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It's been tense and dramatic so far in the Dafabet Masters 2017, and | :00:33. | :00:39. | |
more of the same was looming on Monday at the Masters, because we | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
had one of the men of the season so far - John Higgins of Scotland, who | :00:44. | :00:47. | |
is the world number three, and twice a champion in this great event - | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
taking on Mark Allen. Now, the Scot had the comfort of knowing that he's | :00:52. | :00:54. | |
already beaten Allen twice this season in other events, but Mark | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
Allen has inflicted two knockout blows in this particular tournament. | :01:00. | :01:05. | |
In fact, at this particular stage, in the last 16 over the last few | :01:06. | :01:10. | |
years. So we expected it to be very close - and so it was to prove! It | :01:11. | :01:14. | |
was Higgins who took the opening frame. We'll pick them up in the | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
second in the company of John Virgo and Stephen Hendry. | :01:20. | :01:33. | |
He may just have a cut on the brown... Obviously an easier snooker | :01:34. | :01:40. | |
behind the green, but I don't think he'll get much advantage from | :01:41. | :01:41. | |
that... He obviously doesn't fancy the | :01:42. | :01:52. | |
brown... UMPIRE: Mark Allen - one. He's | :01:53. | :02:05. | |
covered the left-hand side... LAUGHTER | :02:06. | :02:09. | |
What did they say? As I say, there was never really any | :02:10. | :02:23. | |
danger of John leaving him anything. Yeah. I think a better shot would | :02:24. | :02:29. | |
have been putting the cue ball in the baulk cushion somewhere. You're | :02:30. | :02:33. | |
never going to get an advantage from that shot. | :02:34. | :02:46. | |
Now it's more difficult to get this cue ball tight on the baulk cushion. | :02:47. | :02:52. | |
Would have been easier from where he was a second ago... | :02:53. | :03:06. | |
You can see the edge on the left-hand side of the table, but | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
you've got to be careful. If he catches it too thick, he could knock | :03:13. | :03:14. | |
one towards the right corner. Wa-I say that, but he may have left | :03:15. | :03:31. | |
a pot on here... Or is he - no, it's just run far enough. The applause | :03:32. | :03:34. | |
was justified from the audience. Playing a swerve. Lots of right-hand | :03:35. | :03:42. | |
side. Doesn't want the double kiss... Got the double kiss. | :03:43. | :04:50. | |
UMPIRE: Seven. Eight. | :04:51. | :05:07. | |
This is an excellent opportunity. I don't know whether he feels a need | :05:08. | :06:15. | |
as though he needs to go into them... Because there is a red on | :06:16. | :06:24. | |
the right-hand side of the table that could well pot... That's the | :06:25. | :06:27. | |
one he's gonna play for. He's got 39. He needs another 30 | :06:28. | :06:35. | |
points, and the frame will be safe. To do that, while there's one les | :06:36. | :06:58. | |
rood available, he's going to have to unfurl that cluster at some time | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
in the frame for this visit. That last red that John played - his head | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
visibly shakes when he's on the shot, John Higgins. Couple of | :07:10. | :07:13. | |
players like that - Mark Selby always has a bit of movement... | :07:14. | :07:30. | |
APPLAUSE Gone into them, and it couldn't have | :07:31. | :07:37. | |
worked out better. Surely he'll win the frame now. | :07:38. | :08:31. | |
APPLAUSE One of the best scorers the game of | :08:32. | :08:41. | |
snooker has ever seen when he gets in amongst that ball - he just plays | :08:42. | :08:43. | |
the right shot every single time. Knows exactly the right time to go | :08:44. | :08:54. | |
into the bunch... At the moment, 656 century breaks, | :08:55. | :09:16. | |
he's made in his career - that's third on the all-time list. | :09:17. | :09:28. | |
He looked at the scoreboard there, John Higgins. Didn't know why he was | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
on 87! Just an air of inevitability about | :09:34. | :09:46. | |
