Anthony Hamilton believes is Stephen Hendry could commit to even a small amount of regular practice then he would still be very competitive on the professional circuit.
Hendry was beaten 10-4 by James Cahill in the opening round of World Championship qualifying on Wednesday, knocking in a century in the first frame but struggling to find form for much of the rest of the contest.
The seven-time world champion admits that he is not putting in anything like the kind of practice on his return to the main tour that he did during his first spell as a professional, which has led to him struggling for results.
The match with Cahill was just the fourth he has played all season, all of which he has lost, but Hamilton reckons there is still plenty in the Scot if he wants to work to find it.
On Hendry’s return to the professional game over the last three seasons, Hamilton joked: ‘I think his missus has chucked him out the house for a bit so she can get him out from under her feet.’
On the King of the Crucible’s work load, Hamilton told Metro.co.uk: ‘He’s not putting any real work in, because if he was putting the work in he’d be getting results.
‘He’s only 54, it’s not that old, if he was putting anything like real work in he’d be getting results.
‘I think it stems from when he was beating everyone, he was the hardest worker, he worked his nuts off all the time. Every day, eight hours a day, all the vile practice you don’t want to do, he was doing it all the time.
‘Even if you knock off a small percentage of that workload, you’re going to suffer. But who does want to do that amount of work? It’s a young man’s game doing that.
‘If he just did an hour a day, but every day, he’d be winning 25 matches a year, I think.
‘Long periods without picking his cue up and then trying to cram practice in before he plays is not going to work. The game’s too hard for that.
‘He’s that good, that if he did put in an hour a day he would be winning a lot of matches, I reckon.
‘He’s going into the lion’s den, not practicing hard and playing on the iciest cloths on the planet so any discrepancies are going to be shown up. He knows all this though.’
Hamilton gets his own World Championship qualification campaign underway on Monday against Oli Lines or Michael Holt as he bids for a first return to the Crucible since 2008.
The Sheriff of Pottingham has been critical of the sport’s bosses in recent months, warning that ‘snooker’s not flying’ after the Turkish Masters was scrapped in January.
However, he was impressed with how the WST Classic was rustled up on short notice to give players an earning opportunity on seriously short notice.
‘They did really well, it was impressive because it was all coming from their own coffers. It was only a week later they announced it,’ he said.
‘Some of the payers were a little bit peeved there was no audience and a bit flat, but I was like, Christ what do you want?
‘It’s a tournament we didn’t have at last minute notice for the normal amount of money, I think they did amazing on that front.’
MORE : Stephen Hendry intends to play on after World Championship exit: ‘In a perverse way it is fun’
MORE : Stephen Hendry’s coach calls for ‘fire in the belly’ ahead of World Championship qualifiers
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