Hendry turns back the clock

Williams, himself a two-time former Crucible winner, had opened up a 7-5 lead despite playing with a damaged tip. The players went to the mid-session interval a frame ahead of schedule, to allow Williams to carry out repairs to his cue in preparation for a possible late-night finish.

It was Hendry who returned from the break as the stronger player, reeling off five frames in a row to clinch a 10-7 triumph, and so Crucible life at the age of 40 began for Hendry - whose most recent title in Sheffield came 10 years ago when Williams was his victim in the final.

The Scot made his World Championship debut in 1986, when he lost his first-round match to Willie Thorne, but he was the undoubted king of the venue in the 1990s, and is determined to win again and prove snooker is not necessarily a young man's sport.

Each frame here was gripping, even if the quality was arguably not quite what it was in 1999.

Williams was favourite at 7-5, when he informed referee Alan Chamberlain his tip was severely damaged.

The truth was the tip was almost ready to fall off.

Williams offered to play on until the break was due, but Hendry would not have wanted to be seen to be taking any advantage of Williams' misfortune, and lurking in the back of the Scot's mind might have been the thought an early break would also be to his benefit.

When Hendry took the next three frames with breaks of 51, 83 and 53 to square the match, he had the lead and the momentum, and with nerves fraying for both players it was the Perthshire potter who proved the most clinical.