SEVEN-TIME World Champion Stephen Hendry has crashed out of the 2009 PartyCasino.com Premier League Snooker tournament.

Hendry made a number of errors and recorded a highest break of only 39 during a shock 5-1 defeat against bottom-placed Marco Fu.

Scottish star Hendry would have qualified for the last four with a victory but his defeat meant Shaun Murphy only needed to claim one frame from his match with Judd Trump.

Murphy later lost 4-2 in front of a packed crowd at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, Wales, but it was still enough to join John Higgins, Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan in next week's semi-finals.

It had been a miserable competition for Fu with only one point from his first five matches but he claimed victory in his last match and also secured a £1,000 bonus with a century break of 122 in the final frame.

John Higgins ensured he would finish top at the end of the league phase as he defeated world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-2.

Both players could be relaxed as they were already guaranteed spots in the final four and they responded with a masterclass of snooker in probably the highest quality match of the season.

There was a break of at least 50 in every frame, while O'Sullivan made 127 in the third before Higgins responded with back-to-back centuries of 107 and 119.

"When John plays like that he is the best player in the world," admitted O'Sullivan. "He doesn't play a wrong shot and his safety is very good - he's a fantastic player. I had my work cut out and played a couple of bad shots off the break and it cost me the match.

"John is playing with a lot of confidence and feeling good about himself and he's one of those players who when he's on form you have to be as well. If you get a chance you have to put him under pressure and if you don't he will stamp on you."

Shaun Murphy scraped into the play-offs on frames won even though he suffered a 4-2 defeat against Trump.

"My mind was wondering all over the place and I'm just pleased to get the first frame," admitted Murphy. "This game does funny things to you as we put ourselves under so much pressure to do well but we put too much pressure on us.

"I've lost three matches and no one has ever gone through after doing that. But I'm very pleased to get through, especially after the first two matches where I was rock bottom of the table."

The semi-finals take place at the Potters Leisure Resort in Hopton-on-Sea, Norfolk next Saturday with the two winners meeting in the final the following day.

One semi-final is a repeat of the 2009 World Championship final as Higgins meets Murphy, while O'Sullivan takes on Trump in the second semi-final.

Trump defeated O'Sullivan in the group phase but believes he will have to be on form if he is to knock out O'Sullivan, who has won the tournament for the last five seasons.

"I need to raise my game against Ronnie," said Trump. "In the last couple of games I've not played very well. It will only be my second ever semi-final and with the line-up of players it will be a brilliant night."

WEEK 10 - VENUE CYMRU, LLANDUDNO, WALES
SHAUN MURPHY 2-4 JUDD TRUMP
Murphy's scores first
78-66 (Trump 48), 11-64 (Trump 63), 39-63 (Murphy 35, Trump 45), 75-22 (Murphy 36), 43-57 (Murphy 30, Trump 34), 50-64 (Trump 39)

RONNIE O'SULLIVAN 2-4 JOHN HIGGINS
O'Sullivan's scores first
0-72 (Higgins 72), 15-70 (Higgins 64), 134-0 (O'Sullivan 129), 0-107 (Higgins 107), 0-128 (Higgins 119), 76-48 (O'Sullivan 68, Higgins 44)

MARCO FU 5-1 STEPHEN HENDRY
Fu's scores first
64-40, 70-25 (Fu 70), 14-72 (Hendry 33, 39), 98-15 (Fu 37, 45), 71-15 (Fu 48), 128-11 (Fu 122)

Date posted: November 20, 2009

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