Pinches and Hendry all square

Barry Pinches is determined to delay his return home from the Embassy World Championship for as long as possible. The Norwich professional stunned the snooker world by defeating crowd favourite Jimmy White in the first round. Now, he threatens to upset seven times world champion Stephen Hendry at a venue the Scot has come to regard as his second home.

Pinches started the night facing a 5-3 deficit but he shocked the world number two by returning the compliment in this evening's penultimate session. Pinches even briefly threatened to join a select group of players to make a Crucible 147 break.

He potted 10 reds and 10 blacks in frame 14 before missing the 11th red. However, his 80 break enabled him to draw level and he grew in confidence by making 97 to take the lead for only the second time in the match. Norwich City supporter Pinches, again kitted out in his yellow and green waistcoat, looked well on his way to gaining an overnight advantage as he led 61-0 in frame 16.

That took the Norfolk cueman's run of unanswered points to 238 before crucially missing a black. There were just enough points on the table to give Hendry a glimmer of hope. And he produced a trademark clearance of 62 to again obtain parity.

It was massive relief for Hendry who began to get frustrated after going 7-4 in front. He even conceded prematurely in the 13th frame after leaving the final blue in the jaws of a top pocket. It was a formality for Pinches who led 57-44 at the time but Hendry rolled the pink down a side cushion to signal his intent to get on with the match.

Hendry, chasing his first world title since 1999, defeated world number 36 Pinches in this season's UK Championship. However, this has turned out to be a lot closer affair and he still needs five of tomorrow's remaining nine frames to clinch a quarter-final against Ian McCulloch or Alan McManus.

Barring a disaster David Gray should reach the Crucible last eight for the first time tomorrow. The world number 12 from Morden has an 11-5 lead on Welsh qualifier Lee Walker in a match purely for the purists.

Former Scottish Open champion Gray began the evening 5-3 with a top break of just 34. He improved his scoring with runs of 100, 65, 73 and 54 as Walker slipped further into arrears. Gray requires just two further frames to earn a quarter-final against John Higgins or Graeme Dott.

Filed by Shane Murray