this. John did get that chance... A Well played. Fourth century of the | :09:47. | :10:09. | |
Masters so far. Another good shot needed to get the | :10:10. | :10:32. | |
position on the yellow... Needs to miss the pink...! Didn't | :10:33. | :10:34. | |
quite. What do you call this at cricket - | :10:35. | :10:40. | |
111? Nelson? Well, that was a tremendous play. | :10:41. | :10:58. | |
Lig Higgins proving, once again, he can score as well as anyone when it | :10:59. | :11:04. | |
gets to the balls. He now leads two frames to nil. | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
UMPIRE: As quickly as possible, please. Thank you. | :11:10. | :11:52. | |
Having lost the first two frames, he needs to, for his own | :11:53. | :11:59. | |
self-confidence, take full advantage of that terrific opening red. | :12:00. | :12:10. | |
Yeah, that was a fabulous shot. Controlled that little cannon well | :12:11. | :12:19. | |
as well... I think he's got just enough angle | :12:20. | :12:35. | |
on this black to force the cue ball, or a red, in the same pocket. | :12:36. | :13:09. | |
Little shake of the head there when he got position on the black. I | :13:10. | :13:15. | |
think he's played that nicely. Deep screw, touch of right-hand side. | :13:16. | :13:22. | |
Just misjudged the kiss off the second red. OK, he's still on the | :13:23. | :13:27. | |
black, but he's a bit thinner than he would have liked. The three reds | :13:28. | :13:32. | |
that are in a line directly above the black - he'd love to canon the | :13:33. | :13:36. | |
left-hand side of those three. I would hold the cue ball at the | :13:37. | :13:42. | |
centre of the table... He has done a wee bit more pace there. | :13:43. | :13:43. | |
APPLAUSE That's the red he wanted to play on, | :13:44. | :13:51. | |
but might have hit it a wee bit harder when the red's up. I think | :13:52. | :13:58. | |
that's the end of the break. Possibility of maybe playing the | :13:59. | :13:59. | |
plant to the left corner. Those two reds to the left-hand side | :14:00. | :14:14. | |
of the table he could play as a shot to nothing... | :14:15. | :14:23. | |
He doesn't appear to have looked at that possibility... He just had a | :14:24. | :14:33. | |
little sly look there! He just sort ofed his head towards... If he's | :14:34. | :14:38. | |
gonna play safe off the one that's second in - I know they're nowhere | :14:39. | :14:42. | |
near in line, but if you're going to play safe off the red, it might be | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
worth playing this to the far right corner pocket. | :14:47. | :14:53. | |
APPLAUSE Not quite, but having said that, I | :14:54. | :15:02. | |
think there's a possibility of red to the right middle here. And if | :15:03. | :15:07. | |
there is, that was a very risky pot to go for! | :15:08. | :15:21. | |
I think what John's slight grimace is - if he can get the angle of the | :15:22. | :15:29. | |
pot, perhaps not taking him to the black - he may have to come off the | :15:30. | :15:32. | |
cushion... APPLAUSE | :15:33. | :15:36. | |
He was worrying bowd that - losing the cue ball. Yeah. It was one of | :15:37. | :15:43. | |
those - if you play it with too much pace, it makes the pot that much | :15:44. | :15:46. | |
more difficult. But he's still on this black. | :15:47. | :15:51. | |
Just always on that right-hand jaw... | :15:52. | :16:20. | |
A second opportunity for Mark Allen to get his first frame on the | :16:21. | :16:26. | |
scoreboard. Nothing settles you better than that... | :16:27. | :16:39. | |
Not a bad little nudge off the red... | :16:40. | :16:58. | |
One of these nice positions - if you ever did come right off the blue, | :16:59. | :17:05. | |
you've got that red in the baulk hand. Maybe a little disappointed if | :17:06. | :17:09. | |
he doesn't win the frame at this visit. | :17:10. | :17:14. | |
The reason he's looking at a baulk colour is because he just feels, if | :17:15. | :17:20. | |
he plays the blue, he's gonna have to play a cannon. And he doesn't | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
really want to risk a cannon. It could go wrong. | :17:25. | :17:31. | |
Hmmm. Unless he can pot the one to this right corner... It's not | :17:32. | :17:43. | |
inch-perfect... He's obviously just about on it. No problem. | :17:44. | :17:53. | |
