Raging Stephen Hendry calls out former snooker world champion as he blasts ‘we’re seeing why he’s fallen off a cliff’

STEPHEN HENDRY was left suitably unimpressed as he watched a former world champion crash out of snooker’s UK Championship.

The Scots legend wasn’t happy with what he saw – although he certainly didn’t seem surprised.

Hendry, 55, might be retired these days but he’s still at the forefront of the snooker scene.

The seven-time world champion is currently in York as part of the BBC’s broadcast team for coverage of the UK Championship.

Last night, Hendry was in the commentary booth as Luca Brecel faced Jak Jones in a huge first round clash.

In the lead-up to the event, Hendry questioned Brecel’s attitude towards the game.

Belgian Brecel, 29, won the world title in 2023.

But since that crowning achievement, his form has taken a complete nose dive.

Brecel’s defence of the world title this year ended in a first round exit to qualifier David Gilbert.

Brecel’s form has been so bad that he’s tumbled all the way to 75th in the provisional world rankings – and he’s at genuine risk of LOSING his professional tour status.

He’s taken a rather relaxed approach to the game, as was evident when he jetted in from Majorca to play in the Northern Ireland Open – arriving in the country just ONE HOUR before the start of his game.

On Brecel’s approach, Hendry said: ” For me, as someone who’s dedicated their whole life to win, I don’t understand it.”

As it turned out, Brecel’s horror form would continue at the Barbican with Hendry watching on.

He suffered a first round exit, blowing a 4-2 lead to lose 6-5 to world championship finalist Jones.

And the King of the Crucible wasn’t pulling his punches as he laid into Brecel’s showing in York.

The first frame proved a sign of things to come, with Brecel totally mis-judging what should’ve been a simple pot of the brown.

The crowd gasped audibly as commentator Shaun Murphy hit out at the “incredible miss.”

Unimpressed Hendry then said: “We’re seeing why Luca Brecel has fallen off a cliff, as it were, in terms of form since winning that world title a couple of years ago.

“He’s had three golden chances to win this frame.”

Hendry’s criticisms continued throughout the match.

After Jones potted the cue ball in the third frame, Brecel took his time placing it and seriously hesitated when deciding what to do next.

That, too, left Hendry less than impressed.

He blasted: “This is the sort of situation when Luca won that world title. He’d have been down by now going for one of these reds.

“He was all about attack all about aggression no hesitation. Now it looks to me like he’ s looking for a way out with the cue ball, he’s a different class of player when he’s aggressive.

“He’s looking for a safety shot, it’s just not his way of playing.

“When he beat Mark Selby in that worlds final, he just attacked, attacked, attacked at every point.”

An hour later, Hendry was hitting out at an “awful shot” from Brecel as he left himself without a chance of potting a colour after sinking a red.

As Brecel’s struggles continued well into the game, Hendry hit out at the Belgian Bullet’s perceived lack of practice.

He accused him of not putting the work in and said it had all led to a distinct lack of control over the cue ball.

Hendry fumed: “It all depends on what Luca Brecel turns up.

“Since he’s won the world championship, we’ve seen practically none of that form in the last two seasons.

“We know on his best game, he can do anything. I think that’s how the match will go, depending on how Luca plays.

“He just can’t buy a decent positional shot, all night. He just cannot. He’s got no control over that cue ball whatsoever.

“He’s knocked in some beautiful long balls but when it comes to getting the cue ball from one shot to the next, he just can’t do it.

“And as we’ve speculated all night, that comes from putting the work in.

“We may be wrong, he maybe is practising hard, but we can only say what we see and that’s what it looks like.

“We know as players, that’s what you practice for so that when you do get chances to score, it’s virtually automatic.”

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