Potted history of Stephen Hendry as snooker legend returns

Stephen Hendry has come out of retirement by taking up the offer of an invitational card to compete on the World Snooker Tour for the next two seasons.

The seven-time world champion, dubbed the King of the Crucible, quit as a professional in 2012 but will now have an opportunity to add to his 36 ranking titles – a tally bettered only by Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Here’s a look back at the 51-year-old’s remarkable life and career.

1969: Born January 13 in Edinburgh.

1983: Wins the Scottish Under-16 Championship.

1984: Wins the Scottish Amateur Championship, aged 15.

1985: Joins the professional tour aged 16 years and three months, becoming the youngest player ever to do so.

1986: Becomes the youngest ever winner of the Scottish Professional Championship and the youngest World Championship qualifier – a record later broken by Belgium’s Luca Brecel in 2012.

1987: Wins his first ranking event, beating Dennis Taylor 10-7 in the Grand Prix final, and adds the British Open title.

Stephen Hendry won the world title seven times.

1989: Wins the UK Championship against Steve Davis as part of a haul of three ranking titles, and also wins the first of five consecutive Masters crowns.

1990: Retains the UK Championship and wins his first World Championship by overcoming Jimmy White 18-12 in the final.

1992: Claims his second Crucible title, winning ten successive frames to beat White 18-14 in the final. Also makes his first professional 147 break.

1993: Beats White 18-5 in the World Championship final. The showpiece has not been won by as big a margin since.

1994: Awarded the MBE by the Queen. Wins the world title for the third year in succession and the fourth time in his career after an 18-17 final win over White. Makes seven centuries in beating Ken Doherty 10-5 in the UK Championship final.

1995: Gets the better of Nigel Bond 18-9 in the World Championship final and claims his fourth UK crown against Peter Ebdon.

1996: Wins his fifth successive World Championship, matching Steve Davis and Ray Reardon’s total of six, and completes the World/UK Championship double for the third season in a row. Also wins sixth Masters title with a 10-5 win over O’Sullivan.

1998: Beaten 10-9 after a final-frame re-spotted black by Mark Williams in a memorable Masters final at Wembley.

1999: Wins the last of his seven Crucible crowns, beating Williams 18-11. Makes the first ever 147 in a ranking final at the following season’s British Open.

2001: Beaten 18-17 by Ebdon in the World Championship final.

2005: Wins his last ranking title at the Malta Cup.

2009: Wins his 1000th frame at the Crucible.

2011: Records the tenth maximum of his career, against Stephen Maguire at the Welsh Open.

2012: Reaches the World Championship having been forced to go through qualifying for the first time since 1988. Marks the opening day of the tournament with a 147 against Stuart Bingham, his third at the Crucible and the 11th of his career, but retires having been beaten 13-2 by fellow Scot Maguire in the quarter-final.

2020: Reaches the semi-finals of the World Seniors Championship, losing 4-2 to eventual champion White, before it is announced on September 1 that he will take up a tour card for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.