Amazing Ding leaves Hendry shell-shocked - 22/11/2007

Glenrothes
Stephen Hendry 0-6 Ding Junhui
Hendry's scores first
0-133 (Ding 133), 0-88 (Ding 87), 0-136 (Ding 136), 0-138 (Ding 138), 5-75 (Ding 54), 36-66 (Ding 48)

DING Junhui produced one of the most amazing performances of the season to clinch top spot in the 2007 PartyBets.com Premier League Snooker competition.

Ding won each of the six frames and his opponent, seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry, did not pot a single ball for the first four frames.

Breaks of 133, 87, 136 and 138 helped him to an aggregate total of at one stage of 495 points, compared to zero from Hendry.

Before the match, Ding Junhui had made nine centuries in his five matches so far but that figure soon became ten as he pounced on a missed red from Hendry to smash a score of 133.

Last week, Ding lost his first match of the season but was looking on top form in Glenrothes.

Hendry, playing in front of a home crowd, missed a red and then had to sit down for the remainder of the frame as the Chinese star made it 2-0.

Ding recorded a break of 87 but was denied another £1,000 bonus for a century when he failed to pot the last remaining red.

It was proving to be an incredible performance from Ding and Hendry suffered more pain in the third as another century - this time of 136 - made it 3-0.

Hendry, a seven-time World Champion, had hardly put a foot wrong but was having to sit and watch his opponent run riot. After three frames Ding had scored a total of 357 points, while Hendry was yet to trouble the scorers.

The same pattern was followed in the fourth as once again Hendry sat in stone-faced silence watching his opponent run riot. This frame ended 138-0 with a 138 break for Ding to take his unanswered total to 495-0.

Hendry did finally manage to sink a ball in the fifth, an achievement that brought a round of applause from the sympathetic fans, but it proved in vain as he handed Ding another chance who made it 5-0, helped by a break of 54.

Ding looked on course for another century but feathered the cue ball while on 48 and a shot on the black. However, he still ended up winning the frame as he collected £9,000 in just over an hour, while Hendry left empty-handed.