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Hendry relishing clash with "genius" O'Sullivan

01/05/2008

Stephen Hendry has claimed he cannot wait to take on Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship later today.

The two men - who have nine world titles between them - set up a mouth-watering last-four clash at the Crucible with 13-7 victories over Ryan Day and Liang Wenbo, respectively.

And Hendry, who is a seven-time winner but has not triumphed in Sheffield since 1999, said taking on "a genius" like O'Sullivan would be a major test of his title credentials.

"I'll be taking on the best player in the world at the moment, right-handed, left-handed, one-legged, one-armed, whatever," he told the BBC.

"He's knocking in centuries all over the place. He's a genius."

Hendry is in no doubt that he can end the Rocket's challenge, although he admitted he would "need to bring [his] best game out".

"He doesn't know what will happen if I start to fly, we could have a massive game on our hands," the Scot continued.

"I just can't wait to get out there, I love playing Ronnie. There will probably be just two people supporting me but I played Jimmy [White] a few times so I'm used to it.

"If you look back at the record I've had here - six wins in seven years from 1990 to 1996 - it can give you nothing but confidence."