Stephen Hendry claims he has not made a snooker "comeback" - hitting back at the 'haters' who have criticised the manner of his return to the sport.
The seven-time world champion retired back in 2012 but excited snooker fans when he accepted a wildcard to return to the pro tour in 2020. Hendry dreamed of a return to the World Championship at the Crucible to feel the buzz of walking out at the the iconic Sheffield theatre once more.
But the 54-year-old's half-hearted return has underwhelmed fans and he has played just three matches so far this season, losing all of them.
The legendary Scot - most recently whitewashed 5-0 by fellow veteran Matthew Stevens in German Masters qualifying in November - has prioritised his TV punditry duties over playing.
And he was fined by snooker bosses after pulling out of tournaments for TV filming as he performed as the character 'Rubbish' on ITV show The Masked Singer on Saturday night.
But Hendry has reiterated his wildcard, that was renewed last April, merely offers him a chance to pick and choose entering some tournaments rather than competing at every event.
"It’s not a comeback, it never was a comeback," Hendry told the World Snooker Tour podcast. "Some people keep insisting it is and the haters on Twitter, they know who they are, keep saying when I withdraw…my TV commitments now are more important than playing snooker.
"I’ve got a wildcard to play in events I want to play in, and that’s all I’m doing."
A return to the Crucible, where Hendry became the youngest ever world champion, now seems more improbable than ever for the man who once dominated snooker.
And while Hendry admits he has not been in the right mindset to give himself the best chance of succeeding, he is still irked by those who use the term 'comeback' when describing his decision to play competitively again.
"My ambition for it, coming back, was to hopefully play a match at the Crucible again," he said. "That’s what it’s all about, but even that now, it’s so hard to dedicate myself to practice now because I did it for so long.
"I would need to play, even two hours a day five days a week is a struggle because you’re just not in that mindset.
"I go to tournaments and invariably get beat 5-1, 5-0 because I haven’t prepared and you can’t expect to do anything. But it’s not a comeback, that word really annoys me."
