On April 27, 2022, Beijing time, the Snooker World Championship is underway, and Hendry and Ken Dahdi, who are the commentators, have received good news again, and the World Taiwan Federation has awarded professional wild cards to these two world champions, and for the next two seasons, Hendry and Ken Dahdi can still participate in professional competitions. Because the two contributed a lot to the snooker movement, it is certainly understandable that the WTC made such a decision.
At this World Championship, O'Sullivan showed a good competitive state, easily advancing to the quarterfinals while also stealing a lot of historical records from Hendry. For example, O'Sullivan has won 71 games in Crucible, surpassing Hendry's 70 to rank first in history alone, and O'Sullivan has reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship for the 20th time, also surpassing Hendry's 19 times and ranking first in history.
Because O'Sullivan will not retire for a short time, and he has always maintained good competitive form, he will continue to pound Hendry's record. In the ongoing quarter-finals, O'Sullivan leads Stephen Maguire 11-5, just two sets away from the final four, and if O'Sullivan makes it to the final four, it will be the 13th time in his career to reach the final four of the World Championships, surpassing Hendry 12 times, and also enjoy the first place in history.
Of course, O'Sullivan has always said that these records do not mean much to him, and his goal in the World Championships is to win the championship, and if he can't win the championship, it is better to be eliminated in the first round. This time is another good opportunity for O'Sullivan to win the title, and if he wins this title, he will achieve the great feat of winning the seven world championships and equaling Hendry. At that point, the discussion about who is the best player in snooker history should have an answer.
Faced with such a situation, will Hendry be worried or anxious? O'Sullivan's impact may also be an important reason for Hendry's choice to come back, the World Taiwan Federation previously gave Hendry a two-year wild card qualification, but Hendry has few games, even if he participates, his competitive status is not as good as before, this World Championship qualification, he simply gave up the registration, has been on the sidelines as a commentator, looks like a retired state.
Today, the World Taiwan Federation has issued wild cards for Hendry and Ken Dahdi, indicating that neither of them will retire, but from the current situation, even if Hendry starts to play next season, it will be difficult to resist the impact of O'Sullivan, many of his records may be lost, and his most important is the world championship seven-crown record, which currently seems to be in jeopardy.
However, as a celebrity and legend on the snooker stage, Hendry should also look down on these records, if he participates, or for the purpose of enjoying the game, I wish him all the best in the future!