So Hendry will be in no doubt the stiffness of the task that lies ahead for him against his first round opponent.

Yet, Hendry even in the twilight of his career is a fierce competitor and the fact that he finds himself up against arguably the best of the unseeded players in this year’s tournament is certain to get his competitive juices flowing and turbo charged.

Allen made his first appearance at the Crucible twelve months ago and it was a debut to remember as he defeated the 1997 world champion Ken Doherty in the first round, one of the best match players in the game.

Although Allen’s run did not extend beyond the following round, he announced himself as a player who has every chance of improving on his first showing in the years ahead.

It is some time since Hendry last found himself in the winner’s enclosure in a ranking tournament and a semi-final spot in the Malta Cup has been a rare highlight for him in an otherwise disappointing season for him, not helped by him having changed his cue after his last one suffered an untimely death at the hands of over-officious baggage handlers.

Even allowing for the fact that Hendry will have been preparing hard for this tournament, he will need to produce his best snooker in a long time to get through this match.

The test for Hendry is not being able to make big breaks, he can still manage to do this, although not as consistently as he used to.

His difficulty in winning this match will be winning the tight frames, making the frame winning pots where there is not much to choose between the two players.

This is where I expect Hendry’s cueing to let him down. Prediction: Hendry 7-10 Allen

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