There are some records in sport that will never be broken, one of them is the four-minute mile, or so they believed. Another is that in the modern world of Professional Snooker that no one could beat the records of both Steve Davis and Ray Reardon in the World Professional Snooker Championships.

Along came a lone Scot with a cue action and break making ability that were second to none. He re-wrote this piece of folklore, forever writing his name in the record books, for you see, he has now won seven World Snooker titles and he is still only 32 years of age.

In recent months Stephen Hendry has struggled with his game and so has turned to the experienced player and coach Terry Griffiths in an attempt to breath new life into his game.

Technically Terry Griffiths had a truly great game in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s and gave Steve Davis many frights over those years. Terry was a joy to watch, even though many people considered him a slow player. He never seemed to give up and invariably chose the correct shot option.

Perhaps Terry can help Stephen with the aspects of his game that have been lacking over recent World Championship campaigns. Those difficult to pin down factors, such as sustained concentration, the correct attitude, even in adversity and self confidence, perhaps the most important commodity of all for a winner at the highest level.

Steve Davis lost in two finals at the Crucible, one against Dennis Taylor and one against Joe Johnson. Steve could have won eight himself, so Stephen Hendry may well take a little comfort from the comparison of their final appearance tally.

Just a final thought concerning another Crucible favourite, could this be the year of the Whirlwind? Not much is expected of him this year, so he may well pick up momentum as the tournament progresses. He is one of only a few people who have dropped out of the top sixteen players in the world who have had the fortitude to claw their way back in. Jimmy is also one of an even rarer number of player that has beaten Stephen Hendry twice at the Crucible.

Good luck to Jimmy and all the players for the tournament, statistics not withstanding, let the best man win and let battle commence.

David Smith