Bingham humbles Hendry

By Geet Sethi

SHEFFIELD, APRIL 16. The 300-1 odds given by the bookmakers (betting is legal in the U.K.), for Stuart Bingham defeating Stephen Hendry in the first round of the 2000 Embassy World snooker championship failed to entice the punters to back the underdog. Such has been Hendry's domination in the world's premier event - he has won seven world titles in 11 years - that no one ever believed that the world champion could be upstaged at his first hurdle. But Hendry, defeated 10-7 by Bingham, the world No. 92 on Saturday night, joined four other defending champions who had failed to proceed to the second round. John Spencer in 1978, Terry Griffiths (1980), Steve Davis (1982) and Dennis Taylor (1986) had all been victims of the uncertainties and unpredictability of snooker.

It became clear early on that the 24-year-old Bingham, the 1996 world amateur champion, was putting his everything into the contest. Exhibiting great self-belief, a quality which rapidly erodes when one appears at the Crucible Theatre for the first time - especially against Hendry - Bingham admirably suppressed any negative thoughts, induced by the aura of the Crucible and the reputation of his opponent, to enjoy a 4-2 advantage over the greatest living snooker player.

The first seeds of doubt were sown in Hendry's mind in that opening first session. ``I was trying not to lose the match rather than play aggressively to win it,'' admitted Hendry later. Indeed the line between greatness and mediocrity is wafer thin. One small doubt, one threat, one negative thought can start an avalanche of contradictory and pessimistic emotion. Last night, the great Scot fell prey to this known human weakness. For a man who had established his reputation and success by rising to the occasion countless times and had subdued all negative thoughts in so many matches in the past, the inability to withstand the pressure applied by his worthy opponent must have proved very frustrating indeed.

He did respond, as only he can, with alacrity and conviction to convert the 2-4 deficit into a 5-4 advantage at the end of the first session. But on resumption Hendry was well below par and missed too many balls he should have effortlessly negotiated. Two clear scoring chances in the 10th frame ended with Hendry missing first the green and then the yellow. Bingham, sensing his opponent's anxiety and indifferent form, did well to clinch the crucial 10th with a clearance of 51.

The world No. 92, unfancied and little known in the elite group of players, then surprised himself by fashioning breaks of 78, 70 and 95 to lead 8-5. It was not only the accuracy of his potting and positioning which were impressive but also the speed with which he executed the breaks. He gave the impression of someone enjoying himself in a local club game.

For people who have watched Hendry extricate himself from worse situations than the one he was facing last night, it was a matter of time before the resilient Scot would commence his recovery. Few can forget the memorable encounter against Jimmy White in the final of the 1992 World championship. Hendry had trailed 8-14 but won 10 consecutive frames to win the title 18- 14.

Briefly, he gave evidence of his intentions when he clinched the 14th frame after Bingham missed an easy red while on a break of 42. But the body language gave him away. With face mostly down and slumping shoulders, he appeared dejected and dispirited - an ominous sign for any sportsman.

The world No. 2 managed to take only one more frame as Bingham finished the match in style with a fluent 87 to win 10-7. It was a fantastic performance which highlighted the underdog's commitment and belief in his ability, and more importantly his refusal to get overawed or discouraged by the fact that he was up against the greatest player on earth.

Hendry was severely critical of his own game, but nevertheless offered glowing tributes to the victor. ``My safety was poor and I did not play aggressively enough. I was just trying not to leave reds on. When you play like that you do leave reds on. But Stuart played fantastically well. He looked like he was enjoying himself and that is exactly the attitude to have when you play here for the first time.''

Swail sails into round two

This morning, Northern Ireland's Joe Swail appearing for the fifth time at the Crucible theatre, booked a berth in the second round with a comfortable 10-6 victory over Paul Hunter, the world No. 12. Swail is in line for the œ20,000 high break prize for the 141 total clearance he compiled in the 15th frame of the match. The Irishman fashioned other notable contributions of 103, 81 and 85 in his creditable victory. The turning point of the match came in the ninth frame when Hunter committed 10 successive fouls and misses to gift the frame to his opponent.

Mark Williams, the provisional world No. 1, leads 5-4 against John Read at the conclusion of the first session of their first round contest. In a high quality encounter Williams, winner of the Thailand Masters and the U.K. Championship this season, compiled runs of 64, 88, 46, 54 and 62 to enjoy a one frame advantage over Read, world No. 62. Read was equally impressive constructing breaks of 46, 82, 76 & 91.

The results (first round, best of 19 frames):

Stuart Bingham beat Stephen Hendry 10-7 44-74(53), 82(77)-48, 56- 67, 69-38, 79(53)-6, 60-23, 35-66(51), 0-94, 8-106(106), 55(51)- 31, 92(70)-14, 79(70)-2, 117(95)-0, 42- 79, 83(53)-21, 8-68, 116(87)-0.

Joe Swail beat Paul Hunter 10-6 10-100, 0-77(63), 103(103)-0, 41- 77(51), 59-48, 75-70, 90-1, 0-93(81), 90-52, 19- 76(55), 86-32, 31-56, 63-7, 126(85)-0, 141(141)-0, 63-4.

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