Stephen Hendry stunned by what Quinten Hann did between snooker match | Other | Sport
Stephen Hendry has expressed his disbelief at Quinten Hann’s infamous decision to fly back to Australia between matches at the World Snooker Championship. The 48-year-old used the days between his matches at the Crucible in 2003 to fly to his homeland before returning to Sheffield.
One of the sport’s most unpredictable characters, retired snooker player Hann once challenged opponent Andy Hicks to a fight during his first round 10-4 loss at the world championship in 2004. Tempers flared after both men exchanged words, with Hicks accused of mocking Hann before the referee stepped in. While many still remember Hann’s bust-up with Hicks, the revelation of his remarkable short trip back to Australia the previous year came as a surprise to seven-time world champion Hendry.
The former world No.14 had defeated 1991 champion John Parrott in the opening round at the Crucible. Faced with a week off before his next match, Hann flew to Australia before heading back to Sheffield for a 13-2 loss to eventual tournament winner Mark Williams.
“I didn’t know that,” Hendry said on the Snooker Club podcast. “That’s unbelievable. How can you go back to Australia between matches? That is unbelievable.
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“He came up to Scotland once, and he was unpredictable. He wanted to practise with me. We set up to play a best-of-nine. We broke off for the first frame, and he smashed them from the back. I’ve made a century, and my manager was sat watching. He asked him: ‘Why did you do that?’
“And he said: ‘I just wanted to see what he could do. My manager felt like saying: ‘Did you not know what he can do?'”
Hann frequently opted to smash his first shot against top players, including against Ronnie O’Sullivan during the 2000 Grand Prix. When asked to explain his thinking after losing 5-0, he said: “I thought that if I couldn’t win the second frame from all the chances I had, I shouldn’t be out there.
“If a professional can’t win with those chances, then you are not a professional. Either way I played today, it was going to go the same way.”
Hann’s snooker career came to an end in 2006 after he was given an eight-year ban for match-fixing following the previous year’s China Open. He had resigned his World Professional Billiards and Snooker membership shortly before the punishment was confirmed.
