Stephen Hendry has given a hint that he's played his last World Snooker Championship by confirming he won't enter qualifying for this year's tournament.
The seven-time world champion retired from playing professionally back in 2012, but made a return to the pro tour eight years later after accepting a wildcard from the WST.
That two-year tour card was renewed in 2022, but Hendry has played less than 10 events since then with no wins from four matches last season and also being winless in 2024.
To take part in the World Championship, Hendry would be required to go through the qualifying rounds like Jack Lisowski, Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham.
Stephen Hendry will not enter qualifying this year
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But Hendry has confirmed he won't enter the qualifying rounds with his two-year tour card expiring at the end of this season.
“I’ve not entered the world qualifying this year,” Hendry said on the WST Snooker Club podcast.
“There’s a couple of reasons. It starts the day after the Tour Championship finishes.
"I’ll have been working for TV all week, and obviously not had much chance to practice, which I haven’t really done.
“I’m not going to bother this year. There’s a lot of things to do in between the Tour Championship and World Championship, so I thought I’d give it a miss this year.”
It's unclear whether the WST will renew Hendry's invitational tour card, but the 55-year-old has indicated that he's lost the motivation to compete in the smaller events.
"I'd play in front of 3,000 people in Hong Kong, to a full house,” he added.
"And now I'm playing in a leisure centre with a swimming pool next to it.
Stephen Hendry has hinted he's lost the desire to compete
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"I mean, how do you get yourself up that? That's the problem.
"All the qualifiers are in venues which are not very inspiring for me. But they have to be there and there's a purpose for these qualifiers.
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Stephen Hendry won seven world titles in his career
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"But when you've played the venues I have, well you're looking for a wee bit of inspiration to get yourself up.”
Hendry's place in qualifying will be taken from the 2023 Q School Order of Merit.
The qualifying rounds are scheduled to start on April 8 and will run until April 17.
