Stephen Hendry blasts ‘snooker isn’t fun to watch anymore’ as he wades into escalating feud between two huge stars

Scots legend Hendry has previously criticised Allen's slow play, with the Northern Irishman blasting in early 2023: "I couldn't care less what Stephen Hendry or anyone else says about my speed and style of play."

Hendry, 55, was NOT part of the broadcast team for the Allen-Hawkins match that kicked-off the debate - and he joked that he was RELIEVED that was the case.

He said: "I dodged the biggest bullet in the world, I got the night off. It was absolutely unbelievable.

"I was sat in a restaurant, I'd just poured my first glass of red wine and I'd seen the first frame was 55 minutes and I did have a little chuckle to myself, I will admit."

Hendry went on to point the finger at several players for their slow play at the UK Championship.

He admitted that he'd found many of the matches a tough watch - and insisted that the slow style was stopping snooker from being FUN.

Hendry continued: "Going back to Mark, he came in at the beginning of the week after his first match, was really despondent about his game.

"You can understand how you take a long time if you're not happy, obviously it's the way he's been playing for a while now.

"If he doesn't feel confident in his game, every shot becomes a pint of blood. It's a tough watch, you cant deny it, it's a tough watch.

"He said 'if I don't feel confident I'm going to get a pot I'm going to refuse it' and I'm like, my view is, if you take a shot on that and you get it, what a boost you're going to get.

"I look at it the other way, I could never refuse any pots.

"There were some matches last week, snooker wasn't fun to watch anymore.

"There were some hard watches. not just Mark, there were a few players."

The escalating Allen-Murphy tension led the conversation to touch on a different topic - should active players be commentating on games while still competing?

As mentioned, Murphy had also been competing at the UK Championship and had, in fact, been knocked out in an earlier round by Hawkins - Allen's opponent in the semis.

Hendry, who retired for a second time earlier this year, admitted that he could never have done his media work while still actively playing and competing at the top level.

And the 55-year old also issued a warning to those players who are heading into the booth for matches.

He added: "The thing you've got to be careful of in the commentary box is that there's so many people in the audience with earpieces.

"So if Shaun Murphy says 'is it deliberate, is he slowing it' then it gets the crowd against Mark because they're hearing what Shaun's saying and it maybe turns the atmosphere, where they're maybe groaning or whatever.

"You've got to be careful when you're in the commentary box because you're not only speaking to people at home, you're speaking to people in the audience as well.

Hendry continued: "I don't understand why players who are still competitive want to do it.

"I'd have never have dreamt of it. Everyone's different.

"Shaun, I think, won his first match 6-5 and then was back in the commentary box at night and I think even Shaun is starting to sort of think about that's maybe not the way to do it."

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