Stephen Hendry won yesterday's all-Scottish final to clinch the Malta Cup at the Portmaso Hilton.

He beat Graeme Dott 9-7 in a match in which Hendry always seemed to have the edge. However, in the evening session, Dott seemed to be on the verge of repeating the previous day's feat when he fought back from 7-4 down to 8-7 only to miss a blue in the 16th frame to pave the way for Hendry to clinch his victory.

Hendry had edged ahead 4-3 by the end of the first session in the afternoon. Hendry started briskly with breaks of 92 and 114 giving him a 2-0 lead. But dott drew level at 2-2 before the interval.

Hendry regained the lead with a superb 101 in the fifth frame. Dott then took full advantage of an unlucky shot by Hendry to go on 3-3. And Hendry then went on to win a scrappy seventh frame for a 4-3 lead.

As the match resumed in the evening, Hendry took a 7-4 lead, but after the break, Dott came back strongly to get back in contention, first on 7-6 and then on 8-7.

Then came that missed blue by Dott and Hendry seized his chance as he went to clinch the frame and the match by potting the blue, pink and black.

The two Scots have met on seven previous occasions and Dott is still looking for his first win. Their only final was at the 1999 Scottish Open when Hendry cruised to a 9-1 success.

It was seven-times world champion Hendry's fourth success in Malta and his 36th ranking tournament title.

His last ranking success was the 2003 British Open in Brighton 15 months ago. He reached the final of the Welsh Open two weeks ago but lost out 9-8 in a thrilling match against Ronnie O'Sullivan.