Quarter-Final: Ronnie O'Sullivan v Neil Robertson Masters Snooker


Quarter-Final: Ronnie O'Sullivan v Neil Robertson

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Good afternoon. The new Alexandra Palace, the people's palace, as it

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was called in 1875, when it opened, and for the last 140 years, it's

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been open to the public, the sort of fantastic entertainment for nearly

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one and a half centuries. This is one of the main arenas. It's the

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Masters. This week, we are going to be sharing Alexandra Palace, in

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another part of the arena, with the model engineering exhibition. It's a

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big event, and it takes all sorts, and there will be plenty of flasks

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in evidence. It is called the finals day here in this fantastic arena,

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which is filling up. We are going to have a full house of 2000 at the

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start of the quarterfinals. The people's palace, and one of the

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peoples champions, Ronnie O'Sullivan, is one of the star

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attractions today. Many feel the defending champion was a touch lucky

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to get through the opening round after a cracking match a final frame

:01:31.:01:37.

finale against Liang Wenbo. He had a cold at the time and he will be

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hoping that the remedies have kicked in. He words -- he will need a clear

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head today to face the challenge of Neil Robertson, the 2012 Masters

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champion from Australia. On paper, this quarterfinal is the pick of the

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bunch. So it's The Rocket against the

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Thunder. It could get pretty noisy in here. Marco Fu and Mark Allen

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haven't met in almost four years. Joe Perry, meeting Ding Junhui. And

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three-time Masters winner Mark Selby survived to play last year's

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runner-up, Barry Hawkins. Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty are admiring

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the newly renamed Paul hunter trophy. For you, Stephen, after the

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opening round, who is favourite come Sunday night to lift this? It's hard

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to pick a winner for the event. Talking about today, if both players

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play the way they did in the first round, Neil Robertson wins, but I

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think today will be a different kettle of fish. I think Ronnie will

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be up for it. We have had quite a few deciders in the afternoon. 17

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centuries so far, and the record without a wild card round is 28.

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What do you make of it so far? Incredible stamina and matchups. 17

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centuries so far, it's unprecedented in round one, but I think there will

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be more to come. The table looks superb, lovely and fast. There

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haven't been many kicks and bounces. That helps, so the players have more

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confidence playing on the wonderful table. I think we have got some

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mouthwatering clashes coming up, and this match has to be the tie of the

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round. Mark Selby, world number one, still in this, after another decider

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yesterday. It's been a costly few days for the top seeds. We have had

:04:02.:04:04.

a lot of numbers two, three, four and five. This is only a 16 man

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event. -- we have had the loss of. Does it surprise you? You could make

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a case for anybody winning this tournament at the beginning. Almost

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anyone, in my opinion. The standard of play has been phenomenal. It's no

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surprise to me that these players have done it. It's been great

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watching. If this isn't a January blues Buster, then nothing else is.

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There is no bigger occasion than playing Ronnie in the Masters in

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London. I will have to be on my game and I know what to expect. Most of

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the crowd will be on his side. I don't really have a strategy. You go

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out there and play the balls as they live. You've got to concentrate on

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your own game. He is a wonderful player and he has won everything in

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the game multiple times. This tournament is tough but Niall has

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probably had a lean spell. People appreciate good snooker and will

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applaud your shots. The standard is so good that if you are not on your

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game are a passenger. I'm trying to stab my mark on the game and win

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these sort of titles. I'm sure it's a matter of time. I've got to go out

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there and play my game. He's a dangerous opponent. Ronnie has

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beaten Neil the last toys they met, including the Welsh Open final last

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February, the last piece of silverware that O'Sullivan won. He

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also whitewashed Robertson in Romania last October, but Robertson

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remembers his dismantling of The Rocket two years ago. I know which

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way you have plugged, Stephen, you say that Robertson should win. On

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first round form. How much does first round form count? I don't

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think that players will look at previous form. They will both be at

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forest. Ronnie in front of his home crowd is always difficult. -- will

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both be up for this. Neil may look back at the 6-1 demolition that he

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had, but any time that these guys meet will be fantastic. There will

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be great breaks, great safety play and it will be very close. Neil

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Robertson was keen to stress how hard he worked over Christmas. He

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still considers himself a top player, and he is, but his world

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ranking has slipped to seventh, as low as for five years. I couldn't

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believe when I heard that. He believes he should be competing

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these big events. There isn't a lot of difference between number two and

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number seven points wise, but he belongs in the top one, two or three

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players in the world. Robber what her, all yours. Good afternoon,

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ladies and gentlemen. These are the matches that makes snooker great.

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Welcome to the first quarterfinal of this year's Masters. This could be

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absolutely epic. APPLAUSE

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Please welcome, a player who has taken the game by storm since his

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arrival from Australia over ten years ago. Three times a Masters

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finalist, winner here in 2012, twice the UK champion, he is also a world

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champion. He is the Thunder from Down Under, Neil Robertson!

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And his opponent, a player who won the first of his six masters title

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as a teenager in 1995. He has been entertaining snooker crowds here and

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around the world for more than two decades. Five times a world

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champion, the defending masters champion, The Rocket, Ronnie

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O'Sullivan! Practically a guard of honour for

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Ronnie at the top of those stairs. In the commentary box this

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afternoon, joining John Parrott is the 1987 masters champion, Dennis

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Taylor, who is celebrating his birthday. Many happy returns,

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Dennis. Thank you, diesel. We always say

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what an atmosphere, but that introduction was something special.

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-- thank you, Hazel. Ronnie looks relaxed. He doesn't usually smile

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like that. Ronnie won the toss, and he will get this quarterfinal match

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underway. Very difficult to predict the winner

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of this one. Yes, we were talking at the top of the show about their

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records coming into this. In the Welsh Open, Robertson was 5-2 ahead

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before Ronnie put the afterburners on to win seven frames on the trot.

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I don't think anybody in the game would win seven frames on the trot

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against Robertson, but since then there has been the semifinal in the

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European masters, where Ronnie beat him 6-0.

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. That was interesting, because the table has been flying. This is a new

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cloth on. Even if it is off the same role of cloth, it will be

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interesting to see if this table plays as quick. It is the same table

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but, if the cloth laid as fast as the previous one, we will find out

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in a couple' time. Good safety from Neil. Might be able

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to get past the yellow and blue for that red. Looking at that angle, no

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value in taking that on, because he would be careering into the reds. If

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it was straight, he could have a go at it and get the black. -- get onto

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the black. Just the crucial plots have been

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changed, so the bed of the table will play the way it has been. --

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just the cushion cloths. Strange, why would you do that? They are not

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ready bouncing at all. Probably the jaws of the pockets. Safety from

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Ronnie, a bump on the middle pocket. I didn't see much of Neil's match

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with Ali Carter, but apparently he played very well. I was chatting

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with Neil the other day before he played and he was saying, scoring

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wise, he felt he was back to his best. He made 13 century breaks in

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the little mini league think he was playing in. But one of the things

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you really need to do if you are playing Ronnie O'Sullivan in what

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could be deemed his backyard is you need to have plenty of character to

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stand up to it. That is where the Aussie grit comes into it.

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Two fabulous players. An abundance of natural talent in O'Sullivan, the

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best player I have ever seen with AQ in his hand, and then you have got

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the Australian with a laser-like cue action, tremendous break-builder and

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all-round match player with that Aussie grit. A great matchup.

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I mean, what this player achieved in the 2013-14 season might never be

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done again, to make 100 centuries in one season.

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Extraordinary. Still got a red in the middle before he has to play any

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cannons. So he can stun this in. He is coming up a little bit short.

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Might just be OK. Having to go away from the black

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here. But he needs to pull up a little bit. That's OK. And he could

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play a little cannon into the five reds here. Quite thin on the blue.

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This could really open things up. He went delicately into the reds.

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Got to avoid the cannon on the reds near the site cushion when you what

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that one. -- the side cushion. Robertson knows the importance of a

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good start in this match. He looks tuned up and ready to go right from

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the off. He started the season of pretty well, he had a semifinal

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early on, a couple of disappointing results by his own standards since

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then, but then starting to make all of those centuries in the last

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couple of weeks and the hard graft he put in over Christmas... If he

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gets back to his best, he will take some stopping.

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Yeah, I was surprised he had dropped to number seven in the world. As

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Stephen Hendry said, he should be in the top three, you would think.

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But that is how tough the game is these days. You can easily slip down

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the rankings if you have a lean spell. He is taking his time here.

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He's got to try and get the next positional shot. If he can get

:17:00.:17:06.

straight on this, it will be perfect. Doesn't really want to be

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playing any cannons. That isn't straight.

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Not surprised he came up off the shot.

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He didn't want to risk the delicate little cannon to hold on the black.

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Just forced it in. Hoping to drop nicely on pink or blue. But it's not

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absolutely perfect. He's got to avoid the Borg colours and get back

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up to be scoring end of the table. -- the baulk colours.

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In and out of the baulk area. I think those two reds definitely pot.

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He couldn't have it that much better. That was a lovely shot,

:18:15.:18:18.

beautifully controlled. He got round on those two reds with

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the aid of a little flick on the brown, as you can see. You can

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expect this from these two players, I think. If the other makes a

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mistake, the way they are playing, every chance they will finish the

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frame of. It is so important to stick your marker down in a match.

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Many times in commentary, we would say that Steve Davis used to be

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brilliant at winning the opening frame. Very important to let your

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opponent know that you are here to play your best. That is what Neil

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Robertson is doing. Hugely impressive.

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Very difficult to start with a century break, but he is almost over

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the winning line already in this opening frame.

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He will have to wait for the next frame now. Ronnie needs a smoker,

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regardless of what happens. -- a snooker.

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He'll have to play a double if he is going to have a chance of a century.

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But the frame is well and truly in the bag. Just checking that, looking

:20:03.:20:08.

at the scoreboard. He may as well have a go at the double.

:20:09.:20:18.

Well, no century break, but what a start from the Australian. He got

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one chance and that was all he needed. And that lovely break has

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given him the opening frame. Well, you can't do better than

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getting a chance and making enough to get a frame. Very impressive. He

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is the consummate match player. Slightly surprising where he has

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been for a futile and is, because I rate him as highly as the boys were

:20:51.:20:58.

saying. -- for a few tournaments. Look at the focus on his face. He is

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really tuned in. Ronnie made a slight error and that was all it

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took. This was the one. Just doubled the rate. A bit unlucky to catch the

:21:14.:21:19.

jaw and leave that over the corner. But it was a good opening pot. A lot

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more difficult than it looks on the screen, but beautifully struck. As

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you say, the rest is history. It's a pity the break-off shot has

:21:30.:21:52.

put a red next to the black and put it out of commission.

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Neither player will have liked to have seen that. It means that Ronnie

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can't take this reds on the left corner because there is no colour

:22:07.:22:07.

available. Can you believe it, John? 25 years

:22:08.:22:45.

since Jan Verhaas came on the scene as a referee. One of the very best,

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and a lovely man. We have all got older together.

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Touching ball again. Ronnie might as well just stay where he is.

:23:03.:23:23.

This time, Ronnie can't play back down the table. He can see the edge

:23:24.:23:27.

of the pack. Ronnie's good friend, Damian Hirst,

:23:28.:24:05.

the artist. He didn't think he would be back today, because it look like

:24:06.:24:12.

Liang Wenbo would pot black and Ronnie would be out.

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Doesn't want to leave a free ball here. And he hasn't, but he has left

:24:21.:24:29.

a long pot on. I wonder how Neil will take this. Will he go round the

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back? He just caught the blue. But Neil could play around on the blue

:24:38.:24:41.

or he could play too much the red away from the black. -- he could

:24:42.:24:57.

play in to nudge. Usually, Neil's cue action goes straight through.

:24:58.:25:08.

Not a great chance, obviously, but he usually manages to find a way

:25:09.:25:13.

round these things. This could develop the pink and

:25:14.:25:35.

reds, because the black is tied up at the moment.

:25:36.:25:41.

Might just be able to get through. It's tight though. It's very tight.

:25:42.:25:53.

In fact, I don't think he can get through to it. A bit unlucky with

:25:54.:26:00.

the split. It wasn't totally ideal on the blue. He couldn't get loads

:26:01.:26:02.

of power onto that. But he'll be very disappointed if he

:26:03.:26:13.

doesn't cover it. He wouldn't be playing to leave the red there.

:26:14.:26:24.

Just caught the pink half ball. Full-ball contact would have been

:26:25.:26:31.

better, but he was still a bit unlucky.

:26:32.:26:50.

The difficult thing for Neil is he is playing off the site of the pack.

:26:51.:26:56.

The red on the left is the one he's got to get covered. Cue ball

:26:57.:27:02.

virtually in the same place he played from. Should be ideal. Well,

:27:03.:27:14.

he hasn't done that. And, if Ronnie can pot this red and managed to get

:27:15.:27:18.

the cue ball out, then it's a chance.

:27:19.:27:36.

Quick glance at the pink, cot get through to that, but the main part

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of the shot was plotting the red and so a medium length blue, normally

:27:44.:27:47.

very reliable with this type of shot. He hasn't had much table time.

:27:48.:28:06.

Right the way through, beautifully struck.

:28:07.:28:24.

Not a brilliant chance, this, the way the balls are commissioned. The

:28:25.:28:30.

black is out of commission and the pink will get tied up back on its

:28:31.:28:32.

spot, it looks like. Is there enough room? That is the

:28:33.:28:44.

ball marker that will tell the referee whether it spots. The pink

:28:45.:28:49.

is now tied up. He will have to play up for the blue. He had a look to

:28:50.:28:53.

see whether the pink would go into the left corner, but we will find

:28:54.:28:59.

out, the way he plays the positional side of this shot, whether it pots

:29:00.:29:04.

or not. Well, it does. The pink does pass that read, by the looks of

:29:05.:29:06.

things. Well, maybe not. Otherwise he would have played it.

:29:07.:29:20.

He did look at it, so Ronnie would have known whether the pink would

:29:21.:29:21.

go. Just can't quite get position he

:29:22.:29:40.

likes at the moment. Slightly off with each shot, and the bump doesn't

:29:41.:29:46.

help, putting him straight on the blue. He would have liked to have

:29:47.:29:48.

been topside. Another good medium-range pot. To

:29:49.:29:57.

screw back and back for the blue again. Might get close to the left

:29:58.:30:02.

middle pocket. He'll have to be careful.

:30:03.:30:11.

Really well struck. The best thing there is, in that position, three

:30:12.:30:21.

reds below the pink and two of the bottom one is definitely pot now. So

:30:22.:30:26.

there is an area to play in. Straightaway, that's where he is.

:30:27.:30:46.

He is making a terrific job of this. When you see them having to work

:30:47.:31:01.

hard like this, very skilful indeed. He has got a slight angle. So he can

:31:02.:31:05.

force this in. Both the reds might pot. Isn't he

:31:06.:31:19.

taking these well? The table, when he first came to it, wasn't

:31:20.:31:23.

brilliant, but so far this has been superb.

:31:24.:31:27.

Both players in good nick. That is what everybody wanted at this packed

:31:28.:31:36.

house at the Alexandra Palace. And everyone watching at home. They

:31:37.:31:41.

wanted to see both these players playing well and it looks as if we

:31:42.:31:50.

are going to see that. There is always something a bit special about

:31:51.:31:54.

Britain playing Australia at any sport. -- England playing Australia.

:31:55.:32:15.

59 on, and the lead is 60, so he needs to make sure of this red. Not

:32:16.:32:26.

many players would have come to the table and a won the frame from this

:32:27.:32:30.

visit, but O'Sullivan has, absolutely brilliant.

:32:31.:32:43.

Robertson has signalled to the referee that that is enough, so

:32:44.:32:49.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has returned. One chance was enough to win the frame.

:32:50.:32:54.

Great stuff. STUDIO: Fast start, great start. We were talking about

:32:55.:33:00.