Couple of reds, couple of colours, should see him past the snooker's | :17:54. | :18:18. | |
required stage... Red, blue, red needed... But needed | :18:19. | :18:48. | |
two chances, Stephen... It was a risky red he played to the far right | :18:49. | :18:49. | |
corner. If John had potted the black, he | :18:50. | :18:57. | |
would have been mopping these up... Good old snooker term, there - | :18:58. | :19:08. | |
"mopping these up." That should be the frame-winner. | :19:09. | :19:15. | |
APPLAUSE Now the black goes in. No way that | :19:16. | :19:30. | |
John Higgins will be getting back to the table. So he'll be mighty | :19:31. | :19:34. | |
relieved, Mark Allen - he's got his first frame on the scoreboard. Yeah, | :19:35. | :19:40. | |
he'll be feeling a lot better now. That opening red at the start of the | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
frame would have given him a huge confidence boost. | :19:45. | :20:09. | |
Well, it didn't really matter too much. He wanted a chance at a | :20:10. | :20:28. | |
century, but he'll be pleased just to get his first frame on the | :20:29. | :20:31. | |
scoreboard. John Higgins with the chance off the spot. Mark Allen did | :20:32. | :20:32. | |
the rest. 2-1, John Higgins. Decent break off shot. Any time you | :20:33. | :20:53. | |
don't leave a pot on nowadays, you consider it a good break-off shot. | :20:54. | :20:59. | |
Now, can John just get past the blue to play a thin edge? It's going to | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
have to be mighty thin. Needed to be a little thicker than | :21:05. | :21:07. | |
that! I don't think the miss will be taken | :21:08. | :21:28. | |
here, because he's a red to the right corner. It's on for Mark | :21:29. | :21:40. | |
Allen. Similar situation to an earlier play in this match - John | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
Higgins played a red cannon to the black. Mark Allen would love the top | :21:45. | :21:48. | |
edge of the black - half ball - to leave it to the right corner. | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
He can certainly pot the pink. I think he's just going to look at how | :21:53. | :22:13. | |
the pink will go after it's been potted. | :22:14. | :22:17. | |
John Higgins - one out of one. That'll get you 100%... | :22:18. | :22:32. | |
It didn't look as though the pink spot's available. I'll just remind | :22:33. | :22:41. | |
you, a lot of people seem to forget this - the pink goes to its own spot | :22:42. | :22:45. | |
in a direct line with the middle of the top cushion. | :22:46. | :22:51. | |
Well...! He tried to force the reds open, but he was so far away with | :22:52. | :23:15. | |
the pot... I think there you see the, perhaps, weakness of having | :23:16. | :23:26. | |
that short cue action. The power shots... Not saying he can't play | :23:27. | :23:31. | |
that shot, but I just think, with a longer, smoother cue action, they're | :23:32. | :23:32. | |
easier. Yep. It's a funny old game | :23:33. | :24:12. | |
sometimes. You can make just the slightest error and it costs you a | :24:13. | :24:15. | |
frame, and he made a big one there, did Mark. Next time he comes to the | :24:16. | :24:19. | |
table, he's a chance of winning the frame. No rhyme or reason sometimes. | :24:20. | :25:15. | |
He'll have to go for the blue again here... It's one of those | :25:16. | :25:23. | |
situations... A lot of people say, "anyone how men a shots do you look | :25:24. | :25:26. | |
ahead?" In this situation, just try and leave yourself a nice angle on | :25:27. | :25:31. | |
the next ball. He's got a nice angle on the blue here to get down on the | :25:32. | :25:33. | |
red... Needs a bit of extra length on the | :25:34. | :26:02. | |
cue to be able to reach this comfortably... | :26:03. | :26:14. | |
This time, looks as though he's come pretty straight on the blue. | :26:15. | :26:24. | |
CROWD GROANS Trying to pinch a bit of the | :26:25. | :26:39. | |
pocket... You've gotta say... Schoolboy error, that. You could see | :26:40. | :26:46. | |
along the line, it was going to be very difficult to pinch a bit of the | :26:47. | :26:51. | |
pocket. Never sacrifice the pot for position. | :26:52. | :27:58. | |
Pink obviously available to the right corner. He's just overrun it | :27:59. | :28:02. | |
