Hendry books final place
Five-times UK champion Stephen Hendry rolled back the years to book a date in today’s Maplin UK Championship final after edging out Graeme Dott 9-7 in an epic encounter.
The Scot, who will meet Peter Ebdon in his 10th UK final, entered the evening session with a 5-3 lead, but was forced to dig deep to see off the world champion after Dott’s temporary revival.
The number two seed won all four of the opening frames, making breaks of 96, 92 and 86 in a high-quality affair at the Barbican Centre.
But the seven-times world champion returned from the mid-session interval rejuvenated, potting a do-or-die blue along the way to a break of 111 before making a half-century to level the scores.
And the 37-year-old, who last contested a final at the China Open in April last year, completed the turnaround by edging a tight 15th frame before showing nerves of steel to seal victory with a 93 break.
