Hendry makes his mark
SEVEN-TIMES world champion Stephen Hendry overcame a bout of the jitters to defeat best mate Mark Williams and progress to the quarter finals of the Maplin UK Championship yesterday.
The ambitious Perthshire potter triumphed 9-6 in the pairs best of 17 frame showdown at York's Barbican Centre.
However, Hendry, winner of 36 ranking event titles, found it hard going when he should have won in a much more simpler fashion. Leading 6-2 after the first session of play, Hendry saw Williams fight back to take the match to 8-6.
But thankfully, with breaks of 66 and 92 in the final session, the all-conquering Scot was able to earn a quarter final clash with two-time UK winner Ronnie O'Sullivan, with their match due to be played on Thursday.
"Mark was in great form tonight and he potted some fantastic long shots," said Hendry.
"He started to look dangerous and I knew that I would have to raise my game.
"But if you want to win these tournaments you've got to beat the best players in the world.
"I've got Ronnie in the next round and he's the best player in the world at the moment.
"It's a great test for me and I can't wait for the match.
"Whether I am going to be sharp enough to beat him, who knows, but I'll be giving it my best shot.
"I've been practicing really hard and it's just nice to be winning these matches because over the last few years I've not been winning them.
"I've been working a lot harder since Aberdeen and I know that to win matches I've got to keep working hard.
"It's always nice to beat Mark because he's such a good player, so I just had to stick in there tonight and even when he came back at me, I told myself I could win."
Earlier Hendry pocketed two century breaks - 103 and 117 - and added further runs of 55, 47, 73, 66 and 92 to edge within one frame victory.
Welshman Williams knocked in breaks of 55 and 52, as well as pinching three scrappy frames, to make sure the match dragged on.
And Hendry might have feared the worst, for at this very tournament in 2001 he squandered an 8-4 advantage and slipped to defeat to Williams. However, five-times UK winner Hendry held his nerve and clinched victory to set up a mouth-watering showdown with a 'rocket'.
