Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry has announced his retirement
from snooker after a heavy 13-2 defeat by Stephen Maguire at the
Crucible.
The 43-year-old, who looked out of sorts against Maguire in a
one-sided World Championship quarter-final, said he made the decision
three months ago.
He said: "There's a few reasons - the schedule, the fact I'm not
playing thesnooker I want to play, and the fact I'm not enjoying
practice.
Rivals react to Hendry retirementon Twitter
*. Shaun Murphy: "Most successful snooker player of all time, Stephen
Hendry retires. Can't believe it."
*. Ian McCulloch: "All the paracetamolin the world couldn't cure the
headaches Hendry gave me but I always looked forward to playing him."
*. Stuart Bingham: "A sad day for snooker as the best player who's
ever picked up a cue retires! It's been an absolute honour being on
the same table."
*. Mark King: "Just heard Stephen Hendry has retired from professional
snooker, I can't believe it, the tour won't be the same without him."
*. Neal Foulds: "I somehow beat Stephen 5-4 in my first ranking match
with him when he was 16 in Warrington. Never got close to beating the
great man again."
*. Referee Paul Collier: "So I just refereed Hendry's last
professional match. Every match was a pleasure to referee. Thanks for
all the memories."
"It was quite an easy decision."
He added: "I didn't tell many people [before the tournament], but this
is me finished from tournament snooker."
Asked whether he would have changed his mind if he had won the
tournament, Hendry replied: "No not at all. If I had won, it would
have been a better way to go out.
"I was delighted to have made a maximum here [against Stuart Bingham
in the first round] which is why I was more animated when I achieved
it. I was delighted to do it on my last appearance.
"I've had so many memories here; my first time here, my first win,
obviously my seventh world title. I could write a book about the
memories that I had here.
"It's a sad day that I won't play here [at the Crucible] again, I love
playing here but it's a relief as much as anything.
"I want to do other things now. I've got a lot of commitments now in
China, which I've signed up for and I can't do that and play snooker
because I would never be at home."
Hendry, who was making his 27th consecutive appearance at the
WorldChampionship, looked back to his fluent best as he hit his third
Cruciblemaximum - a record he shares with Ronnie O'Sullivan - in his
first round victory over Bingham.
Stephen Hendry - Career timeline
He went on to beat defending champion Higgins 13-4 which prompted him
to declare that he could win a record eighth world title.
But Hendry made a flurry of mistakesagainst Maguire, which his
opponentruthlessly punished to win the last-eight tie with a session
to spare.
Jimmy White, who was beaten by Stephen Hendry in four World
Championship finals, tweeted: "He was and is an unbelievable snooker
player & has nothing to prove. I hope he enjoys his retirement, he
really deserves it.
"He's always put snooker first, been a model professional, a credit to
the game and I'll see him in the legends tour this year for more
battles.
Analysis
Ben Dirs BBC Sport
"It is his brutal frankness about his love of winning, more than the
winning itself, that takes the breath away."
Read more of Ben's blog
"I thank him sincerely for some of the best matches and memories of my
own career. I'm not sure his records will ever be equalled."
Former world champion Terry Griffiths, who once coached Hendry, added:
"I thought he should have retired a while ago but he had the belief
that he could continue.
"He was blessed with a skill. His will and desire to win was frightening.
"I remember in my early days when Iwas coaching, he'd say: 'Don't ring
me Griff for three days after I lost'.
"I thought he was joking, but he was serious. He did soften up after
that but it shows what winning and losing is all about.
"Everybody says they want to win, but Stephen Hendry wanted to win even more."
Maguire added: "I'm shocked, I wasn't expecting that but Stephen has
obvioulsy thought long and hard about it.
Hendry factfile
*. Born: 13 January 1969
*. Birthplace: Edinburgh
*. Turned pro: 1985
*. Highest ranking: 1 (nine years)
*. Current ranking: 23
*. Century breaks: 775
*. World Championships: 7 (1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999)
"I'm just pretty sad that he's retired. Ithink he's retired too early
but Stephen knows best."
Hendry became the youngest-ever world champion, aged 21 in 1990,
before adding six more in the next nine years.
He held the world number one ranking for eight consecutive years
between 1990 and 1998 and then again briefly in 2006 and 2007.
Hendry, who lost to Willie Thorne on his World Championship debut in
1986, holds the record for the most world ranking titles (36) and the
most competitive century breaks (775)
He also shares the record of most competitive maximum breaks with
Ronnie O'Sullivan at 11.
After dominating the 1990s, Hendry'sform started to tail off and he
reached just one World Championship final in the next decade.
His last ranking tournament final was in the 2006 UK Championship
where he lost to Peter Ebdon.
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