Stephen Hendry bursts into laughter at Ken Doherty’s dig at Ronnie O’Sullivan

Ken Doherty left Stephen Hendry in hysterics with a cheeky quip about Ronnie O'Sullivan's absence from the Masters.

The Rocket decided to skip the prestigious Triple Crown event following a meltdown in the Championship League last week. The 49-year-old lost it after missing a simple pot during his 3-2 defeat to Robert Milkins on Thursday, smashing his cue against the table.

After the match, he completely destroyed the cue and dumped it in a bin before pulling out prior to his final group match against Ali Carter. O'Sullivan's withdrawal from the Masters was then confirmed just two days ahead of his first-round clash with John Higgins, with Neil Robertson stepping in as his replacement.

O'Sullivan has recently been working alongside Lee Walker, the long-serving coach of his fellow 'Class of 92' member Mark Williams, whose own interest in the Masters was ended at the first hurdle by Ding Junhui following a final-frame decider on Monday.

During an interval in the Williams-Ding match, 1997 world champion Doherty, seven-time Crucible king Hendry and BBC presenter Hazel Irvine spoke about Williams and his work with Walker. Hendry said: "It is all about alignment with Lee.

"I don't think here at the interval they went into the dressing room and he would be giving him stern talkings to, because Mark wouldn't take it and would just tell him to get out. He is a mate as much as anything in the dressing room with Mark. It is an alignment the way he coaches, so it is all about that."

Doherty left Hendry and Irvine laughing heartily as he then added: "I was ribbing him in the practice room, Lee Walker. I said, 'how's it going with Ronnie O'Sullivan? After a month with him he has smashed up his cue and pulled out of the Masters'."