Stephen Hendry considers retirement after defeat to Mark Selby: World Snooker Championship 2011
The veteran Stephen Hendry faced a heavy 13-4 defeat at the hands of Englishman, Mark Selby, in their second-round clash at the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011 at the Crucible Theatre on Monday. After the match, the 42-year-old announced that
he would consider his future in the sport, and would make a decision about his retirement in the summer.
The world number four, Selby, compiled six century breaks of 125, 108, 129, 100, 127 and 117 to set a new world record of most century knocks in a match. These six tons took the Scot by surprise as he spent most of the time sitting on his chair during the
match.
The 27-year-old Selby led 7-1 in the first session after smashing some stunning clearances of 125, 108, 98, 129 and 51. Hendry could clinch only three frames in the second session with frame scores of 27-66, 37-75 and 5-74, while Selby took care of the rest
with a sensational potting display to take a seven frame lead (11-4) at the end of the second session.
The first frame of the third session was keenly contested as both cuemen tussled to get the lead. However, Hendry grabbed the lead in the frame, and left Selby with four snookers needed to win the frame. The 'Jester from Leicester' took his chances and finally
got those snookers to take the frame by a single point over Hendry at 77-76. He followed that up by clinching the 17th frame with a 120-6 score line to move into the quarter-finals, where he will meet China's Ding Junhui.
The Scotsman was disappointed about his performance, which made him emotional and he hinted at considering retirement. He has had a splendid career in the game of snooker with 36 ranking titles along with numerous minor and non-ranking event wins. He has
collected a career prize money of £8.8 million, seven world championships and a record of ten maximum 147 knocks that he shares with Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Hendry told reporters after the loss, "I'll decide in the summer. I'm not going to decide straight away, I've got things to think about. We'll see. I've still got the game but I haven't got the self-belief to play with these guys. I've not had a bad time
here. I've won the World Championship seven times, which is a record the last time I looked."
The Scotsman added that regardless of his decision, he would continue to be involved in the sport in some capacity. He said, "It's for me and my family to decide, to see what's best. There's still exciting times ahead for me. I'll be involved in snooker
in some shape or form because it's all I know. I love playing in the arena but I hate not being competitive."
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