Recently, British media "Metro" published an article by Hendry, in which Hendry talked about the current conservative and passive playing style of snooker players. This article is a brief translation as follows.
Stephen Hendry cannot understand the passive playing style of some top snooker players. He said, "Maybe I'm an old-fashioned person, but I always thought snooker was about scoring goals."
Seven-time world champion Hendry is known for his all-out attack, which brought him great success in the 1990s, which was also the period of domination for the Scots.
Hendry speaks frankly and lacks enthusiasm for safety play. Hendry believes that in modern snooker competitions, top players choose to give up attacking too much.
Even Judd Trump, who won the UK Championship this season, has been questioned by Hendry.
Hendry said, "At the UK Championship, even Trump is now playing no-risk snooker. If there is no certainty of scoring, I would still choose to attack, but now they will give up. I can't believe that the playing style of some top players has become so passive."
Hendry is also annoyed by the long time some players take to hit the ball. Hendry thinks that Neil Robertson and Mark Allen are playing too slowly,
Their game rhythm also hinders themselves.
Neil Robertson now takes an average of 28-29 seconds to hit the ball when playing zero-risk snooker, while his best time is 22-23 seconds. Hendry said, "Sometimes a shot that doesn't even need to be thought about, Robertson still circles around the table, sees all the situations, and then hits the ball. Mark Allen is similar now."
Hendry bluntly said, "I don't like watching those who know how to play but still circle around to play snooker."
Hendry mentioned that he had discussed this issue with Robertson via text message. Robertson explained the reason, and I told him that he was a better player when he didn't do it.
Regarding this issue, Robertson's own explanation is that this is not intentional, and coach Joe Perry also reminds him to get rid of this situation. Robertson said: "I absolutely did not deliberately slow down. Such a game is an obstacle to anyone. Maybe one or two players deliberately play slowly, but I am definitely not. In a game against Trump, Joe Perry severely criticized me. At that time, I really wanted to play perfectly on the next red ball, so I thought about it for one and a half minutes. Spending so much time on a shot is crazy. So I think a timer would be helpful, not a timer that makes a beeping sound, but a timer that you can see. If it reaches 30 seconds, the referee will tell you that it has been more than 30 seconds, and then I will hit the ball in.
(Mark Allen's change of playing style. The most cowardly performance, semi-finals of the 2024 Scottish Open.)
Finally, let me say a few words simply. Old Hendry's words are not unreasonable. It is reasonable to have both offense and defense, but some players have gone too far. In order to win, players have become more utilitarian. It is difficult to comment on the choices of the players themselves, but the game's entertainment value has decreased. Just like there is a saying in Go, "There is no famous game in contention." Therefore, as previously mentioned, I very much hope that Zhao Xintong will return as soon as possible.