Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty offered invitational tour cards by World Snooker Tour for next two seasons

The World Snooker Tour (WST) have offered Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty invitational tour cards for the next two seasons. Hendry is a seven-time World Championship winner and holds the record for being the youngest person to do so, after claiming the title aged 21 in 1990. Ad/> Doherty won the World Championship in 1997, where he defeated Hendry and gained himself the honour of being the only player to be world U21, world amateur and world professional champion at the same time.

World ChampionshipMcGill and Trump's classy reaction as Robertson makes 147 on other tableAN HOUR AGO “They are both great ambassadors for our sport and they have both done a huge amount to grow snooker around the world over many years,” said the WST in a statement issued on Tuesday. “Both Ken and Stephen continue to generate interest from fans, television and media. We wish them all the best for the next two seasons.

We will review this invitation at the end of the two-year period.” Opinion: Robertson 147 magic shows why snooker must never leave Crucible 'Incredible!' — Disbelief at 'crazy' situation during O'Sullivan quarter-final Separately, the WST also confirmed a series of new seeding rules for the UK Championship that takes place in November. The format of the tournament now mirrors that of the World Championship, which means the top 16 players will go straight through to the final stages of the competition in York. All of the remaining 16 places will be contested among the unseeded players in a qualifying tournament for the main event.