STEPHEN Hendry suffered his first-ever session whitewash at the 888.com World Championships as Ronnie O'Sullivan won all eight frames today to open up a 12-4 lead in their semi-final clash at the Crucible Theatre.
Hendry, a seven-time world champion, inflicted similar punishment during his distinguished career at snooker's premier tournament to Terry Griffiths (1992), Jimmy White (1992) and Danny Fowler (1993). But this was the first time he had been on the re
ceiving end of the same treatment.
O'Sullivan moved to within five frames of clinching his place in the final in the best-of-33 showdown.
Hendry had his opportunities in the early part of the session and could conceivably have won the opening three frames. But the Scot failed to make the most of those opportunities and paid a heavy price with O'Sullivan at one stage scoring 448 points without reply.
Ronnie O'Sulliivan takes command of his semi-final tussle against Stephen Hendry. Picture: Bryn Lennon/Getty
The Rocket, who defeated Hendry 17-4 in their last world championship meeting in the 2004 semi-finals, compiled two centuries and five other 50-plus breaks.
Hendry led 4-1 at one stage and he has now lost 11 frames on the trot to the impressive O'Sullivan.
No wonder he admitted that O'Sullivan is the best front-runner in the game and the 32-year-old cued beautifully and was ruthless when he got in among the balls.
The tone was set in the opening frame of the day when Hendry missed a red which he left over a corner pocket. O'Sullivan responded with a 93 break to take the lead for the first time.
Hendry was again first among the balls in the next with a 53 and then O'Sullivan responded with a 44 before missing the final blue only to snooker his opponent behind the pink.
Hendry tried to pot the blue via a cushion but failed to make contact and, with the ball hanging over the black pocket, O'Sullivan cleared up.
It was a similar scenario in the next with Hendry putting together a 35 and O'Sullivan replying with 57 before laying a snooker on the final red. Hendry escaped at the second attempt but O'Sullivan again took advantage.
The final frame before the interval was more clear-cut with O'Sullivan's 87 break settling the issue after a superb long red had set him on his way.
After the break O'Sullivan really turned on the style with a 133 clearance in frame 13 and a 135 in the next.
Hendry finally got some points back on the scoreboard in frame 15 after O'Sullivan's scoring blitz but an 85 stretched his lead to 11-4. He tried hard to avoid the whitewash and led 44-0 in the final frame but let O'Sullivan back in with a 70 which left him needing snookers.
Meantime, Ali Carter dominated the second session of his semi-final with Joe Perry later this afternoon to open up a 9-7 lead at the Sheffield venue.
Perry had taken advantage of a below-par performance in a tense opening session from Carter, who would have been relatively happy to be trailing only 5-3 overnight. But it was a different story when the match recommenced, 28-year-old Carter looking the more impressive of two players who were appearing in their first semi-final.
Carter, the pre-match favourite, won six of the eight frames as Perry, 33, struggled to find his best form for lengthy periods. But both players will have to up their game considerably if they are to prove a match for likely finalist O'Sullivan.
The full article contains 601 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
