Expect cues as sporting greats set for book festival

The seven-time world champion leads a pack of sporting heroes appearing at the Melrose event next month.

And he will be bringing the action from many World Championships to life as he discusses his book, Me and the Table.

Hendry told us: “I am really looking forward to come down to the Borders.

“I’ve visited two or three times over the years to play snooker, but it has been so long since I was last there.

“The book festival should be a really fun event. There are some big sporting names appearing like David Coulthard, so I am really looking forward to it.”

Hendry’s fascinating autobiography reveals the man behind the legend. 

‘Me and the Table’ charts a journey from an upbringing in Edinburgh to a purple patch from March 1990 to January 1991 when he won five titles and was unbeaten in 36 consecutive matches – a feat yet to be repeated. 

At just 14, Hendry became the youngest Scottish amateur snooker champion and just a few years later was competing with greats of the game such as Alex Higgins and Jimmy White. 

In 2012, he retired after losing in the quarter-finals of the World Championship.

He is now currently working with the BBC team at the Crucible in Sheffield, commentating on the Betfred World Championship.

Hendry added: “I suppose I have always wanted to write a book and after I retired in 2012 I just felt like that was the right time to start.

“I really enjoy doing the world championships on TV – it is the pinnacle of our sport.

“It is a high pressure event. I like doing the commentary, but I would rather be playing. I think the commentary is the next best thing.”

Stephen Hendry will appear on the Thursday evening in the McInroy & Wood Marquee at 9.15pm.
Tickets are priced at £13 and £11.

From the peace and quiet of the Crucible, sports fans will be taken to one of the noisiest arenas with former Formula One star David Coulthard.

The 48-year-old Scot, who was runner-up in the 2001 Championship, will discuss his new book, The Winning Formula, in the Douglas Home Marquee on Friday evening.

Coulthard raced to 13 victories from the starting grid of 247 Grand Prix during a glittering career.

And since hanging up his racing gloves in 2008 he’s become a regular on television screens as commentator and analyst.

In The Winning Formula, David opens the doors to the secretive world of F1. Not quite so secret is Bob Champion’s greatest achievement.

After battling back from testicular cancer, and while still receiving treatment, he won the 1981 Grand National with Aldaniti. His story was turned into the box office smash, Champions, and earned John Hurt several awards for playing the jockey.

Bob will be in discussion with fellow horseracing legend Richard Pitman on Friday afternoon at 4.30pm in the Douglas Home Marquee. He will discuss his amazing autobiography I’m Champion, Call Me Bob, which charts his early life, his path to becoming a professional jump jockey and how it felt being at the top of his game only to have it come crashing down with a life-threatening diagnosis. 

Richard Pitman will return to the Book Festival winner’s enclosure on the Saturday for his own show in the Buccleuch Marquee at 7.45pm.

The 76-year-old rode 470 winners in his career and 4000 losers - including Crisp in the 1973 Grand National where he was pipped to the post by Red Rum.

After jockeying for 15 years he joined the BBC where he spent 35 years as an interviewer and presenter. He has also written a dozen books, many of them thrillers set in the world of horse racing. 

Also saddling up on Saturday is the only women winner of The Mongol Derby. Lara Prior-Palmer rode 25 different horses across the plains and deserts of Mongolia to win the epic 1,000 kilometres race in 2013 - at the age of only 19. 

Driven by her own restlessness, stubbornness, and a lifelong love of horses, she raced for seven days through extreme heat and terrifying storms, catching a few hours of sleep where she could at the homes of nomadic families. Battling bouts of illness and dehydration, exhaustion and bruising falls, she found she had nothing to lose and tore through the field with her motley crew of horses.

In one of the Derby’s most unexpected results, she became the youngest-ever champion and the first woman to win the race. Told with terrific suspense and style, Rough Magic is her extraordinary story. Lara will be in the McInroy & Wood Marquee at 1.45pm.

Arguably Gregor Townsend’s greatest moments in rugby came locked in a Twickenham changing room for quarter of an hour.

Despite a glittering playing career, which saw him win 82 caps and took him to Northampton Saints, Brive, Castres, Montpellier and the Border Reivers, it is perhaps the recent Six Nations clash with England that he will be best-remembered.

With England running riot and leading 31-0 after half an hour, coach Townsend masterminded rugby’s greatest ever fightback to earn a 38-38 draw. 

He will discuss Scotland’s six tries on that memorable afternoon as well reflecting on a playing career that began at Netherdale in 1990.

Gregor will be in the McInroy & Wood Marquee at 9.15pm on the Friday evening. 

Although best known for his voice these days, former international Scotland player Ian Robertson will also be talking rugby on Saturday afternoon. Having just retired after 47 years of commentating for the BBC he will discuss his biography, Rugby: Talking a Good Game, at the McInroy & Wood Marquee on Saturday at 12.15pm.

Tickets for all of this year’s sporting greats at the Baillie Gifford Borders Book Festival are available from www.bordersbookfestival.org or call the Box Office on 0131 473 2000.