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Ssb - no quarter given
Stephen Hendry doesn't need me or anyone else to tell him that he has serious problems with his game.
Whether the problems are of technique, confidence, concentration or a mixture of all three, he clearly needs to address them urgently to prevent his relegation from the top 16.
His defeat to Mark Williams in Telford last night was painful to watch. Neither played well but while Williams, laidback sort as he is, was able to make a joke of it, Hendry was obviously dejected.
This, after all, is a player who once recorded seven centuries in a UK Championship final and whose remarkable list of achievements could conceivably never be bettered.
One thing that surprises me is that Hendry practises on his own. There are some very good Scottish professionals against whom he would be able to test himself and gauge where his game is.
I would much prefer to think of Hendry as the great player he was rather than witnessing too many more performances like the one we saw yesterday.
On to the quarter-finals, and today pits John Higgins against Stephen Maguire, who has quietly been knocking the breaks in - five centuries so far - on the non-TV tables against Ken Doherty and Mark Selby.
For whatever reason, this is one event Maguire always seems to come good in and indeed beat Higgins 9-7 at the same stage two years ago.
Higgins produced a typically steely finish to see off Graeme Dott 9-8 and is playing as well post-suspension as he was prior to it. It could be very close.
Stuart Bingham will join the top 16 for the first time in his career if he beats Mark Allen.
A good point made by Ronnie O'Sullivan after losing to Bingham is that Stuart has played in all the PTCs and is match sharp.
This is only his fifth ranking event quarter-final appearance and he has a great chance to reach his first semi-final.
But Allen has rediscovered a bit of form and held off defending champion Ding Junhui 9-8 to reach the last eight.
Allen is an all-out attacking player and a very good one when his game is firing. He's capable of reeling frames off in no time at all.
What he will also need, though, is discipline, particularly over such a lengthy distance.
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Whether the problems are of technique, confidence, concentration or a mixture of all three, he clearly needs to address them urgently to prevent his relegation from the top 16.
His defeat to Mark Williams in Telford last night was painful to watch. Neither played well but while Williams, laidback sort as he is, was able to make a joke of it, Hendry was obviously dejected.
This, after all, is a player who once recorded seven centuries in a UK Championship final and whose remarkable list of achievements could conceivably never be bettered.
One thing that surprises me is that Hendry practises on his own. There are some very good Scottish professionals against whom he would be able to test himself and gauge where his game is.
I would much prefer to think of Hendry as the great player he was rather than witnessing too many more performances like the one we saw yesterday.
On to the quarter-finals, and today pits John Higgins against Stephen Maguire, who has quietly been knocking the breaks in - five centuries so far - on the non-TV tables against Ken Doherty and Mark Selby.
For whatever reason, this is one event Maguire always seems to come good in and indeed beat Higgins 9-7 at the same stage two years ago.
Higgins produced a typically steely finish to see off Graeme Dott 9-8 and is playing as well post-suspension as he was prior to it. It could be very close.
Stuart Bingham will join the top 16 for the first time in his career if he beats Mark Allen.
A good point made by Ronnie O'Sullivan after losing to Bingham is that Stuart has played in all the PTCs and is match sharp.
This is only his fifth ranking event quarter-final appearance and he has a great chance to reach his first semi-final.
But Allen has rediscovered a bit of form and held off defending champion Ding Junhui 9-8 to reach the last eight.
Allen is an all-out attacking player and a very good one when his game is firing. He's capable of reeling frames off in no time at all.
What he will also need, though, is discipline, particularly over such a lengthy distance.
More...