Revenge for Ebdon

Ebdon: Revenge on Liang

Grand Prix results:
P Ebdon (Eng) 5-2 L Wenbo (Chn)
S Hendry (Eng) 5-2 M Selt (Eng)

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• Snooker Schedule
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Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon made serene progress into the second round of the Grand Prix in Glasgow as they both enjoyed 5-2 victories.

Ebdon beat Chinese star Liang Wenbo at the Kelvin Hall, while on the other table seven-time world champion Hendry defeated qualifier Matthew Selt by the same scoreline.

Chinese cueman Liang had won his previous meeting with the 2002 world champion, at last month's Shanghai Masters, but Englishman Ebdon gained revenge on Monday.

Dubai-based Ebdon and Liang shared the first four frames of their contest, but it was Ebdon who came out strongly after the mid-session interval to clean up the match.

Breaks of 46 and 27 gave him the fifth frame and then a scrappy success put him one frame from victory.

Liang made a break of 27 in the next but when he broke down Ebdon pounced and a 32 was enough to see him into the hat for the second round draw after two hours and 39 minutes.

Tuesday's random draw will also have snooker legend Hendry in it after he got the better of qualifier Selt, also with a 5-2 victory.

Hendry took the first session 3-1 but Selt won a scrappy fifth frame after the Scot missed a yellow, only for Hendry to respond in kind and take a 4-2 lead.

Hendry required three chances in frame seven to finish the match off, missing a simple red after a break of 22 and breaking down again on a run of 40 when 52 ahead with 51 points left on the table.

"I was pretty comfortable," the Scot reflected. "I played one or two bad shots. My concentration was very good, and I just stayed focused.

"The job in the first round is to win the game - it's not about looking good or playing your best. There's plenty of time to do that.

"I am playing well in practice, and my goal for this season is to replicate that form where it matters. If I do that I can break back into the top eight."