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| |  Monday, 23 October, 2000, 16:02 GMT 17:02 UK Hendry's career 'hanging in balance' Does Hendry have motivation to carry on playing? Former world number one snooker player Stephen Hendry is facing a crisis point in his career and may consider retiring in the next few months, according to manager Ian Doyle. Doyle, believes the 31-year-old Scot will soon lose his love of competing if his barren spell of 13 months without a tournament win continues. Hendry crashed out of the Grand Prix in Telford in the second round to Brian Morgan last week. "Stephen says he still loves competing but finds that practice is becoming a drudge," Doyle told BBC Sport Online. Lost motivation "He is married, has a family, has accumulated more world ranking titles and more century breaks than anyone in the game and has never been bothered by the money aspect. "But somewhere along the line he has simply lost his motivation. "If he can't knuckle down to practice then he won't win and sooner or later he will lose his desire to compete. "The next three or four months will be make or break time for him and he will have to decide whether he still enjoys playing or he wants to hang up his cue."
In terms of statistics Hendry has easily the most impressive record of any snooker player in history. His nearest rival, Steve Davis, has 28 world ranking title compared with Hendry's 32 and a mere 276 century breaks to the Scot's 505. Doyle believes this is the main factor for Hendry losing his edge, but still thinks he has the ability to make a comeback if he can rediscover his motivation. "It used to be said that heavyweight boxers never come back to win back their titles once they have lost them, but a few boxers have proved this wrong. "I still think Stephen has the ability to win titles again but first he needs to enjoy practicing again."
He goes to the Regal Scottish Masters full of confidence after extending his lead at the top of the rankings table despite having never won the tournament. "In the past I've find it difficult to fire myself up, especially after winning a ranking tournament, but hopefully that won't be the case this time. "The Regal Masters is a fantastic tournament and I want to break my duck there. "In the past I might have treated invitation events too lightly and been too relaxed, but when I get to Scotland I'll be giving it 110%." Doyle hopes that a tournament on his home soil will provide the spark of motivation that Hendry is searching for. "Stephen loves performing in front of his home fans and has made the Regal Scottish Masters his home in the past." The seven times world champion will be looking to perform better to stand a chance of retaining his title and claiming a third Regal Masters win. | | 
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