World Snooker Day 11 Tips: Hendry to keep eighth World title hopes alive

Mike Norman
01 May 2012

After his easy victory over John Higgins, Stephen Hendry looks to have an excellent chance against Stephen Maguire today

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Mike Norman believe that Stephen Hendry can keep his hopes of winning an eighth World Championship alive by beating fellow Scot Stephen Maguire, whilst Ronnie O'Sullivan looks the man to beat in Sheffield.

Despite not being the same player these days Hendry’s Crucible record and experience could be a key factor in this match, and on Sheffield performances so far alone he is entitled to be favourite.

I'm not into all this 'place order to lay' malarkey, that's something that Paul Krishnamurty excels at, and unfortunately, I don't.

So whilst Paul is enjoying a well-deserved break in Sheffield, at the Crucible Theatre, all-expenses paid, drink as much as you like and still get paid etc (I must be doing something wrong), I'll be offering some 'traditional' wagers as the Quarter Finals commence on Tuesday morning.

First things first, we're still playing best of 25 frames matches which means it's highly unlikely that any of the matches will conclude today.

The all-Scottish, all-Stephen clash between Maguire and Hendry is the game I'm most interested in on Tuesday. It starts at 10:00 and I definitely want to be on Hendry from the outset at odds of 2.727/4.

The seven-time World champion is desperate to get to a one-table situation again and on the evidence of what we've seen during the last 10 days he has every chance. Fresh from a maximum break and a convincing win over Stuart Bingham, Hendry was in superb form in the first session against compatriot John Higgins. He was rather handed the chance to win from then on but a 13-4 victory over the defending champion will have done wonders for Hendry's confidence.

Maguire has never enjoyed a great Crucible record (just one semi-final appearance) and his wins over Belgium teenager Luca Brecel and journeyman pro Joe Perry read pretty poor in comparison to Hendry's victories at this year's Championship. Maguire himself has admitted that he will need to up his game considerably if he is to reach the last four.

Despite not being the same player these days Hendry's Crucible record and experience could be a key factor in this match, and on Sheffield performances so far alone he is entitled to be favourite. So to be able to back him at 2.727/4 to extinguish 'On-fire Maguire's' World Championship flames looks too good to miss.

I'll delve more into the other three Quarter Final matches tomorrow but just looking at the last eight players in the competition it's difficult to look beyond Ronnie O'Sullivan as the potential winner.

The Rocket has looked in great form during his easy victories over Peter Ebdon and Mark Williams, and more importantly, he looks to be in the right frame of mind. The only problem I can envisage is today's opponent Neil Robertson who is sure to try and slow Ronnie down and knock him out of his stride, both on the table and mentally.

But if you believe O'Sullivan will get past the Thunder from Down Under, then back him now at 3.185/40 in the Winner market as he will probably be odds on if he comes through this encounter.

Recommended Bets

Back Stephen Hendry to beat Stephen Maguire @ 2.727/4
Back Ronnie O'Sullivan to win World Championship @ 3.185/40