Hendry must beat ex-nephew to qualify for World Snooker Championship

Stephen Hendry reveals his top five snooker tips

Snooker legend Stephen Hendry has been drawn against his former nephew James Cahill in the opening round of qualifying for this year’s World Championship.

Seven-time world champion Hendry used to be married to Cahill’s aunt Mandy, with the pair getting divorced after 19 years of marriage. They have two children together, but Hendry left her in 2014 for current girlfriend Lauren Thundow.

Thundow is 20 years his junior and, in his 2018 autobiography, he revealed he fell for her while still married. Mandy’s sister and Cahill’s mother Maria was a top women’s snooker player and the current world No. 96 has developed a reputation as something of a giant killer.

At the 2019 World Championship, he shocked Ronnie O’Sullivan and beat him 10-8 in the first round as an amateur. The previous year, Cahill knocked then world No. 1 Mark Selby out of the UK Championship in the first round.

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And the 27-year-old will now be hoping he can do the same to Hendry, who only made a comeback to the sport in 2020 after initially retiring in 2012. “He was married to my auntie,” Cahill said in 2019 when asked what influence Hendry had on his career.

“Not really, I’ve asked him to help me a couple of times but he just didn’t seem interested, to put it bluntly. I owe everything to my family, Frank Callan, he helped me massively and my new coach Chris Henry has boosted my game massively, mentally more than anything.”

And immediately after he was drawn against Hendry in the opening qualifying round, Cahill reiterated: “He didn’t have anything to do with my coaching. I did have a few practice sessions with him when I was maybe 14 or 15.

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“I’m glad he is not as good as he used to be! But that’s joking – seriously, he can clearly still play and knows all the shots. I will have to play very well to beat him.

“I am never bothered who I play, it’s how I play. I have shown that I can beat top players. I am confident in any game if I am playing well.”

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