Date of birth: 13/01/69
World ranking: 5
Career earnings: �6,956,186
2001-2002 points: 16600

Stephen Hendry is arguably the greatest player to have graced the game of snooker.

His record speaks for itself - seven World Championship titles, five UK Championships, two British Opens and six Benson and Hedges Masters crowns.

Hendry was awarded an MBE by The Queen in 1994 and voted BBC Scotland's Sports Personality of the Year in 1987 and 1996.

He has also been voted World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association Player of the Year on seven occasions.

In 2000, the Perthshire potter reached a total of 505 career century breaks - over 200 more than the next-best tally of Steve Davis.

But his provisional ranking at the beginning of 2002 had dropped down from fifth to sixth following a topsy-turvy season.

The start of the 2000-01 season saw a series of near-misses, with semi-final defeats in the Liverpool Victoria UK Championship and China Open.

However, he was part of the Scottish team - along with John Higgins and Alan McManus - which lifted the Coalite Nations Cup and he also won the Malta Grand Prix.

He was beaten 13-5 by Matthew Stevens at the quarter-final stage of last season's World Championships.

This season he ended a 27-month drought without a ranking title by winning the European Open.

He also made the semi-final of the LG Cup, the Regal Masters and the UK Championship.

Whether he can once again rule as world champion remains to be seen, as he would have to overcome at least four players who are on top of their game.