Ronnie O'Sullivan produced a stunning display to annihilate a shell-shocked
Stephen Hendry and move to within four frames of reaching his second Embassy
World Championship final.
O'Sullivan extended his overnight lead from 6-2 to an almost incredulous 13-3
against the seven-time world champion.
Hendry had been in grave danger of suffering his first-ever Crucible Theatre
session whitewash until he won the final frame.
But he will now have to win five of the eight frames on Saturday afternoon
otherwise he will taste defeat with a session to spare at snooker's most famous
venue for the first time.
Hendry is also under threat of experiencing his heaviest-ever defeat which
currently stands at the 9-0 drubbing handed out to him by Marcus Campbell in the
first round of the 1998 UK Championship.
The Scot made some uncharacteristic errors, missing relatively easy pots and
also guilty of poor safety play, but almost everyone was punished in devastating
fashion by The Rocket.
O'Sullivan rattled in six breaks over 50 in the eight frames including his
12th century of the tournament.
He notched up 630 points to Hendry's 138 during the two-hour blitz and on this
form neither Graeme Dott or Matthew Stevens will have much chance of preventing
O'Sullivan from adding to his 2001 title triumph on Sunday and Monday.
Bookmakers Ladbrokes have now made O'Sullivan 1-6 on to win the best of
35-frame final while Hendry's odds have gone out to 40-1 after his battering by
O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan's display will be particularly sweet given his bitter rivalry with
Hendry and the fact he has never beaten him at Sheffield in three previous
meetings.
The 28-year-old from Chigwell was into his stride from the first ball and a
deadly display won him the four frames before the mid-session interval in just
42 minutes.
Hendry managed to score a combined total of just 15 points in that period
while O'Sullivan rattled in breaks of 81, 92, 52 and 117.
The mauling continued after the break with further runs of 58 and 63 extending
O'Sullivan's lead to 13-2.
He had himself been whitewashed 8-0 in a session of his 1998 world semi-final
with John Higgins.
But Hendry at least avoided that indignity with a break of 44 to the final
pink in the final frame.
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