Stephen Hendry saw his bid for a sixth UK Championship title end at the first hurdle in Shropshire – and then revealed: “There’s chaos inside my head.”
Hendry was a notable first round casualty at Telford’s International Centre yesterday as he was beaten 9-7 by Stephen Lee – despite resuming the second session 5-3 to the good.
Ranked sixth in the world, Hendry also lost in the first round last year before recovering form later in the season to reach the semi-finals of the World Championship.
After his defeat yesterday, the Scot said: “It’s hard to pot balls when there’s chaos inside my head.
“I know what causes it but I’m not going to tell you.
“People talk about how good the standard is but if I got 30 per cent of my old form back, I’d be competing.”
Lee, who has suffered a dip in form and results over recent seasons, said: “I’m feeling quite good under pressure and it’s just a matter of enjoying it again.”
Reigning Masters and Welsh Open champion Mark Selby also crashed out to Mark Williams in a thrilling first round battle.
Welshman Williams led 5-3 after the first session and went on to complete a 9-7 win, fending off world No 4 Selby who fought back from 7-3 down to 7-7 on the back of an 82 break and three centuries.
Like Lee, Williams – a twice former winner of the title – is battling to get back into the top 16 in the world rankings.
Mark King secured a welcome victory as he defeated rising star Judd Trump 9-8 in a thrilling game which went down to the colours in the final frame.
Graeme Dott also advanced to the second round with a 9-4 victory over fellow former world champion Ken Doherty.
Dott had looked to be in control when he moved 5-0 ahead, but Doherty hit back to win the last three frames of the opening session.
However, the Dubliner won only one more frame in the match as Dott eased through to the last 16.
Matthew Stevens came through an all-Welsh battle with Ryan Day, the former World Championship runner-up winning 9-5.
Hong Kong’s Marco Fu overcame England’s Barry Hawkins 9-6.
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