SNOOKER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:STEPHEN HENDRY last night produced a vintage performance to become the first man to reach the Betfred.com World Championship quarter-finals.
The Scot has endured some bleak seasons in the autumn of his career, and has not won a ranking title since 2005. Not since 1999 has he triumphed at the Crucible. But 10 years down the line, and despite him turning 40 in January, nobody will be taking Hendry lightly now.
He was not the favourite for his match against Ding Junhui, the talented Chinese player who beat compatriot Liang Wenbo in the first round. But Hendry played Ding off the table yesterday evening, winning five of seven frames from 8-8 to secure a 13-10 victory and reach the quarter-finals for the 18th time in his career.
Meanwhile, Ronnie O’Sullivan finally began to dominate second-round opponent Mark Allen yesterday as he secured an overnight lead over the Northern Irishman.
A confident Allen had come into the match insisting that “favourites don’t always win”, but the defending champion O’Sullivan is now just four frames from doing so to reach the World Championship quarter-final stage.
Allen resumed level at 4-4 but lost the final two frames of the afternoon session to fall 9-7 behind.
