Stephen Hendry revealed a surprising encounter with the police on his way to Alexandra Palace for BBC’s coverage of the Masters final. The 56-year-old, who transitioned into punditry in 2013 following his initial retirement from the sport, was on duty for the tournament final earlier this month between Shaun Murphy and Kyren Wilson.
Murphy emerged victorious, claiming his second Masters title. The 42-year-old Englishman later joined Hendry on his popular YouTube channel ‘Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips’. During their chat, Murphy shared that he took his car for a wash and topped up his washer fluid at the backstage entrance of Ally Pally during a break in his clash against Wilson.
Hendry then shared his own revelation about his journey to the venue, where he was stopped by a police officer while driving. “I got stopped by a police gun at Alexandra Palace,” the Scotsman said. He added: “I was driving along the road and the bike came up beside me and he said, ‘you could do with wiping your back number plate, I can’t read it’.
“And then he went, ‘oh Mr Hendry, is it on its way to Ally Pally? ‘ And I said, ‘yes, yes.” Before Murphy’s stunning victory, which included triumphs over Mark Allen, Neil Robertson, and Gary Wilson, Hendry had tipped Ronnie O’Sullivan for a ninth Masters crown.
But with ‘The Rocket’ pulling out due to health issues and Murphy seizing the title, Hendry admitted his error on the Snooker Club podcast: “Once again, I have been proven wrong. I keep on making my predictions. I predicted Ronnie would win either Saudi or the Masters,” reports the Daily Record.
“He lost the second round at Saudi and did not turn up for the Masters and I said Shaun would struggle to win while he is a pundit. So, yeah, I’m pretty good at this sort of thing.” After spending almost nine years in retirement, Hendry made a surprise return to snooker in the 2020/21 season.
Upon his return, he played for four seasons, but his participation in competitions was sporadic. He claimed just three wins in 20 professional matches before he called time on his career once again in the 2023/24 season.
