Stephen Hendry's ULTIMATE Tour Of The Crucible!

you can feel the electricity though this is a crucible and nothing would have the atmosphere that this place has got it's just absolutely unique absolutely incredible what a place to play your best snooker it's just you in the table that's what it's all about and obviously having won it seven times I just did not my piping slippers aren't under the table but um they used to be for a Time hi guys I'm sure you can recognize where I am I'm at The Crucible theater the venue for the world championship the best place in the world to play snooker anyway let's have a all-access area tour to The Crucible theater this is one of the restaurants this is actually Mark Selby's dressing room back when I was playing here and and and competing and and say it was a final you're in your dressing room basically all I would do is like read a newspaper or you know I wouldn't do anything special there wouldn't be any any mad Rider or what would have to have in my dressing room back in the day the walls were so thin that you could quite often hear players talking to their managers and stuff and the next Jimmy was an example um I used I heard his his manager uh talking to him one time I'm in a final and uh it's quite funny actually listening to what your opponent and everyone's saying and then it would be the final knock on the door where it would be like and it would be Stephen okay time to go so this is the walk from the dressing rooms to the arena so yeah full of nerves trying to trying to look cool um a slow walk through this this here is a bit of a a bit of a kind of a Holden Bay really players kind of hang out here waiting for uh that has four players you're waiting for each one to be introduced to the audience so okay first we'll be out you'll be standing here you see now he's the players are standing here with a with a Q nervous ready go sometimes they're chant to each other which I can't understand because I would be able to chat to anyone when I was winning because you just you're so focused um you're nervous but it's good nerves you're focused um but the last thing you want to do is chat to other players anyway first three players have gone out or if it's just a vinyl one player has just gone out John parrot I've played him he's he was he was out first John John John quick one quick one I know you're desperate how would you feel when you're waiting to go out it's the worst 20 minutes of your life absolutely terrible you're reading the paper you have a cup of tea you don't really know what to do with yourself people come in you don't really listen to what they're talking about it's the most horrible 20 minutes of your life the toilet cubicle is the most it's most used in Britain but don't go in after Steve absolutely never going after speed cheers John [Applause] [Music] you're not quite introduced to the arena yet you're just kind of take to another holding Bay as it were now from there you're now here the MC is going through his stuff building you up saying What You've Won uh introducing the courage you can feel you can feel the electricity though this is a crucible especially when as we're going to see one table it's just unbelievable so you can feel electricity and finally you hear your name and then it's walk there would be someone here to open a curtain for you and then it's basically you walk into this wall of noise obviously when I was playing Jimmy it'd be a wall of Jimmy fans um in the final but you obviously you stand up you you kind of you know acknowledge the crowd and then even if you're in that chair over there you cut you had I think I think I remember you have to Walk This Way which is kind of the long way around but yeah it's uh you're getting obviously the the attention from the crowd the atmosphere it's it's probably the most nervous you are actually because when's play starts once you get your hand on the table sort of everything sort of disappears it's so different to when it's two two tables two tables you've got your opponent sat here and and to try and not make eye contact and try not make conversation and because you don't want to be conversational I don't want to make conversations so you try not to even make any eye contact I think 1986 is my first time I'm sure there was still smoking allowed and so you could be sat next to someone who smoked which was very strange but yeah it's very very claustrophobic that's because I mean you can see how close the crowd are as in now with just one table that's it's quite a long way to walk I mean it's there's it's it's it's it's bare isn't it I mean there's nothing really um other venues have flowers and all sorts of stuff to try and make it look pretty but it's um yeah it's it's it's pretty Stark but listen when you get here it's just you and the table that's what it's all about nothing would have the atmosphere that this place has got it's just uh absolutely unique this is uh definitely one of the times when when I'm here with a microphone working for the BBC in the world championship and you're at the final night and players walk out tinges of jealousy uh seeing them work out to play snooker in this place because uh this is what it's all about Crucible theater fantastic venue it's a lovely spot lovely city great people and it's a great spot to come to watch this we really love it over here the atmosphere is great even if you're not inside you can watch it over here so we are we just arrived but we're already enjoying ourselves [Applause] it's a special place you know what it means to every player around the world to get to come you know it's it's nothing like it you know it's just so it's just so specific to Suga and uh yeah I I I you