In the early morning of April 8, Beijing time, "Emperor of Billiards" Stephen Hendry stopped his continued progress in the second round of the 2021 Snooker World Championship Qualifiers, failing to realize his dream of participating in the World Championships again after 9 years. The "King of Crucible" was a 23-year-old young man from China, Xu Si, with a score of 6 to 1, which was quite a big difference. In this "cross-time and space duel" against the two sides with an age span of nearly 30 years, Xu Si's excellent performance cannot be denied, but more fans still believe that the seven-time World Championship winner lost to the age, not the opponent.
In the case of winning one set first, Hendry lost his strength in the subsequent game and was pulled six times in a row by Xu Si. The two golfers, one before 70 and the other before 00, Hendry was born on January 13, 1969, and Xu Si was born on January 24, 1998, with an age difference of 29 years. Off the scene, Xu Si would certainly not suffer if he managed his idol Hendry to call "uncle" or "uncle". In 1999, Hendry had won the World Championship for the seventh time, and Xu Si was only 1 year old at the time, but miraculously, the two would meet as opponents in snooker's top field more than twenty years later, although it was only a qualifier. This is the charm of the sport of snooker, probably except for a few sports such as shooting and chess (let's count chess as sports), there is no other competitive sport that will appear like this. This is also a kind of fate, and if it were not for Hendry's insistence on making a comeback after 8 years of retirement, Xu Si and Hendry might never intersect, and even rarely meet each other, And Hendry's game will only exist forever in Xu Si's snooker video teaching materials and be admired by the latter. But now the two sides are actually competing at the same table, and Xu Si, who has not won the domestic championship, has also defeated his idol, and even the record of the two sides will always stay on Xu Si's 1 win. How unbelievable!
Hendry said helplessly after the game, "I had 2 or 3 chances to take a 2-0 lead, and since then I have not been able to give my opponent any resistance, he took advantage of all my mistakes." Every shot looks like a test and I've always wondered if I'm going to score certain goals, that's not the way of thinking on the field, but you have to keep doing that. "That's what a half-hundred-year-old golfer really thinks at the pool table, and he has become less confident about the goals he holds in his hand at his peak. Although snooker is not a purely physical competitive sport, after all, 52 years old against 23 years old, are professional golfers, how is it not a very equal dialogue, ordinary people over 50 years old I am afraid that their eyes are spent, right? Can you still aim for a billiard ball on the table? The hero is late, and the back wave shoots the front wave, which is caused by the law of competition. Not to mention that after this game, the wave is still the front wave, the result of the victory and defeat is too natural, but there is no need to tangle, Hendry will still be Xu Si's idol.
Hendry was still a little reluctant, adding: "I hope that next year before we come to this stage, I can play some more competitive games in my hands, and I will be able to be more calm and composed on the field." Next year I will definitely be playing more events. If I still can't bring my batting sensation to a game, then there's no point, the key is to see if I can play my natural game on the field. I'm going to give it a go next year and see what happens. ”
The World Championship qualifiers were played at Sheffield Snooker House, and the main tournament will be played at the Crucible Theatre, so let's wait and see when the "King of Crucibles" will return to his home stadium, maybe we will never see that day again, but still have to give praise to the "Emperor of Billiards" who does not accept defeat.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Liu Ailin
Editor/Zhou Xueshuai