Northern Ireland Trophy.

August 2005

The Carmarthen potter Matthew Stevens, beaten in last year's world final by Shaun Murphy, edged out seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry 9-7 in an action-packed final at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast . Now he is targeting the world championship title which has so far eluded him.

"I will put a lot of hard work in this season and if I play like have this week then who knows, - said the 27-year-old Stevens. - The World Championship is the big one and that's the one I want".

Stephen Hendry has won major titles in 14 different countries but was not able to make it 15. "I'm surprised at how close the final was considering how badly I played, - said the Scot. - In the end I almost pulled off a Houdini act. I fancied winning it even though I couldn't make a 40. Things seemed to be conspiring to stop me, every time I got a chance I got a kick or the balls went awkward".

Surprisingly, it is only the fifth major title of Stevens' 11-year professional career. Having previously won the Benson & Hedges Championship, the Regal Masters, the Wembley Masters and the UK crown in November 2003, Matthew Stevens collected the crystal trophy and a cheque for J17,500 from World Snooker Chairman Sir Rodney Walker after a high-quality tussle with Hendry.

Hendry was left waiting for the 73rd major title of his career. He made a spirited fight-back after falling 6-1 behind early in the match but ultimately had too much ground to recover.

The first frame of the evening session came down to the colours. Hendry, trailing 6-2, potted an excellent long yellow but played a poor positional shot on the blue and missed the pink with the rest. Stevens failed to convert a chance from distance and Hendry made no mistake with his second attempt despite playing the cue ball from tight on the side cushion.

Frame 10 also came down to the colours. Matthew Stevens played a poor shot on the green, attempting a snooker behind the black but instead leaving a simple pot to a centre pocket. Hendry gratefully cleared the table to reduce his arrears to just two frames. A missed red to a top corner at 12-55 in the next proved costly for Hendry as Stevens stretched his advantage to 7-4.

The Welshman had a chance to steal frame 12 from 60-0 down but missed a tricky last red along the top cushion and conceded. Following the mid-session interval, a run of 46 helped Stevens to edge a scrappy 13th frame to go three up four to play at 8-5.

Stephen Hendry kept his hopes alive by winning the next in two scoring visits. Matthew Stevens had two clear opportunities in the next but ran out of position both times and the Scot took it with a 32 to draw within one frame at 8-7. Stevens edged ahead in the 16th frame with a 36. Hendry responded with 22 before running out of position. After a brief safety tussle Stevens potted a brilliant penultimate red to a centre pocket to set up the victory.

"I played really well in my first three matches here and to go 6-1 up today. It was looking like a quick final but it's never easy against Stephen... As it got closer I started to feel the pressure a bit although I felt quite relaxed towards the end. I've lost a couple of close finals recently so it was nice to get over the line. I'm pleased with my form, especially considering I didn't put that much practice in before this tournament. It's six weeks until the next one and I will be ready for that".