Frustrated Hendry Unable to Turn Practice to Perfect

Stephen Hendry's 6-5 defeat by Mark Selby in the Masters at Wembley Arena underlined his chief frustration: his inability to reproduce his practice form in the arena. Hendry, left, was 39 this week and next month it will be three years since he last won a title. This season's first four ranking events have failed to yield him a single quarter-final place but the seven-times world champion said: "One win, one good performance and I'll be back." Selby was more pleased with the result than his performance: "I'd have been disappointed to lose with Stephen playing like that." The 50-year-old Steve Davis, whose third Masters triumph 11 years ago is likely to prove the last title of his distinguished career, made some shocking errors as the world No27 Marco Fu, winner of October's grand prix, prevailed 6-2 thanks to breaks of 52, 76, 104 and 67. Davis will now continue his stint in the commentary box.