EUAN HENDERSON pulled off the biggest surprise of the season when he ended Jimmy White's attempt to win the Skoda Grand Prix for a third time in Derby yesterday.

The Scot's 5-2 victory over the world No 4 in the last 32 of the world-ranking tournament gave him the biggest pay-day of an otherwise anonymous professional career.

'That's absolutely the best win so far,' Henderson, the world No 19, said after earning pounds 4,550. The 27-year-old from Glenrothes, who gave up a degree course in order to pursue snooker, added: 'This was definitely going to be my last year if I didn't produce any results. Financially it's so hard and I was going to go back to college.'

Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and James Wattana, the leading three players on the world ranking list, all went through. Davis, the second seed, enjoyed the most comfortable passage as he overcame his old adversary, Joe Johnson, 5-0.

Hendry, who like Davis is trying to capture the Grand Prix title for the fourth time, beat Grimsby's Dean Reynolds 5-3 after being held to 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

Hendry was pegged back as Reynolds made breaks of 88 and 43 to level, but he tightened the screw in the second half as runs of 93, 84 and 60 carried him through to a televised game with Liverpool's Rod Lawler tomorrow afternoon.

(Photograph omitted)