Snooker: Stevens again so near, yet so far

Drew Henry piled on the last-frame agony again for Matthew Stevens last night to reach the semi-finals of the £441,000 Regal Scottish Open in Aberdeen.

Seven times this season Welshman Stevens has come unstuck in deciding frames, including five 5-4 defeats.

And that was the scoreline once more as Henry ensured there is one Scot still standing in the final weekend of the event.

"I had my chances in the last frame but I couldn't take them," said the world number six from Carmarthen.

"Maybe the gods are against me because it was a tough way to go out."

Stevens, having been 3-1 down at the interval and later 4-3 behind, fought back to lead 52-0 in the decider.

Henry looked dead and buried but sat and waited for a mistake. It came when last season's world finalist and Benson and Hedges Masters champion suffered an unfortunate in-off.

Henry knocked in a great red to start a break of 47 that left him trailing by a single point. He missed the final red but kept himself in contention with some excellent safety play.

Eventually, Stevens cracked and the 32-year-old from Rutherglen potted brown to black to sneak into only the second semi-final of his career.

"It makes a change for me to be the last Scot left in the tournament," said Henry, the only survivor of the nine home hopefuls who started out last Sunday.

"Matthew had a couple of great openings but he ran out of position and thankfully I made the most of it."

Victory for the Scot leaves his dream of qualifying for the top 16 next season still alive.

But he faces a tough semi-final against Peter Ebdon, who prevented an all-Tartan line-up with his excellent 5-2 win over Glasgow's Alan McManus.