Snooker: Hendry facing stiff test against Stevens

Matthew Stevens showed he will not be brushed aside by Stephen Hendry in the same way as fellow young gun Paul Hunter as he began the Embassy World Championship quarter-finals with a flourish today.

The 23-year-old Welshman, runner-up to compatriot Mark Williams last year, opened up a 3-1 lead over the Scot, who had fired a warning to the next generation with his 13-5 demolition of Hunter yesterday.

Making his fourth successive appearance in the last eight at the Crucible, Stevens is a much more experienced campaigner than Hunter and was expected to provide the seven-times former champion with a sterner test.

Stevens has conceded fewer frames in the first two rounds than his seven remaining rivals for the £250,000 first prize and his fine form continued right from the off this morning.

The first frame could have gone either way until Hendry went in off after potting the yellow and sixth seed Stevens capitalised to take the lead.

A break of 57 helped the world number three to draw level but Stevens immediately edged ahead again and then knocked in a cracking 87 to give himself a two-frame advantage at the mid-session interval.

On the other table the pace was much faster, which was somewhat surprising considering the presence of Peter Ebdon.

The 12th seed was involved in a dour 10-and-a-half-hour marathon against Stephen Lee yesterday which he won 13-12, although Ebdon had promised to play a more open game in his clash with Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The 30-year-old Wellingborough-based player was true to his word as the first four frames, which finished 2-2, took a rapid 47 minutes.

Despite Ebdon’s exertions yesterday the quality of his play was high and he compiled breaks of 62 and 101 to win his two frames, while fourth seed O’Sullivan responded with 57 and 82.

The 15-minute break did not adversely affect Stevens at all and he clinched another frame with a break of 56 before pouncing on a mistake from Hendry.

Having scored 22, the 32-year-old from Auchterarder tried to force a red into a top pocket but missed, and Stevens capitalised with another excellent contribution of 65 which gave him a 5-1 lead.

The furious pace on the other side of the partition slackened somewhat but the standard was still impressive and Ebdon was more than holding his own against O’Sullivan.

‘The Rocket’ took the first frame after the restart but then let in his opponent to clear up from the penultimate red and pinch the next by just one point.

Ebdon, scoring much more heavily than in his previous match, followed up with a terrific 98 which meant he could not end the session behind.