Neil Robertson's victory in the first frame, that was his first

:33:01.:33:12.

frame he has taken off Ronnie in 14, he had lost the last 13 in a row.

:33:13.:33:20.

Noticeable difference with Ronnie from the first run, he knows he's

:33:21.:33:23.

playing one of the best in the world today. Against Liang Wenbo, he

:33:24.:33:28.

looked like he did not want to be there. But this is the quality you

:33:29.:33:31.

would expect from two of the best players in the world. They both look

:33:32.:33:37.

up for this. That was a great break from Ronnie, when he came to the

:33:38.:33:40.

table it did not look like he would win the frame from that visit, but

:33:41.:33:45.

he brought the pink interplay, in and out of baulk, a great example of

:33:46.:33:50.

potting and break-building, and keeping the cue ball straight. It is

:33:51.:34:02.

brisk and a lot of fun. COMMENTATOR: I like that, Hazel, it is brisk, and

:34:03.:34:09.

also brilliant. I suppose Ronnie has got away with that break a little

:34:10.:34:24.

bit. He hit that far too thin, and you don't see that very often.

:34:25.:34:51.

Excellent. Off the side of the pack and opened a few balls out.

:34:52.:35:04.

Attacking safety, that was. What a terrific return from the

:35:05.:35:26.

Australian. I think this is going to play a key part in this match, the

:35:27.:35:31.

safety, the tactical side of the game, who puts in the better safety

:35:32.:35:34.

shot that creates the better chances? If he can sneak past the

:35:35.:35:47.

yellow, for the Boston bottom red. He's double-checking on that, and

:35:48.:35:53.

maybe it also rather tight. Maybe he can leave the cue ball up this end.

:35:54.:35:58.

If he is taking this amount of time about it, it is clearly difficult.

:35:59.:36:12.

Some very good safety shots from both players. Absolutely top-class.

:36:13.:36:37.

That path is blocked off now, the one can't clip of the one at the

:36:38.:36:48.

side of the pink. In a perfect world, he would dump the cue ball on

:36:49.:36:52.

the top rail, but he can't do that either because he can't see the

:36:53.:37:07.

right side of it. This is a problem. He will try to find the safety shot.

:37:08.:37:13.

There is a possible red, but he could miss that. Can he find the

:37:14.:37:18.

correct spot at this end of the table? That is pretty good.

:37:19.:37:36.

Sometimes you are in that much trouble you have got to play what

:37:37.:37:42.

you call a containing shot. He did well and got himself out of trouble.

:37:43.:37:55.

He needs to get this right. He wants wrote to cover the one on the corner

:37:56.:38:06.

pocket and he has judged that to perfection -- he wants to cover the

:38:07.:38:12.

one. He needed a good length of the cue ball. He needed a good length,

:38:13.:38:17.

otherwise Neil Robertson would have taken it on, but you can't pot them

:38:18.:38:30.

if you can't see them. Yes, 4-5 shots have been top-class, all

:38:31.:38:35.

putting their opponent in the maximum amount of trouble.

:38:36.:38:52.

snooker like to see this type of game, -- a lot of people who watch

:38:53.:39:01.

snooker like to see this type of game, as well as the frame-winning

:39:02.:39:05.

breaks going on. He's trying to drop dead weight on the cushion at the

:39:06.:39:11.

top, Izzy? He hasn't judged that as he wanted it and that is a big

:39:12.:39:13.

mistake -- is a? Hmmm. Not close at all to what he

:39:14.:39:23.

was doing. Good opening red but pink and black

:39:24.:39:51.

tied up, but after the break we saw on the previous frame, that break of

:39:52.:39:55.

63 from nowhere, absolutely nothing on. In a few shots time he might

:39:56.:40:06.

have the pink and black in the play. -- in play.

:40:07.:40:12.

Funnily enough, he did not hit that one very well at all. Just about

:40:13.:40:22.

sneaked in-off the right-hand jaw. A bit too close for comfort, missing

:40:23.:40:28.

that one. So, change of plan with his positional play. He has got to

:40:29.:40:36.

find the gap, to get round for the blue here.

:40:37.:40:42.

He's not mind his mind up yet, as to what shot he's playing.

:40:43.:40:53.

He will be very disappointed at this contribution. He had the table at

:40:54.:41:04.

his mercy after the first red he knocked in. It is a bonus, that he

:41:05.:41:10.

can just get through to the blue otherwise he was in a bit of a hole.

:41:11.:41:40.

That's brilliant. Once again, he cued beautifully, and where the cue

:41:41.:41:53.

ball has finished Mike the ideal. -- might be ideal. Far from easy from

:41:54.:41:58.

the top cushion, but the fact he has an angle. The long pot straight in

:41:59.:42:06.

the middle of the pocket. Can he falls an angle out from the green up

:42:07.:42:13.

the table? Then the scoring opportunity is his. -- can he force

:42:14.:42:25.

an angle. Anywhere near the circle and then he can force the angle. He

:42:26.:42:31.

is OK. Coming on past. Another couple of red is available, I think.

:42:32.:42:37.

I thought he would have to force it, but that was a perfect angle where

:42:38.:42:42.

he finished. No problem getting back down the table. Ronnie had a first

:42:43.:42:50.

look at these reds and colours. What can Neil Robertson make from them?

:42:51.:43:09.

If he screws back of this one, almost wrecked he could catch the

:43:10.:43:19.

other red and go completely out of position. Funny situation, not ideal

:43:20.:43:26.

for either of them, and when he came down the table he must've he would

:43:27.:43:30.

be on something, and he is, but it requires more positional play. -- he

:43:31.:43:36.

must've thought he would be on something. It is his turn to make a

:43:37.:43:41.

mess of it, I don't know what that shot was, and so both players making

:43:42.:43:52.

a positional howler. He needs a thin one here to avoid the middle pocket.

:43:53.:44:00.

That has opened up the game substantially now that the pink and

:44:01.:44:05.

black are in play. One mistake now could be very costly. If you had

:44:06.:44:15.

told me it would be 6-5 after those two chances they were given, I would

:44:16.:44:22.

never have believed it. Very rare occurrence for these players to make

:44:23.:44:27.

mistakes position me. -- positionally.

:44:28.:44:50.

Looking at this table, whoever makes the next mistake, they won't be

:44:51.:45:01.

making too much position on these balls the way they are now because

:45:02.:45:06.

they are spread rigidly. -- they are spread beautifully. So, a big break

:45:07.:45:12.

will be in the offing if you get the chance.

:45:13.:45:28.

There's a couple of roots back down the table for Ronnie, if he

:45:29.:45:35.

conceived the one on the right hand side of the table, but I prefer the

:45:36.:45:38.

one on the left-hand side, two double back towards the black and

:45:39.:45:43.

then the white will head back towards the yellow and blue. It

:45:44.:45:51.

depends how he feels. He is going for the thin one on the right side

:45:52.:46:01.

of the table. Oh! This could be a nice flick. Yes, he's extremely

:46:02.:46:14.

adapted that shot, the thin clip, there is a routine where he

:46:15.:46:19.

practices and place those shots. -- plays. Hmmm

:46:20.:46:32.

hit be read, but no great pace on the cue ball. -- hit the red.

:46:33.:47:08.

Don't think he will play the pot on this. No. It was a very thin clip

:47:09.:47:22.

and he didn't fancy playing the pot. He is looking for the focus today, I

:47:23.:47:25.

agree with Stephen Hendry in the studio. -- he's looking fully

:47:26.:47:30.

focused today. He did not take any liberties with that shot. The first

:47:31.:47:37.

time lasted just over ten minutes, the second just over 11 minutes, we

:47:38.:47:41.

are coming up to nearly 14 minutes and there are still plenty of reds

:47:42.:47:44.

left on the table, that is just the nature of how this frame has panned

:47:45.:47:51.

out. Still very entertaining to watch, to see who is going to make

:47:52.:47:55.

the first mistake in this safety exchange.

:47:56.:48:07.

Oh! That's the first mistake. Even though you are as good as

:48:08.:48:17.

O'Sullivan, that is your reward for the last shot. He could have played

:48:18.:48:26.

a thin clip, but he refused it and made a safety, and this is his

:48:27.:48:30.

reward for it. That shot was always looking like trouble. He nearly

:48:31.:48:35.

flipped the red in the middle. -- flute. Still, he is tight on the

:48:36.:48:39.

cushion. The only thing with potting the

:48:40.:48:52.

black, it looks like the pink is in the open.

:48:53.:49:09.

He could win this frame with just potting reds and pinks because the

:49:10.:49:15.

black is out of commission. Five reds nicely placed. If he keeps

:49:16.:49:19.

staying on the pink. It is lovely to watch, when you play

:49:20.:49:47.

these little screw shots, it is the secret of break-building.

:49:48.:50:25.

Going back to the situation of how he got the opportunity, that is how

:50:26.:50:31.

good Ronnie is amongst the balls and his break-building, but the safety

:50:32.:50:34.

exchange from both players, it was Roddy who forced the mistake from

:50:35.:50:39.

Neil with a safety of the highest quality -- Ronnie. I love to see him

:50:40.:50:47.

play when he's fully focused. It is not great to play against, but when

:50:48.:50:50.

you are watching and he is fully focused on what he's doing, the

:50:51.:50:53.

concentration levels are there, and he wants to win the match, he is

:50:54.:50:56.

very special to watch. What he's done well here, he's

:50:57.:51:34.

hand-4-macro -- he's had four pinks and this is the fifth coming up, it

:51:35.:51:38.

is getting more difficult now. Playing into a gap, and that is

:51:39.:51:45.

judged to perfection. He's going to need one more the difficult reds and

:51:46.:51:50.

he's got a nice angle on the pink and he might be able to get on one.

:51:51.:52:00.

Just the one more that's available and that is all he'll need. 51

:52:01.:52:04.

ahead. That's 52, with 51 remaining.

:52:05.:52:20.

Fascinating frame. Some good tactical play from both players.

:52:21.:52:26.

Once again, a wonderful break. The second phone, 63, wonderfully

:52:27.:52:33.

constructed. Mrs the pink. -- the second frame. That has opened up the

:52:34.:52:46.

reds, so Neil will be carrying on. That's in concentration, he thought

:52:47.:52:49.

he was over the finishing line. If he had parted that read -- putted

:52:50.:52:58.

that red, Niall would have stayed in his seat. So easy to do that. You

:52:59.:53:05.

think you have won the frame, and a little lapse in concentration.

:53:06.:53:25.

That is the shot Ronnie play, he misses the pink. Fix the black out

:53:26.:53:35.

of the way and that puts the two reds in play. -- flicks. Hmmm.

:53:36.:53:45.

Because of that he might have given himself a headache for the rest of

:53:46.:53:55.

this frame. You can see where he wants to put the cue ball so he can

:53:56.:53:58.

send the red around the angles towards the green and leave the

:53:59.:54:05.

snooker. This frame is far from over.

:54:06.:54:18.

I know it's the best of 11 and we are only in the third frame, but

:54:19.:54:24.

this could prove to be a turning point, this frame. It is not always

:54:25.:54:30.

winning the frames you should win, it is nicking the frames you

:54:31.:54:35.

shouldn't. If Neil Robertson can win this after a brilliant 51 from

:54:36.:54:39.

O'Sullivan, if he can win this and nick it, that will be a boost to his

:54:40.:54:44.

confidence. Neil, that is a shocker. I can't believe that. That is not

:54:45.:54:51.

like him at all. It is what you call quitting on the shot, you never

:54:52.:54:57.

delivered the cue. He was hoping to be behind the black and then sent

:54:58.:55:02.

the red up towards the green, but he walked away in disgust. There is

:55:03.:55:14.

another nice little flick. APPLAUSE Getting a round of applause, he

:55:15.:55:19.

missed the pot by a mile. Trick shot, but the swerve never took.

:55:20.:55:32.

Still only two snookers needed. Quite fortunate, Ronnie, to miss

:55:33.:55:43.

that. It always seems the way, when you are given an opportunity like

:55:44.:55:47.

Neil was, the balls don't tend to forgive you for missing a chance

:55:48.:55:51.

like that. It was a very good chance for getting a snooker. There's

:55:52.:55:57.

another one. Neil feels he can just sneak this

:55:58.:56:16.

one. Yes, excellent shot, Ronnie has got

:56:17.:56:44.

to play a little swerve. Just be careful.

:56:45.:57:00.

Make sure you get the swerve on, coming on like, just as it got past

:57:01.:57:10.

the pink. -- coming on late. He's decided he's going to knock the red

:57:11.:57:18.

in and take his chances, adjust the colours on the table. The brown is

:57:19.:57:21.

not very good, is it? Looking at the scoreboard, he will

:57:22.:57:52.

still need a couple of snookers. Sometimes if you get to the blue,

:57:53.:57:56.

you only need D1 but that is not the case here. -- you only need the one

:57:57.:58:02.

snooker, but that is not the case here. He needs to start looking for

:58:03.:58:07.

a snooker now. It can go up behind the black. Has he hit that hard

:58:08.:58:18.

enough? He has hit that one again. Yeah, once again, not like him. He's

:58:19.:58:25.

not just a little bit out with that one, as well. He's quite a way. That

:58:26.:58:27.

was a jobs. -- that was a chance. If he could get a chance to pot the

:58:28.:59:10.

brown and blue, he might take it, because then he could tie with one

:59:11.:59:16.

snooker. He had a glance at the scoreboard and he worked that one

:59:17.:59:21.

out. Yes, but if you didn't do it the first time when he had the

:59:22.:59:24.

chance with the brown before, Ronnie is going to do it now.

:59:25.:59:48.

One good long pot and that should be the end of this frame.

:59:49.:00:24.

He's probably thinking to himself, what am I doing here? This frame

:00:25.:00:30.

should have been over about seven minutes ago.

:00:31.:00:43.

That's a snooker. But I think he can get enough side to miss the black

:00:44.:00:57.

and swing it and it brown. -- and hit the brown. Oh, only just.

:00:58.:01:15.

Yeah, I mean, Ronnie thought he'd won the frame. Normally wouldn't

:01:16.:01:26.

miss this type of shot. Neil would have stayed in his seat, had that

:01:27.:01:34.

pink bombing. This brown was close. Now, we'll Neil think about potting

:01:35.:01:39.

the brown and blue? Can he see the brown to pot it? He can.

:01:40.:01:48.

It's a possibility, but you know what it's like, Dennis. You can

:01:49.:01:55.

virtually guarantee you're going to get the snooker of pink and black.

:01:56.:02:00.

You generally get one shot at it. If you don't get it the first time,

:02:01.:02:04.

most players are pretty adept at keeping them away from each other.

:02:05.:02:13.

He played to pot the blue and he missed it. I think he was thinking

:02:14.:02:19.

about where he was going to leave the cue ball to give himself the

:02:20.:02:24.

chance of a snooker. Can Ronnie finished the frame off?

:02:25.:02:37.

Doesn't matter about the pink. We won't see many frames lasting as

:02:38.:02:45.

long as that one, am up for 29 minutes. Some brilliant tactical

:02:46.:02:51.

play at the beginning of that frame, but Ronnie made a superb break of

:02:52.:02:56.

51, paving the way for him to lead 2-1.

:02:57.:03:00.

Nearly 20 minute minutes, that. A real contrast to the start of the

:03:01.:03:05.

match was a very interesting safety exchange in the battle to gain

:03:06.:03:09.

control. One shot in particular showed a lot of patience from

:03:10.:03:13.

Ronnie. Ronnie had a pot on to the left corner, but refused it. He

:03:14.:03:19.

played an excellent safety shot, which consequently let him in the

:03:20.:03:22.

