Hendry to face old foe White in World Championship qualifying
Stephen Hendry will take on a familiar adversary in his quest to return to the Crucible this year with the Scot drawn to face Jimmy White in the first round of qualifying for the Betfred World Championship.
Hendry, who made an eagerly-anticipated comeback to the professional tour at the Gibraltar Open earlier this month after nearly nine years in retirement, had a famous rivalry with White in the early 1990s.
The duo memorably contested four World Championship finals in the space of five years in Sheffield and Hendry prevailed on each occasion in 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1994 en route to becoming a record seven-time winner.
White has never been able to get his hands on the grandest prize, despite featuring in six finals, while the ‘Whirlwind’ last reached the main draw in 2006 – and has been a losing qualifier in every year since then.
In order to gain entry to the first round of the World Championship, which gets under way on April 17, Hendry and White – who have a combined age of 110 – face four matches in a qualification event that starts on April 5.
Hendry, 52, found out the news while in his role as a pundit for ITV at the ongoing Cazoo Tour Championship – and was incredulous when he found out that White was lying in wait for him.
“No, stop it,” he said. “I can’t believe that. You’re winding
me up – that’s unbelievable.
“All those finals we played and now we’re starting off at rock bottom playing each other in the very first round. It’s incredible.
“We’ve been practising together as well, so that’s ended!”
The pair’s last meeting in the professional ranks went in Hendry’s favour as he won 9-8 in the last-32 of the 2010 UK Championship, but White, 58, defeated his old nemesis 4-2 en
route to going all the way in the World Senior Championship last August.
Hendry won his first world title in 1990, at the age of 21, making him the youngestever world champion, a record that he still holds. He went on to win a further six world titles.
Meanwhile, Mark Selby swept past Kyren Wilson to move into the semi-finals of the Tour Championship with a 10-3 win at Celtic Manor.
Wilson, runner-up at the
Crucible in 2020, claimed the opening frame yesterday afternoon, but world No 3 Selby produced clearances of 109, 81 and 54 to lead 3-1 at the midsession interval. A break of 86 saw Wilson reduce the deficit, only for Selby to take the next two frames.
Selby then capitalised on Wilson's miss of a thin black with the rest to reel off a run of 69 and cement his advantage.
'The Jester from Leicester' maintained his momentum
at the start of last night’s session with an 84 clearance.
Although Wilson got another frame on the board when he capitalised on a return to the table to produce a 75 break, Selby soon closed in on victory, which was sealed with a clearance of 88 followed by another half-century.
Selby will play Neil Robertson for a place in the final, with the Australian having seen off Jack Lisowski on Tuesday.