• Snooker World Championship

Hendry all set to retire before dramatic late comeback

Stephen Hendry admitted he was ready to retire before he rattled off three consecutive frames to rescue his World Championship bid in the first round on Sunday.

Hendry described 18-year-old teenage opponent Anda Zhang as his mirror-image after the Chinaman produced a fearless display of potting, which drew comparisons to a young version of the seven-time world champion. In the end, Hendry snatched a wafer thin 10-9 victory having trailed 9-7 in front of the Crucible crowd.

"At 9-7 down I had my retirement speeches ready. I felt it was just the end," confessed Hendry. "I thought this just sums up a dismal season, going out in the first round of the World Championships.

"But at 9-7, something just clicked. I wish I knew what it was because if I could produce that more often I'd be in contention to win tournaments. Instead, I'm just doing it in two or three-frame spurts."

Zhang is playing his debut season on the tour and, but for a missed black in the 17th frame, he could have been celebrating the biggest scalp of his career on Monday morning. Hendry is convinced "Mighty Mouse" has a big future in the sport though, conceding he was powerless to stop his opponent at times.

"I thought Anda was phenomenal. Really phenomenal. He showed no nerves. I know he had nothing to lose and you can raise your game to the occasion, but by the same token you can freeze.

"The balls he was potting from the cushion... yesterday I played one of the best safeties I've played all season, but he just kept on digging out long ones at dead weight from the balk cushion.

"Half of me was thinking 'this is what I used to do at that age', but the other half is thinking 'Jesus, what have I got to do?' He never looked like missing."

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