IN A reminder of sport’s fickle nature, if any were needed, John Higgins, distraught after his exit from the Malta Cup two weeks ago, beat Stephen Hendry, who returned from the Mediterranean island with the trophy, 6-2 in the Rileys Club Masters at Wembley Conference Centre last night. Rarely has Hendry performed so ineffectively anywhere, let alone on such a big occasion.
Hendry, back to his best in Malta, had a shocker; Higgins, who lost 6-5 there to Graeme Dott, having led 5-2 and been on the verge of the final, was more than content to take advantage. “There are so many ups and downs in this game,” Higgins said. “I got myself geared up for a tough match but the balls Stephen was missing I just couldn’t believe.”
Annoyed to be 3-1 adrift at the mid-session interval, Hendry was positively fuming in the fifth frame when, on a 47 break and occupying prime position, he carelessly jawed the most simple of blacks from point-blank range. Higgins stole it on the pink to lead 4-1 and, despite his wealth of experience, Hendry self-destructed by dwelling on his mistake.
“I haven’t missed a black off its spot for a month and after that I lost the plot,” Hendry said. “It was sheer frustration. My head wasn’t right. I just played dreadfully. I don’t know where a performance like that comes from, but I suppose if you play well all the time you’d be a robot.”
Higgins beat Hendry 5-2 in the quarter-finals of the British Open in November and went on to take the title, bringing to an end a 37-month stretch during which he had failed to win a world-ranking tournament. He now goes forward to play Peter Ebdon in the last four and can expect to encounter far sterner resistance.
Advertisement
Ebdon, subdued since winning the 2002 World Championship, reached the semi-finals at Wembley after ten years of failing to do so. The player of the week so far maintained his outstanding touch in beating Steve Davis 6-1, helped by a barrage of sizeable breaks. He was also impressive in whitewashing David Gray 6-0 in the previous round.