Hendry praises teen potter Scott

Aug 3 2007 Andrew Welsh

SEVEN-TIMES world snooker champion Stephen Hendry yesterday challenged the Scottish game’s emerging talents to go on and prove themselves worthy of major honours.

Speaking at Gleneagles Hotel, just a stone’s throw from his Auchterarder home, Hendry was lending his backing to Scotland’s youth snooker team as it begins preparations for the home internationals in Wales next month.

Among the teenage prodigies getting the chance to rub shoulders with both the Perthshire-based legend and Scotland’s current world champion John Higgins was 13-year-old Fair City potter Scott Donaldson.

The talented Perth High S2 pupil, who won Scottish youth snooker’s prestigious Glasgow Open last season and led the association’s order of merit for part of the campaign, has been called up to the national junior side for next month’s event.

Hendry, whose career prize money tops £8,250,000, told PA Sport he believes concerns expressed recently about a lack of young talent taking up the game in Scotland are largely unfounded.

The man who was made an MBE in 1994 for his services to the sport insisted that the indigenous up-and-coming playing pool’s strength-in-depth can compare favourably with that of other nations.

“Admittedly John [Higgins] and myself are a bit out of touch with the amateur scene, but I don’t think there is a problem,” said Hendry (38).

“Certainly, the club where I play in Stirling has a big junior division and there is still a lot of interest in the sport in this country.

“My own son plays in a junior league at Stirling and the players are starting a lot younger nowadays than used to be the case.

“We are going off to China this weekend and they do scholarships for young snooker players over there.

“I don’t think we will ever get to that stage in Britain because football and rugby tend to dominate school sports over here, but like it or not, snooker is also a sport.

“Sometimes the weather is too bad for pupils to play outdoor sport so they might like to stay inside and play snooker instead, even if it’s just once a fortnight.

“Any emerging talent we have in this country needs to be encouraged and nurtured.”

And the seven-times world champion was full of praise for Scott Donaldson, who lives at Cedar Drive by Perth’s western edge.

After he started playing snooker at five years old, the youngster rose to prominence when he finished the 2004/05 term ranked fourth in the 35-player national U14 league aged just 11.

“He’s a very good player who I have enjoyed a few frames against at Stirling with my son,” said Hendry.

“He has beaten my son and my son has managed to beat Scott in the past, but he’s a bit too good now and we usually ask him to give us a bit of a start.

“We have also been through to Glasgow to play him and Scott has always impressed me.

“With his talent it’s easy to forget he’s still only 13, which makes me feel old!”

Scott’s dad, Hector, said growth spurts had temporarily hindered his son’s progress last term before advice from a long-standing mentor sorted out the sudden difficulties.

“He developed problems with his stance and cue action three-quarters into the season, which led to him eventually relinquishing the number one spot in the under-14s Scottish snooker league,” Mr Donaldson explained.

“However, he rallied after lessons from Billy Snaddon to eventually make the Scottish international junior team to play in the home internationals in September.

“He is back playing as well as ever and I’m looking forward to watching him.”

On a personal level, Hendry said he is planning to improve on mixed fortunes that saw him finish eighth in the global tour’s two-year ranking list, when the new campaign gets underway in the autumn.

“My target for this year is just to get winning again,” he insisted.

“It’s a long time since I won a tournament and it would be great to get back to winning ways.

“I am practising every day, usually for four or five hours, at the club in Stirling, so I am as serious about the game now as I ever was.”

However, the talented golfer admitted that poor conditions have meant his enjoyment of a round at his local course has had to take a back seat over recent months.

“I am a member here at Gleneagles and I still manage some golf,” Hendry quipped. “However, it has been a bit wet for me – I am definitely more of a dry golfer!”