Snooker star blasts Stephen Hendry after being left furious at criticism - 'It's easy in the commentary box'

Hendry was recently critical of the 49-year-old after he toiled in a 4-1 defeat in the first round in Cheltenham by Malaysia's Rory Thoras.

The snooker icon dubbed Williams' performance 'horrific' and said his new cue was behind his struggles.

However, after beating Clarke on Tuesday, Williams decided to hit back.

Speaking to Eurosport about Hendry's comments, he said: "It's easy in the commentary box isn't it?

"We've seen his comeback, how that ended up. He can't say too much.

"Perhaps he should use one, might play a bit better."

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His comments come after Williams recently branded Hendry a 't*t' on social media.

Williams' dig about Hendry's comeback concerns the snooker icon's return to the sport in 2020.

He had initially given up snooker in 2012.

Hendry was never able to scale the same heights of old, however, and decided to retire for a second time in June.

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Meanwhile, Williams isn't the only snooker player to have an issue with Hendry and his relentless criticism.

Shaun Murphy was recently dubbed 'too soft' after praising an opponent at the Wuhan Open in China.

But Murphy was unimpressed by that assessment and has since defended his actions in an interview with the Metro.

"Some of the comments I got on social media last week on clips of me applauding Xiao Guodong from my seat after watching him make three centuries on the bounce," he said.

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"Some of the criticism and abuse I got for that and what that means for my psychology, people telling me I’m too soft and that’s not the way to behave…everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but all I was doing was applauding somebody’s brilliance.

"That’s the world we’re living in."

Speaking on his OneFourSeven Podcast, he added: "I understand to some degree that it comes with the territory, but it’s a weird world we live in.

"I sat there and just out of appreciation I tapped my knee, which quite a few players do stuff like that, I’m not the only person who does stuff like that.

"He [Xiao] made a nice century break, he made three of them and you find yourself clapping politely as a professional acknowledgement, saying that you appreciate his skill.

"The comments that are out there…there’s a serious world out there. I think people need to find a hobby or find something to do or perhaps weren’t hugged enough as children."