51. The safety exchange is almost show more than the breaks on how

:03:23.:03:29.

someone's appetite for winning is, because you are determined to keep

:03:30.:03:33.

the upper hand. Ronnie O'Sullivan is always going to make breaks, doesn't

:03:34.:03:37.

matter how bad he is playing, because it's his bread and butter.

:03:38.:03:41.

But the determination to win the safety exchange shows he is up for

:03:42.:03:49.

it. Do you sense how focused he is? Absolutely. He is underestimated for

:03:50.:03:54.

how a safety player he is, Neil. There were some great exchanges in

:03:55.:04:00.

that frame. It was cat and mouse. So clever about that shot, not only

:04:01.:04:04.

refusing a red, but the position of the cue ball, over the left-hand

:04:05.:04:09.

side of the table, which made it even more difficult to get back.

:04:10.:04:14.

Never plays a safety shot claim ball, Ronnie. He is always

:04:15.:04:18.

manoeuvring the cue ball, putting some side on the cue ball to get it

:04:19.:04:22.

to the position that the most difficult. Sometimes you look and

:04:23.:04:27.

say, where do I not want to play the shot from, and that is where he will

:04:28.:04:31.

put it. There were a couple of shots that he played left-handed. They are

:04:32.:04:37.

almost interchangeable. You hardly notice he is doing it. I don't know

:04:38.:04:44.

how he does it. We both tried to play left-handed and look like full

:04:45.:04:48.

is doing it! But he does it so naturally. There is no ripple of

:04:49.:04:51.

applause any more. They think, oh well, it's just Ronnie O'Sullivan.

:04:52.:05:00.

Pretty good length with the break-up shot, but Ronnie may attempt a long

:05:01.:05:08.

red into the left corner. It's the only one he would leave and he'd be

:05:09.:05:14.

on the back. We saw Barry Hawkins knocking two or three of these in at

:05:15.:05:21.

the start of his match when he beat Shaun Murphy last evening. 6-1.

:05:22.:05:29.

That was a surprise to everyone. Not a surprise to Barry, though,

:05:30.:05:36.

although Shaun had beaten him eight out of the nine times they'd played.

:05:37.:05:49.

The red was dead straight. Yeah, very difficult shot, those. The one

:05:50.:05:56.

thing you are hoping you don't do is get the double case. -- double kiss.

:05:57.:06:11.

In some ways, it's a bit easier to judge when you are just plain claim

:06:12.:06:15.

ball. Plain claim ball and taking the cue ball up and down the table,

:06:16.:06:20.

it's just difficult to get the pace right. Playing around angles and

:06:21.:06:25.

using a bit of side, you are almost guaranteed to get close to the

:06:26.:06:28.

question. You have to practice quite a bit. Trust me, he puts plenty of

:06:29.:06:32.

time in on the safety play as well. He's got away with that. He made a

:06:33.:06:52.

complete mess. You see him egging himself on, going, come on! He hit

:06:53.:06:56.

that far too thick. But this will cut back.

:06:57.:07:04.

Given himself a bit of a telling off.

:07:05.:07:17.

The funny thing is, we were talking about him using the side, and that's

:07:18.:07:24.

the one downside. Sometimes you push the cue ball in a bit thick and

:07:25.:07:31.

that's what happens. Not like him. A big, big frame for Neil Robertson to

:07:32.:07:35.

try and level, going into the interval. He might play for the blue

:07:36.:07:42.

hair, get it back on its spot. The pink is tied up, the black is off

:07:43.:07:47.

its spot. He could pot this red into the left corner and finish nicely on

:07:48.:07:51.

the blue and get it back on its spot. That would certainly help

:07:52.:07:52.

things. If he's got a good enough angle, he

:07:53.:08:06.

could even play into the pink and reds, but having said that it would

:08:07.:08:11.

be a bad idea to play for the red that's near the black spot. He seems

:08:12.:08:15.

to have enough angle to do what he wants with this.

:08:16.:08:21.

So into the pink and reds, and it is misjudged. That a wide target.

:08:22.:08:30.

I thought he would play on the loose red, Dennis. But there you go.

:08:31.:08:46.

He'll be disappointed, from where he was on the blue, not to have scored

:08:47.:08:49.

more points. I showed you when Ronnie went back

:08:50.:09:03.

to his seat how annoyed he was. He was expecting Neil to make a few

:09:04.:09:05.

more, so he hasn't been punished. I like that safety shot. That

:09:06.:09:17.

brought the pink into play for is that OK, he didn't want to can the

:09:18.:09:21.

green, but that's opened the game up. But he might be in a bit of

:09:22.:09:27.

trouble here, if Neil Robertson can get behind the green.

:09:28.:09:33.

That's what he tried for, but his safety has been a little bit off

:09:34.:09:41.

today. When he has been laying snooker is today, he's been a little

:09:42.:09:47.

bit off with his pace. Not massively so, but enough to be magnified in

:09:48.:09:49.

this company. Another beauty. 92% safety success,

:09:50.:10:09.

Ronnie O'Sullivan. He had to get that right, and he

:10:10.:10:44.

has. Pinpoint accuracy there, because he could have left one for

:10:45.:10:50.

the left corner, one for the middle. And it's not touching ball, so

:10:51.:10:53.

awkward to get back down to the baulk area. A bit of tapping going

:10:54.:10:59.

on here, trying to see what else he can do here.

:11:00.:11:07.

Was that a cap or a tip? I'm not sure which it was. -- a tap.

:11:08.:11:27.

Touching ball has resolved the situation, thankfully. No more

:11:28.:11:39.

tapping. That is usually his forte, but

:11:40.:12:32.

goodness me, a long way off. I don't think I've seen him miss one by that

:12:33.:12:34.

far before. Well, it's not an easy starter for

:12:35.:12:57.

Ronnie. The pot isn't so difficult, but the position is more difficult.

:12:58.:13:05.

That was a better shot and it looked, to have to screw that check

:13:06.:13:11.

side. It needs another good positional shot. Straighten up, keep

:13:12.:13:15.

it away from the reds. He made sure of the pot. But didn't

:13:16.:13:26.

avoid the yellow. He almost parted the yellow. --

:13:27.:13:54.

potted. Well, not an easy chance, but Neil Robertson will be delighted

:13:55.:13:59.

he only got six points off it. He must have thought, when he missed

:14:00.:14:03.

that one pot why a mile, he was in big trouble.

:14:04.:14:15.

Is still little awkward. He's looking at the brown, but I don't

:14:16.:14:23.

think he's got enough angle to get up off the brown and yellow. He

:14:24.:14:28.

needs plenty of side tonic to get up, at least passed the blues spot

:14:29.:14:33.

area. He'd like to get closer to the reds. He's got to get -- he's got to

:14:34.:14:42.

avoid the pockets. A big shot, just get position. He is an one, but can

:14:43.:14:55.

he get any position off this red that he's landed on? Very tight on

:14:56.:14:57.

the cushion. No good, that one. Have to play something a bit special

:14:58.:15:15.

to get on the pink from that red. Very awkward.

:15:16.:15:31.

I'll tell you what, what an effort that is! I mean, that is as good a

:15:32.:15:41.

positional shot as you'll ever see. Loads of top spin. That was bit

:15:42.:15:47.

special. We won't see a better shot than that one. Fabulous.

:15:48.:15:57.

Played that just to try and clear the black spot. The red is still

:15:58.:16:03.

covering it. Truly brilliant shot, that was. He

:16:04.:16:25.

might need another one here, looking at this. He has a slight angle to

:16:26.:16:31.

work with. In a perfect world, he'd like to get half ball off that blue

:16:32.:16:37.

and come down and split the pack with the black, but he's just the

:16:38.:16:38.

wrong side. Just look at the cue power of the

:16:39.:17:00.

Australian. Loads of top spin and left-hand side, but he's got to

:17:01.:17:05.

finish a bit close to the cushion. That could be end of break.

:17:06.:17:10.

And you can see, all covering each other.

:17:11.:17:19.

In fact, the way they've finished, it is very awkward to get good

:17:20.:17:23.

safety shot in. The last two frames, the balls have

:17:24.:17:59.

gone a little bit awkward. That's why the previous frame lasted 29

:18:00.:18:04.

minutes. The first frame was ten minutes, the second 11, but

:18:05.:18:09.

sometimes the balls dictate what happens, and we are back to tipping

:18:10.:18:19.

and tapping again. I tell you what, that was nearly a bit too hard. His

:18:20.:18:22.

heart was in his mouth for a second. They are going to keep playing until

:18:23.:18:37.

an opportunity arises to do so. He thinks he could screw down off

:18:38.:19:03.

this with some side and get it back to the baulk area. Got to be careful

:19:04.:19:05.

though. Could play a push shot. Yeah, a push shot is where the tip

:19:06.:19:28.

of the cue ball and object ball and the cue are in contact at the same

:19:29.:19:33.

time. Tough for the referee to decide what is a push shot, but the

:19:34.:19:38.

player normally would walk away from the table and declare it themselves,

:19:39.:19:43.

if they push it. But look at this for a safety. Yeah, great shot.

:19:44.:19:52.

All covered up. Nothing too appetising down either side. Ronnie

:19:53.:20:08.

was looking to see if he could drop on the red that is nearest top

:20:09.:20:09.

cushion. He'd tried something a bit special

:20:10.:20:29.

to try and hit the cushion first and swing the ball around the angles,

:20:30.:20:34.

but it was very difficult. Just looking to see if the black goes

:20:35.:20:38.

into the pocket, but he's going to take the red here. Not sure if it is

:20:39.:20:43.

available. It would be a big advantage if the black goes.

:20:44.:20:49.

He's the wrong side of the blue. Maybe the black is just that little

:20:50.:20:55.

bit too tight. If you were in behind the black, it

:20:56.:21:12.

looks as if you would be able to pot it.

:21:13.:21:20.

We might have to see a Neil Robertson special. We talk about cue

:21:21.:21:27.

power, if he takes his red to the right corner, he's got to get a lot

:21:28.:21:36.

of action on this. Oh, he had an angle, so he didn't have to screw it

:21:37.:21:42.

back. He's just scrapping for position at the moment. He can't

:21:43.:21:47.

quite get them how you want them. Slightly wrong all the time. -- how

:21:48.:21:57.

he wants them. It's a hard work break at the moment.

:21:58.:22:08.

Mid-session interval coming up after this frame. I mean, the first two

:22:09.:22:16.

frames, both players got one chance and made enough to win the frame,

:22:17.:22:21.

but the last two frames, the balls have gone so awkward.

:22:22.:22:34.

And this is the key shot for the frame. Plot the black, should play a

:22:35.:22:41.

little cannon onto the red when he runs through. Should leave the other

:22:42.:22:45.

red available. A big chance. No real reason now from this

:22:46.:22:58.

position, other than bad fortune or a kick or something, why he

:22:59.:23:03.

shouldn't win this frame. Really good for Neil Robertson, and a good

:23:04.:23:07.

effort, because he missed one or two shots in this frame and lost the cue

:23:08.:23:11.

ball a couple of times. One attempt at a long pot was a long way away.

:23:12.:23:17.

If he will go into the interval 2-2, he will be delighted.

:23:18.:23:43.

He won't be coming back to the table here.

:23:44.:23:52.

Sometimes the interval can change things around. As I said, the last

:23:53.:23:56.

two frames have been very awkward. And I suppose 2-2 is a pretty fair

:23:57.:24:11.

reflection, JP? Yeah, I would think so. As I say, just because they are

:24:12.:24:16.

awkward frames it doesn't mean they are not important. They all count.

:24:17.:24:27.

Doesn't matter about that. Ronnie's on his way out of the arena. A

:24:28.:24:37.

couple of awkward frames, two very good opening frames, and they go to

:24:38.:24:41.

the mid-session interval 2-2. We are enjoying this and I am sure

:24:42.:24:46.

you are, too. Beautifully poised, some great stuff from both of them,

:24:47.:24:50.

and in that last frame Neil Robertson looked like he was getting

:24:51.:24:54.

into his stride. There was a particular positional shot. One red

:24:55.:25:01.

sums up Neil Robertson's cue action. Not many players could play this.

:25:02.:25:06.

Just get right through the cue ball and brings it back into play.

:25:07.:25:11.

Marvellous. He had to hit it perfectly because, if he didn't, he

:25:12.:25:14.

would have cannoned the red. If Ronnie had played it, talking about

:25:15.:25:19.

it for years, but it shows you what a fantastic cue man and player Neil

:25:20.:25:27.

Robertson is. Thoughts on this, enjoying it? Very good. Both players

:25:28.:25:32.

are up for it. It is tense and intriguing. A couple of scrappy

:25:33.:25:37.

frames, a couple of good frames. They are battling against each other

:25:38.:25:40.

to force that opening. The balls have gone scrappy in the last couple

:25:41.:25:45.

of frames but the first couple... You can see both players are up for

:25:46.:25:50.

it and they are cueing well. Should Robertson fans be concerned about

:25:51.:25:54.

his safety percentage? Ronnie seems to be in charge in that department.

:25:55.:25:59.

That could be a deciding factor as the match goes on. If you are

:26:00.:26:03.

creating the most chances, you are going to win the match, so maybe he

:26:04.:26:08.

has to look at that. The last two frames, completely opposite to the

:26:09.:26:13.

first two. I think it comes to who takes their opportunities and wins

:26:14.:26:17.

the frames in one visit. Bring on part two. Before that, let's have a

:26:18.:26:21.

chat with Neil Robertson. One thing I remember from a couple of years

:26:22.:26:25.

back, when I went to his house and we had an interview, what a

:26:26.:26:30.

fantastic room he had with all of his trophies, lots of photographs,

:26:31.:26:34.

very proud of his 12 ranking titles, and the fact he is the first

:26:35.:26:37.

non-British player to achieve the Triple Crown. Also in that room is

:26:38.:26:42.

all his video gaming equipment because, when not practising, he is

:26:43.:26:46.

in a parallel world. He came out of it to speak to John Parrott.

:26:47.:26:53.

The most important thing. Good players, how is the form? If you

:26:54.:27:01.

asked me in October, November, not great but, since then, I mean, I

:27:02.:27:05.

worked very hard over Christmas and, just before Christmas, I lost my

:27:06.:27:11.

last 16 to Marco Fu 4-3 in Scotland and he went on to win the

:27:12.:27:15.

tournament. A fantastic match and I could have easily got to the final.

:27:16.:27:20.

The form is back. I played well in the championship league, a couple of

:27:21.:27:23.

groups, heading into the Masters now. So I feel really good. And you

:27:24.:27:32.

make a lot centuries in that. Yeah. The way I started the season, it's

:27:33.:27:37.

probably not achievable to get 100 this season, but I racked up a view.

:27:38.:27:42.

I think I had 12 or 13 last week. The scoring is back. I feel really

:27:43.:27:46.

good. I have never practised as hard as I did recently. The season

:27:47.:27:52.

started well, a win early on and a couple of semifinals. But generally

:27:53.:27:56.

you have been consistent. Any reason why it hasn't been happening? And I

:27:57.:28:01.

went back home to Australia, I was back home four weeks. A period of

:28:02.:28:06.

time when other players are getting back into things, I was taken that

:28:07.:28:11.

time off. When I came back, I was still not ready to get back into

:28:12.:28:15.

competing at the highest level, so I went to China, had a bit of a

:28:16.:28:19.

nightmare out there. I didn't want to play the game. I had some bad

:28:20.:28:24.

results, and that sort of form continued for another couple of

:28:25.:28:28.

events. You couldn't practice properly. You get back from prying

:28:29.:28:33.

