Snooker Special Report: The ultimate rivalry- Stephen Hendry vs. Ronnie O'Sullivan (Part 2)
The tales of interesting competitions between the old rivals continue
2001 Irish Masters Final – This match cannot be labelled as the best of their clashes, but surely, it was significant in a way, that this time it was Ronnie who started off the match in an astonishing fashion.
Ronnie started the match with an amazing four frames lead, however what came next was a heap of scores from both sides. Both players demonstrated their divine talent and abilities, as they played at their best. Ronnie dominated the clash until Stephen came
back with breaks of 76, 76, 84, 82, 95 and 53 to drag the match into a 6-6 level.
However, Ronnie responded with a blitz, scoring 112, 83, and 43 to win the match with a final score-line of 9-8 to clinch the titles. Nevertheless, it was a sensational match between the two legendary snooker players.
2002 World Championship Semi-Final – This match is one of the most crunch matches in the history of Ronnie vs. Stephen encounters. It was the second world championship semi-final competition between them both, and it turned out to be a stunning
clash at the green baize table.
What added more spice to this match were Ronnie’s comments about Hendry in a pre-match conference, where Ronnie said that he will send Hendry back to his sad little life. The defending champion Ronnie who won the world championship last year looked in a
great form; however, Stephen too was determined and focused following Ronnie’s remarks. Every snooker fanatic at that time knew the match will not be any lesser than a bloody battle.
O’Sullivan came up with a century break of 115 in opening frame of the match; however, the score-line rose to 5-3 before end of the first session, as O’Sullivan claimed three more frames after the 2-2 level.
However, from there onwards it was Stephen all over the place with marvellous and high quality shots, playing perfect snooker, Stephen levelled the score 6-6 with astounding breaks of 125, 122, 81 and 59. Ronnie was unable to hold Stephen back and persuaded
him to stop his flamboyant journey. An equalizer of 81 followed by the century breaks of 124 and 113 put Stephen in 10-7 lead for the first time in match.
Ronnie replied with breaks of 87, 62 and 129 to show his class, nonetheless Stephen made another century to demonstrate his unmatchable form. The Scottish cueist led the match with a score of 12-10, when Ronnie came back to claim the next two frames and
levelling the score 12-12.
This was the deciding moment of the match, as glistening Hendry managed to win the next four frames and consequently the match with a 17-13 score-line. It was an epic match and a great tussle between the two old rivals.
2003 British Open Final – The 2003/04 started off with a bad news for Stephen, as his old cue broke due to the mishandling of airport staff, beyond the possibility of getting repaired, it seemed like Stephen’s career was under threat.
It was his second match with the new cue against his old rival Ronnie, and he produced some beautiful snooker of the season. Ronnie started the match by claiming the first two frames with the breaks of 62 and 61, leading the match 2-0. Hendry took the next
two frames to level the score-line 4-4, before the interval.
What followed was sheer sensation as a century was scored in each frame for the next four consecutive frames, these frames turned out to be unexpectedly exciting.
Ronnie O’Sullivan was in complete control of the match until this point, as he led the match confidently with a 5-3 score-line. However back came Hendry to dominate and take the command of the encounter, as he won the next five frames with affirmative breaks
of 61, 50, 135, 78 and 95. These breaks helped Hendry regain the complete dominance in match and he looked almost home.
Ronnie just pulled out one frame but the score difference was too high and the damage was beyond repair, Stephen easily won the match with a score-line of 9-6, and eventually grabbed another ranking title.
To be continued..
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