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Ssb - vintage hendry
Stephen Hendry was the star of the show on day one of the Bank of Beijing China Open, beating Mathew Stevens 5-0 in just 66 minutes.
Stevens has been in great form of late but Hendry limited him to just nine points during a performance reminiscent of his peak.
He began with a century - as he often seems to - but, this time, kept it going rather than immediately fizzling out.
Just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, so one excellent performance doesn't mean he is suddenly back to his best but it must have given him great heart.
Hendry has always performed well when his back is to the wall: 8-2 down to Mike Hallett in the 1991 Masters final, 14-8 down to Jimmy White in the 1992 world final and even 9-7 down to Zhang Anda at the Crucible last year.
Now, he knows he needs a good finish to the season to retain a place in the elite top 16. Maybe that will spur him on to end the campaign strongly.
Stephen Lee has not had the best draw for either of the last two tournaments of the season. He has John Higgins to look forward to at the Crucible and today faces Mark Williams, the defending champion, in Beijing.
Lee has played very well this season but Williams clearly has his mojo back. His victory over Ding Junhui in last year's China Open final was his first in a ranking tournament in four years. He has since won the German Masters and came within a whisker of landing the UK crown.
Joe Perry is one of those players well capable of causing an upset against Shaun Murphy, whose Twitter updates suggest he has found sleeping difficult in Beijing.
Similarly, Mark Davis could cause Stephen Maguire problems, particularly as Maguire's pre-tournament focus has been - happily - affected by the arrival of his third child.
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Stevens has been in great form of late but Hendry limited him to just nine points during a performance reminiscent of his peak.
He began with a century - as he often seems to - but, this time, kept it going rather than immediately fizzling out.
Just as one swallow doesn't make a summer, so one excellent performance doesn't mean he is suddenly back to his best but it must have given him great heart.
Hendry has always performed well when his back is to the wall: 8-2 down to Mike Hallett in the 1991 Masters final, 14-8 down to Jimmy White in the 1992 world final and even 9-7 down to Zhang Anda at the Crucible last year.
Now, he knows he needs a good finish to the season to retain a place in the elite top 16. Maybe that will spur him on to end the campaign strongly.
Stephen Lee has not had the best draw for either of the last two tournaments of the season. He has John Higgins to look forward to at the Crucible and today faces Mark Williams, the defending champion, in Beijing.
Lee has played very well this season but Williams clearly has his mojo back. His victory over Ding Junhui in last year's China Open final was his first in a ranking tournament in four years. He has since won the German Masters and came within a whisker of landing the UK crown.
Joe Perry is one of those players well capable of causing an upset against Shaun Murphy, whose Twitter updates suggest he has found sleeping difficult in Beijing.
Similarly, Mark Davis could cause Stephen Maguire problems, particularly as Maguire's pre-tournament focus has been - happily - affected by the arrival of his third child.
More...
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