Stephen Hendry unconvinced by World Championship tight pockets talk

Kyren Wilson handled conditions as well as anyone at the Crucible (Picture: Getty Images)

Plenty of players at this year’s World Snooker Championship noted that the pockets were not as generous as they have been, but Stephen Hendry doesn’t sound entirely convinced.

The reviews from most players at the Crucible were that the pockets were tighter than they have been in recent years and that was illustrated by the lack of big breaks over the tournament.

There were just 63 centuries at the Crucible this year, compared to 90 last time around, 109 in 2022 and 108 in 2021.

Champion Kyren Wilson made eight of the tons this year, but did feel the pockets were tight, at least until the one-table set-up at the semi-finals.

‘I do think so. I must admit, when it’s gone to one-table I don’t think it was as tight as the two tables,’ Wilson told the Snooker Club podcast.

‘Maybe it was because of the new cloth for the semis so it’s going to slide in more. Then for the final they change the cushion cloth so it slides in more as well.

‘I remember playing John [Higgins] last year and he played a black down the cushion and he was walking! There’s no way that would go in this year so they’re definitely tighter than last year, 100 per cent. And obviously I’ve won it so they’re mega tight!’

Stephen Hendry isn’t full of sympathy with anyone talking about tight pockets (Picture: Getty Images)

Hendry has no great sympathy for players talking about tight pockets, suggesting that plenty of top players simply didn’t perform on the biggest stage in the sport.

‘There’s been a lot of talk about the tight pockets. I’m not out there playing, the players are playing so you’ve got to trust their opinions,’ he said. ‘But what happened to the all the so-called best players in the world? Ronnie, Judd, Mark Williams, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen the new world number one.

‘I’m sure I’ll get a backlash from the players saying the tables were tight, but I say what I see.’

In fairness to the players, they were not making excuses or even complaining about the tightness of the pockets, although Shaun Murphy did say players should have been informed of changes being made.

A new batch of Star tables arrived to be used on tour at the start of the season and the Magician reckons they have been playing tight throughout the campaign.

‘The pockets are much smaller. These new batch of Star tables we’ve been using all season, they are more difficult,’ said Murphy at the Crucible. ‘I don’t know who made the decision to make the pockets smaller but they probably should have consulted with the players first.

Shaun Murphy feels there was notenough communication on the topic of pockets (Picture: Getty Images)

‘There’s been no consultation. I’m on the board of player directors, there’s been no consultation about changing the targets. Imagine them making the goals at Old Trafford smaller. It doesn’t seem right does it? They’d have at least told the players.

‘There were four or five shots in that match [a 13-9 defeat to Stephen Maguire] that I thought were in that didn’t go in. It’s arguably better for the game, if the game’s more difficult, we’ve seen nearly 100 centuries every year here for the last few years. Perhaps it’s more akin to the old fashioned style of play. But it would have been nice to have been consulted.

‘Most of the season they’ve played more difficult. Nobody knows why. We are the experts, we know what the targets should look like and they even look smaller let alone perform smaller.’

The pockets were getting a lot of attention at this year’s World Championship (Picture: Getty Images)

World Snooker Tour say there was a chance to give feedback on the new tables, stating: ‘We always value feedback from players about playing conditions. There was an opportunity to visit the headquarters of our table-fitters at the start of the current season to offer feedback.’

As mentioned, a lot of players were perfectly happy to see tighter pockets, certainly not offering them up as an excuse for poor performances.

Ronnie O’Sullivan said: ‘They seem all right to me. If you hit them sweet they go in, if you don’t, they don’t go in. Simple as. That’s always been my motto.

‘The tighter the better, really. It makes you more accurate.’

Ronnie O’Sullivan had no pocket complaints (Picture: Getty Images)

Stephen Maguire added: ‘They were tight. They weren’t overly tight, but they were tighter than we’ve played in previously.

‘Listen, it’s better that way. We’re supposed to be the best snooker players in the world, so we don’t need big bags. But I think you can tell with the break-building that’s gone on, there’s not been so many centuries or one-visits. It shows how tough this game is, it’s not an easy game.’

Stuart Bingham said: ‘‌They’ve obviously been a bit nippy. I think the same as the qualifiers, they were a bit nippy in the qualifiers. I think that’s most probably why we haven’t seen that many centuries.

‘But they’re a fair size. You get a lot of drama with missing. People used to get in and it was a bit of a ton-fest, but there’s been loads of oos and ahs and that helps make it the magic of the Crucible.’

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