Jimmy White stunned six-times world champion Stephen Hendry in Sheffield last night to provide the Crucible Theatre with one of its most dramatic nights. White helped banish the memories of 14 consecutive defeats by the world number one by taking a firm stride towards the last 16 of the Embassy World snooker Championship.
The "Whirlwind" leads 8-1 and requires just two more frames to inflict upon Hendry his worst defeat in 12 previous trips to the game's most famous venue. The Scot now requires one of the greatest ever comebacks to resurrect his chances of winning a modern-day record seventh world crown.
In 1992 the 29-year-old came from 14-8 down to take the title with a brilliant 18-14 success over White. Nigel Bond once recovered from 9-1 behind to beat Cliff Thorburn 10-9, but surely White will not let it slip this time?.
The first frame was an indication of what was to follow. Hendry missed an early chance and White punished him with a break of 106. Hendry's 67 in the second frame was his best break of the two hours five minutes session. He finished up losing it as White won on the black, helped by breaks of 31 and 39.
In the next four frames, which took just 58 minutes, Hendry scored only 32 points as the 35year-old Londoner, needing to win the title to get back into the game's top 16, added runs of 46, 40, 41 and 69.
That made the score 6-0 and White, cheered on by a sell-out crowd who had booked their tickets weeks ago, clinched a scrappy seventh to make it 7-0. Hendry opened his account with 55 in the eighth, but White held his nerve to finish the session on the best possible note.
Earlier, Ronnie O'Sullivan completed a workmanlike 10-5 victory over Ulsterman Joe Swail while defending champion Ken Doherty discovered who his next opponent will be when Stephen Lee won six frames in a row to beat Andy Hicks 10-4.
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