Hendry - never looked comfortable (Getty Images)
HENDRY EDGES THROUGH
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Stephen Hendry made heavy weather of his opening victory at the Embassy World
Championship in Sheffield on Sunday night.
But Hendry, last beaten in the opening round three years ago by Stuart
Bingham, finally defeated dogged Gary Wilkinson 10-7.
The seven-times world champion now plays fellow Scot Drew Henry for a place in
the quarter-finals but accepts he will have to improve.
Hendry said: "This will have no bearing on how I will play in the next
match.
"The only plus you can take from that match is that it's a win.
"At the end I was all over the place and I was just happy to see the yellow
land where it did after I had snookered Gary.
"Whenever I thought I was comfortable in the match he just kept coming back
at me.
"Even though I had a 9-5 lead I had three chances to win the match in the
next frame and missed them.
"From then on I just needed to scrape over the line."
Hendry, the world number six, played his most fluent snooker in Saturday's
opening session when he moved to within one of 100 Crucible centuries.
His highest break tonight was just 70 while Wilkinson potted far more balls
than he had done 24 hours earlier.
"Gary never gives up," agreed Hendry, still smouldering from last year's
18-17 final defeat by Peter Ebdon.
"He's just a very determined and dogged player."
Wilkinson, who has lost all but one of 16 encounters with Hendry, did close
the gap to 9-7 but Hendry had won frames 13 and 14 that he could easily have
lost.
Hendry then made 57 in what proved to be the final frame but could not cross
the line in one visit.
"My form is very good, it was just first round jitters at the Crucible," he
said.
"The big plus for me is that if I'd lost the match my top-four place would
probably have gone.
"So it was a huge game ranking-wise for me."
Glaswegian Henry booked his place in the next round with a 10-5 defeat of Mark
King, a result which appeared to hit former Welsh Open runner-up King hard.
"That's enough for me and I'm deadly serious," said 29-year-old King.
"That match just sums up my season. The run against me was relentless. I
would rather do something else.
"I've had 19 years of it and I don't care where I am in the rankings. I've
got a lovely wife and two lovely kids but all this just stresses me out."
He was understandably upset by a defeat that cost him his place in the top 16.
But by his own admission world number 22 Henry enjoyed all the moments of good
fortune.
He fluked an outrageous pink to go 5-2 ahead during the opening session on
Saturday night.
And on three other occasions Hendry stole frames in black ball finishes. King
stayed in contention with breaks of 85 and 87 to trail only 7-5.
But 'Dame Fortune' smiled on the Scot prompting King's decision to hang up his
cue.
"Everything went my way," said Rutherglen-based professional Henry.
"I had all the luck on my side and that won me the game above anything."
Ken Doherty, the 1997 world champion, has his work cut out tomorrow night to
reach the last 16.
The Irish star resumes with a 5-4 lead over confident qualifier Shaun Murphy
but could easily have found himself in arrears.
Doherty allowed the 20-year-old from Irthlingborough just one point in the
first two frames, winning with breaks of 51 and 57.
But Murphy, the youngest player in the final stages, responded with a
three-frame burst courtesy of breaks of 49, 48 and 71.
Dubliner Doherty came back with 131 - the third highest break of the event -
but Murphy regained his advantage with an 80 before Doherty knocked in runs of
66 and 51 to ease into a slender lead.
Sean Storey continued his fairytale season as he beat Joe Perry 10-4 to reach
round two.
The world number 82 from Grimsby, the lowest-ranked player in the tournament,
now faces John Higgins or Ian McCulloch for a place in the quarter-finals.
"If you keep winning the confidence grows and you expect to win instead of
just going out to play," said Storey who had no problems turning a 6-3
overnight score into his first ever Sheffield success.
"I now believe I can win and I realise I have been languishing too low down
in the rankings for too many years.
"I used to go out drinking and not bother practising. Now, I don't drink,
apart from the odd glass of wine, and I practise when I should."
Australian Quinten Hann also pledged to clean up his act after beating former
world champion John Parrott 10-5 - although he will enjoy the win first.
The world number 14 said: "I'm going to go out, get really drunk and then get
back to practising hard for my next match.
"If I dropped out I would probably have gone back to Australia, messed around
and tried to nick a bit of money here and there.
"I don't really expect too much of myself here after just six weeks'
practice.
"But if I get my head down I can see if I am able to improve. Who knows I
might only ever play to this sort of ranking.
"But if I don't put in the work I'll never find out how high I can get."
In the day's other match Scotsman Graeme Dott came from 4-3 down to gain a 5-4
overnight lead over Gloucester qualifier Robert Milkins.
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