slightly. Little bit tricky, this black. He'd | :28:03. | :28:41. | |
be playing in a situation where he can pot the red that he's gonna play | :28:42. | :28:43. | |
for. Missable, though, these... CROWD GROANS | :28:44. | :28:53. | |
To me, it looked like it was turning red. It did. It looked as though it | :28:54. | :28:58. | |
drifted up slightly. But the thing is, playing at that pace - going | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
over a finger mark, little bit of chalk... Definitely looked as though | :29:04. | :29:04. | |
it pulled to the left. That's less from Mark Allen. Now, | :29:05. | :29:17. | |
can he not run to the left middle? Got to be accurate... | :29:18. | :29:26. | |
Accurate, it was... APPLAUSE | :29:27. | :29:43. | |
Well, this is a terrific opportunity to go into the mid-session interval | :29:44. | :29:51. | |
all square. Some of the mistakes he's made - obviously he would feel | :29:52. | :29:54. | |
the better of the two players, I would suggest, Stephen? Yeah, | :29:55. | :29:55. | |
without a doubt. When you find yourself 2-0 down in a | :29:56. | :30:09. | |
match when there's an interval after the fourth frame here, you kind of | :30:10. | :30:13. | |
think 3-1 down would be a decent result. 2-2 is a bonus. | :30:14. | :30:24. | |
Quick glance at the scoreboard... Maybe three other remaining reds, | :30:25. | :30:30. | |
depending what colours he gets on... He's overhit that... | :30:31. | :30:45. | |
Play for the pink, but... Well, he's still on the pink, but | :30:46. | :30:48. | |
it's a lot more difficult than it should have been. | :30:49. | :30:56. | |
Right in the heart of the pocket, and a nice positional shot... He's | :30:57. | :31:05. | |
now looking for red, colour, red. That would level the match going | :31:06. | :31:06. | |
into the mid-session interval. So this red to go 49 points ahead | :31:07. | :31:14. | |
with only 43 remaining. No way that John Higgins will come | :31:15. | :31:54. | |
back to the table. John Higgins will be disappointed here. He's had | :31:55. | :31:57. | |
chances to stamp his authority on this. But, they're going to go in | :31:58. | :32:05. | |
all square. John Higgins concedes. He'd be a little bit disappointed. | :32:06. | :32:08. | |
Mark Allen should be absolutely delighted. He's made mistakes, but | :32:09. | :32:11. | |
he's all square at the mid-session interval. 2-2. | :32:12. | :32:50. | |
Chance of a long pot... Not there, but felt that he could | :32:51. | :33:02. | |
only lose one of his frame. You can see the frame time - just under 16 | :33:03. | :33:06. | |
minutes - not bad after a 32-minute opening frame. I told you he'd get | :33:07. | :33:07. | |
better! Average shot time of 21 seconds - | :33:08. | :33:29. | |
quick enough. Needs to cover the red near the | :33:30. | :33:46. | |
yellow. Adjusts that well. Just makes it now a little bit more | :33:47. | :33:50. | |
difficult for John to play a safety shot and get the cue ball back to | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
the baulk end. It'd be risky if he attempted it. So may just play the | :33:56. | :33:59. | |
safety at this end. Just dictating this safety exchange | :34:00. | :34:31. | |
at the moment, is Mark Allen. It'd be too risky to go to the baulk | :34:32. | :35:09. | |
end this time. You need to get this cue ball as close as you can to the | :35:10. | :35:11. | |
top cushion. He left his cut to the middle...! | :35:12. | :35:18. | |
Can John get to it? I think he can. He's looking at the | :35:19. | :35:27. | |
pot... Just having a look to see where the | :35:28. | :36:10. | |
pink's gonna go. After being potted, it'll have to go at the back of the | :36:11. | :36:16. | |
pack, which is no problem. UMPIRE: One second, John, please. | :36:17. | :37:11. | |
Hoping to leave himself a little low on this... Potting it, bringing | :37:12. | :37:20. | |
other reds into play... Cue ball needs to run a little bit, though | :37:21. | :37:27. | |
there.. May just be a gap if he can get through to the green. He'd | :37:28. | :37:29. | |
rather the green than the blue. Solid pot. That's why it's in the | :37:30. | :37:51. | |
heart of the pocket - always a good sign. | :37:52. | :37:51. | |
APPLAUSE I suggest to pot the cue with the | :37:52. | :38:21. | |
