Stephen Hendry continued his pursuit of his 37th ranking title 45 months after his 36th by yesterday beating Robert Milkins 5-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Bahrain Open. After Milkins had taken the opening frame with a break of 137, Hendry seized the next two with 113 and 132 and, exuding intensity of desire, extended his lead to 4-1.

Milkins, appearing in his first quarter-final for four years, took the sixth frame with a nine reds, nine blacks 72 before the seven times world champion, largely through his break of 62, qualified for a semi-final today against Matthew Stevens who recovered from the loss of the first two frames to beat Dominic Dale 5-2.