Hendry struggles to progress

Stephen Hendry made heavy weather of reaching round two of the Embassy World Championship in Sheffield this afternoon.

Victory looked a formality when the 36-year-old Scot led Australian Neil Robertson 9-3.

However, left-hander Robertson, making his Crucible Theatre debut, took the final frame before the mid-session interval.

And the Melbourne prospect then reeled off the next three frames for good measure, including a break of 110 in frame 16, before Hendry eventually won through 10-7.

Thrashed 17-4 by Ronnie O’Sullivan in last year’s semi-final, his heaviest ever career defeat, Hendry now plays Anthony Hamilton from Nottingham for a place in the quarter-finals.

``All that matters is getting to 10 first,'' said Hendry, attempting to lift his first world trophy since beating Mark Williams in 1999.

“It’s about improving all the way through the championship.

“To be honest I was surprised how easy I pulled away in the first session.

“And in the end Neil started to produce the form he has shown throughout the season. My attitude wasn’t great today. It’s hard to be as focussed when you have such a big lead.

“You’ve got to stop yourself thinking the match is already over,” added Hendry, who would love to claim an eighth title on May 2.

Robertson, a former World Under 21 champion, made breaks of 55, 54 and 51 before joining the select group of players who have made century breaks on their Crucible debut.

He had half chances in frame 17 but Hendry finished off the match in three scoring visits.

“I consider myself lucky to have played Jimmy White at the Masters last season and Stephen Hendry at the Crucible,” said the world number 68, the lowest ranked player in the tournament.

“They have made the arenas their own so it doesn’t get any better.

“I’d never been to the Crucible before so I came a few days earlier to see what it was all about.

“It’s just incredible and for the first time since I played at Wembley I was nervous before the start.

“I just wished I could have played yesterday like I did today.

“At 9-3 I wanted to win the frame before the interval so I could stay here a bit longer.

“I was happy at 9-4 even though I knew it was going to be hard to come back. But I just tried to stick to my game because I know if I get in first I usually make 50, 60 or 70.”