Legend Hendry knocked out of Wembley Masters Snooker by Murphy
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Stephen Hendry suffered a bitter loss in his first match at the Wembley Masters Snooker as the seven-time world champion were defeated by world No. 3 Shaun Murphy 6-4.
Hendry, turning 41 on Wednesday, showed his charm in the sport with two centuries and fought back calmly in the ninth frame while he trailed in 5-3. However, the undoubtable king of snooker in 1990s missed the green ball which led to the defeat of him in the tenth frame.
"There are no excuses for missing that green, said a depressed Hendry at the after-match press conference. "I played ok, but to lose because of that miss is hard to take, because Shaun was getting nervous. It's frustrating because when I play well, the other guy seems to play well too."
Hendry and his 27-year-old rival tied 2-2 after the first four frames with Hendry made a 114 break in the second frame. Then, Murphy put himself ahead by winning the next two frames in 66-27, 81-0. Although Kendry managed to finish the seventh frame with a 104 break, Murphy enlarged the gap again with a break of 106.
Hendry kept his sharpness in the ninth frame but missed the green ball in the key moment which became the turning point of the final frame.
Hendry has gone nearly five years without winning a major tournament and dropped out of the top eight of the world rankings for the first time since 1988 at the end of the 2008-2009 season.
But Murphy believed that the majority of the crowd were supporting Hendry because "Now he's a legend".
"Any match against Stephen is a major event so I'm delighted to win. It was a high standard with big breaks and good safety," said the three-time world champion, who is going to encounter the winner between Ali Carter and Mark Williams in the quarterfinals.
Before Hendry stopped his trip at the Masters, his friend Mark Williams proved that his tough journey from Wales was worthy as he beat wild card player Rory McLeod 6-2 to book an encounter against Ali Carter in the last 16.
"My sponsor gave me a 4x4 (jeep) to allow me to get to practice and get over here. It's awful back at home, even now there's over two foot of snow," said the Welshman who won this tournament twice.
In the evening match, Stephen Maguire saw off Mark King 6-3. Maguire is going to play the quarterfinal against Ryan Day or Joe Perry.
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