STEPHEN HENDRY has lifted the lid on the “worst final I’ve ever seen”, admitting the 2024 clash was a “tough watch” for fans and pundits alike.
Hendry, 55, knows a thing or two about finals after winning a joint-record seven snooker World Championships.
His first victory in 1990 saw him become the youngest world champ ever aged 21 years and 106 days.
And Hendry’s 36 ranking title wins have only been surpassed by the 41 won by Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Now, the snooker legend works as a pundit after retiring for a second time last year.
But Hendry reckons 2024 also saw the “worst final” in snooker history.
The ace claims Mark Allen and Zhang Anda produced a real snore-fest in the final of the Players Championship.
Northern Ireland star Allen beat his Chinese opponent 10-8 to claim the £125,000 jackpot.
He even admitted “it wasn’t a lot of fun” after making just one century.
And Hendry believes it was even harder to take in watching from the side.
He told Cue Tips: “I have to say, because I remember working on it for ITV, it was probably the worst final I’ve ever watched.
“Against Zhang Anda, it was probably the worst final I’ve ever seen, it was horrendous.
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“But at the end of the day you win a trophy. I’ve played in some shocking matches and won, in my career. But that was a tough watch.”
Hendry went on to explain that Allen’s slow style of play did not help matters.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D101227%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]He added: “There’s not a player in the world who doesn’t benefit from picking up the pace a bit.
“But I’m reluctant to criticise anyone too much that’s picking up the trophies he’s been picking up the last two or three years.
“You can’t say it’s wrong. But now I think he’s suffering a little bit from the way he’s played.”