Stephen Hendry thrashes Matthew Stevens at China Open

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Scottish snooker player Stephen HendryImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Hendry was in rampant form against Stevens

Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry romped into the second round of the China Open with a 5-0 thrashing of Wales' Matthew Stevens.

Hendry, 42, opened with a century and had further breaks of 93, 75 and 65, restricting Stevens to only nine points during the entire five frames.

Current world champion Neil Robertson also eased through the first round with a 5-1 win over England's Barry Hawkins.

The Australian had three 50-plus breaks including 124 in the fourth frame.

Hawkins made a 128 in the following frame before Robertson wrapped up the match in the sixth.

Robertson has never reached the last eight of any ranking event in China - a statistic he is hoping to consign to history in Beijing.

"Hopefully I can finally break my China Open duck and have a good run," said 29-year-old world number three.

"I've never had a quarter-final here in China which is incredible, but normally when I come here I don't adjust to the time zone and play really tired.

"In the past I've not adjusted and slept too much during the day and felt really jaded when I've played my matches.

"China is probably my main focus now, although obviously I want to win the World Championship again."

Meanwhile, Hendry said he was surprised at the margin of victory over Stevens who had only last week won the Championship League.

"I was playing the man in form and Matthew is soon going to be well inside the top 16," said the Scotsman.

"He reached the semi-final in Ireland [in the Players Tour Championship Grand Final] and won the Championship League so I couldn't have had a tougher draw.

"I didn't expect to win 5-0 but if I play the way I can then I know I have a chance against anyone.

"I'm inconsistent but if I can keep that up then I've got a chance of winning this.

Six-time Crucible runner-up Jimmy White was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of visa problems.

He was due to play in the wildcard round on Monday so his opponent, China's Tian Pengfei, gets a bye and now faces Mark Selby in the first round proper on Wednesday.

Ken Doherty, the 1997 world champion, failed to make it to that stage as he was trounced 5-1 by Chinese wildcard Li Hang, who will now face Scot Graeme Dott.

In other wildcard matches, Norway's Kurt Maflin beat China's Cao Yupeng 5-3 to earn a first-round match against home favourite Ding Junhui, while Scotland's Marcus Campbell recorded the same result against another Chinese player, Mei Xiwen. He will now play Northern Irishman Mark Allen.

Former Crucible semi-finalist Joe Perry of England beat China's Li Yan 5-2 to book a first-round match against Shaun Murphy, while veteran Nigel Bond overcame another Chinese wildcard, Jin Long, 5-3. He will now face three-time world champion John Higgins.

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