-- China and then you are up to Preston for qualifying, going there

:28:34.:28:35.

or wherever. It's hard to get momentum. It's good to have a period

:28:36.:28:41.

of to focus on practice on the practice table. Playing as well as

:28:42.:28:51.

ever. The UK must have been a bit of a second, getting first round. I

:28:52.:28:54.

thought you would be one of the favourites. -- must have been a

:28:55.:29:01.

sicken her. Definitely, but it wasn't a reflection on bad form. I

:29:02.:29:06.

can't really put that match down as bad form. I was outplayed. Which was

:29:07.:29:14.

fine. And then the match against Marco Fu could have easily gone

:29:15.:29:19.

either way. So the form has been there, but obviously people won't

:29:20.:29:23.

stop talking until I start picking up trophies. This tournament has

:29:24.:29:28.

been good, certainly this venue. Three final say. What do you like

:29:29.:29:33.

about it? The tournament in particular, the top players love

:29:34.:29:37.

playing here. It's been positive to move here. Great crowds every game,

:29:38.:29:42.

one-table set-up. That is what the top players really want to play in.

:29:43.:29:48.

It has such a fantastic history. As for those finals, you remember them,

:29:49.:29:54.

but you lost in two of them. One was Shaun Murphy, and that wasn't you at

:29:55.:29:58.

all in the final. Two unbelievable performances to get there. What was

:29:59.:30:03.

your take on that one? When I played Ali in the quarters, that was his

:30:04.:30:08.

first big match since recovering from cancer, so that was a big one

:30:09.:30:12.

to get up for. The match against Ronnie O'Sullivan, semis at the

:30:13.:30:16.

Masters, he's never lost a semi-here before, so I really got myself up

:30:17.:30:22.

for that, played fantastically and beat him 6-1. It's not that I didn't

:30:23.:30:26.

treat Shaun the same and it's impossible to match those kind of

:30:27.:30:31.

highs. I had a slight dip and Shaun took full advantage. Played some

:30:32.:30:35.

fantastic stuff. I a bit below par than where I needed to be, and Shaun

:30:36.:30:39.

can get on top of anyone when he is playing like that. To get beaten

:30:40.:30:45.

last year, I don't think I have seen anybody play that well and lose.

:30:46.:30:52.

What a match! What did you take from that? I was sick to lose. I had won

:30:53.:30:57.

the champion of champions, the UK championship, and this was the third

:30:58.:31:00.

big one and I really fancied winning a third in a row. The pattern that

:31:01.:31:07.

happened after winning the UK last year was people would play their

:31:08.:31:10.

best against me, which tends to happen. Not many other players like

:31:11.:31:14.

seeing one particular player winning all of the trophies. Judd was pretty

:31:15.:31:21.

determined to stop me picking up the third. He played fantastically well.

:31:22.:31:28.

That's what can happen in snooker. What what is your expectation for

:31:29.:31:34.

this week? To play as well as I can. I have prepared as well as I can.

:31:35.:31:38.

Whatever happens on the table, I can't be disappointed because I have

:31:39.:31:42.

put in the work. Just looking for a good performance, like in previous

:31:43.:31:47.

years. Some players, things not going right, they will ease off the

:31:48.:31:52.

gas, but you graft harder. Yeah, especially over the last couple of

:31:53.:31:55.

months, I have been practising so hard. I played in Norway over

:31:56.:32:00.

Christmas and I've never done that before. So I feel as though my game

:32:01.:32:05.

is in really good shape and hopefully it's not going to be too

:32:06.:32:08.

long before I picked up another good one. Thank you, good luck.

:32:09.:32:13.

It's 2-2 in this match. We are discussing more about Neil Robertson

:32:14.:32:20.

and Ronnie O'Sullivan later. What can you say to the kids when

:32:21.:32:27.

they want to start on snooker? Well, I think you have to say start them

:32:28.:32:32.

young and small. What's the deal here, Ken.

:32:33.:32:39.

Welcome all. Chris, the first time I've seen

:32:40.:32:42.

these tables in the Cue Zone, they look fantastic. Tell us about them.

:32:43.:32:52.

Well, this is about cue to the end of school programme. It hopes to

:32:53.:32:59.

bring the children to play in ranking events and eventually to the

:33:00.:33:02.

Masters. Jason, tell me about the

:33:03.:33:08.

anticipation for the young kids and what the WPCA are trying to achieve?

:33:09.:33:12.

This is key to our sports development. The one thing about

:33:13.:33:19.

full sized snooker tables, for the beginner or the junior, it is too

:33:20.:33:24.

difficult to get started on them. So the idea here is we can Trons port

:33:25.:33:30.

these smaller tables into a sports hall, a centre, or a youth centre,

:33:31.:33:35.

and this is the key here. As you can see, it is proving popular.

:33:36.:33:42.

Since the day it's been introduced, they have been cueing up for the

:33:43.:33:46.

tables. It is fantastic to see the lads into it.

:33:47.:33:52.

We are really encouraged. There has been a cue here all week to g have a

:33:53.:33:59.

go on the tables. Here is a full-sized table but here behind us,

:34:00.:34:03.

the young lads are on the smaller table, really enjoying themselves.

:34:04.:34:10.

And for the juniors, it is great for them to play here.

:34:11.:34:15.

Any sport has to make their sport accessible to everyone. This is

:34:16.:34:20.

about introducing this sport to disability centres as well and that

:34:21.:34:24.

take-up has been terrific. Do you fancy a game? You and me,

:34:25.:34:31.

Ken? Just like the old days. My dad made our first snooker table.

:34:32.:34:39.

He made it! He made it quietly, he cushioned it, covered it, clothed

:34:40.:34:43.

it, and we would stick it on our dining table and play when we were

:34:44.:34:55.

kids, my brother and I. But that is ancient history.

:34:56.:34:55.

Now, Barry, this is fantastic, isn't it, how do you rate the quality?

:34:56.:34:58.

This is fantastic. The great players. For me, it has been

:34:59.:35:04.

breathtaking. Especially in the afternoon sessions. And I dare say

:35:05.:35:10.

we are going into another one. Four, to six consecutive results. It is

:35:11.:35:14.

brilliant playing it is the cream of the crop. The top 16 players are

:35:15.:35:18.

here because they are the best 16 in the world. With the number of

:35:19.:35:22.

tournaments that they are playing, there are no excuses.

:35:23.:35:26.

These are the best of the best showing.

:35:27.:35:29.

And there have been more seats added. It is pretty healthy.

:35:30.:35:36.

So far. We can't be too complacent. Next year a few more. As long as we

:35:37.:35:41.

satisfy the demands of the fans and give those watching or buying a

:35:42.:35:45.

ticket value for money, then we're in a good place.

:35:46.:35:49.

You are always trying to promote recognition of the sport around the

:35:50.:35:56.

world. It struck me as looking at the statistics, there is a Qureia

:35:57.:36:03.

layings to be made with other sports, this fellow, Mr Hendry is

:36:04.:36:08.

top of the pile when it comes to majors. In the snooker, the

:36:09.:36:13.

official, Triple Crown, the Masters, the unchampionship and the World

:36:14.:36:16.

Championship. It is extraordinary. Look at that 18, in tenny, Federer.

:36:17.:36:22.

A more direct correlation, it's a head-to-head sport. Should we be

:36:23.:36:26.

referring to the achievements of these man more often in relation to

:36:27.:36:32.

these sports? I think we should. I think there is a loft correlation

:36:33.:36:40.

between snooker and golf. There are 120 events in snooker, as

:36:41.:36:47.

there are in golf, roughly. Maybe the other events to put into

:36:48.:36:53.

that, when the BBC had four events, there was the Grand Prix,

:36:54.:36:58.

equivalent, to, slightly less than in the UK but the three you have

:36:59.:37:05.

now, the tournaments, I think is a fascinating list to look at. Selby

:37:06.:37:09.

is coming up on the bottom but how long before he is five or six more

:37:10.:37:14.

years, he could be challenging the greats of the golf.

:37:15.:37:20.

Or indeed Ronnie. Ronnie O'Sullivan could conceivably win this.

:37:21.:37:26.

Ronnie could go beyond if his career in politic, of course, doesn't

:37:27.:37:30.

progress! We know he is think being being a member of Parliament next,

:37:31.:37:34.

there is no limit to what Ronnie O'Sullivan can achieve on that list

:37:35.:37:38.

or in the world in general. It is seldom that we make direct

:37:39.:37:43.

comparisons with other sports, is it a fair test? We call the three

:37:44.:37:49.

major, those were the three at the start of the season, if I didn't win

:37:50.:37:53.

one, I would have been disappointed with my season. I always prioritised

:37:54.:38:00.

these three events, the World Championship, then the Masters, then

:38:01.:38:04.

the UK. Every other events, maybe it is too black and white to call them

:38:05.:38:08.

practice, as there are huge amounts of money in the events but these

:38:09.:38:13.

three it is right to call them majors in my view.

:38:14.:38:18.

Exactly. I'm not suggesting that we redesignate them as major but it is

:38:19.:38:23.

helpful for the public to know that these are our majors? For the UK

:38:24.:38:28.

market, without a doubt. But we are a global sport. I dare say that the

:38:29.:38:32.

friends in China are looking to push the prize money. They would

:38:33.:38:38.

definitely want the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh major. But it is

:38:39.:38:43.

good to talk about these things and compare the greats of the past with

:38:44.:38:48.

the current greats. Sports is about promotion and perception, the

:38:49.:38:52.

promotion of the sport by statistics like that and perception of the fact

:38:53.:38:56.

that we are an ongoing growing sport in a much better state than other

:38:57.:39:00.

sports currently. Is there a huge history.

:39:01.:39:03.

The history is longer with every year! It's a plus for u Hazel! True.

:39:04.:39:10.

With the three big events, you notice that the live audiences are

:39:11.:39:14.

in a different league to the other tournaments. People want to come and

:39:15.:39:18.

see these three. Ne that is true. The bigger events

:39:19.:39:25.

get bigger and bigger and bigger. The medium-sized events are bigger

:39:26.:39:29.

than the smaller events, they tick on. But the World Championship, the

:39:30.:39:35.

Masters, those two, from a crowd participation, are light years away

:39:36.:39:40.

from others. The UK coming up third. The other issue I have to speak to

:39:41.:39:45.

you about is ongoing, we touched on it at the UK Championship, a feature

:39:46.:39:54.

of the 128. The fact that there are increasing Muralitharanings and

:39:55.:39:58.

grumblings if it is viable for the people at the bottom end of the 128

:39:59.:40:03.

to make a proper career and sport out of this. Even Ronnie O'Sullivan

:40:04.:40:08.

and Neil Robertson have had something to say. Have you thought

:40:09.:40:13.

about that? I am zoontly value waiting the state of the sport. That

:40:14.:40:21.

is what I do. I disagree completely with any idea

:40:22.:40:24.

about restricting the number of players, I'm in the world of dreams.

:40:25.:40:29.

I'm trying to create opportunities, not to reduce them. At the same time

:40:30.:40:33.

acknowledging that there is a problem for the lower ranked players

:40:34.:40:39.

in term of survival. Sport has to be brutal to be attract I have. That is

:40:40.:40:44.

it in a nutshell. Only a few players get the to top. We have a

:40:45.:40:48.

responsibility to give opportunity first and as the game grows and the

:40:49.:40:52.

prize money has trebled in six years if it trebles in another six years I

:40:53.:40:56.

will not be surprised but what I have to do is edge a little more of

:40:57.:41:01.

the prize money down to the lower levels, to give them something to

:41:02.:41:06.

breathe but I don't want them thinking it is easy. It will is not.

:41:07.:41:10.

I have had criticism, Ronnie said the other day, he change, as he

:41:11.:41:16.

always changes, one minute there should not be 128 but 64, and then

:41:17.:41:21.

the next, more money into the last echelons of the game. You cannot do

:41:22.:41:26.

both. It takes time to develop a proper prize money structure. We on

:41:27.:41:32.

that journey. In the World Championship, I am sure we will talk

:41:33.:41:36.

about how there is a shift towards the lower ranked players, I will say

:41:37.:41:40.

not enough, I will say it is enough to keep you alive and hungry to try

:41:41.:41:46.

to achieve what the greats have achieved. The day of sport where

:41:47.:41:53.

there is no opportunity, you may as well pack up and go home. Always,

:41:54.:41:58.

great to hear and interest to hear what you have to say. Now, what this

:41:59.:42:05.

man is to avail himself of is the seniors. We may see him back at the

:42:06.:42:12.

Crucible? It will be a pleasure. Steve and I have crossed swords a

:42:13.:42:17.

number of times. I always feel, I still feel, that he packed up too

:42:18.:42:22.

early. So I'm pleased to see him back in some shape or form.

:42:23.:42:27.

Barry, we are getting on with this cracking second match. Always lovely

:42:28.:42:31.

to see you. Back we go, then. Frame five.

:42:32.:42:37.

Well, with the mid-session, and we have changed things around. Two very

:42:38.:42:42.

good opening frames. The players waiting while the spectators return

:42:43.:42:49.

to their seats. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,

:42:50.:42:53.

frame five. Ronnie O'Sullivan to break.

:42:54.:43:00.

Two scrapping frames but intriguing. And talking about intriguing it is

:43:01.:43:05.

always that to listen to Barry Hearn talking. And great to see that

:43:06.:43:10.

Stephen Hendry is playing in the seniors, John. We are playing. I

:43:11.:43:15.

would love to see Stephen Hendry back at the Crucible Theatre.

:43:16.:43:19.

Yes, it should be a good tour and a bit of fun, which is what it should

:43:20.:43:24.

be about. We have all been competitive all of our live but

:43:25.:43:27.

nothing wrong with playing with something with a bit of fun

:43:28.:43:29.

involved. I'm sure it will be. Well, the mid-session, and that may

:43:30.:43:49.

change things around. Have a look at that for an opening

:43:50.:43:54.

basmati. John, do you think he could drop on the red next to the black.

:43:55.:43:59.

And he may have an angle up on to the brown to play on to that.

:44:00.:44:03.

It depends on the angle on the brown, as you say. It is a natural

:44:04.:44:07.

angle to split the back. But I'm sure he won't play that.

:44:08.:44:14.

A loose red there. That's pretty good. He is on the

:44:15.:44:18.

red. This opens the black up in play for the blue this time.

:44:19.:44:33.

Still a few reds available but if he wants to, he could go into the pink.

:44:34.:44:40.

The sort of shot that Ronnie would play himself. But other players tend

:44:41.:44:46.

to do it slightly different. It depends on how he feels. The one at

:44:47.:44:57.

the back of the pack, if he gets on that, John, then he can open the

:44:58.:44:59.

reds. . Yes, he may play away from that

:45:00.:45:14.

and leaf the cue ball low. Pots the reds and then the black. Depends on

:45:15.:45:18.

how he goes about it. A lot more pressure on this shot

:45:19.:45:34.

than there should have been. Excellent.

:45:35.:45:55.

He must have read your book, John. That is probably the best play in

:45:56.:46:01.

the game. Potting balls from being take on the cushion.

:46:02.:46:07.

You can only just see the top of the ball.

:46:08.:46:14.

Think being that first session, if I were the two players going into a

:46:15.:46:19.

2-2, I would have been slightly happier had I been Neil Robertson.

:46:20.:46:23.

Obviously 2-1 down in his match, so to level it, it is great. But on the

:46:24.:46:30.

balance of play, Ronnie was better in the opening session but, what you

:46:31.:46:34.

have done with Ronnie O'Sullivan, is to establish yourself in the match,

:46:35.:46:41.

you have not let him runaway and kept the crowd fairly quiet. So 2-2

:46:42.:46:46.

at the interval for Neil, would have been a pretty decent score. And he

:46:47.:46:50.

started this frame like he started the match.

:46:51.:47:01.

Still a couple of more reds available after that one.

:47:02.:47:33.

He might leave himself with the black to cannon into the reds. He is

:47:34.:47:40.

not that many pots away from securing the frame with one visit. A

:47:41.:47:43.

visit that started with a Neil Robertson special.

:47:44.:47:58.

as to whether he will win this frame at this visit.

:47:59.:48:06.

