UK viewers today will have seen Stephen Hendry’s post-match interview in the BBC studio with Hazel Irvine, Ken Doherty and Steve Davis in which it was notable that the seven-times world champion has little time for the PTC events, but could this attitude cost him this season?
Having seen off the challenge of Bjorn Haneveer, Stephen Hendry was today interviewed by Hazel Irvine in the BBC studio and it was interesting, if unsurprising to note when asked about the PTC new events that the Scot was fairly nonplussed by the series. His exact reply was:
“There are new tournaments but they are not the sort of tournaments I want to play in but let’s not get into that”
In fairness to Hendry, for a player who has won more ranking event titles than any other, won seven world titles and competed on the biggest stage right from the start of his professional career back in 1986, I can quite understand why the prospect of playing in front of four people in a booth in Sheffield does not quite set his pulse racing. It is only natural that the older players who have enjoyed sustained success in the past do not quite love the game with the same verve as back when they were starting out as teenagers and as a result do not find themselves as fired up each and every event.
In an ideal world players would not have to play in cubicles and we would have 12 major televised events all complete with sponsorship.
However, this is not an ideal world, times are hard and although the amount of ranking event points on offer are not as high as for the bigger television events, such events are surely better than nothing for the majority of players on the tour. Furthermore I think that it is fair to say that if Hendry remains uninspired by the PTC and either does not play in the series or crashes out of events early, I believe this will cost him his top 16 place as he is not playing well enough on TV to be able to remain there ahead of those gaining points on the PTC.
To illustrate the point, just look at the amount of points gained so far this season from the PTC by those players in and around the top 16 who are seeking to displace Hendry:
Jamie Cope – 2920
Matthew Stevens – 3040
Mark Davis – 4120
While in isolation therefore the points gained may not appear to be that much, Mark Davis has already in just five of the 12 events gained almost as many points as would be available from winning the Welsh Open title. If he or indeed Jamie Cope or Matthew Stevens were to carry on in this vein during the remainder of the PTC events then by the time the seedings are revised ahead of the Crucible, Hendry could find himself leapfrogged by these players and missing out on the World Championship for the first time in many years…