has hit back at old rival after the Scot . The Welshman was dumped out in the first round at the Leicester Arena last month, beaten 4-1 by Malaysia's Rory Thoras.

The display came little more than a fortnight after Williams, 49, had impressed at the Saudi Arabia Masters, pushing Judd Trump all the way in the final before .

Since the tournament in the Middle East, the three-time world champion has been trialing the use of a new cue, but Hendry had little sympathy after the defeat to Thoras.

"It was a very, very poor performance," he said on ITV4. "He's using a new cue. I hope he was paid nicely because it's going to derail his season. It's going to take him a bit of getting used to. It sounded horrific and his play was horrific. It was very, very bad."

He wasn't the only former star to be critical of the performance. On live commentary, Alan McManus said it was "as poor as I've seen him play in a long, long time."

Williams returns to action this Wednesday at the Northern Ireland Open against Noppon Saengkham. And in an interview with , the current world No.7 was asked about Hendry's comments.

"It's easy in the commentary box isn't it?" he said. "We've seen his comeback and how that ended up, so he can't really say too much about me can he? Perhaps he should use one (the cue), he might play a bit better."

The riposte was a pointed one, given Henry initially retired in 2012 having won a now record-equalling seven world crowns. At the time he was 43, and cited dissatisfaction with his standard of play and his personal and business commitments.

However, he returned to the professional circuit in 2020, and stated his desire to again compete at the Crucible. He proceeded to win just three of his 20 professional matches though .

The Welsh Potting Machine' was also positive about his recent experience in Saudi, where he was edged out by Trump 10-9 in a gripping final. And he argued that the country could now play a big part in the future o thef .

"It's one of the better venues we play in to be honest, it's really good," he said, before joking that the only drawback from the weather. "It's a bit hard too practice when the sun's out though.You need sunglasses."