Hendry says 147 was his downfall

Published on Wednesday 29 April 2009 21:55

AFTER the high of his 147 at the World Championship on Tuesday, Stephen Hendry was brought back down to earth when he lost his quarter-final match against Shaun Murphy yesterday. And the Scot has admitted it was the maximum break that sparked his collapse.

It has been a profitable few days for the seven-time champion – he could pocket as much as 157,000 for his 147 and 24,050 for reaching the last eight – but his dream of reaching the semi-final stage at the Crucible is over after Murphy ran out a 13-11 winner.

Bidding for his first world title since 1999, Hendry held a 4-2 lead before producing his magical 147. That feat took him to 5-2, but he could not match the intensity of his performance in those opening frames during the remainder of the match. He dropped five frames in a row to fall 7-5 behind, and Murphy never looked back.

"After I made the maximum my concentration was nowhere," Hendry said. "If I'd missed on around 70 or 80 and gone 5-2 up I'd still have had that same intensity in my concentration to win the next frame. But with the maximum I was so elated.

"It's probably the biggest buzz you can get in snooker. In the next break I missed a red Willie Thorne would pot."

Hendry gave Murphy credit for producing some "awesome" snooker but revealed he had been unable to take his usual afternoon nap after notching up the ninth maximum of his career. He said: "I was obviously buzzing from making a 147 but I was also really annoyed at not winning the last frame."

Murphy said the quarter-final victory made amends for being "beaten up" the last time he played Hendry at the World Championship seven years ago.

"I made my debut against Stephen as a 19-year-old and he beat me 10-4, completely beat me up, embarrassed me in front of my friends," Murphy recalled. "And to beat him here, a guy who's back to his best and playing really well, I put that down as one of the biggest victories of my life."

Murphy recovered from the 2002 pasting by Hendry, a 10-9 defeat to Ken Doherty the following year and a failure to even qualify in 2004 by returning to Sheffield to win the world title in 2005. The Englishman is now in contention for the title again.

"I'm slightly different than in 2005," said Murphy. "I was a bit gung-ho in 2005 and went for everything and they happened to go in. I'm feeling good, I'm playing well and I've got confidence in my game. I've definitely got the game to win it."

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen joined Murphy in the semi-finals after a 13-11 victory over Welshman Ryan Day. Allen had engineered a 9-7 lead in Tuesday's two sessions of play, and brilliantly protected his advantage. The 23-year-old, who beat world No 1 Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round, goes on to face either John Higgins or Mark Selby. Allen clinched victory with a break of 103, clenching his fist in delight as he crossed the finishing line.

Higgins was under pressure in his thrilling quarter-final against Leicester's Selby. The Scot opened up a 7-4 lead after winning the first three frames of the session, but Selby hit back with breaks of 77, 114 and 65 as he recovered to lead 8-7. Higgins though secured a close final frame of the session to draw level at 8-8.