cue ball. That would leave the left to go to an angle, a blue to go into | :38:22. | :38:27. | |
the bunch... Oh, dear, John... Didn't see that one coming. My | :38:28. | :38:30. | |
sentiments exactly. Maybe he was thinking two or three | :38:31. | :38:49. | |
shots ahead. Yeah, just let his mind drift. It's easily done sometimes. | :38:50. | :38:50. | |
You just take a pot for granted. There's a pink pot. That could open | :38:51. | :38:54. | |
up all the reds... He may play the double that's | :38:55. | :39:58. | |
closest to the cue ball into the right middle if he feels he's not | :39:59. | :40:02. | |
going to leave anything on but the red he's playing... Always got to be | :40:03. | :40:08. | |
double with a careful, though - if it hits the wrong side of the pocket | :40:09. | :40:11. | |
and doesn't go in, it can always come back to the cue ball... | :40:12. | :40:31. | |
John Higgins playing a double... And he's one of the best in the | :40:32. | :40:34. | |
business... APPLAUSE | :40:35. | :40:37. | |
And that is why. No mistake. Some people... Cliff Thorburn was a | :40:38. | :41:04. | |
great doubler... In Canada, they call it a "bank shot". | :41:05. | :41:19. | |
It could set up a frame-winning opportunity here. He's got these | :41:20. | :41:24. | |
three reds in between the pink and black nicely available. | :41:25. | :41:35. | |
Then there's a red in the middle of the table at the far end... He could | :41:36. | :41:39. | |
win the frame at this visit, no doubt about that. | :41:40. | :41:58. | |
Takes him 36 points in front. Needs to get to 67, so another 24 points | :41:59. | :42:03. | |
required... He's probably going to need, after | :42:04. | :42:17. | |
this black, three more reds to clinch the frame at this visit. The | :42:18. | :42:20. | |
reason I say that is because, with the reds being at the baulk end of | :42:21. | :42:24. | |
the table, he's gonna take low-valued colours, you would have | :42:25. | :42:28. | |
thought. So it's not a formality. Quick glance at the scoreboard... | :42:29. | :42:42. | |
Needs to go 51 points in front, but still 67 remaining. | :42:43. | :43:07. | |
Red and black will put him 59 points in front with 59 remaining. | :43:08. | :43:17. | |
Still looking for one more red to get to snookers required. | :43:18. | :43:46. | |
Don't if he'll drift that far. Like them straighter on this black... | :43:47. | :43:50. | |
That's a good pot. APPLAUSE | :43:51. | :43:57. | |
Virtually a gimme for John Higgins, this one. | :43:58. | :44:12. | |
CROWD GROANS UMPIRE: 54 and frame. Still means a | :44:13. | :44:16. | |
double. Mark Allen went for one, he missed it. Higgins with a double, | :44:17. | :44:17. | |
and he got it. 3-2. I think John was quoted, Stephen, as | :44:18. | :44:37. | |
saying, now there's so many tournaments, you don't need to spend | :44:38. | :44:40. | |
as much time on the practise table. I think that probably suits John. As | :44:41. | :44:43. | |
you get older, that's the hard graft, isn't it - the practise? | :44:44. | :44:44. | |
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I think fine in the appetite | :44:45. | :45:02. | |
or desire to put in 4-6 hours a day but, as you get older, it becomes | :45:03. | :45:08. | |
very difficult. John said to me during that Champions Cup victory - | :45:09. | :45:12. | |
I think he only plays about an hour a day now, because you're playing so | :45:13. | :45:16. | |
much snooker. Yeah, and it keeps you match-sharp. He'd be disappointed to | :45:17. | :45:21. | |
have missed that long half-ball red. Always say with that type of shot, | :45:22. | :45:25. | |
if you're gonna miss it, hit it too thin. He hit it too thick. This is a | :45:26. | :45:28. | |
good chance to start this frame now for Mark Allen. | :45:29. | :45:34. | |
I think what was has -- what has stood John Higgins in good stead | :45:35. | :45:41. | |
over the years - his technique has hardly changed. No, it's good - his | :45:42. | :45:44. | |
cue action is so repetitive. There's two ways of playing this - | :45:45. | :45:55. | |
he can play a little cannon into those two reds just above the black | :45:56. | :46:00. | |
and still be on the red at just above the black, or decide to play | :46:01. | :46:02. | |
just for the loose red... Decides to play the cannon that time | :46:03. | :46:28. | |
