Hendry raises concern over British snooker future: "I think this is a sign of things to come"

Scotsman Hendry was recently speaking to the press during a trip to World Grand Prix in Hong Kong where he played an exhibition with Marco Fu at the Kai Tak Arena during Finals Weekend.

National hero Fu - who still plys his trade on the professional circuit - made a maximum 147 break during the show.

The tournament was an historic one for Chinese snooker with six of the eight quarter-finalists coming from the country before a clean sweep of representation in the semi-finals. Both were records for China in professional ranking events.

These significant feats have contributed to the changing landscape of top flight snooker, and gradual shift in power.

At January’s Masters held at the Alexandra Palace in London, three Chinese players reached the last eight; never before in the history of snooker’s most prestigious invitational had more than one player from China featured in a quarter-finals line-up.

Only a few weeks earlier at the UK Championship in York, over a third of the players in the 32-player main draw were Chinese; those 12 players smashed the previous record-high of nine for that stage of the Triple Crown event. Seven made it through to the last 16.

Zhao Xintong - winner of the World Grand Prix - created history last spring when he became Asia’s first world professional snooker champion. The televised stages at the Crucible started with 10 Chinese cueists - a record for the sport’s blue riband event.

Hendry: “I don't see many young talents coming from the UK”

Thirty-six-time ranking event winner Hendry was asked about this trend and was in no doubt that it is a glimpse into the sport’s future.

“I think this is a sign of probably the future of snooker” said Hendry. “In ten years time I think China will be the dominant force in snooker because I don't see many young talents coming from the UK to take over from the talent just now.

“All the best young players are Chinese. So I think this is a sign of things to come”.

Whilst China seems to be churning out a conveyor belt of new professional players each season, Hendry painted a bleaker picture for emerging talent and the state of the sport closer to home: “There's not so many snooker clubs now in the UK. Many have closed, so there’s not many places to play.

“Young people prefer to do, seem to prefer to do other sports now, not snooker, so it's a shame not just Scotland, but the whole of the UK”.

Signs of promise for UK talents, but lots of work to be done

At the time of writing, there are no Chinese players within the world's top six rankings, although with no significant prize money to defend from his total until the 2027 World Championship, seventh-placed Zhao will be in the mix to become world number one at some point this year.

China's snooker trailblazing star Ding Junhui briefly held the world number one spot in late 2014/early 2015.

There are currently five Chinese players in the top 16: Zhao is 28-years-old, Wu Yize is 22, and Si Jiahui is 23. A further five cueists from China are in the 17 to 32 ranking bracket - four of those are aged in their twenties.

The three youngest non-Chinese players in the world’s top 16 are Chris Wakelin (33-years-old), world number two Kyren Wilson (34) and world number one Judd Trump (36).

There are no UK players aged in their twenties within the top 32 at present, although there are shining lights a little further down the standings who are itching to make their big breakthroughs. Hendry acknowledged this and the potential, but said a lot of work still needs to be done for them to reach the top echelons.

“I've not seen anyone, sort of young player that I think 'wow - he's like O'Sullivan or Higgins'” said the 57-year-old.

“There's lots of good players: Stan Moody is very promising, Liam Pullen - good players, but they have a lot of improvement to do to be to the highest standard, and I think Zhao Xintong winning the world title has inspired all the other Chinese players to raise their game”.

Welshman Jackson Page - currently 33rd in the world - seems to have been around a long time but is still only 24-years-old. He is a former ranking event finalist, and last year created snooker history with two maximum 147 breaks during the same match at the World Championship qualifiers. A feat that earned him a £147,000 bonus.

Ireland’s number one Aaron Hill is aged 23 and has been upwardly mobile in the rankings - currently sitting in 42nd. Hill has enjoyed his best season on tour to date, so much so that he qualified for the elite World Grand Prix through the one-year list. He also made his first two 147s in professional competition earlier this term.

A name that constantly gets mentioned when it comes to young British snooker talent is teenager Stan Moody, who impressively retained his tour card last season, and is now inside the world’s top 50. The 19-year-old appeared in his first two ranking event quarter-finals a few months ago at the British and Wuhan Opens.

Another young Englishman making waves is 20-year-old Liam Pullen who defeated John Higgins on his way to a maiden ranking event quarter-final outing at the Xi’an Grand Prix back in the Autumn. Pullen also fashioned his first top tier perfect frame, at the UK Championship qualifiers in November.