Hendry on the rise after return to ‘rock bottom’
STEPHEN HENDRY went ‘back to rock bottom’ against old foe Jimmy White but breathed a massive sigh of relief after keeping his unlikely Crucible dream alive.
Hendry triumphed over former rival White 6-3 in the first round of World Championship qualifying after being remarkably drawn against the man he beat in four Sheffield finals.
The seven-time world champion, 52, is making a shock return to the professional circuit having been handed a two-year invitational tour card by World Snooker Tour supremo Barry Hearn.
He was stunned to be drawn against six-time Crucible runner-up White but enjoyed getting one over his long-term baize nemesis.
Queensferry’s Hendry, who now needs just three more wins to reach a 28th World Championship at the Crucible, said: “It wasn’t pretty. I thought the match would go that way as there was so much hype, and obviously I’ve got no match practice.
“There were some plusses and positives – I made a nice clearance to go 5-1 ahead and I won a frame winning a snooker.
“In practice I’m hitting the ball so well, but I could literally count on two hands the number of decent shots I hit out there.
“Once the draw came out, I started to really look forward to the match, because it was going to be an occasion.
“There’s obviously a lot of nostalgia – we’ve played in four finals and here we are right at rock bottom in the first qualifying round, nine matches away from a final.
“I tried to enjoy it – it wasn’t easy because of the way we played and neither of us got into our rhythm, so that’s the only thing I’m disappointed about for both of us.
“But to be fair to both of us, we were bang under it. It was a hard match.
“It’s nice to win in my second match out. There’ll be doubters to say it’s Jimmy White and he’s not won many matches, but I don’t care and a win’s a win to me.
“There are positives to take but there’s a long way to go – I’m certainly not going to be frightening anyone with that performance but the more matches I play obviously that will come. I’m delighted to get a win.”
Hendry toppled White in the 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1994 Crucible finals and couldn’t believe being drawn against the former world No.2 at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport.
The Scot made his eagerlyawaited return to the tour at last month’s Gibraltar Open but went down 4-1 against good friend Matthew Selt in Milton Keynes.
Hendry rolled back the years with a fine break of 107 in that match but was unable to find his old fluency as he got his World Championship campaign underway.
Breaks of 66 and 53 helped him open up a 5-1 lead but Hendry, playing in his 100th World Championship match, struggled to get over the line.
He eventually overcame a late White revival to keep his dream of reaching a first World Championship since 2012 alive.
The 36-time ranking event winner will now face world No.82 Xu Si in the second round of qualifying today – with just three more victories required to reach the hallowed Crucible baize.
There’s a lot of nostalgia – we’ve played in four finals and here we are at rock bottom
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