Scotland’s Stephen Hendry overpowers Yu Delu to qualify for 2012 World Snooker Championship
After performing brilliantly in the final qualifier against China’s Yu Delu, the former seven-time World Snooker Champion Scotland’s Stephen Hendry has clinched the final encounter of 2012 World Snooker Championship qualifying session and made his way successfully
into the opening round of the mega event.
Hendry must now be looking to relive his dream of clinching the world title for the eighth time in his career as he will be playing at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield for the 27th time. The veteran potter will be playing along with the likes
of John Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Stephen Lee and Neil Robertson.
The match-up between the Chinese and the Scotsman finished in two days and four sessions. At the end of first day’s play, Hendry was leading the match by the score line of 6-3. The second day brought good news for the Ice Man as he clinched four more frames
and won the game 10-3 to ensure his entrance in the initial round of the Championship.
Speaking to World Snooker, Hendry said, “It was a huge match and I had to go into it with the mindset of just trying to win, however I played. In fact I played very solid and won frames in one visit. Yu is a very capable player and I wasn't taking it for
granted.”
He added, “I'm used to being in the top 16 so it was tough to have to play an extra match to get there and I'm very pleased to get through. Playing in the PTC events and qualifiers this season helped because it would have been hard to come in cold today.”
Hendry is now targeting to get back into the Top 16 with his consistent performance in the upcoming snooker events. Last year he crashed out of the 2011 World Snooker Championship and decided to take part only in major events which affected his rankings
as he came down to the World Number 23 spot. However, he is eyeing to regain his place so that he can participate in all major events. It will be interesting to see how far Hendry can carry his winning momentum forward.
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