Hendry powers into last eight

Stephen Hendry reached the quarter-finals of the Malta Cup today as he bids to capture his first world ranking title in two years.

The seven-times world champion, who has not added to his record haul of 36 ranking trophies since the 2005 Malta Cup, made the last eight of this year’s event with a 5-0 whitewash of Australia’s Neil Robertson.

It took Hendry only 82 minutes to see off Robertson at the Portomaso Hilton Conference Centre and set up a meeting with Ali Carter.

However, Robertson squandered numerous chances to snatch early frames and Hendry was the first to admit the scoreline was flattering.

“The first three frames could have all been stolen by Neil. He made me sweat but he couldn’t put them away,” said Hendry.

“Mind you, I felt pretty solid all the way through the match. I feel as though the best part of my game is coming back and that’s heavy scoring. I’m starting to feel a lot more confident when I get the chance.”

Hendry also agreed his decision in November last year to practise long and hard on his own as he did during his decade of snooker domination in the 90s is paying dividends.

“Just because I’ve been practising more doesn’t give me a divine right to win tournaments but working a lot on your game does help you feel better at the table,” said the 38-year-old.

The first frame was a sign of frustrations to come for Robertson, who was looking for his second triumph of the season after claiming the Grand Prix silverware in Aberdeen four months ago.

Seemingly poised to clear up, the Melbourne left-hander not only missed the brown but, in watching where the cue-ball was running, carelessly left his cue hanging over the table.

The brown jawed, rolled back across the table and hit Robertson’s cue.

Hendry was left with a bizarre free-ball as the white came to rest behind the blue and he cleared to pink for 1-0.

Hendry potted the blue to shade the second frame after an appalling safety attempt from Robertson and crossed the line in the next when his opponent, again set to clear up, missed the penultimate red.

It was only in the fourth frame that Hendry found the fluency that enabled him to compile a quartet of century breaks in drubbing Robertson 5-1 in the last 32 of the Malta Cup last season.

The Scot fired in a classy run of 120 to lead 4-0 and quickly completed his third victory over Robertson in as many meetings after the mid-session interval. It was only the third whitewash of Robertson’s career.

The Malta Cup is the 200th world ranking tournament and tomorrow Hendry will figure in his 116th ranking quarter-final, 33 more than the player who occupies second on the list, Steve Davis.