'Completely collapsed' - Stephen Hendry reveals moment he knew he had lost snooker golden touch after Ding Junhui retirement claim

React to this story

Stephen Hendry famously retired from snooker after a 13-2 defeat to Stephen Maguire in the 2012 World Championship quarter-finals, but the seven-time Crucible winner said he knew was losing his golden touch a decade earlier.

O'Sullivan, Davis, Hendry, White? Snooker stars name their childhood heroes

Video credit: TNT Sports

The Scottish icon first noticed he was battling the dreaded 'yips' in 2002, the same year he lost 18-17 to Peter Ebdon as he came up agonisingly short in his quest for an eighth title triumph in Sheffield.

Hendry tried to mount a comeback via an invitational tour card in 2021, but won only three matches out of 20 before retiring for a second time in 2024.

The mental block has afflicted countless golfers, darts and tennis players, including Bernhard Langer, Eric Bristow and Coco Gauff, with involuntary movements affecting the correct delivery of a putter, cue or serve in a straight line.

China Open

Has O'Sullivan lost his 'fear factor'? Hendry has say on former rival ahead of China Open

06/08/2026 at 21:08

"It's got gradually worse for 10 years. I think I need to phone Bernhard Langer to see how he got over the yips because that's what I have," said Hendry after losing 9-6 to Mark Williams in the second round of the 2010 UK Championship.

Former UK and Masters champion Ding Junhui has reflected on Hendry's career, claiming he quit the sport too soon.

”In my opinion, he retired too early," said Ding. "But towards the latter stages of his career, a lot of the problems he had when playing may actually have been related to his technique.

"He may have known what was going on, but he couldn’t control it. He couldn’t control his body. So it wasn’t that his mentality had deteriorated towards the end of his career.

"It wasn’t because he thought, ‘I used to be the King of Snooker, I can’t miss a ball, I can’t lose.’"

Speaking on the World Snooker Tour podcast, Hendry opened up on the misery of losing his ability to play simple shots.

"My technique was gone. I had the yips," said Hendry, who finished his career on 777 centuries.

"I couldn't play snooker the way I wanted to play. I was refusing shots because I knew if I potted a certain ball I was on another shot.

"And I wouldn't be able to play it. So, yeah, my game was shot. So Ding is absolutely 100% right in everything he said.

"It was just torture to play. So I had to stop. I mean, if I didn't have the yips, I probably might still be playing now.

Ding inadvertently pots pink with unfortunate foul

Video credit: TNT Sports

"So I retired in 2012. It probably happened the first time about 10 years previously, maybe a bit more.

"So basically I played a shot and I couldn't, didn't go through it. Basically, you know you strike the cue ball, but your tip doesn't go through.

"It just didn't go through it and I thought I sort of grabbed onto the grip cue and there's a shudder, and I thought, 'Oh, that's new. I don't like that. That's never happened before'.

"I sort of forgot about it, played the match, then it happened again about a few months later. A different shot, but it was a different kind of yip.

"It was a decel [deceleration] when I completely collapsed on the ball. And it would be the simplest of shots."

Ding and fellow ranking event winners Gary Wilson and Stuart Bingham have all had similar problems with their respective cue actions, but unlike Hendry, have managed to battle through the condition.

"When you watch snooker, you might look at it from a relatively simple perspective – whether each shot is missed or not," said Ding.

Wilson 'lost' and 'struggling' after World Championship exit, takes aim at 'naive' experts

Video credit: TNT Sports

"For us, sometimes there really are reasons behind what happens with a player’s technique. Some technical problems may be easier to solve or control than others."

Hendry has become an expert pundit since retiring for a second time, but continues to be haunted by the memory of his own struggles with cue in hand.

"I look now at players playing these simple shots, and they don't think about it," he said.

"And I get a shiver up my spine and if I was playing that shot it could literally be a half-ball black stunning up for a red. Towards the end of my career, I could not play that shot."

Meanwhile, Hendry's old rival Jimmy White saw his hopes of an appearance at the Northern Ireland Open ended by Xu Si in a 4-2 defeat in the second qualifying round in Leicester.

Add TNT Sports as a preferred source here to enjoy more content like this.

Download the TNT Sports app on iPhone and Android.

Watch and stream the 2026/27 snooker season, including the World Championship and Home Nations events, live with TNT Sports on HBO Max.

Halo World Championship

'Are they special?' - Hendry on big problem facing UK potters after Allen miss

06/07/2026 at 16:16

Snooker

'An absolute star' - Hendry ranks his all-time Crucible greats

23/06/2026 at 11:53