Stephen Hendry was the Undisputed King of the 1990s. Match after match, win after win and title after title, Hendry reigned supreme in a manner and with a win-rate that elevated his status to one of the, if not THE, all-time greatest. ‘Peak-90s’ Hendry is often what many refer to when referencing the success of the seven-time World Champion, but just how much did Hendry win during this decade?
Out of Hendry’s total 36 ranking titles, 27 (75%) came during this decade. This includes his momentous five ranking events in the 1990/91 season (click here to read about that) as well as his 11 ranking final win streak between 1993 and 1997, matched only by Mark Selby. Hendry reached a total 38 ranking finals during the 1990s (looking at calendar years, not seasons), which gave him a ranking final win rate of 71%. Alternatively, you could look at it as Hendry winning 7 out of 10 ranking finals he would reach.
Hendry’s success with non-ranking events were just as triumphant. He was able to secure a further 27 non-ranking trophies to his name out of the 40 finals he reached, giving a 67.5% win rate in finals. When you combine this with his ranking victories, during the 1990s Hendry was able to win 69% of finals he competed in. It’s actually quite impressive considering if you look at his record, it suggests that Hendry was winning at least five tournaments each season, which was pretty much the case every year (particularly in the former half of the decade).
Nearly all of Hendry’s Triple Crown success came during the 1990s, a factor that firmly places him as the greatest of all time in the eyes of many fans. Hendry established his legacy as he clinched his famous 7 World Championships, 5 Masters and 4 UK Championships during his period of dominance. What makes this astonishing is that this single-handedly matches the combined efforts of the Class of ’92 in the decades that followed. Of course, there is always going to be an argument towards level of competition, but that can’t take away from this formidable win rate.
Stephen Hendry did a lot more to contribute to snooker aside from his winning streaks. He changed the way the game was played (click here to read about that) and pioneered the aggressive break-building approach to snooker we currently observe nowadays. He took the level set by Steve Davis and others before him and raised the bar to evolve the game to the standard we’re used to seeing today.
Fun fact – out of the 54 tournaments won by Hendry, 16 of them were majors. This means that nearly one-in-three wins resulted in a Triple Crown for the legend.
Like this Short? Click here to read: Stephen Hendry Post 2000s Career
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