Hendry secures vital first victory - 30/10/2008

STEPHEN Hendry secured his first victory of the 2008 PartyPoker.com Premier League Snooker to keep his hopes of a play-off spot alive.

Stephen Hendry

He had suffered a miserable start to the campaign with two successive defeats in the seven-man event and a defeat against John Higgins would have left the seven-time World Champion with an uphill battle to qualify.

But Hendry claimed a valuable 4-2 triumph but admitted he still had a lot of work to do to still make the top four and qualify for the semi-finals.

"I'm not past it yet but my back is still up against the wall and I'm still not the favourite to qualify," said Hendry.

"It's great to get a win and in the first two matches I played quite poorly but I played quite well and quite solid tonight. I like to give the supportes something to cheer about.

"I had a great chance to make a century in the last frame and win 5-1 but I didn't and you never know that could be crucial."

Hendry made a good start to his match at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield by winning the opening frame with a break of 76, his highest of the competition this year.

He then followed that a run of 65 as he left Higgins needing a snooker. But he never got it and then left the green on for Hendry to seal the second frame and gain a 2-0 lead.

Hendry had a 24-point lead in the third but then went in-off when playing a safety and that let Higgins in and his later break of 67 made the scoreline 2-1 to Hendry.

Hendry secured his first point of the league season by winning the fourth with a break of 45 before he then clinched the victory by taking the fifth.

But there was controversy in the frame as Hendry, who capitalised on an earlier error then saw Higgins pot the black and cue ball, was 19 points ahead.

He sunk a red but referee Paul Collier judged the attempt to be a push shot and Higgins looked to take advantage by moving 41 ahead.

However, Higgins, needing another red and colour for the frame, missed a double on a red into the centre pocket and Hendry compiled an excellent 48 break for the win. Higgins ended the night on a high by taking the final frame but Hendry claimed the two points.

John Higgins 2-4 Stephen Hendry
7-76 (Hendry 76), 9-69 (Hendry 65), 67-24 (Higgins 67), 12-65 (Hendry 45), 61-68 (Higgins 56, Hendry 48), 60-25 (Higgins 54)