He wants the cannon the red in the middle there. But he wanted to play

:48:07.:48:13.

that with a bit of screw. He's stunned that in there. It

:48:14.:48:17.

needed a bit of screw, so when he canoned that it would come from the

:48:18.:48:21.

left-hand side of the table but he just stunned it in. He must have

:48:22.:48:26.

thought when he played it, he was bound to be on one but if he had

:48:27.:48:32.

played the screw shot, he would have guaranteed being in.

:48:33.:48:37.

Now 59 points. A healthy lead but not with the way that the balls are

:48:38.:48:40.

situated. That is far from being safe.

:48:41.:48:49.

He could do with marking something on to a cushion if he is playing the

:48:50.:48:54.

safety shot here as a little bit of insurance. But it will not be easy

:48:55.:49:01.

to put the reds, to keep them safe, an guarantee a good position for the

:49:02.:49:02.

cue ball. He's going to need a bit of help.

:49:03.:49:21.

We have three types of spider under the table. That's the extended

:49:22.:49:27.

spider. He can play this as a shot to

:49:28.:49:35.

nothing but it's awkward cueing. He will need the extension and not

:49:36.:49:40.

able to see the shot as he is so far away from the shot. He will have to

:49:41.:49:41.

judge it. Yes! Very difficult that shot.

:49:42.:50:14.

Certainly striking down, and also trying to get some safety with it.

:50:15.:50:19.

It is a shot, where if you play all out for the pot, you have a better

:50:20.:50:27.

chance. If you try a two in one shot, you don't get either, you

:50:28.:50:32.

don't get the safety or the basmati Can Ronnie make a counter punch? And

:50:33.:50:39.

after the all the hard work at the start of that frame for Neil

:50:40.:50:44.

Robertson... Will he is set the frame up for Ronnie O'Sullivan to

:50:45.:50:49.

come and steal it? The way that the reds are, they are lovely, aren't

:50:50.:51:02.

they? Couldn't be better, John. Even the one next to the pink will be

:51:03.:51:05.

available. Hang on... What has he played there?

:51:06.:51:24.

Well, ways going to say it was a careless shot the one before. I know

:51:25.:51:29.

for the player with visibility, a straight shot to the side but it

:51:30.:51:38.

shouldn't have been straight. Such a margin for error here. To

:51:39.:51:43.

overhit that. It is a lively cloth but that was very poor. Can he cut

:51:44.:51:49.

this one in? What a shot this would be.

:51:50.:51:57.

Nope! So that excellent opportunity has disappeared rapidly.

:51:58.:52:19.

I bet Neil Robertson can't contain his excitement, being back at the

:52:20.:52:26.

table. The way that Ronnie has been hitting

:52:27.:52:32.

it this afternoon. When he has had chances, he's been cueing

:52:33.:52:35.

beautifully. I whet can't believe he's back at the table.

:52:36.:52:49.

I bet he can't believe he's back at the table.

:52:50.:52:55.

Interesting to see how it affects Ronnie O'Sullivan. He's looked

:52:56.:53:04.

focussed this afternoon. Inside, he will be seething as what

:53:05.:53:10.

he's just done. If you want to give your opponents

:53:11.:53:15.

any more confidence... Keep doing what you've just done.

:53:16.:53:19.

Neil will be feeding off that. A complete contrast to the two

:53:20.:54:17.

frames before the mid-session interval.

:54:18.:54:23.

This has been going less than 12 minutes.

:54:24.:54:46.

A little bit of an exhibition shot. So much side there. It looked like

:54:47.:54:56.

the white was going to stop at the cushion behind the black. Then it

:54:57.:55:06.

spun the table. There's another exhibition shot from

:55:07.:55:07.

the Australian. That in? Yes. Two visit, Neil

:55:08.:55:26.

Robertson. An earlier break. Ronnie had a chance to counterattack, he

:55:27.:55:29.

didn't take it. The Australian leads. 3-2.

:55:30.:55:37.

So, 3-2 in front and the Australians, Neil Robertson, a

:55:38.:55:40.

fantastic red to get him under way. An interesting frame.

:55:41.:55:45.

Neil played a poor position into the bunch. It broke down. Odds on it

:55:46.:55:50.

looked like Ronnie O'Sullivan could clear up to win. He was favourite to

:55:51.:55:55.

win the frame when he got in. Ronnie will be fuming. These matches

:55:56.:56:01.

between two top players, this is what John mentioned in commentary,

:56:02.:56:05.

it's the frames you shouldn't win. They can decide the winner

:56:06.:56:09.

sometimes. When the players are so evenly matched. Ronnie will be

:56:10.:56:14.

disappointed at the chance of that missed opportunity. And the chance

:56:15.:56:19.

to give a psychological blow. It would have given Neil Robertson a

:56:20.:56:25.

bit of confidence and taken the edge of Ronnie. That can snowball and

:56:26.:56:29.

irritate him slightly. It will be interesting to see how he kicks on

:56:30.:56:32.

from here and how Neil Robertson kicks on as well. Now he has the

:56:33.:56:36.

upper hand, he has a bit more confidence. It has been very, very

:56:37.:56:39.

interesting. It has. That indeed was Robertson's

:56:40.:56:47.

best break since the first frame when he made a 74. He appears to be

:56:48.:57:00.

in good stroke again. And that's the pretty good break-off

:57:01.:57:07.

shot. I I mean if the red was not near the

:57:08.:57:13.

black, Ronnie would have a go. But because of the red being next to the

:57:14.:57:16.

black, you can't. He would leave that on.

:57:17.:57:20.

So just containing this escape off the side cushion.

:57:21.:57:25.

It could have been judged a little better. It doesn't want to be

:57:26.:57:34.

leaving any sort of basmati For Neil, this is awkward bridging. He

:57:35.:57:38.

is not contemplating that red to the left of the blue.

:57:39.:57:49.

Well, he holds his hand up. That was a nice little flick off the brown to

:57:50.:57:53.

fluke the snooker. And this is another careless one

:57:54.:58:20.

from Ronnie... He just can't keep presenting opportunities. Not that

:58:21.:58:27.

this is a gimme by a long stretch. You can't give up opportunities.

:58:28.:58:34.

He is starting to look a little worrying in that frame, Ronnie, like

:58:35.:58:38.

he was losing momentum in the match. I think he can drop on the black,

:58:39.:58:43.

you know. Come around between the red and the black there.

:58:44.:58:50.

Well, he decided that was risky. But he's the wrong side of the blue. It

:58:51.:58:54.

looked as if he could possibly have held fob the black.

:58:55.:59:10.

He's going to have to swing this around the angles again to leave

:59:11.:59:21.

pink or blue. Now that's such a good shot. That's

:59:22.:59:27.

beautiful. That's the type of shot you have to get loads of screw on

:59:28.:59:32.

it, and then hit it softer than you think. He played that really well.

:59:33.:59:37.

Now, how's your luck? Pretty good! Just OK. I thought that red was

:59:38.:00:08.

going to block the path for the blue but it's easily possible.

:00:09.:00:17.

Just wondering, that shot to the pocket that Neil Robertson missed,

:00:18.:00:21.

how important is that in the context of the match? He got it down to 3-2

:00:22.:00:28.

in the first opportunity. It is little things like that in these

:00:29.:00:32.

matches that make all of the difference, certainly with the top

:00:33.:00:33.

boys. The shot in the middle pocket, just

:00:34.:00:50.

to the far jaw. Instead of it being your opportunity, it's gone to

:00:51.:00:52.

Ronnie. Will it be costly? Pink out of commission, black a

:00:53.:01:10.

little awkward. I'm not sure if it's available to the right corner, the

:01:11.:01:14.

black, but he's got the perfect angle on the blue to get back into

:01:15.:01:15.

nice position. Needs to be straight on this red, so

:01:16.:01:26.

he can roll it in and leave that black. If he's not straight on it...

:01:27.:01:31.

Well, he'll have to wait for another chance. Going up for the blue again.

:01:32.:01:40.

A little bit pacey this time, so a slight change of plan again. One of

:01:41.:01:46.

those shots where you probably are on the side of being a seat, just in

:01:47.:01:51.

case you end up on a baulk colour instead. Oh! You don't want to be

:01:52.:01:55.

missing the green. Wow. Well, all I can put that down to is

:01:56.:02:11.

a lapse in concentration. Or maybe a little bit of the previous frame in

:02:12.:02:12.

his mind. If he's not got position, he will

:02:13.:02:25.

have been very lucky. Named two is looking at that red at the back.

:02:26.:02:27.

Does it pot? Difficult to know. Well, that was your answer, but I

:02:28.:02:55.

didn't expect named two to make such a poor attempt at getting the cue

:02:56.:03:02.

ball in the baulk area. -- I didn't expect Neil to make such a poor

:03:03.:03:08.

attempt. Not left any, but given Ronnie and easy way to come back.

:03:09.:03:15.

Not the best, because you can't afford to leave Neil Robertson these

:03:16.:03:19.

long pot. He's so good at them. Oh, and that's a useful cannon on

:03:20.:03:32.

the blue. Let me show you this terrific long pot again. Wobbled a

:03:33.:03:39.

few times but, without the cannon on the blue, he'd have been out of

:03:40.:03:40.

position. He'll settle for that. You have to

:03:41.:04:02.

say, Dennis, one or two worrying signs at the minute. Ronnie

:04:03.:04:04.

O'Sullivan is looking second-best in this match. Green off the spot, not

:04:05.:04:09.

expecting him to miss that ever. Yeah and, make no mistake about it,

:04:10.:04:25.

the Australian Neil Robertson will pick up on those couple of errors

:04:26.:04:29.

that Ronnie has made and it will give him an extra little boost.

:04:30.:04:38.

As a competitor, you can remember as well as anybody, when you sense a

:04:39.:04:44.

bit of weakness in your opponent, it's time to make the most of it,

:04:45.:04:48.

and you can see that's what Neil Robertson's doing.

:04:49.:05:03.

I wonder whether he can bring any reds out? Yes, forcing through to

:05:04.:05:10.

bring a single red out. That was a good shot.

:05:11.:05:19.

He could have done with getting a little bit more side on that. He may

:05:20.:05:27.

have to go up the table. If the blue is available, you can play on that.

:05:28.:05:32.

It would be nice to get the blue back of its spots, but not

:05:33.:05:35.

essential, but that's what he's got in mind. Pot this read and leave

:05:36.:05:42.

himself on the blue and get back to the scoring end of the table.

:05:43.:05:52.

Neil had a little look before. Might be a chance of a plant, but I don't

:05:53.:06:01.

think it's on. So there's nothing there. What does he do here? Does he

:06:02.:06:06.

play for the single red or take a chance? If he's got a natural angle

:06:07.:06:10.

to come off the side cushion, he could play a cannon into that pink

:06:11.:06:15.

and free reds, but it's not a big target. He is looking at the single

:06:16.:06:21.

red, but he's got a couple of options.

:06:22.:06:27.

I don't blame him. If he can pot this red... I think he wanted the

:06:28.:06:36.

cue ball to go a bit further. Quite an easy cannon off the blue into

:06:37.:06:43.

that pink and three reds. Yeah, I think it was a little awkward. The

:06:44.:06:47.

white was a bit too close to the question to risk potting the blue

:06:48.:06:51.

and disturbing those three reds and pink.

:06:52.:06:56.

He didn't cue that well. Just cued across that one slightly. For a

:06:57.:07:09.

putter like Neil Robertson, you'd have to say that's a poor miss.

:07:10.:07:26.

A nice little half ball on the blue, and it's all about the cannon here.

:07:27.:07:33.

Just need these to open up and to land on one and he would be a

:07:34.:07:42.

massive favourite in this frame. That'll do.

:07:43.:07:57.

Nice to have enthusiasm, but shouting out at the wrong time can

:07:58.:08:04.

put the player off. We mentioned earlier there would be slightly

:08:05.:08:09.

worrying times, but there will be seriously worrying times if he

:08:10.:08:12.

doesn't win the frame from here, because the are absolutely lovely

:08:13.:08:19.

now. -- these are absolutely lovely now. Green to brown could be the

:08:20.:08:24.

only slight pick-up, but we wouldn't expect it. We have had four or five

:08:25.:08:30.

matches that have gone to a deciding frame already. This could be another

:08:31.:08:38.

one of those that might go all the way, John. Yes, Neil Robertson will

:08:39.:08:46.

be sat in his chair, kicking himself about the red he missed. OK, it

:08:47.:08:50.

wasn't easy, but he was in command in the frame.

:08:51.:09:00.

Just needs to make sure of the green. 24, the difference. This will

:09:01.:09:05.

secure the frame. A good response from Ronnie and,

:09:06.:09:23.

once again, we are all square. Great match.

:09:24.:09:43.

Well, Neil Robertson had a chance for a two frame advantage. He didn't

:09:44.:09:50.

take it. Ronnie O'Sullivan took his chance. We are all square, 3-3.

:09:51.:10:54.

It's a cracking afternoon's play, isn't it? Three apiece, and a couple

:10:55.:11:02.

of missed reds from Neil Robertson. There was one to the centre pocket

:11:03.:11:08.

and a long one later. These type of reds for Neil Robertson are like

:11:09.:11:12.

bread and butter. As the lad spoke about in commentary, when you sense

:11:13.:11:16.

a bit of weakness in your opponent, it's time to step up and drive the

:11:17.:11:21.

nail home and drive your advantage home, and that was a great

:11:22.:11:25.

opportunity for Neil Robertson to establish a two frame lead. Your

:11:26.:11:29.

assessment of the way this match is ebbing and flowing? The first two

:11:30.:11:36.

frames, in terms of scoring, the standards have dropped drastically,

:11:37.:11:40.

but it hasn't left the match left interesting. Lots of mistakes, which

:11:41.:11:42.

you wouldn't expect from these players. Bring it on.

:11:43.:11:56.

It's always nice to see the centuries flying in, but sometimes

:11:57.:12:03.

it's nice to watch this type of snooker where both players are

:12:04.:12:10.

missing the odd chance. I think they both want this one so badly, John.

:12:11.:12:17.

There's a good, intense rivalry between these two. They both have

:12:18.:12:22.

the ultimate respect for each others came.

:12:23.:12:32.

Sometimes we say about Ronnie that some matches he played in are a bit

:12:33.:12:40.

easy for him and he isn't getting tested, but he's going to get tested

:12:41.:12:46.

this afternoon, that's for sure. You can see from his attitude that he's

:12:47.:12:48.

enjoying it. Just come up a bit short. Ronnie

:12:49.:13:16.

might be tempted because, if he can get round the back of the black and

:13:17.:13:23.

red, if he takes the pot on here... That's OK. Hasn't left anything.

:13:24.:14:06.

What's the angle like he's left for Neil? Has he got a pot at one? Yet,

:14:07.:14:17.

here goes. You never know where the red you

:14:18.:14:33.

play is going to go but it's finished up OK. A very attacking

:14:34.:14:42.

shot on here. Whether he'll take it or not, I don't know.

:14:43.:14:49.

Decided to play the safety shot. A good one it was as well. There's a

:14:50.:15:01.

pot on the red on the right-hand side of the cluster where you could

:15:02.:15:05.

play and screw back for blue. He wasn't having any of that. He is

:15:06.:15:13.

taking this pot on, but keep your eye on the cue ball. It's going to

:15:14.:15:17.

head towards the black and reds. Where will it finish up? He's found

:15:18.:15:22.

the gap. Is he going to finish on the green? I mean, if he really

:15:23.:15:32.

powers the green in, he's left-handed so he might be able to

:15:33.:15:37.

reach round. He's over six foot tall, so he's got quite a stretch.

:15:38.:15:43.

Even then, he'd have to force this, and he could miss the pot if he

:15:44.:15:48.

tries to clock it too hard. It's tight on the question, so it's not

:15:49.:15:54.

totally over the pocket. Not a complete gimme. Still got to cue it

:15:55.:15:59.

well, just to the pot. Wright he's trying to get in behind it.

