Hendry marches on

Stephen Hendry powered his way into the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Trophy in Belfast.

The seven-times world champion disposed of Lancaster‘s Ian McCulloch 5-3 in their second-round showdown at the Waterfront Hall.

But the all-conquering Scot did not have it all his own way and was forced to battle back from 2-0 behind after Preston potter McCulloch got off to a flyer.

“I’ve only been practising for 10 days, but I know I can play snooker. It’s all about getting your head right,” said Hendry, who pocketed breaks of 46, 67, 112 and 46.

“I was 2-0 down and it could have been 3-0, but I hung in there and my form got better. I felt in control.”

McCulloch opened with 60 and 40 breaks to give Hendry plenty to ponder, before Hendry found an extra gear to win the next four frames.

Hendry had runs of 46, 67 and 112 as he opened up a two-frame lead, before McCulloch, a two-time ranking event finalist, won the seventh frame with a break of 87 to reduce his arrears.

However, Hendry won the next to earn a last-16 clash with either Trowbridge‘s Stephen Lee, last season’s Welsh Open winner, or Derbyshire‘s David Roe.

“He got stronger and stronger,” admitted McCulloch, who was left to rue a missed chanced to go 3-0 ahead when he ran out of position.

“I also chucked a frame away, but I’ve got some valuable ranking points from my first-round win. It’s a shame I lost because I fancied the job.”

Meanwhile, Stephen Maguire, the former UK and European Open champion, made a solid start to the new season.

The world number nine defeated Cleveland qualifier Mike Dunn 5-2 in the only other match of the morning session.

But he too was forced to fight back from 2-0 behind, after breaks of 35 and 62 saw Dunn take an early lead.

However, it was one-way traffic from there on in as Maguire compiled breaks of 65, 57, 77 and 131 to win five frames on the spin, with Dunn collecting just 23 points from those frames.

“You could tell Mike had played a couple of matches because he was right in on the balls, but from 2-0 down I played brilliantly,” said a delighted Maguire.

“I’ve practised hard for the new season and it’s nice to win a first-round match for a change.

“I think I’ve been a professional for seven or eight years now and I think I’ve only ever won three first-round matches.”