Hendry regains first place with cracking performance - 04/10/2007

Assembly Rooms, Derby
Neil Robertson 1-5 Stephen Hendry
Robertson's scores first
0-82 (Hendry 81), 54-63 (Robertson 40, Hendry 35), 8-77 (Hendry 77), 0-130 (Hendry 130), 51-67 (Robertson 41, Hendry 67), 77-50 (Robertson 59, Hendry 32)

STEPHEN Hendry returned to the top of the 2007 PartyBets.com Premier League Snooker table.

Hendry fired breaks of 130, 81, 77 and 67 on his way to a convincing 5-1 triumph over Neil Robertson at the Assembly Rooms, Derby.

"I played fantastically tonight", said a delighted Hendry. "I felt really good in the balls and cannot remember going out of position.

"One win from my last three games and I will be through to the semi-finals but I want to finish top of the league."

The first match of the fifth round saw Stephen Hendry take on Neil Robertson at the Assembly Rooms, Derby.

In front of a capacity crowd of 900 people, Hendry, who had started his campaign with a victory against Ronnie O'Sullivan and a draw against Jimmy White, began well again with a break of 81 to quickly move 1-0 ahead.

It was the worst possible start for Robertson and the Australian needed a result to keep his hopes of qualifying alive. Robertson had lost to Steve Davis and drawn with John Higgins in his first two matches and before this match was sixth out of seven players in the league.

In the second frame, Hendry committed the first time foul of the 2007 PartyBets.com Premier League Snooker as he failed to play his shot within the allocated 25-second time frame.

That took him 13-0 behind and Robertson looked to be on course to level the match as he fired a break of 40 to lead by 53 points. However, he then lost position to give Hendry another chance, and with the balls well spread out, the Scot took full advantage to steal the second frame.

The third followed in a similar fashion as Robertson again scored the first points but did not last at the table for long and Hendry hit 77 for 3-0 to gain at least a draw.

It was a majestic performance from Hendry, a player who failed to qualify for the semi-finals for the 2006 tournament.

He clinched the next frame to seal the two points and move back to the top of the league, although Steve Davis could reclaim top spot if he defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan later tonight.

A break of 130 from Hendry, the fourth highest of the 2007 league and ninth century in only nine matches, made it 4-0 as Robertson was left stunned and struggling to make the top four.

Robertson looked like claiming his first frame of the night as he moved 50-0 ahead after a run of 41 and two fouls from Hendry. But Robertson then missed a blue and Hendry, showing some impressive form, produced his fourth break of more than 50 as his 67 made the score 5-0.

There had not been a 6-0 whitewash so far in this year's tournament and Robertson compiled a break of 59 as he looked to win a frame and collect £1,000. But a missed yellow at the crucial moment appeared to let Hendry back in.

But it was not critical and Robertson edged a top class safety exchange. There was a nervous moment for the Australian as he thought he had won the frame and carelessly smashed a blue off the table.

Hendry would have only needed one snooker but Robertson then took advantage of another chance as he potted the blue to clinch the final frame in a 1-5 defeat.