around. If he'd have played the cannon previously, he'd still be on | :46:29. | :46:31. | |
the red just above the black. Now, it appears as though he's on | :46:32. | :46:32. | |
nothing. A lot to do with rate building in | :46:33. | :46:49. | |
this game - shot selection. He was looking for something easier than | :46:50. | :46:55. | |
far left corner... But he's played it beautifully. | :46:56. | :46:57. | |
APPLAUSE Good shot. | :46:58. | :47:02. | |
Now, can he drop this in and just hold for the red to the right | :47:03. | :47:07. | |
corner? Delicate shot. But he's played it | :47:08. | :47:10. | |
well. He'll go into them again. One to the | :47:11. | :47:44. | |
gap, one to the right... Got the red first..it's OK. | :47:45. | :47:48. | |
The red that he hit, he just wants to miss this one and go into that | :47:49. | :47:53. | |
gap. Then he would have been absolutely perfect. | :47:54. | :48:06. | |
Controlled the cue ball nicely there... | :48:07. | :48:21. | |
That's exactly what you've got to do at this level. Higgins misses the | :48:22. | :48:42. | |
long red. And you've gotta punish them for it. | :48:43. | :48:48. | |
As you say, John, he's missed it so thick, the cue ball's never going to | :48:49. | :48:54. | |
get back to the other end of the table. Mark Allen is getting the cue | :48:55. | :48:59. | |
ball cleaned. That should have been easier on the red than this. Played | :49:00. | :49:03. | |
it for left middle. Now becomes missable. | :49:04. | :49:11. | |
No problem. APPLAUSE | :49:12. | :49:27. | |
This match has warmed up nicely, John. Yeah, always, on paper, looked | :49:28. | :49:35. | |
to be a cracker. They played 13 times, and it's 7-6 to John Higgins. | :49:36. | :49:40. | |
..In the head-to-heads. This black, and the red in the | :49:41. | :49:46. | |
corner needed. Played the cannon nicely. It's all | :49:47. | :50:02. | |
over now, surely. The red will put him 67 points ahead. There's 67 | :50:03. | :50:03. | |
remaining. This is his highest break in the | :50:04. | :50:07. | |
match so far. Wow... Doesn't matter about the | :50:08. | :51:09. | |
blue, but he probably hit a few good balls prior to that. One mistake | :51:10. | :51:13. | |
from John Higgins - frame to Mark Allen. We're all square. Three | :51:14. | :51:14. | |
apiece. Yeah, that's textbook break there. | :51:15. | :51:42. | |
Open some reds up. Good cue ball. That kept the black in the open. Has | :51:43. | :51:45. | |
he left this red to left corner? He's done the opposite of what John | :51:46. | :51:57. | |
Higgins did in the previous frame - he's made sure he's missed it thin, | :51:58. | :51:59. | |
and he's got safe. Mark Allen for it. Well, it's a case | :52:00. | :52:27. | |
of - does he put it back in from where it lies or does he have the | :52:28. | :52:33. | |
cue ball put back? I'd have it put back myself. It was quite | :52:34. | :52:42. | |
interesting at the start of the match as Steve | :52:43. | :52:53. | |
The top ranked players, three, John Higgins and Mark Allen, one of the | :52:54. | :53:03. | |
top seeds. Can he hit it this time, otherwise he'll get a warning? He's | :53:04. | :53:09. | |
going to get a warning now. Mishit the next time... And you lose the | :53:10. | :53:20. | |
frame. But the bookies made John Higgins | :53:21. | :53:25. | |
9-4 on favourite. He's having a look at John because he knows now that | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
John is under pressure. I don't think that he will be playing the | :53:31. | :53:35. | |
clip this time. You think that he may have said that to John - same | :53:36. | :53:40. | |
shot. UMPIRE: I'm going to have to warn you John to hit it. This is the | :53:41. | :53:49. | |
shot that John Higgins didn't want to play. But it wasn't that | :53:50. | :53:56. | |
difficult in the end. But John Higgins going on favourite in the 64 | :53:57. | :54:03. | |
Mark Allen. I didn't see the difference that much in the -- in | :54:04. | :54:07. | |
the 6-4, Mark Allen. I didn't see the difference that much in the | :54:08. | :54:12. | |
odds. Maybe the reason was because John Higgins has already won two | :54:13. | :54:22. | |
16-man events this season. He's on the move quickly there. | :54:23. | :56:03. | |
