Snooker: Stevens leads Hendry 6-2 at break

Matthew Stevens leads Stephen Hendry by six frames to two at the first break of their quarter-final match in the Embassy World Championships.

After six frames the Scot was down by four frames, but Hendry refused to be overshadowed and displayed his own break-building prowess with a majestic 106 which reduced his deficit to 5-2.

He was on course to go one better than Joe Swail’s 140, the highest of the tournament so far, but was struggling to hold position towards the end and missed the final red when the cue ball was tight up against the yellow.

O’Sullivan would not be outdone either and he hit back at Ebdon by knocking in a 108 which restored parity at 4-4 ahead of tonight’s second session.

A poor safety shot on the penultimate red in the final frame of the morning let in Stevens, who had already made a 58, again and the former world number one was clearly disgusted with it.

As soon as Stevens had made the frame safe barring a snooker, Hendry was out of his chair and shaking his opponent’s hand, clearly keen to leave the arena as quickly as he could to work out how to turn around his 6-2 deficit.