‘HENDRY-WHITE WAS REALLY PAINFUL TO SEE’

WORLD No.1 Judd Trump believes snooker is still stuck in the past.

Golden oldies Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White once again battled it out on the green baize last week, trying to qualify for the World Championship which starts on Saturday.

But both players – who have a combined age of 110 and who clashed in four memorable Crucible finals in the 1990s – failed to get past the second round of qualifying, despite much noise being made about their nostalgic match.

And Trump (below), widelyregarded as the future of the sport, believes snooker bosses have to invent new ways of attracting a younger audience.

He said: “Snooker is stuck in the 1980s and 1990s in some ways. It was really painful watching Stephen play Jimmy – they both just looked like they were trying so hard.

“They were both great players but I don’t understand why we’re living in the past a lot of the time. Unfortunately, snooker is like that and someone needs to find a way of attracting a younger audience.”

Trump loves to entertain and has established an army of supporters – much like ‘Rocket’ Ronnie O’Sullivan and, in his heyday, ‘Whirlwind’ White.

The 31-year-old star has won a staggering 14 ranking titles in the last 24 months.

And he added: “I try and play the game the right way, but there are a lot of players who show up and just plod along.

“Some of them need to see the bigger picture. As a sport, we need to reinvent ourselves.”