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Ronnie O'Sullivan battled back from a poor start to tie 4-4 with Stephen Hendry after the first session of their World Championship semi-final.

Hendry, a seven-time Crucible champion, raced into a 3-0 lead with breaks of 140 and 60 after O'Sullivan made a host of mistakes early on.

O'Sullivan edged a scrappy fourth frame but lost the next despite a run of 64.

But the 32-year-old dug in and a sparkling break of 102 set him on his way to winning the final three frames.

O'Sullivan will be happy to have kept in touch with Hendry despite being far from his best during the opening eight frames.

He started as an odds on favourite to beat Hendry, whom he had thrashed 17-4 in their last Crucible meeting, a semi-final clash four years ago.

But Hendry, who has shown glimpses of his best form on the way to a record 12th Crucible semi-final, made the perfect start with a 140 break after O'Sullivan produced a poor safety shot after declining to go for a long red.

The second frame was a scrappy affair and O'Sullivan continued to make mistakes.

With the score delicately poised at 41-54, he looked set to nick the frame after sinking a long red but missed a cut on a blue into the middle pocket - a ball which Hendry doubled - and the Scot was able to increase his lead. 606: DEBATE
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O'Sullivan took the early lead in the next but missed a red to the bottom corner when on 23 and Hendry's run of 60 was enough for the frame.

The O'Sullivan errors continued to come but he finally got on the scoreboard following a poor Hendry safety shot.

The mid-session interval seemed to refresh him however and he immediately posted a well-made 64 but he slipped up by failing to pot a tricky red to the yellow pocket.

Hendry responded with a 41 and before nicking the frame on the black when O'Sullivan left the final green in the jaws of the pocket.

The 39-year-old Hendry was amongst the balls in the next but managed to snooker himself behind the green while making a break of 32, allowing O'Sullivan to pounce with his second 102 break of the tournament.

Runs of 32 and 31 in the next were enough to make the score 4-3 while a missed black off its spot when 46-0 ahead did not prove costly for O'Sullivan in the final frame of the session as he completed his comeback.

Play resumes at 1000 BST on Friday.

BBC SPORT | Other sport... | Snooker | O'Sullivan rallies against Hendry


Ronnie O Sullivan (4/11 Totesport) Stephen Hendry (23/10 Boylesports)