STEPHEN
HENDRY
AND RYAN DAY VISIT ST AUSTELL FOR THE FIRST TIME
(
12th March 2010 )
Saturday evening saw seven times World Champion Stephen
Hendry and Welsh number one Ryan Day entertain snooker enthusiasts at the
Keay Theatre in St Austell.
Keen audience members welcomed Ryan into the arena to
start the evening of snooker. In the first three frames of the evening Ryan
produced an amazing masterclass of break building and potting taking all
three frames against local players, making breaks if 113 against Neil Webb,
97 against 12 year old Daniel Lagassick and 123 against Chris Kendall.
David Grigg, promoter, commented, ‘Out of all the professionals we have had
at the Keay Theatre, this was probably the best three consecutive frames of
snooker we have ever witnessed. Ryan didn’t miss a pot, he potted
everything’.
Stephen Hendry was welcomed into the arena by rapturous
applause. Auction frame winner Jeff Crouch came to the table to take on
Stephen with safety in mind but Stephen took him to task taking his first
frame 86-11. Five times County Champion Kevin Steed was the next player to
go up against Stephen. He put up a strong challenge scoring 41 points to
Stephens 76. One of the highlights of the evening was when Alan Hurley
brought his steely determination to the table to beat Stephen with an
amazing 90 break. Alan said ‘Before I was introduced into the arena I felt
a bit nervous but when I was in amongst the balls the nerves disappeared.
When I beat Stephen I was ecstatic but also slightly disappointed because I
was on for a century break and a total clearance, but missed the black’.
David Grigg, promoter said ‘I watched the whole break. Stephen broke off
and he never got another shot. Alan’s positional play was brilliant as he
never went out of position once.’
After a short interval Stephen and Ryan returned to
challenge each other in a seven frame dual. Stephen made various breaks
during the seven frame challenge but it was Ryan who stole the limelight in
the fifth frame with a 104 break, ably assisted by young Daniel Legassick.
On a break of 99 Ryan handed Daniel his cue to allow Daniel to pot the blue
to take Ryan’s break to 104. Ryan eventually won the tussle 4-3 taking the
pink in the final frame. Before potting the pink, Stephen shouted out ‘You
need the pink to win’ then as Ryan got down to take the shot Stephen slammed
his foot on the floor, trying to put Ryan off.
Carole, SnookerPlus promoter, says ‘It was a brilliant
evening of snooker, but for me, it was wonderful to see the players so
relaxed and exchanging witty banter between each other and the audience.
Stephen and Ryan are two excellent ambassadors for the game of snooker.’
The evening ended by Stephen and Ryan meeting their
fans for photographs and autographs.
During the evening it was announced that Mark Selby and
Neil Robertson would be SnookerPlus’ next exhibition which was received by
the audience with great excitement.
When asked if he would return to Cornwall, Stephen
replied ‘I’d love to come back again; I have been made so welcome. The only
problem is I don’t get the opportunity to look around Cornwall as
unfortunately I tend to come down to work and then to go straight back
home.’
Ryan commented ‘What a great venue. I don’t get to play
in theatres very much these days. Everything is so well organised and I
have been looked after really well. I love Cornwall. I have been here on a
few holidays in the past.’ When asked if he would make a return visit he
replied ‘Definitely’.
First half:
Ryan Day (126) v Neil Webb (0) St Austell
Ryan Day (120) v Daniel Lagassick (8) Belgrave Snooker Club, Plymouth.
Ryan Day (123) v Chris Kendall (6) St Blazey Football Club
Stephen Hendry (86) v Jeff Crouch (11) Auction frame
winner
Stephen Hendry (76) v Kevin Steed (41) Dobwalls Institute
Stephen Hendry (0) v Alan Hurley (90) Illogan Highway
Second half:
Stephen Hendry (28) v Ryan Day (103)
“ “ (86) v “ “ (10)
“ “ (64) v “ “ (14)
“ “ (26) v “ “ (76)
“ “ (23) v “ “ (104)
“ “ (67) v “ “ (1)
“ “ (51) v “ “ (75)
Stephen Hendry breaks:
67, 49, 48, 46, 35
Ryan Day breaks:
123, 113, 104, 97, 88, 67, 39, 31
Alan Hurley break:
90
