on full size tables so 50 on a 6 by 3 aint bad. I did a 70 on a 6 by 3 after a couple of months tho
@@c_tatsu5525 you idiot he has made a century break in his comeback tour 😂😂😂😂 and he is a legend of the game. Redefined the way the game was played and made millions. And you probably claim benefits buming around on mummys sofa 😂😂