Stephen Hendry has opted out of entering the World Snooker Championship qualifiers at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield (4-13 April LIVE on Eurosport) only 12 months after returning to the sport following a nine-year absence. The seven-time world champion accepted a two-year wildcard from former World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn at the outset of the 2020/21 season and played his first match since the 2012 World Championship when he lost 4-1 to Matthew Selt in the Gibraltar Open first round in Milton Keynes last March, making his 776th career century in winning his only frame of the contest.