:16:00.:16:05.

He had to use the jaw of the pocket, and he just misjudged it slightly.

:16:06.:16:16.

A similar sort of shot for Ronnie. Neil found the gap. Where will the

:16:17.:16:22.

cue ball go this time? You say you make your own luck. He

:16:23.:16:39.

deserved it after that pot. That was brilliantly struck and controlled.

:16:40.:17:09.

Perfect. Just feel with this match, the way it's been going, certainly

:17:10.:17:20.

in the last few frames, the boys mentioned in the studio that they

:17:21.:17:24.

haven't been one visit, winning these frames. One player could just

:17:25.:17:29.

step up and grab hold of this match with some scoring. They could run

:17:30.:17:31.

away with it. Still got that one red at the back

:17:32.:18:02.

of the bunch that is available to him. Let's see how he gets it. He's

:18:03.:18:12.

left it in such a way that he can develop a few more. But has to make

:18:13.:18:14.

sure he doesn't lose position. A little is done there, the cue ball

:18:15.:18:32.

running through. -- a little stun. Good cueing. That's exactly what he

:18:33.:18:38.

got. That was beautifully struck as well.

:18:39.:19:00.

He did the right thing, a bit like a golfer. He hadn't quite make his

:19:01.:19:07.

mind up and he got back up off the shot and got back down again. The

:19:08.:19:10.

worst thing you can do is change your mind when you are down on the

:19:11.:19:16.

shot and continue. It was a lot better than it looked. Very well

:19:17.:19:30.

pursued. -- very well cued. Striking down on it, right the way through,

:19:31.:19:36.

and then screw back up for the brown. More difficult than it

:19:37.:19:38.

looked. He can obviously play some sort of

:19:39.:19:59.

cannon off the blue into the reds if he wants, but he is worried about

:20:00.:20:03.

losing the cue ball. The single red on the right-hand side of the

:20:04.:20:08.

pink... He is looking at coming round the angles off the ground.

:20:09.:20:11.

He's trying to guarantee position here, as opposed to taking a chance.

:20:12.:20:18.

-- coming round the angles off the brown. Well, he took too long on

:20:19.:20:24.

that. Surely he's not going to fluke it... Well! No reaction from Neil,

:20:25.:20:33.

but that is one of the biggest flukes you could ever wish to see.

:20:34.:20:37.

He couldn't make his mind up. You wanted to take the blue and get a

:20:38.:20:41.

little cannon. He didn't want to risk that. In the end, he got down

:20:42.:20:46.

and missed the brown by a long way. How did he look into that corner

:20:47.:20:48.

pocket? He's played a few strange shots.

:20:49.:20:58.

It's as if he's lost his concentration somewhat. He just got

:20:59.:21:05.

down... If the plant was on, you don't just get down and hammer it

:21:06.:21:06.

like that. I wonder if he felt guilty for

:21:07.:21:13.

getting the fluke. Well, it might come back to want

:21:14.:21:29.

him, the way he played that plant. -- to haunt him. Just hit it that

:21:30.:21:41.

hard, didn't give it a chance. But this was amazing. He couldn't make

:21:42.:21:45.

his mind up. In the end, he missed by a long way.

:21:46.:21:51.

And then, to see it go in-off the red...

:21:52.:22:26.

Meanwhile, this is not a straightforward chance for Neil

:22:27.:22:33.

Robertson. OK, so those two reds on the left-hand push on shouldn't be

:22:34.:22:38.

as much of a problem to him as a right-hander. -- the left-hand

:22:39.:22:46.

cushion. Nevertheless, not ideally situated.

:22:47.:23:07.

He has the option. He could play this firmly and try and flick the

:23:08.:23:16.

red out or try and drop in behind. Could have played it firmer to move

:23:17.:23:22.

the red that's above the cue ball out. But chose not to do it that

:23:23.:23:23.

way. Not the best positional shot at

:23:24.:24:19.

Neil's ever played. He's probably already thinking about the two reds

:24:20.:24:27.

that are slightly awkward, one very awkward, the one on the right side

:24:28.:24:32.

of the table not too badly placed. Going back to that shot early on,

:24:33.:24:37.

when he was on the black, he could have tried to flick that red out. I

:24:38.:24:42.

know he's left-handed, but that's a tricky shot, where that is, halfway

:24:43.:24:46.

up the cushion. It will have to be negotiated later.

:24:47.:24:57.

He's got a slight angle on the black. He's left-handed. He can play

:24:58.:25:05.

to drop in behind it or he can try to cannon it out. Not the perfect

:25:06.:25:09.

angle. He'll have to really power this in. And he certainly powered it

:25:10.:25:18.

in. But not quite far enough. So it looks like it will have to be a

:25:19.:25:21.

safety, and Ronnie will be relieved. I think he felt that Neil might

:25:22.:25:38.

finish it up there. Still in the balance, this. When Ronnie missed

:25:39.:25:47.

the brown, he had an alternate shot. We might be able to show you...

:25:48.:25:56.

I thought he could have taken the blue and played the cannon on the

:25:57.:26:03.

two reds. He thought for ages and couldn't quite make his mind up and

:26:04.:26:04.

he hammered the brown and missed it. That was a bit hazy. Oh, the blue

:26:05.:26:18.

has come to his rescue. -- a bit pacey. Yes, Neil raised his eyebrows

:26:19.:26:27.

slightly. Must have been thinking that was going to be a chance. OK,

:26:28.:26:32.

the green is over the corner. That might have been stopping a pot.

:26:33.:26:41.

Yeah, "Is nice he is saying. -- yeah, "Is nice blue", he is saying.

:26:42.:27:02.

He's got to get the swerve on it. He could be knocking it towards the

:27:03.:27:10.

yellow pocket. He's in a lot of trouble, and he will take that. He

:27:11.:27:18.

might not like the next shot. Ronnie can get in behind the black here.

:27:19.:27:24.

He hasn't hit it hard enough. He missed a trick there.

:27:25.:27:36.

They are wearing normal ties, and you could see Neil pulling at the

:27:37.:27:42.

time. That is why we used to wear bow ties, even during the day,

:27:43.:27:46.

because a normal tie gets in your way slightly. Oh, that's right over

:27:47.:27:54.

the pocket. I'm a massive fan of Neil Robertson, I really am, but I

:27:55.:27:59.

think he's played two or three shots today totally out of character for

:28:00.:28:03.

him. He never, ever does that, what he's just done.

:28:04.:28:14.

For him to play that I mean, obviously the priority with that

:28:15.:28:20.

shot is, do not put the object ball over the middle pocket.

:28:21.:28:28.

Whoever loses this frame will be sore.

:28:29.:28:42.

He overhit that, and now it's going to be awkward, because he also needs

:28:43.:28:49.

the brown. Having a quick look at the scoreboard. 15 ahead. Needs

:28:50.:28:56.

green and brown, and he's going to need a little bit of assistance to

:28:57.:28:59.

get to this. I don't know if he can do it with the rest. Might just be

:29:00.:29:05.

able to cue past the blue. But he could miss it if he gets it too

:29:06.:29:15.

hard. He left angle. You could play with a bit of running side, just to

:29:16.:29:20.

flick it in. That was the good news about that shot. Well, one good long

:29:21.:29:27.

pot and we are right down the line of the shot. It's there.

:29:28.:29:41.

Neil needs a snooker, as you can see.

:29:42.:30:00.

Did that previously in the match, when he missed a pink in the middle

:30:01.:30:05.

and had to wait for another ten minutes. We'll show you the miss in

:30:06.:30:11.

the blue -- on the blue that would have kept Neil in his seat.

:30:12.:30:20.

It looks like nothing, those situations, but it stops your

:30:21.:30:30.

momentum. At 4-3 up, you could give yourself ten, 15 minutes of complete

:30:31.:30:31.

aggravation for no reason at all. It's been a funny frame, this, it's

:30:32.:30:38.

had a little bit of everything. With only needing the one snooker,

:30:39.:31:07.

there is no way Neil would be potting the blue, if he had a

:31:08.:31:11.

chance. More chance of the snooker with the paint the black on the

:31:12.:31:16.

table. As well as playing for the snooker, you have to try to keep the

:31:17.:31:22.

object ball safe. Well, he didn't mean to pot that. He's... He didn't

:31:23.:31:31.

play to pot that. But it might be just behind the

:31:32.:31:35.

black here but it's more difficult now with the one snookering ball on

:31:36.:31:39.

the table. And the black is off its spot. The

:31:40.:31:45.

closest to the cushion for the black is easier to get a snooker but where

:31:46.:31:52.

it is now, you've got to be perfect. He's got one real good shot at it,

:31:53.:31:58.

and it's not great what he's got any way, so, good luck with this one.

:31:59.:32:10.

I'll tell you what, it's a pretty good effort if the pink pulls up...

:32:11.:32:15.

It's just a bit too far but it wasn't a bad effort.

:32:16.:32:25.

In or over is how you play that shot it's in! O'Sullivan... In the end

:32:26.:32:37.

Ronnie O'Sullivan will be delight he gets himself into a four frames to

:32:38.:32:42.

three lead. Intriguing but a strange afternoon.

:32:43.:32:47.

At the start we had two big punches, we thought it would be crash, bang,

:32:48.:32:53.

wallop, then suddenly, the nature of the match has changed.

:32:54.:32:58.

You could argue in terms of standards, there has been the best

:32:59.:33:02.

and the worst. It has had everything. But I expected, I know

:33:03.:33:08.

that snooker is won in lots of different ways but I expected lots

:33:09.:33:15.

of one-visit wins. It has been more scrappy than I expected. And the

:33:16.:33:21.

moment of indecision, not for the first time from Ronnie, and after

:33:22.:33:26.

the plant with the fluke brown, and one or two awkward moments from Neil

:33:27.:33:30.

as well? And with the red, the last one on the table. He is trying to

:33:31.:33:36.

play a container shot, putting the red on the left of the yellow in the

:33:37.:33:42.

middle, and he butched it. Very, very disappointed with it. Some

:33:43.:33:46.

safety shots you can play more aggressively and getting the cue and

:33:47.:33:52.

the object ball safe but that was amateurish, for someone of Neil's

:33:53.:33:56.

ability to play a shot like that. Especially when it looked like he

:33:57.:34:00.

was getting to Ronnie. Ronnie was looking agitated. It looked like he

:34:01.:34:04.

was getting on top. Then he let it slip and now he's thrown it back

:34:05.:34:09.

into Ronnie's court. What is all of this telling about the pressure and

:34:10.:34:14.

the desire levels of the two? There is no doubt that is very, very high

:34:15.:34:20.

for the two. That is what is causing this lot, the misses.

:34:21.:34:26.

And sometimes, the bake breaks of the ball. But it's making it very,

:34:27.:34:36.

very interesting. A bit of a free pot for Ronnie. He

:34:37.:34:42.

could go around the back of the black and take this on.

:34:43.:35:09.

Yes, an interesting pot in that last frame. It ultimately went down to

:35:10.:35:16.

the last red. A shot when Neil Robertson could have potted the

:35:17.:35:21.

black and flicked the red up above his hand. If he plays it fair, and

:35:22.:35:26.

that knock it is out, he could go on to win the frame but it was a bit of

:35:27.:35:32.

a shot to nothing, really. I think he may have missed a trick there.

:35:33.:35:36.

Ultimately, that red was the last he had to get, yet he couldn't get on

:35:37.:35:38.

it. Right, that was what we call an

:35:39.:36:01.

Aussie special! I mean, one of the greatest long potters the game's

:36:02.:36:07.

ever seen without a doubt. Oh, he's just tremendous cueing.

:36:08.:36:14.

Such a hard pot anyway but to knock it up to the top spot and get back

:36:15.:36:18.

on side for the blue is just a wonderful shot. Yeah, I think I

:36:19.:36:22.

mentioned at the start of the tournament how many great

:36:23.:36:25.

left-handers there are in the game and what great potters they are.

:36:26.:36:37.

Going way back there was only a few. Perry Mans, a great potter from

:36:38.:36:42.

South Africa. But nowa day, I mean there's so many

:36:43.:36:48.

great left-hander players. Then Jimmy White came on the scene. Mark

:36:49.:36:55.

William, Judd Trump, Barry Hawkins... Well, he knocked in an

:36:56.:37:01.

unbelievable opening red, how do you see him missing one like that? I

:37:02.:37:07.

know. If anything, I was looking at Neil Robertson today and I've not

:37:08.:37:12.

seen him play much but his concentration levels is not as high

:37:13.:37:16.

as what it usually is. That's the only thing you can say, because he

:37:17.:37:28.

would never miss a shot like that. A great pot from Ronnie. He did well

:37:29.:37:32.

to avoid the cannon on that red there.

:37:33.:37:39.

Ronnie's turn to sense weakness in his opponent.

:37:40.:37:40.

Can he make the most of it? I agree with Stephenhandry,

:37:41.:38:09.

standardwise, it has probably been one of the worst matches, although

:38:10.:38:13.

it is still very, very exciting. But no century break.

:38:14.:38:22.

The highest scores, 74, 63 but fascinating stuff.

:38:23.:38:31.

Very similar to yesterday's match with Mark Williams and Mark Selby.

:38:32.:38:36.

Mark Williams, played some fantastic match-play.

:38:37.:38:40.

Oh, what's going on here at the minute. What is going on? Are we now

:38:41.:38:48.

at the stage where both players are trying that little bit too hard?

:38:49.:39:08.

Well, he got a heavy contact there. OK, the red's gone in but it's

:39:09.:39:15.

spoiled the position outside of the shot.

:39:16.:39:32.

I suppose in this year's masters, there hasn't been a great deal of

:39:33.:39:38.

kicks. Unfortunately, like it happened

:39:39.:39:42.

yesterday for Mark Williams on the blue, Neil Robertson's having to

:39:43.:39:47.

take it on here, it was magnified but this is a big shot to take on.

:39:48.:39:54.

Wow! Look at that. And to do it after the disapointment of the kick

:39:55.:39:57.

and the loss of position is just fabulous.

:39:58.:40:07.

I think he's still keen on winning this match, Dennis, after that shot?

:40:08.:40:11.

As I say, they both want it so badly.

:40:12.:40:22.

But it has to be said, Ronnie was in the balls, looking good.

:40:23.:40:37.

And that's gone wrong. It's amazing, I was just about to say, with these

:40:38.:41:22.

players, you expect these players to win with one visit. But there are

:41:23.:41:27.

all sorts of little things going on. There's another one where it's ran

:41:28.:41:33.

out of the red and on to position. I don't think it's desperate, he has

:41:34.:41:43.

one insurance policy in the area over there. This could be going in.

:41:44.:41:55.

So not all bad news there. He's got a chance here to pot the

:41:56.:42:04.

yellow off the side and into the cushion for the pack. That's what he

:42:05.:42:09.

played but he hit that so badly, he was nowhere near it! I don't know

:42:10.:42:15.

about you, John but you sense, normally, you think they are in,

:42:16.:42:19.

this will win the frame but you sense with what is going on, they

:42:20.:42:23.

are not confident of winning the frame with one visit.

:42:24.:42:29.

I don't think this will go in.ness there is a gap between the reds. If

:42:30.:42:35.

those two reds are closer together it will squeeze it away to the

:42:36.:42:37.

pocket. Let's see. Close together, the angle

:42:38.:42:44.

he's got, he'll squeeze it away from the pocket, I think.

:42:45.:42:52.

From that angle, maybe he could possibly make it. There is a little

:42:53.:42:58.

gap between the reds. But he still doesn't fancy it.

:42:59.:43:14.

25 for Neil. But he'll be kicking himself for that shot off the

:43:15.:43:20.

yellow. The red over the middle there, it

:43:21.:43:24.

was looking like a frame-winning chance but it's gone now.

