Hendry leads Scots' showdown
Stephen Hendry is just a frame away from dethroning world champion John Higgins after moving into a 12-4 lead in their second round clash.
Last Updated: 28/04/12 10:10pm
Stephen Hendry is just a frame away from dethroning world champion John Higgins after moving into a 12-4 lead in their Betfred.com World Championship second round clash.
Seven-time world champion Hendry won seven out of eight frames on Friday evening and looks set to complete a comfortable victory in the long-awaited first Crucible meeting between the two Scots.
Higgins - who won the last of his four world titles at the Crucible just 12 months ago - looked hopelessly rusty in the second-round contest, missing a lot of difficult balls and some utterly routine pots too. The same had applied in the first round when he edged past Liang Wenbo in a deciding frame.
Hendry, 43, who won the last of his world titles at the end of the last century, would certainly not have expected to be gifted so many openings
The onus was on Higgins to at least stay in touch, at no more than two frames behind, but the challenge was beyond him as Hendry looked poised to earn a first ranking event win over his fellow Scot since the 2003 British Open semi-finals.
The man from Auchterarder had six scoring visits as he pulled 6-3 ahead, a 51 break helped him make it 7-3, and after Higgins scraped the 11th frame by doubling in the pink and rolling in the black, the procession resumed.
A run of 48 guided Hendry to 8-4, and when Higgins missed after reaching 36 in the next frame it cost him another frame.
The one-way traffic continued and Hendry finished the night off in style with a polished break of 83, and needs just one more frame on Saturday afternoon.
