Snooker: Hendry inspired by the cue guru

Snooker's world champion owes his latest Crucible title to guidance that restored self-belief.

IN RETROSPECT the closest Stephen Hendry came to not winning the Embassy World Championship was when a thief broke into his Sheffield hotel room last week. Had his cue been stolen as well as his clothes surely even he would have been halted. As for the people using more legitimate methods - the players - they did not have a chance.

At the champion's dinner held after Hendry had beaten Mark Williams 18- 11 to become the first modern player to win the world title seven times, he was still exhibiting the signs of the break-in. Normally immaculately attired, he received his pounds 230,000 cheque in casual clothes, apologising for not having time to buy a shirt and tie. So happy was he, he would probably have turned up naked.

It was not the money that drove him - although he has now relieved the sponsors of pounds 1,589,328 in 14 visits to the Crucible - but the vision of pushing beyond Steve Davis and Ray Reardon, who had also won six world titles. It was what dragged him to the table when his gifts seemed to have been wrenched from him.

All great players lose matches, particularly in snooker where the standard is improving at a ridiculous rate, but they do not lose 9-0 to players outside the top 60 as Hendry did when he was crushed by Marcus Campbell in the first round of the UK Championships in November.

For someone like Hendry, for whom perfectionism is too sloppy for the standards he sets, it was worse than galling: it was an affront to his image. Icy, methodical and robotic are hardly romantic (nor justified) descriptions but they are considerably better than "sloppy" or "finished".

When he lost three consecutive matches against Tony Drago, a player he had previously beaten 12 times out of 12, the 30-year-old Scot talked openly of giving up. He remembered the shock of seeing Steve Davis slip out of his pomp in the early 1990s and hated the prospect of missing shots he would have made with relish in his prime.

You suspect only the prospect of surpassing Davis and Reardon made him listen when others told him he was not finished. "I was going through a hell of a time," he recalled. "My wife, my manager, lots of people gave me a kick up the backside and said, `you're just wasting the talent, you're not where you belong'."

Hours were spent comparing videos of his cue action past and present and he also turned to the man who had helped him earlier in his career.

There is not much about the cue action that Frank Callan does not know and once Hendry came under his tutelage again his game started to recover. The Scottish Open and Irish Masters were won, but more importantly his inner belief was being rebuilt.

"I owe a hell of a lot to Frank," Hendry said. "He knows my game inside out. He knows what to say, what I'm doing wrong and to have someone like that in your corner is invaluable. There were times at matches at the Crucible where I went into intervals after not performing and he's just said one thing. It was like switching something on.

"Confidence in any sport is a major, major thing. I don't care how good you are if you're not playing well your confidence suffers and that's very hard to get back."

Hendry learned yesterday that he will remain at world No 2 behind John Higgins, but it can be safely assumed his belief is back now - not just because he is world champion, but because his draw was horribly hard. Paul Hunter, his first-round opponent, will be ranked 12th in the world next season, James Wattana has slipped to 22 but is a former world semi- finalist, while Matthew Stevens (nine) and Ronnie O'Sullivan (four) are in the top 10.

"You couldn't have hand-picked a worse draw for me," Hendry said. "Barring John Higgins, I've played the best players in the world. Nobody can criticise me and say I had it easy. I've proved myself."

Williams, who defeated two world champions in Higgins and Ken Doherty before succumbing to the best of the lot, might quibble on whose path was harder but he will have the consolation of reaching his first Crucible final. The 24-year-old Welshman played arguably the finest snooker in the tournament when he beat Higgins 17-10 in the semi-finals, not knowing that his grandfather, Ronald, had died on Thursday. His family decided not to tell him until after the tournament for fear he might be too upset.

As it was he discovered, as many have before, that the demands required to propel you to the final can leave you drained when you get there. "In the last session I was dead," he said wearily, "there was nothing left of me. The tank was empty."

On Hendry he added: "The only time he'll not have a chance of winning it is when he retires. Which is soon I hope." A few other players will be thinking that this morning.

HOW HENDRY HAS CONQUERED THE WORLD

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIUMPHS

1990 beats Jimmy White 18-12 to become youngest world champion, aged 21 years and 106 days.

1992 victory over White 18-14 after trailing 14-8.

1993 defeats White 18-5.

1994 wins 18-17 after White misses easy black in final frame.

1995 overcomes Nigel Bond 18-9.

1996 beats Peter Ebdon 18-12 to claim sixth world title, equalling the modern-day achievements of Ray Reardon and Steve Davis.

1999 beats Mark Williams 18-11 to become first seven-times winner.

CAREER WINNINGS

pounds 6,200,087

OTHER MILESTONES

1969 born 13 January, Edinburgh.

1984 becomes youngest Scottish amateur champion, aged 15.

1987 is youngest player ever to win a ranking tournament.

1989 wins UK Championship for the first time.

!993 wins Benson and Hedges Masters for the fifth successive time. Awarded MBE.

1997 loses for the first time in 30 matches at World Championship when beaten by Ken Doherty 18-12 in the final.

1998 loses to White 10-4 in first round of World Championship.