World Championship 2021: Stephen Hendry tournament comeback ended by China's Xu Si in qualifying

ByEurosport

Updated 07/04/2021 at 22:02 GMT

The seven-time Crucible winner Stephen Hendry made his highly-anticipated return for the World Championships in qualifying and produced a 6-3 win over his old foe Jimmy White in the first round. However, that was to be his last victory as Xu Si produced a fine performance to knock the 52-year-old out in the second round of qualifying. The World Championship qualifiers are live on Eurosport.

'One from the archives' - Hendry makes fantastic brown to win frame

Stephen Hendry has been knocked out of World Snooker Championship qualifying in Sheffield after falling 6-1 to China's Xu Si.

Hendry clinched a nervy opening frame as he produced a reminder of his glory days by expertly potting the brown from long-range.

The match continued in a similarly cagey fashion entering the second frame, but Xu crucially managed to clear the table (66-64) when it looked as though seven-time world champion Hendry was going to double his lead.

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Momentum was with the world No 82 at that point, and he went on to produce a string of fine breaks of 75, 79, 51 and 66.

Hendry had the opportunity to produce a clearance in the seventh frame, but he missed an easy pink to hand the match to Xu who clinched it with a break of 72.

Xu will play Zhou Yuelong in the next qualifying round and the 23-year-old's performance will go a long way to help him stay on the Tour.

WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN HENDRY AND JIMMY WHITE?

Hendry saw off Jimmy White 6-3 in their eagerly-anticipated World Championship qualifier.

In a match that was high on nostalgia but low on quality, Hendry eventually prevailed at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield to move within three matches of a Crucible return.

No one was expecting the giddy heights of their heyday, but there was an unavoidable dose of reality when the pre-match hype was replaced with a series of wayward and confusing shots from both players.

White almost potted the cue ball with his opening break and while Hendry started with a peach of a red, his error-o-meter was soon whirring as the match failed to find any rhythm.

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