:43:25.:43:43.

It's good stuff, though, tennis, I don't know what's going to happen

:43:44.:43:52.

next! You were on a programme, Question of Sport, you used to the

:43:53.:44:01.

captain? What happened next? Well, he thought he could pot that.

:44:02.:44:07.

The white needs to keep running otherwise he's left it. Yeah, I

:44:08.:44:13.

think he can get past the blue. Someone shouted out "get in" we

:44:14.:44:40.

don't need anyone like that shouting while the player is playing the

:44:41.:44:43.

shot. It will put the player he's supporting off.

:44:44.:44:59.

Once again, though, the position - it's not ideal for Ronnie.

:45:00.:45:19.

He should be taking this one. Listen, you get enough bad luck at

:45:20.:45:34.

time in the game, when you get a fluke like this, why not take full

:45:35.:45:40.

advantage? It left the cushion and seemed to come back in. There was a

:45:41.:45:50.

swerve on hitting the angles. I'm with you on it, you get a fluke,

:45:51.:46:05.

you make the most of it. Wow, that's brown's been pretty good today,

:46:06.:46:10.

hasn't it? It should have been in the other one but of course he

:46:11.:46:13.

played a plant afterwards with not a lot of care. But what a fluke that

:46:14.:46:16.

was. He didn't play that too well. That's

:46:17.:46:35.

a bit careless there. He mist judged the cannon completely.

:46:36.:46:41.

And he's just battling with himself a little bit at the moment. You can

:46:42.:46:49.

see the abject disappointment on his face, when he cease the problems but

:46:50.:47:02.

welcome to our world, Ronnie, that's what happens to most players!

:47:03.:47:17.

Welcome back to Ronnie's World! Yep, for all the misses and bad safeties

:47:18.:47:21.

and great safeties, you can't beat a little bit of luck. And what a fluke

:47:22.:47:24.

that was. Still, Neil Robertson, very

:47:25.:47:47.

focussed. A great temperament but that was hard to take. It means now

:47:48.:47:52.

he will have to win the last three frames.

:47:53.:47:58.

He's quite capable of doing that, as Ronnie overscrews the yellow. But

:47:59.:48:03.

that doesn't matter. He will stay in his seat, or he might leave the

:48:04.:48:11.

arena just to compose himself. Ronnie O'Sullivan, and no wonder

:48:12.:48:16.

he's leaving the arena. He is now just one frameway from a place in

:48:17.:48:21.

the semi-final. It's 5-3 to the Rocket.

:48:22.:48:27.

Well, they say you make your own luck but Ronnie has had a coup of

:48:28.:48:38.

slice there to take the two. Here, this came away from the

:48:39.:48:42.

cushion. It got a little flick off the brown. But apart from the fluke,

:48:43.:48:49.

Neil had his chance earlier on. He had a yellow. A target with the reds

:48:50.:48:54.

around the pink. He didn't make it. He should have got in from that

:48:55.:49:00.

position. It cost him. And it cost him.

:49:01.:49:03.

And when Neil gets in, there are times he can't buy a positional

:49:04.:49:07.

shot. Partly due to the pressure, maybe due to the fact he's not

:49:08.:49:13.

playing so well in the last two to three months, so a lack of

:49:14.:49:16.

confidence in the pit, as it were. So he's just not able to string.

:49:17.:49:22.

Well, none of them are. And I wonder when you have had a

:49:23.:49:27.

couple of pieces of luck go against you, as Neil has, does it confirm in

:49:28.:49:33.

your head, you have to fight that feeling it will not be your day? You

:49:34.:49:38.

are fighting against the elements and yourself. As Stephen says it

:49:39.:49:45.

could be the lack of the edge he had before, the invincibility is a

:49:46.:49:48.

little gone now. You do lose that little bit of edge.

:49:49.:49:52.

He looks vulnerable out there. That is not normally what you say about

:49:53.:49:56.

Neil Robertson. Normally, he loves this. This is the sort of occasion

:49:57.:50:01.

he is made for. But he does not look comfortable.

:50:02.:50:07.

And the route of this, at the start of the season he was thumped by

:50:08.:50:11.

Ronnie O'Sullivan. And a year ago he was 5-2 up and lost seven frames on

:50:12.:50:18.

the spin to Ronnie, so he's not had the best of times against Ronnie

:50:19.:50:22.

since the semi-final Masters and he's really up against it now.

:50:23.:50:33.

Yes, he certainly is. Ronnie a little short with the break-off

:50:34.:50:36.

shot. He could do with a long pot here.

:50:37.:51:22.

Just giving the cue a clean to make sure it's nice and smooth.

:51:23.:51:40.

He could do with a couple of new Robertson "specials." He's at the

:51:41.:51:44.

stage now where he knows he cannot afford many more misses.

:51:45.:52:06.

That's a terrific opener in. Just having a look there, to see if

:52:07.:52:21.

that back of the black is pottable at some stage. Obviously not playing

:52:22.:52:26.

on it there but seeing if he can pot that and get it away from the black,

:52:27.:52:30.

it will free it. But I don't know about that one.

:52:31.:52:42.

Here he is again, checking to see. Those ones you have to keep the cue

:52:43.:52:51.

ball high so when you pot the red you get the natural angle to screw

:52:52.:52:57.

out for the black. But it's a tough pot in itself, that red, behind the

:52:58.:53:05.

black. Certainly on these tables! He will be disgusted with that. You can

:53:06.:53:11.

see him turn his head away, the one thing he did want to do is come low.

:53:12.:53:13.

He's got into that a bit too much. It's very tight.

:53:14.:53:32.

Yeah, not from that angle. If the white had been near and to

:53:33.:53:36.

the right, slightly, it would have been OK.

:53:37.:53:44.

Stephen mentioned in the studio he was struggling for positional play

:53:45.:53:46.

today. Another example. Good opening pot.

:53:47.:54:26.

If the red doesn't go in, have a look where the cue ball is, the fact

:54:27.:54:32.

he potted it, he knew there would be a chance at the brown.

:54:33.:54:47.

Boy, to hit it that hard and expect the pocket to accept the brown was

:54:48.:54:54.

asking something... Oh, he's fouled it.

:54:55.:55:26.

Janver Haas was looking, and Neil thought he was OK but he touched it

:55:27.:55:31.

with his sleeve. Yeah, bad news on the foul.

:55:32.:55:38.

Good news was, that came across and hit the black and didn't leave one

:55:39.:55:43.

on! It could have been all bad for Neil there!

:55:44.:56:19.

Interesting how Ronnie tapped the table a few times. He tapped the

:56:20.:56:26.

table before the white got anywhere near the cushion. He knew where the

:56:27.:56:35.

white was going to finish up. I don't mind him missing all

:56:36.:56:44.

together with the first attempt... He'll have another go at it.

:56:45.:56:50.

But he'll want to really make contact this time. Three misses from

:56:51.:56:54.

this situation and you lose the frame. So can he get a thin enough

:56:55.:57:05.

contact here? No! The referee will now warn Ronnie.

:57:06.:57:10.

Is anything else going to happen in this match? Surely he's not going to

:57:11.:57:19.

lose the frame from missing the reds three times.

:57:20.:57:26.

Yeah, put plenty of chalk on the tip. The last thing you want to do

:57:27.:57:28.

is miscue. Well, in the end it was a terrific

:57:29.:57:52.

safety shot he played. But he is smiling there.

:57:53.:57:56.

I tell you what, then, this is a big shot to take on.

:57:57.:58:13.

Well, you were right, John, it was a big shot.

:58:14.:58:24.

Don't be giving too many chances to someone like Neil Robertson. He was

:58:25.:58:31.

in the jaws of the pocket. It was so close. But a very tough shot he took

:58:32.:58:34.

on there. Yes, not a brilliant chance, this,

:58:35.:58:53.

the blacks currently out of commission, the pink certainly is.

:58:54.:59:04.

Brown's on the side cushion... Not perfect on the blue.

:59:05.:59:10.

I suppose he could take the green, being left-handed. It might be a

:59:11.:59:14.

natural angle back for the red at the bottom of the cluster, cos that

:59:15.:59:19.

will pot. But is he hampered with his cueing?

:59:20.:59:22.

Hmm, looks like it. He's looking at the blue to the

:59:23.:59:41.

middle pocket. This is a thin cut. It could go out to the reds and open

:59:42.:59:45.

the game up. That's a bit unlucky. It was a very

:59:46.:59:54.

thin shot required. He got the main part of the shot. Didn't quite get

:59:55.:00:01.

enough screw on it but to go off was unfortunate indeed.

:00:02.:00:06.

And added unfortunate, I he he's opened the pink.

:00:07.:00:11.

I think that the pink now goes. That red is removed from the pink. If

:00:12.:00:17.

Ronnie can pot this side. He has pink or blue able. Well, he should

:00:18.:00:21.

have had! What he needs to do is get that

:00:22.:01:10.

focus fact that he had at the start of the match. It has to be said,

:01:11.:01:19.

just a few little signs that he's getting a little frustrated with

:01:20.:01:23.

himself. He sets himself such high standards, Ronnie O'Sullivan.

:01:24.:01:42.

Didn't have much on. That was a good shot at Neil played. He knew he'd be

:01:43.:01:52.

clipping the red towards the corner but as long as he could use the blue

:01:53.:01:57.

to cover it up it was OK. A similar shot for Ronnie, but he has to be

:01:58.:01:58.

careful. Has he covered it? Well, he's covered the one closest

:01:59.:02:16.

to the pocket and the one on the side he's hampered by the yellow.

:02:17.:02:19.

Not great from Neil. -- for Neil. I just noticed something with Ronnie

:02:20.:02:46.

when he's down on the shots, it's as if he's moving around a little bit.

:02:47.:02:51.

He never used to do that, rock-solid, but a bit of movement

:02:52.:02:54.

when he was getting ready to deliver the cue.

:02:55.:03:01.

Tough shot, viz. Yeah, not surprised he missed it, actually. On the

:03:02.:03:47.

inside. He's not even looking to see about the red on the right-hand

:03:48.:03:54.

side. Well, that, I suppose, he could have potted that and got on

:03:55.:04:00.

the pink. He didn't even look at it, did he?

:04:01.:04:05.

While they're replacing it, now, you see, there's where it is, nearly on

:04:06.:04:15.

the brown spot. Looked as if he could take it on. Wouldn't have left

:04:16.:04:20.

a great deal, but he had it replaced.

:04:21.:04:27.

Now, it's Neil Robertson's turn to be warned. He won't even look at the

:04:28.:04:37.

red this time. If he did this and missed it three times, it would be

:04:38.:04:43.

frame and match, wouldn't it? It happened in the Irish masters, and I

:04:44.:04:46.

think Ken Doherty was playing Steve Davis. Was it Steve lost the match

:04:47.:04:55.

with three consecutive misses? You're dead right. That's what

:04:56.:05:01.

happened. You can probably have a good bet that this will be too big

:05:02.:05:07.

now. He'll be very careful. -- too thick.

:05:08.:05:25.

Yeah, too thick, but he'll be glad when it's finished. The blue has

:05:26.:05:28.

come to his rescue. Played that with a load of check

:05:29.:05:48.

side. Needs to straighten the cue ball up. And he's played it very

:05:49.:05:54.

well. Where the reds had turned up, he's had a bit of luck, of course,

:05:55.:06:01.

covering those two near the corner pocket with the red that's further

:06:02.:06:05.

up. So a bit of luck, but it was well played. First glance, looks

:06:06.:06:10.

like a fair bit of trouble. Well, that's what he's faced with

:06:11.:06:25.

there. As you can see, very difficult situation.

:06:26.:06:31.

He'll have to give this one a little bit of thought, because he knows one

:06:32.:06:40.

mistake here and he could be out of this year's Masters. Yeah, the two

:06:41.:06:48.

reds near the top corner, the bottom one, Neil was looking to try and

:06:49.:06:53.

drop on but if you don't get that right, you leave that red into the

:06:54.:06:59.

middle pocket. He is seeing if he can go up dead weight and rest on

:07:00.:07:02.

it, but you've got to get that right.

:07:03.:07:17.

This is a very delicate. It's not going to reach.

:07:18.:07:28.

That was the way he was trying to get in behind that red, and Ronnie

:07:29.:07:34.

isn't having the one in the middle pocket, so the great difficulty with

:07:35.:07:38.

that pot isn't something he fancies. But he's got Neil in a right load of

:07:39.:07:42.

trouble here. Same shot, is it? Yeah. And he'll have to be warned

:07:43.:08:11.

again, for the second time. That doesn't happen very often, where a

:08:12.:08:20.

player's warned twice in one frame. REFEREE: I've got to warn you again,

:08:21.:08:26.

if you play and miss, you'll the frame. And the match.

:08:27.:08:36.

Well! He's given a foul away, seven points. Black would have gone. I

:08:37.:08:56.

think it's the ultimate whammy. I think everything. -- I think

:08:57.:09:09.

everything pots. He had to take on that possible pot. Some of the balls

:09:10.:09:13.

were very awkward, but have a look at how the split up... To finish

:09:14.:09:22.

like that and get the black on its spot, with everything in the open,

:09:23.:09:27.

you couldn't ask for anything more, but the only thing is, the way it's

:09:28.:09:30.

gone this afternoon, will it be over?

:09:31.:09:48.

They've played each other twice in the Masters. Neil won 6-1 in the

:09:49.:09:58.

semifinal in 2015. Ronnie won it 6-4 in round two in 2010.

:09:59.:10:13.

Even that shot, Dennis, wasn't played up to his usual standards.

:10:14.:10:20.

Down on the shot, he was like in two minds, how he played it. He should

:10:21.:10:27.

be knocking this in, but little positional blips from Ronnie

:10:28.:10:30.

O'Sullivan that you don't usually see. But these are spread lovely.

:10:31.:10:36.

And no excuses now. I mean, before this match started,

:10:37.:10:52.

we thought we were going to be in for century breaks flying in all

:10:53.:10:59.

over the place, but Ronnie's highest break has been 63, Neil's 74, but

:11:00.:11:06.

there have been lots of 50s and 40s and misses. We've had a bit of

:11:07.:11:10.

everything. It's been great theatre this afternoon, that's for sure.

:11:11.:11:17.

This audience this afternoon, OK, as you say, not centuries rolling up

:11:18.:11:21.

every frame, but it's been fascinating right the way through.

:11:22.:11:24.

It's been difficult to commentate on, because we haven't known what's

:11:25.:11:28.

going on on occasions. People looking like they were going to

:11:29.:11:36.

clear up, then if you missed pot -- then a few missed pots you wouldn't

:11:37.:11:37.

get. But fascinating nonetheless. Neil Robertson had a chance to go

:11:38.:11:52.

4-2 in front and, for me, that was the big turning point in the match.

:11:53.:11:58.

The crowd here at Alexandra Palace have been very fair to both players.

:11:59.:12:09.

A lots of Ronnie fans here, but Neil Robertson's had terrific support

:12:10.:12:12.

also. But it's not going to be his year.

:12:13.:12:20.

Just looked as if he had lost a little bit of focus, Ronnie. He was

:12:21.:12:27.

very up for it at the start of the match, but just seemed to lose his

:12:28.:12:33.

way. Probably because he set such a high standard. He's had a few flukes

:12:34.:12:36.

here and there, which always help. Well, he will be delighted, Damian

:12:37.:12:53.

Hirst there, his good friend. Interesting to hear what Ronnie has

:12:54.:12:56.

to say about this match. The highest calibre. Both players, smiles for

:12:57.:13:02.

each other. It's been a fascinating tussle between these two great

:13:03.:13:09.

players, but Ronnie acknowledges the crowd, and he'll be absolutely

:13:10.:13:11.

delighted. In the end, it was a comfortable win, 6-3 for the Rocket.

:13:12.:13:20.

