Undaunted Hendry targets centuries milestone despite comeback defeat
Stephen Hendry will target eight hundred centuries and a return to the Crucible after making an impressive return to the professional snooker tour despite a 4-1 defeat to Matthew Selt in Milton Keynes.
Theseven-timesworldchampion compiled the 776th threefigure break of his career in the second frame of the Gibraltar Open first round match, extending a mark that had stood for so long it forms part of his permanent social media handles.
Hendry insisted: "I think I'll only change them when I get to 800 - 776 now is not a massive thing. Qualifying for the Crucible is the goal, and making 800 centuries is another goal. I am just enjoying being back really ."
Hendry did little wrong in his first tour match since a 13-2 thrashing by Stephen Maguire in the quarter-finals of the 2012 World Championship. Despite a foul on his very first shot when he attempted a two-cushion roll-up to the pack of reds, the Scot showed every indication of being equipped for the challenge, culminating in his superb break of 107 to briefly level the match in the second frame. He added: "I really felt the nerves - when I put my suit on in the hotel room that' s when it really hit me, which is a good sign because without nerves you can't perform. It just needs to be nerves of excitement, rather than nerves of not knowing what's going to happen."
Hen dry will next set his sights on an unlikely return to the crucible via four tough qualifying rounds next month, but admitted: "My safety has to be tighter and my long game has to be better-it' s not ready yet to qualify for the Crucible.
"I think there's work to do. I've tried to keep the expectations down about my comeback. It's not about winning eight world titles. I'm coming back to play in arenas, hopefully with people in them, and enjoy the buzz of competing."