Maximum Man Hendry Slumps Out
Stephen Hendry became the Wyldecrest Parks Welsh Open maximum man on Thursday night but, after losing 4-2 to fellow Scot Steven Maguire, the seven-times world champion said: "Who cares?"
Hendry had the crowd on their feet as he potted all 15 reds with blacks and added the colours in the first frame for the 147.
But instead of a bumper pay cheque, his prize for the big one is just £1,000.
And it seemed to affect his game immediately afterwards as perfection on the baize was reversed completely the other way.
Hendry struggled to pot a ball in the second frame and even Maguire could not understand his sudden dip.
Hendry's own goals helped Maguire draw level and then, with a magnificent 129 break of his own plus a 42 in the fourth frame, move 3-1 ahead.
The former world champion pulled one frame back with a 49 but his concentration was all over the place and Maguire finished off the game with a 55 in the sixth.
So, 19 years on from his first victory in the Welsh Open, Hendry pulled his jacket on and headed back to his hotel before travelling home on Friday.
And even hitting the 10th maximum of his career, Hendry had little to say afterwards. Asked what he thought about it, he replied: "Who cares? Seriously, who cares? There is no prize for it.
"I lost my focus in the second frame. I had about 59 chances in that second frame and, from then on, it was garbage, total garbage.
"It was partly that making the 147 did my head in a bit. It is a big thing to do, whether there is prize money on it or not. I had enough chances to win the whole tournament let alone that match."
And Maguire could not understand how Hendry went from hero to zero so quickly. He said: "You cannot get a better start than that. He didn't look like he was going to miss and then I don't know what happened to him after that.
"He had plenty of chances and couldn't settle. He gave me the second frame, more or less. It was nothing to shout about that match.
"I think I brought him down and it is not very often that someone goes from playing perfect snooker to that. With five or six chances, you would expect Hendry to punish one of them.
"The most important thing for me was to go through and, at 3-1 up; I'm wondering how did that happen?"
Now he plays Welsh wizard Mark Williams for a place in Saturday's semis and there is a bit of history between them as Maguire beat Williams 5-1 in the Welsh Open quarter-finals 12 months ago.
Williams is a dangerous animal, and Maguire said: "Between him and John (Higgins), it is them who are playing the best snooker in the world at the moment.
"It was the same last year when he was playing the best and I played some good stuff then. Hopefully, I can step up again.".
