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Stephen Hendry says he will have “no expectations” when he launches his snooker comeback against Matthew Selt at the Gibraltar Open in Milton Keynes next week.
The record seven-times world champion has been drawn to face his good friend and the current world number 25 in what will be his first professional match in nine years.
Hendry, 52, accepted a two-year tour card from World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn in September last year but has pulled out of a succession of projected comeback dates.
Hendry told ITV4: “We’re very good friends and I’m looking forward to it. I’m curious to see what will happen and I’m prepared for any result.
“On the practice table I’m probably hitting the ball better than I did when I retired but that means nothing when you go out there.
“You’ve got to get that composure on the match table and that’s what might take a wee while.
“I’ve got no expectations of what will happen but we will see.”
Selt, 35, won his solitary ranking title at the 2019 Indian Open and has twice qualified for the final stages of the World Championships at the Crucible.
The pair have played twice previously, with Selt winning their most recent meeting 5-1 in the last 16 of the 2011 Australian Open, and Hendry winning 5-2 at the 2009 Grand Prix.
In addition to his seven world titles, Hendry won six Masters and five UK Championships and spent nine seasons as world number one.
He retired after losing 13-2 to Stephen Maguire in the 2012 World Championship quarter-finals, describing it as “quite an easy decision”.
Hendry’s motivation for embarking on a comeback is unclear, with world number one Judd Trump describing his move as a “strange one” and Ronnie O’Sullivan warning he will plunged into a “rat race”.
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