STUDIO: He is into his 13th master 's semifinal. He's only lost one

:13:21.:13:24.

semifinal, which was a couple of years ago to Neil Robertson. What a

:13:25.:13:29.

curious but nonetheless fascinating. Fascinating, intriguing. Not the

:13:30.:13:34.

best standard that we've seen all week, but nonetheless engrossing.

:13:35.:13:39.

Both players were missing. You saw how much it meant to both of them.

:13:40.:13:44.

It was enjoyable in a sort of strange way, you know. In terms of

:13:45.:13:51.

Ronnie's performance, how did it compare to the opening match against

:13:52.:13:55.

Liang Wenbo? Similar bits and pieces, which is unlike him. But a

:13:56.:13:59.

win is a win and he is in another semifinal. A winner once again, a

:14:00.:14:05.

13th semifinal. A curious match was how edgy did it feel must I didn't

:14:06.:14:11.

really care to be honest. The last much I played, I was so ill. Today I

:14:12.:14:15.

felt at least I was physically OK. I know it wasn't great, but I tried my

:14:16.:14:20.

hardest. I haven't been great all season but I'll keep trying my

:14:21.:14:24.

hardest. That's all you can do sometimes. You looked focused. We

:14:25.:14:30.

talked about the desire levels between you and Neil, because it's

:14:31.:14:34.

always a big contest between you. I don't know for any of the top ten

:14:35.:14:38.

playing each other, they are all tough matches. You've seen some

:14:39.:14:43.

results this week, Hawkins beating Murphy comfortably. I haven't

:14:44.:14:48.

watched much snooker. Judd Trump beating Marco Fu... Everybody seems

:14:49.:14:52.

to be beating each other. I just keep trying. But I'm getting twitchy

:14:53.:14:58.

now. I'm officially twitching. A better all was for violence in this

:14:59.:15:02.

than against yen when both? -- a better or worse performance. The

:15:03.:15:08.

other day, I was all over the gaffe. The last few days, I've been really

:15:09.:15:12.

ill. This is the first day I actually felt normal. I was looking

:15:13.:15:17.

forward to playing because I felt decent in myself. Were you surprised

:15:18.:15:24.

with the misses that Neil Robertson was making? Sometimes it gets

:15:25.:15:28.

contagious. And then you get to the table and you miss. I felt I dragged

:15:29.:15:34.

him down, to be honest. That's what I'm doing, dragging them all down,

:15:35.:15:38.

and they seem to be missing balls or something keeps happening for me.

:15:39.:15:42.

That's all you can do sometimes. I've had a good 45 years of being

:15:43.:15:47.

consistent. This has been not a great spell for me, but hopefully it

:15:48.:15:52.

will turn around. -- a good four or five years. Everybody needs a bit of

:15:53.:15:59.

luck. You had some of that. Loads of its! More today than I've had in the

:16:00.:16:03.

last 20 years! I needed a bit of luck today to get through. When you

:16:04.:16:09.

think back on silverware, it's been almost a year. You beat Neil in the

:16:10.:16:15.

Welsh. You've been in three finals in the last few months. Does it

:16:16.:16:20.

start to get twitchy customer at this level, clearly you'd rather be

:16:21.:16:24.

winning titles and trophies, but are you feeling that another win is

:16:25.:16:28.

coming your way? No, you have to win them. I played all right against

:16:29.:16:34.

Selby, but the other two, I was a bit dodgy and didn't play well

:16:35.:16:39.

enough to win. I missed two easy balls against Mark. Maybe that's

:16:40.:16:43.

what happens as you get older. Sometimes I feel, you can just sense

:16:44.:16:49.

you are missing too many easy balls. I need to cut them out. I'm going to

:16:50.:16:53.

keep dragging my career out for as long as I can. That's all you can

:16:54.:16:59.

do, isn't it? To be in the semifinal, not playing anywhere near

:17:00.:17:03.

your best and still have a chance, it can only get better. It's nice to

:17:04.:17:07.

know if your game comes back, but if I'm at that point where I'm

:17:08.:17:11.

delusional and it's not coming back, and keep getting two quarters in

:17:12.:17:15.

semis and keep getting beaten... You always think you are as good as you

:17:16.:17:19.

were years ago. I don't want to waste ten years just playing and

:17:20.:17:22.

thinking I'm good enough but actually not being. Hopefully I've

:17:23.:17:26.

got three decent years. But you still believe you can win this? You

:17:27.:17:33.

believe you can win it if you are playing well enough. I don't think I

:17:34.:17:36.

am playing well enough to win it but a lot can happen in 24 hours. It

:17:37.:17:41.

never comes back when it goes. But I'll just keep dragging it out. I'm

:17:42.:17:46.

appreciative that I'm still playing at 40, 41, whatever it is. I

:17:47.:17:50.

appreciate every time I get an opportunity to go out there. That's

:17:51.:17:54.

what I'm saying, try and drag it out as long as you can. If the pension

:17:55.:18:01.

fund was good enough, I'd have pulled myself... Absolutely!

:18:02.:18:10.

Fantastic atmosphere. Amazing crowd. Does it give you a buzz coming out?

:18:11.:18:15.

Yeah, but when you start playing a bit ropey, the pressure comes on.

:18:16.:18:20.

When you don't play well, you feel you are letting down the supporters.

:18:21.:18:26.

It can get it on top of you when you are playing well, you revel in it.

:18:27.:18:31.

But I was a bit twitchy today. That's understandable. But you will

:18:32.:18:36.

at least be aware of Mark Allen or Marco Fu. It's going to be a

:18:37.:18:41.

fascinating match between them. What are your thoughts on Marco's

:18:42.:18:47.

resurgence? He played me in the UK and I knew he'd changed his

:18:48.:18:49.

technique. He looks so much aggressive. It's had an impact on

:18:50.:18:56.

all of his game. As well as being clinical around the balls, he looks

:18:57.:19:01.

confident. You'll find it a lot easier to get over the line. That's

:19:02.:19:06.

the only thing that held him back. He played fantastic in Glasgow and

:19:07.:19:10.

greatly against Judd Trump. I don't think he'd beat Judd Trump with his

:19:11.:19:15.

old technique. Playing with that confidence, when somebody like Judd

:19:16.:19:19.

is playing that well, you've got to go toe to toe and out punching and

:19:20.:19:23.

stay in till the end and out bottle. Marco did that because he playing

:19:24.:19:28.

more aggressive. To play that consistently, you need to play that

:19:29.:19:33.

game, unless you are Selby, who can tie you up in knots. Mark Allen has

:19:34.:19:38.

plenty of bottle, he's shown that. We saw in that final frame decider

:19:39.:19:42.

against John Higgins, it's almost like when the pressure gets more

:19:43.:19:46.

touchy-feely for him, he seems to respond better. Is that your view? I

:19:47.:19:51.

always thought he was a great match player. Like Marco, you could

:19:52.:19:55.

probably do with more of a power game to stay with the top guys. A

:19:56.:20:00.

lot of these guys, they see one shot and that opens the game up. If you

:20:01.:20:03.

can't do that comfortably, it's difficult to build momentum was a

:20:04.:20:08.

lots of these guys can win six or seven frames on the bounce through

:20:09.:20:14.

heavy scoring. It's unlikely you're going to scrap a tournament, you

:20:15.:20:18.

know? You might scrap the odd match but at some point you've got to

:20:19.:20:26.

start making 100s. Are you going to call that match? No, because I'll

:20:27.:20:31.

end up getting it wrong! I'm just going to go and chill out. Whoever

:20:32.:20:38.

it is, you'll meet them on Saturday. Speaking of that other quarterfinal

:20:39.:20:41.

this evening, it's going to be between Marco Fu, as we said, and

:20:42.:20:45.

Mark Allen. It was here in the Masters, the semifinals 2011, when

:20:46.:20:53.

Mark was 4-1 up and Marco beat him 6-4, at a time when Mark Allen was

:20:54.:20:57.

getting to semifinals in big events but really no further. Now he's got

:20:58.:21:02.

three world ranking titles, the same number as Marco, but eight years

:21:03.:21:07.

fewer as a professional. Mark Allen, he beat John Higgins to get this

:21:08.:21:11.

point, and earlier he caught up with Stephen Hendry. I hadn't won a

:21:12.:21:16.

decider in the Masters before. I don't think so. I just happened to

:21:17.:21:22.

see a thing before I started one of the slats. I think I'd lost a six

:21:23.:21:27.

designers in eight or nine years of play. -- six deciders. It's not

:21:28.:21:33.

something you want going through your mind when you are playing. It's

:21:34.:21:37.

hard enough as it is! But finally breaking the duck. We get asked who

:21:38.:21:42.

we think are going to win tournaments, and you probably never

:21:43.:21:49.

an -- mentioned. You have one isn't... To get these big events,

:21:50.:21:55.

what do you need to do? I think I need to lose weight. I practised so

:21:56.:21:59.

hard at work so hard at the game. There has to be something. It's hard

:22:00.:22:05.

that tournaments eat properly. There is no excuse if you wanted to eat

:22:06.:22:08.

well you would. I was never hungry before a match. I understand that.

:22:09.:22:15.

Sometimes you come in after a late match and the only place open is a

:22:16.:22:19.

takeaway and it's not ideal. At you have to go out of your way deep 12.

:22:20.:22:26.

So you need to start looking a four in your mouth. Yes. I practice hard

:22:27.:22:32.

and it's annoying when I am not competing against these big players.

:22:33.:22:35.

I know I have the game to do it, I'd never questioned my ability, but I

:22:36.:22:40.

need to start doing things about it. I'm doing everything I can on the

:22:41.:22:43.

table so I need to get right off the table. I'm not comfortable with what

:22:44.:22:49.

I'm doing technically. I practised hard at Christmas, a few days off, a

:22:50.:22:52.

few drinks, but in general I practised quite a lot. I don't

:22:53.:22:58.

normally do that, even though my results were pretty poor in the

:22:59.:23:01.

championship league last week, I thought it was good for me to go and

:23:02.:23:06.

play and play the top players in the world invest fives. I haven't done

:23:07.:23:09.

that in five years before the Masters. You're known for not

:23:10.:23:15.

mincing your words on Twitter, which I think is the right way to be. Are

:23:16.:23:21.

you going to change that? Probably not. I have got a few fans in recent

:23:22.:23:26.

months with my comments. But unfortunately for me some people

:23:27.:23:29.

don't like hearing the truth. Just because I play snooker doesn't mean

:23:30.:23:33.

I'm not allowed to have an opinion. I maybe go on about things the right

:23:34.:23:37.

way. I've tried to get myself on the player's Forum. What's happened

:23:38.:23:46.

there? Is such a drawn-out process for something so simple. I don't

:23:47.:23:50.

know where I stand at the minute, but I am trying and I know that

:23:51.:23:54.

Shaun Murphy has got on, Mark Williams is trying. We are the ones

:23:55.:23:58.

who are more vocal on Twitter and we feel changes need to be done, so

:23:59.:24:03.

people automatically feel I am complaining, but I'm trying to go

:24:04.:24:06.

down the right channels. I think it's a no-brainer that you've done

:24:07.:24:12.

that. I like to think I'm quite objective, looking at the whole

:24:13.:24:15.

tour, not just what's best for me. I look at what's best for the game,

:24:16.:24:21.

and changes need to happen, but it's a long road ahead. Interesting

:24:22.:24:24.

thoughts from Mark Allen, as ever. As he said, he's toned down this

:24:25.:24:29.

mode of communication. I think we all remember when he walked into

:24:30.:24:33.

that press room in York with gaffer tape over his mouth to make a point.

:24:34.:24:37.

He says he's doing things the right way. Is he being listened to? I

:24:38.:24:42.

think so. He wants to come onto the players Forum, which is a good step,

:24:43.:24:50.

as our Mark Williams and Joe Perry and Shaun Murphy. He has been vocal

:24:51.:24:54.

and he has the game at heart, as we all do, but we all have different

:24:55.:24:58.

opinions. It would be great to get around the table. We have a meeting

:24:59.:25:02.

on Monday. We will have a chat, and with the powers that be as well.

:25:03.:25:05.

That will be quite interesting. At the end of the day, we all want the

:25:06.:25:11.

game to progress, not just from the top but all the way down to the

:25:12.:25:13.

bottom. We want what's best for everybody. Hopefully when we get our

:25:14.:25:19.

heads together some positives will come. Mark Allen the player, 2011,

:25:20.:25:26.

that semifinal against Marco Fu, his opponent this evening and, in the

:25:27.:25:31.

intervening years, he's finally converted that semifinal potential

:25:32.:25:34.

into three world ranking titles. The changes he feels he has to make, he

:25:35.:25:38.

wants to shed a few pounds. In your view, is that what's required? If he

:25:39.:25:46.

feels it's not giving him the stamina he requires to go through

:25:47.:25:49.

tournaments or whatever... There's no doubt, if you feel healthy or

:25:50.:25:52.

feel good, you're going to play better. He definitely needs to, well

:25:53.:26:01.

it's important to his snooker, but he needs to do something, because we

:26:02.:26:05.

never think of Mark Allen as one of the favourites to win these events,

:26:06.:26:11.

Selby, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, he's never mentioned. He needs to

:26:12.:26:14.

get into that company. It's not easy. If the game was easy to be a

:26:15.:26:22.

winner, everybody would be winning. Maybe he feels something drastic has

:26:23.:26:26.

to be done. He is just knocking on the door, just outside the top four

:26:27.:26:31.

or five players, and you would probably put Ding Junhui in there as

:26:32.:26:35.

well. Keep Robbie just needs a big win here or elsewhere. -- he

:26:36.:26:42.

probably wins. That would give him confidence so, when he comes out on

:26:43.:26:47.

the top stages, the feels like one of top men. With Ronnie, is

:26:48.:26:52.

technique, sometimes his technique, he's not got the all-round, every

:26:53.:26:58.

shot in his armoury, like the top players have. Mark Allen, there are

:26:59.:27:03.

maybe one or two that he can't because of his technique. Maybe he

:27:04.:27:06.

needs to tweak something there. These are the other fellows who are

:27:07.:27:09.

in it. Let's have a look at the draw.

:27:10.:27:16.

Ronnie is through to a 13th semifinal. The match this evening

:27:17.:27:23.

will be live on the red button and online and on BBC Two for the first

:27:24.:27:29.

hour or so. Joe Perry playing with real freedom at the moment, after

:27:30.:27:32.

mauling Stuart Bingham, the former world champion, in the opening

:27:33.:27:37.

round. Ding Junhui with his first win ever at Ally Pally. Barry

:27:38.:27:41.

Hawkins, a surprisingly straightforward victory over Shaun

:27:42.:27:43.

Murphy last night. That means he's up against the world number one,

:27:44.:27:52.

Mark Selby. It's Kerry and Ding who will be on Friday evening, Selby

:27:53.:27:56.

against Hawkins tomorrow afternoon. Selby against Hawkins will be

:27:57.:27:59.

interesting, because they are both very gifted, and great ring craft.

:28:00.:28:04.

Great all-round games, great match players. Somebody like Selby, they

:28:05.:28:12.

will inspire sundry like Hawkins, but two top match players. You want

:28:13.:28:19.

to pitch between them. Selby will be touch, but Hawkins played well.

:28:20.:28:23.

Interesting lower half of the draw. I am sure we will see a great deal

:28:24.:28:27.

more from Jason, because he will be on with our second quarterfinal at

:28:28.:28:32.

7pm. It is Marco Fu against Mark Allen, and you can see that from 7pm

:28:33.:28:37.

on BBC Two, and it will move onto online and the red button from

:28:38.:28:42.

thereafter. It's been another day. The Rocket has come through. You

:28:43.:28:47.

need a bit of luck, but he is there. From Ally Pally, goodbye.

:28:48.:29:00.

To break someone physically... Agh! ..is not a problem.

:29:01.:29:05.

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