Snooker: Hendry dumps Fowler

THE defending champion, Stephen Hendry, made a perfect start at the Embassy World Championships in Sheffield yesterday by recording a 10-0 victory in his first match.

Hendry, favourite to take the trophy for the third time in four years and win the record pounds 175,000 first prize, beat Danny Fowler, a former dustman who becomes only the second player to experience a whitewash in the tournament.

Hendry made a half-century break or better in every frame and potted 200 twice. Having registered his first world ranking tournament victory of the season in the Sky Sports International at Plymouth last weekend, the 24- year-old appears to have peaked at just the right time.

The second-favourite, Jimmy White, also started well but could not quite equal Hendry's panache. The Londoner finished the evening leading Joe Swail, of Belfast, 7-2 and now needs to win just three of this afternoon's 10 scheduled frames to take the match.

EMBASSY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (Sheffield) First round: S Hendry (Sco) bt D Fowler (Eng) 10-1; W Thorne (Eng) bt S Mellish (Eng) 10-6; W Thorne (Eng) bt S Mellish (Eng) 10-6; J White (Eng) leads J Swail (N Irl) 7-2; D Morgan (Wal) leads L Dodd (Eng) 5-4.

Guy Hodgson on James Wattana, page 24