Hendry copes with early shift in Welsh Open

Stephen Hendry is not accustomed to playing matches at 10 o’clock in the morning but the seven-times world champion coped with the breakfast shift just fine in Newport.

The Scot recorded a 5-2 win over Stephen Lee to reach the last four of the Welsh Open and book his first world ranking event semi-final since the UK Championship in December 2006.

“I felt nice and relaxed which is always good,” said Hendry, winner of the inaugural Welsh Open in 1992 and chasing the title for a record fourth time.

“The only thing missing were big breaks but I can’t have any complaints.”

Hendry described his performance as solid, an accurate assessment of his contribution to a match that revolved around a glaring blunder from Lee in the sixth frame.

Helped by a run of 89 in the second frame, and a brown to black clearance to snatch the third, the seven-time world champion established a 3-0 lead.

However Lee, successful in their two most recent encounters including a 5-3 victory in the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters earlier this season, found his range with a 96 break in the fourth frame and recovered to trail 3-2.

Lee, runner-up to Mark Selby in the Saga Insurance Masters at Wembley last month, was also presented with the initial chance in frame six but expensively missed a straightforward black off its spot.

Hendry pounced with a run of 55 to lead 4-2, then added the seventh frame to secure his 79th ranking event semi-final appearance.

“I wasn’t worried when Stephen came back to 3-2 but I was anxious to get an opening and thankfully he gave me one,” said Hendry, now only two wins short of lifting his first trophy since the 2005 Malta Cup.