The big story on Day 11 at the Crucible Theatre was a magnificent 147 maximum break from Hendry in his quarter-final against Shaun Murphy, yet the wider narrative this week has been his admirable attempt to revive the glory years of the 1990s.
Now 40, Hendry has not won the World Championship or any major terrestrial-televised event this century and, at the beginning of the tournament, some bookmakers were offering odds of 66/1 against an eighth title. Those odds were slashed to 6/1 when he briefly established a 5-2 lead over Murphy, yet he faltered badly after constructing his 147, losing five consecutive frames, before eventually trailing 9-7 going into Wednesday morning's deciding session.
The maximum break came in the seventh frame and was vintage Hendry. Murphy had broken off, leaving one difficult long red available. Hendry, though, barely hesitated before confidently rolling in that ball and then, over the next 12 minutes, a further 15 blacks, 14 reds and the six colours.
His only real moment of difficulty was on the penultimate shot when he came the wrong side of the pink and was forced to run up and down the table to establish position. The final black was also far from straightforward, but Hendry's nerve has rarely failed when the pressure is at its greatest. "It's a tremendous feeling," he said.
If no one else equals the feat, it will have also added £157,000 to Hendry's career prize-money of more than £8 million. "You have to grade maximums at the Crucible as the best because of the pressure," said Steve Davis, the six-times champion. "Stephen is one of only two or three players who would have made that break and from five reds out it was immaculate."
The challenge, however, for Hendry of stemming the tidal-wave of young talent was underlined by the quality in the other quarter-finals. Mark Selby began with three centuries only to be held at 4-4 by John Higgins, while Mark Allen led Ryan Day 9-7. The winner of the Hendry/Murphy match will face either Neil Robertson or Stephen Maguire in the semi-final.
Amid the excitement of a maximum break that will rank among the great Crucible moments, it was timely that World Snooker should announce that Sheffield will continue to stage the event until at least 2014. There had been talk of uprooting to China or Dubai for future events, but that idea has been ditched for the foreseeable future. Coupled with Hendry's renaissance, it was a good day for snooker's traditionalists.
Sparkling 147s
Joe Davis, 1955: The first officially recognised maximum break in an exhibition match at Leicester Square Hall. He had previously made the game's first century break in 1930.
Steve Davis, 1982: Achieved the first televised 147 in the Lada Classic against John Spencer
Cliff Thorburn, 1983: Cliff Thorburn's maximum was the first in the history of the World Championship and remains perhaps the most famous of all. It started with a fluked red against Terry Griffiths.
Jimmy White 1992: Jimmy White recorded the second Crucible century nine years after Thorburn. His tournament, though, ended with an agonising defeat in the final against Hendry.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 1997: The 'Rocket' took just 5 minutes 20 seconds to record easily the fastest-ever maximum break in the first round of the World Championship against Mick Price.
Stephen Hendry 2009: Stephen Hendry's 147 break was a record-equalling ninth in competition. He also became the oldest player to make a maximum at the Crucible Theatre.