know I hope it stays there for for many years it's just I come every year am I going to be on the Internet it's just perfect for watching a game of game of snooker it's fantastic whether you're in the front row or the top row it's just just fantastic yeah Stephen Andrews autograph there you go you've picked on the right person obviously I work here for the BBC as a Ponder and commentator on the world championship you can see there's two commentary boxes because obviously we have two tables um for the first round second round in quarterfinals um actually when it goes down to one table um BBC use this one and Eurosport come and use that one there you can see there we'll have a look inside um a closer look but that's our BBC little Studio okay come box time if you guys have seen the um access all areas to the last one we did behind the behind the scenes um con box is pretty similar I would say that the little bit difference between the BBC coverage and ITV coverage is we have this telestrator which allows us to say someone's trying to get over snooker we can I don't really do it a lot because Dennis and JV are a lot better than me but you can actually draw the lines on the table to see where um how players are going to get out of the snooker what were they going to put the Cubo um so yeah that's the sort of big difference between the BBC coverage and the ITV coverage but otherwise it's pretty much the same stuff but as you can see great View of The Crucible theater and uh yeah best view in the house really best view in the house welcome back he can get through the cue ball this player played that shot that you mentioned with a lot of right hand side and it caused them to miss the red oh that is unbelievable how good that queuing is at the minute is out Lucan Luca Brazil yeah with his attacking snooker this is outrageous I think the the added thing John that both these players are capable of their easy Miss makes it even more better to watch doesn't it absolutely yeah oh well as you say the easy mess where did that come from well I said it wasn't a great chance to win the frame in one visit it is now well he played it to the far corner and I thought that was a more difficult option is he going to get away with it is he going to leave it is he going to drop in the pocket he's left it I can't believe he's played for it in the far corner I really can't and goes the Black Water says she love snooker that was he had absolutely everything it's made for The Crucible theater the drama what a great session that was only right enjoyed that yeah you couldn't take your eyes off it no lovely and and plus if I was a mentioned you commentate about a brake building shot and Bang Yeah plays it straight away this is very weird because normally you're putting a microphone in my face or some or someone's face when they've just lost or won that how hard is that when someone say I mean you did Ronnie um he lost the world championship how hard is that well it depends on the context in which they've lost and yes this is weird you yeah you're throwing a microphone to me but I I was okay about that with Ronnie because you get the impression I think that Ronnie really respects the way Luca plays but yeah if you're having to interview someone off the back of a 1716 you have to think quite you have to sense the mood oh yeah and you don't always get it right Mark Williams rightly so Savaged me last year when he lost in the decider to judge Trump because it was a little it was a little bit of both I asked a slightly awkwardly worded question and he was in a bad mood and he and I get on really really well and he said to me on air that's the most stupid question I've ever been asked it wasn't it wasn't but he was hurting and I was I was the person to whom he could vent so tell me this it's unbelievable this guy does every session from the first morning until the final three sessions a day and you would never know which session it is because it's the same enthusiastic the same the same application everything I mean how would you do it well are you human no it does it does get tiring and of course there are certain mornings especially where you're back there and you think I just I'm so tired but it helps it's always packed here that helps must do and also for the vast majority of the people sitting there that session is something they've looked forward to for weeks and weeks and weeks or months so you owe it to to them as well as the players waiting backstage that when you give an introduction it's full of energy and that you you genuinely mean what you say because audiences might say oh this guy's a bit cheesy and it is cheesy sometimes but the one thing I like people to not be able to say about me I like them to look and go okay I don't particularly like that guy's style but he's genuine it means what he says so you have to spend some time backstage going do you know what right it is a bit of a performance I am tired I have done 25 introductions already but I've got to get out there that folks is why he is the greatest MC of any sport just now living today Rob Walker you're a legend thank you so much for your time thank you so much for your time however what run now to see the TV studio and practice room alright guys all right I mean how cool is that view I said that the the comms box was the best view in the house but if you're in this seat I mean sometimes you're in that seat which is um maybe if you're not playing maybe this is one e and that's one B I don't know but you've got to be so still because as you can see if I'm sat here a player's putting a ball to this corner pocket closest to me and say I just decided to go like this just as he's on the shot a player sees