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MARK Selby moved into the last eight of the UK Championships with a comfortable 9-5 victory over Stephen Hendry.
Selby who came from 4-8 down in his opening match to beat Jamie Cope 9-8 had a much more routine passage over Hendry who fleetingly showed glimpses of his renowned breakbuilding.
But the Scotsman got a taste of his own medicine in the first frame as Selby fired in a break of 132 and with it a reminder of once a big fish is let off the hook they invariably become a piranha. Hendry though is far from a tiddler and fought fire with fire by taking the second with a break of 43 and then showed some typical opportunism in a dramatic frame three.
Hendry must have been cursing his luck as he saw a snookered Selby fluke his way out of it by potting the last remaining red. No doubt fearing that the frame was over Hendry relaxed in his chair as Selby sank the yellow and green to line up a simple brown. Cue the oohs and the ahhs from the fans at the Telford International Centre as Selby missed the brown and a disbelieving Hendry steadied himself to pinch a frame that minutes ago he looked out of.
With a 2-1 lead Stephen may have thought the snooker Gods were on his side, but Mark had other ideas as he claimed the fourth frame to level at the interval. A fair reflection on the opening stages. Yet the interval merely goaded Selby into amazing break building form as he hammered in breaks of 102 and then 141 - to share the lead for the high break prize with Stephen Lee, who posted the same total in his first round match against Mark Allen.
But Hendry wasn't going to just disappear. Fighting back in the seventh frame he left Selby pointless with an effort of 88 but after an initial break of 33 in the eighth frame was forced to sit and suffer as Selby rolled in a break of 69 to lead 5-3 at the interval.
Resuming Selby made a quickfire 41 break before running out of position and playing safe. The Leicester man was to win the safety duel as Stephen hit a red ball on it's "wrong" side, the red rolled away to the corner with the cue ball close behind and Selby helped himself with a red to the corner and a run of 35 to wrap up the opening frame.
Hendry though wasn't phazed - and still questions have to be asked about Mark's shot selection- no more so than in frame tenth frame than when he tried to clip in a red from a very acute angle. All he succeeded in doing was sending it over the middle pocket with the cue ball bouncing up and down the table to nestle just behind the red. Hendry doesn't need charity and made Mark pay with a break of 108 to close to 6-4 before Selby took the next to lead 7-4.
The tit for tat continued as Hendry in first fired in a break of 74 to leave Selby marooned on 28. It meant Mark needed two snookers plus all the remaining points on the table. He found one quickly when he managed to hide the cue ball behind the black with the remaining red up at the baulk end of the table, but still he needed another and attempt to hide the cue ball behind the black only resulted in Hendry having a shot to nothing. Grabbing his chance Hendry banged in the final red to the "yelllow" pocket and claimed the frame seconds later with a concession from Selby to trail 7-5.
But Selby soon re-asserted himself as he fired in a break of 70 to move 8-5 up leaving Stephen needing all of the remaining four frames if he was going to stay in a tournament he has won on five occasions. Could he do it. The answer was to be no as Mark from two chances amassed a 50 points with Hendry way back on 28. With just the colours remaining a tactical battle ensued as attempting a safety on the yellow Hendry caught it too thinly and sent it up the table to the "green" pocket. Selby chipped the yellow in and then left a tempting long straight green to the top corner pocket for Hendry. It was to be his last shot in the UK Championships as he missed by some distance and then saw the green and cue ball trundle up to the middle of the table leaving Selby with a straight pot to the corner. The Leicester man grabbed his chance and dispatched the green and accepted Hendry's hand in concession to set up a match with either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Peter Ebdon.
Suzy Jardine
Selby who came from 4-8 down in his opening match to beat Jamie Cope 9-8 had a much more routine passage over Hendry who fleetingly showed glimpses of his renowned breakbuilding.
But the Scotsman got a taste of his own medicine in the first frame as Selby fired in a break of 132 and with it a reminder of once a big fish is let off the hook they invariably become a piranha. Hendry though is far from a tiddler and fought fire with fire by taking the second with a break of 43 and then showed some typical opportunism in a dramatic frame three.
Hendry must have been cursing his luck as he saw a snookered Selby fluke his way out of it by potting the last remaining red. No doubt fearing that the frame was over Hendry relaxed in his chair as Selby sank the yellow and green to line up a simple brown. Cue the oohs and the ahhs from the fans at the Telford International Centre as Selby missed the brown and a disbelieving Hendry steadied himself to pinch a frame that minutes ago he looked out of.
With a 2-1 lead Stephen may have thought the snooker Gods were on his side, but Mark had other ideas as he claimed the fourth frame to level at the interval. A fair reflection on the opening stages. Yet the interval merely goaded Selby into amazing break building form as he hammered in breaks of 102 and then 141 - to share the lead for the high break prize with Stephen Lee, who posted the same total in his first round match against Mark Allen.
But Hendry wasn't going to just disappear. Fighting back in the seventh frame he left Selby pointless with an effort of 88 but after an initial break of 33 in the eighth frame was forced to sit and suffer as Selby rolled in a break of 69 to lead 5-3 at the interval.
Resuming Selby made a quickfire 41 break before running out of position and playing safe. The Leicester man was to win the safety duel as Stephen hit a red ball on it's "wrong" side, the red rolled away to the corner with the cue ball close behind and Selby helped himself with a red to the corner and a run of 35 to wrap up the opening frame.
Hendry though wasn't phazed - and still questions have to be asked about Mark's shot selection- no more so than in frame tenth frame than when he tried to clip in a red from a very acute angle. All he succeeded in doing was sending it over the middle pocket with the cue ball bouncing up and down the table to nestle just behind the red. Hendry doesn't need charity and made Mark pay with a break of 108 to close to 6-4 before Selby took the next to lead 7-4.
The tit for tat continued as Hendry in first fired in a break of 74 to leave Selby marooned on 28. It meant Mark needed two snookers plus all the remaining points on the table. He found one quickly when he managed to hide the cue ball behind the black with the remaining red up at the baulk end of the table, but still he needed another and attempt to hide the cue ball behind the black only resulted in Hendry having a shot to nothing. Grabbing his chance Hendry banged in the final red to the "yelllow" pocket and claimed the frame seconds later with a concession from Selby to trail 7-5.
But Selby soon re-asserted himself as he fired in a break of 70 to move 8-5 up leaving Stephen needing all of the remaining four frames if he was going to stay in a tournament he has won on five occasions. Could he do it. The answer was to be no as Mark from two chances amassed a 50 points with Hendry way back on 28. With just the colours remaining a tactical battle ensued as attempting a safety on the yellow Hendry caught it too thinly and sent it up the table to the "green" pocket. Selby chipped the yellow in and then left a tempting long straight green to the top corner pocket for Hendry. It was to be his last shot in the UK Championships as he missed by some distance and then saw the green and cue ball trundle up to the middle of the table leaving Selby with a straight pot to the corner. The Leicester man grabbed his chance and dispatched the green and accepted Hendry's hand in concession to set up a match with either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Peter Ebdon.
Suzy Jardine