Stephen Hendry saw his Crucible dream dashed as the latest victim of giant-killing James Cahill – but the snooker legend will play on.
The seven-times world champion crashed out of World Championship qualifying 10-4 last night to world No. 96 Cahill at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
And it was the 27-year-old – son of the sister of Hendy’s ex-wife – who dumped the man twice his age out of the blue-riband tournament.
The Scot , 54, lifted the most famous trophy in the sport seven times in the 1990s but threw in an error-strewn display on Wednesday.
And Cahill, who made a name for himself beating Ronnie O’Sullivan in the first round at the Crucible four years ago in the same season he beat Mark Selby at the UK, took full advantage.
It had all started so well for world No. 130 Hendry, who knocked in a brilliant century break – an effort of 102 – in the very first frame.
But from there it was almost all downhill – though Hendry, who retired once in 2012 only to return in 2020 – insists he will be back.
He said: “In the events I play in next year, I am going to have to get match practice to try and eradicate the unforced errors I criticise everyone else for when I am commentating on TV.
“When I got the wildcard from Barry Hearn in 2020 he said as long as you play one event, that’s okay. If you play none, I won’t give you another one. I will play the events I want to play in.
“And in a weird way I still enjoy getting my suit on and going out there – obviously I don’t enjoy the way I am playing.
“I had a great start with the century – and then I kind of had a big deflation after that.
“And the more mistakes I made, the more he relaxed and became more confident. When you don’t play many matches, you don’t get match sharp.
“It is huge odds against that I ever make it back to the Crucible. That is a very, very distant dream and I can’t see it.
“I need to practice more with players. I had a great couple of days at the academy playing with Tian Pengfei and Xu Si. Solo practice is not cutting it, I need game practice.”
Cahill said: “He had a few chances, to say the least. But once I got to 3-1 and had a 70, I felt I could run away with it. I haven’t actually felt great today, with a sore throat so I need to get better.
“It is and it isn’t awkward with family connection – his son is my best mate. Other people maybe made more of it than was actually there.”
Jimmy White, 60, who lost six world finals including four to Hendry, trails Martin O’Donnell 7-2 overnight.