that so you've got to be very very careful in here okay guys this is through to the practice room so pretty quiet just now there's also uh a TV studio where we do the highlights at night sometimes till after midnight but um but yeah these are there's obviously a routine that a players had quiet just now it's 25 so the evening session starts at seven so I would say players wouldn't be here till quarter past six half past six um yeah I used to turn up half half an hour before and he's just coming and it's basically just five minutes ten minutes just to get you loosened up everything's so so tight at The Crucible I meant that for the first time I ever came I just think it's just there's no room anywhere um but I suppose it's what makes The Crucible what it is uh we'll go now to the it's called The Champions Lounge it's where players commentators um there is a player's Lounge it's in the it's at the other end of The Crucible but this is kind of where because it's close to the the practice room um the dressing rooms um stage doors just underneath so this is why this is really handy this one um it's actually um not as plush as you would think when you think the title Champions loans you think of me were quite a you know a real plush lunge but it's it's functional shall we say the reason it's called The Champions lunch you have all the Champions I don't know why I didn't get a more modern picture of me they have to have the mullet on there is very disappointing but um but yeah this is where you'll you know when we're commentating um an interval we've got 15 minutes interval this will come up grab a coffee and grab a drink um as I say players will come up here time to time chill out because it's very close to the practice room and the dressing room so it's not the Ritz Carlton but um it'll do it'll do I don't know if you could you can see here so this is all all the Press cuttings throughout the whole world championship basically by the end of the tournament these newspapers go all the way along basically the whole length of the corridor um obviously a lot of it's taken up by this nonsense but this is the media center where all those newspapers um get written I suppose let's walk up here let's see where we did the press conference I suppose nice place to be if you just won horrible place to be if you're just lost yeah that's actually where I sat and announced my retirement um that's the last time I was sat there 2012. and I know so we've been playing soccer anymore so I am Brendan Moore referee for World Snooker and referee in the final of this year's World Championship I mean I played the game myself obviously not to the level of these guys um I know the shots that the players are going to play the difference is I can't actually play them myself so I know where to position myself because I know exactly what to do but it is a big difference I'm going to do it yourself what was your highest break my house break's still on the 63. I got that little 15 20 years ago maybe and you're retiring at the end of the season yeah it'd be very sad very emotional and I'm really looking forward to it and like I said a referee here at any point is an honor but to do three World Finals I just can't put that into words because there's only a small group that are refereed three or more it'd be very emotional I'm really looking forward to it but equally dreading it knowing that it's my last time I just know that if someone gets towards the 18th frame it's going to be hard holding it in knowing that it's the last time I'm gonna say on the match at this venue so yeah it's going to be really special really emotional and I just can't wait okay um let's head out to front of house I think the Players Lounge is no that's a Christmas kitchen yeah I don't even know where anything is or is this is that the player's Lounge that's a player's Lounge huh well go see the Players Lounge somewhere I've not been for years this is a player's lunge but as you can see there's no players in here so I don't know why they call it the player's Lounge but it's a lot nicer than that Champions Legend where I say I tell you sometimes before a final the world championship the two players will be brought up this this way because uh would be you'd walk down from the back of the Arena um to be introduced the men for you merchandise trophies let's see if let's see if these doors are open so yeah this is where the public come in to watching it kind of tells you how even though you could be at the the back row what a good view you still have of the match yeah it's just anywhere you sit you're getting a great View and especially when there's one table I mean this is just incredible now when this place is is packed um I don't know if you can see over there that so those doors way over there on the final night that's where the finalists will walk down there are no stairs and into the arena it's a yeah it's a special place I hope you've enjoyed that um access all areas backstage at The Crucible um something that you might not have seen before it's been an incredible tournament actually lots happening anyway I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of The Crucible and as usual if you did enjoy it please like And subscribe see you next time guys foreign [Music]

Channel: Stephen Hendry's Cue Tips

Views: 169,225

Keywords: snooker, stephen hendry, cue tips, snooker videos, snooker content, behind the scenes, world championships snooker, the crucible, crucible, backstage, access all areas, snooker behind the scenes, john parrott, luca brecel, mark selby, si jiahui, selby 147, mark selby 147

Id: 9vko1ydTyZs

Length: 18min 3sec (1083 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 30 2023