TABLE WOR LD champion Stephen Hendry came back from near disaster to

keep alive his hopes of a third UK snooker title in four years. The Scot

needed to win the last three frames against Welsh rookie Mark Williams

to triumph 9-8 and scrape through to the last 32 of the tournament in

Preston last night.

Hendry, winner of nine titles last season, appeared to be on course

for a comfortable victory when he led 5-2 following breaks of 118 and

116. But he then lost six of the next seven frames against Williams, a

17-year-old from Ebbw Vale.

However, Hendry pulled himself together in the nick of time as breaks

of 68 and 84 set up a tense deciding frame. It was then that Williams'

inexperienced showed. He attempted an ambitious pot and watched in

dismay as the red rolled back up the table and provided his opponent

with the opening for a match-clinching clearance of 109.

There also was joy for Glasgow's Alan McManus, a 9-7 winner against

Simon Mellish, but Ronnie O'Sullivan found the going tough and at one

time trailed world No.14 Alain Robidoux 7-5 after having led

4-1, but the leading youngster of the season remained cool and

eventually ran out a 9-7 winner.

Former world champion Joe Johnson had a great escape to defeat Darren

Clarke 9-8. When Clarke doubled the blue in the deciding frame, Johnson

required a snooker and both pink and black just to tie.

Clarke, however, snookered himself on the pink, failed to escape.

Results:

Third round -- W Thorne (Eng) beat J Wych (Can) 9-1, M Davis (Eng)

beat M Johnston-Allen (Eng) 9-5, G Wilkinson (Eng) beat F O'Brien (Rep

of Ire) 9-6, J Johnson (Eng) beat D Clarke (Eng) 9-8, J Wattana (Thai)

beat A Higgins (N Ire) 9-3, S Hendry (Sco) beat M Williams (Wal) 9-8, C

Wilson (Wal) beat S Francisco (SA) 9-6, R O'Sullivan (Eng) beat A

Robidoux (Can) 9-7, D Mountjoy (Wal) beat J McLaughlin (NI) 9-2, T

Knowles (Eng) beat J Wallace (Eng) 9-6, A McManus (Sco) beat S Mellish

(Eng) 9-7; E Charlton (Aus) beat S Suwannasingh (Thai) 9-7.