It's a funny one that. He couldn't really put any pressure on John. I | :56:04. | :56:09. | |
don't think that it will be a problem now for John to play safe | :56:10. | :56:11. | |
off this red. But John could have played it | :56:12. | :56:22. | |
better. If he's not covered that ball near the yellow, then advantage | :56:23. | :56:25. | |
to Mark Allen. Well, it looks like he could just | :56:26. | :56:49. | |
get past the pink to play safe down the right-hand side of the table ws | :56:50. | :56:56. | |
we look. Caught it much too thick, though. That could spell danger. | :56:57. | :57:15. | |
There's nothing nicer coming to the table than being left with this | :57:16. | :57:21. | |
situation. The reds and black in the open. Already made 80 in a previous | :57:22. | :57:30. | |
frame, so he's scoring. You wouldn't imagine that the cue | :57:31. | :58:11. | |
ball will be travelling any great distance. Should Mark Allen win a | :58:12. | :58:20. | |
frame-winning break here. He would be very disappointed with that one. | :58:21. | :58:24. | |
I'm sure that he can pot this red but he's losing the cue ball up | :58:25. | :58:29. | |
towards the blue now. A little shake of the head. It's imperative now | :58:30. | :58:34. | |
that he gets a good angle on the blue. Well, he's played it in such a | :58:35. | :58:42. | |
way that he didn't want to risk being the wrong side of the blue, so | :58:43. | :58:46. | |
made certain that he would have a chance of a baulk colour. Probably | :58:47. | :58:52. | |
play the green. But the cue ball is travelling a bit further, and as | :58:53. | :58:56. | |
Steven said, if you're in and around the black and the cue ball isn't | :58:57. | :59:01. | |
travelling too far, a lot easier to control the positional side of the | :59:02. | :59:03. | |
play. Played that well, though. Back in | :59:04. | :59:15. | |
prime position. Good shot. Red, colour, red, all that's | :59:16. | :01:26. | |
required. So 72 points the lead. 75 | :01:27. | :01:53. | |
replaining. But not for long. So after losing the first two frames, | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
Mark Allen is going to take the lead for the first time in the match. | :01:58. | :02:14. | |
Starting to punish John Higgins heavily for his mistakes. Yes, he's | :02:15. | :02:25. | |
made his highest break of the match, Mark, in the last frame, with a | :02:26. | :02:32. | |
break of 81. Looks like he can go better than that here. | :02:33. | :03:04. | |
Table does look an absolute pleasure to play on, I have to say. Great | :03:05. | :03:08. | |
speed. And little soft screws. So the break there for Mark Allen | :03:09. | :03:52. | |
really punishing John Higgins now. Highest break so far in the | :03:53. | :03:55. | |
tournament is held by Ronnie O'Sullivan. A break of 121. There's | :03:56. | :04:02. | |
a ?10,000 prize for the high break. Oh! Well. He'll be disappointed in | :04:03. | :04:10. | |
that. But the frame won and for the first time in the match, he goes in | :04:11. | :04:14. | |
front. He now leads John Higgins 4-3. | :04:15. | :04:30. | |
He could still play for the black but more likely go back up for the | :04:31. | :04:40. | |
blue. And he needs good, accurate cueing and he's not potted the ball | :04:41. | :04:44. | |
for over 27 minutes. And considering that - excellent pot. OK, he's a | :04:45. | :04:51. | |
little bit thin on the blue but he won't mind that. He'll play the | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
cannon here because in playing the cannon, he can bring the pink into | :04:56. | :04:57. | |
play. Not the best opportunity. He | :04:58. | :05:25. | |
cannoned the pink and he released it from the red but he went near the | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
side cushion. The black is in a tricky position at the moment. So | :05:30. | :05:36. | |
just trying to concentrate and accumulate points here. And not | :05:37. | :05:44. | |
think too far ahead of himself. But this is a big moment in the match | :05:45. | :05:55. | |
for me. But for that hampered by the pink. | :05:56. | :06:06. | |
This time, wrong side of the blue. Less than he wanted. Can he roll the | :06:07. | :06:48. | |
blue in and find a red that's easily potable? I don't think so. | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
Just the wrong side of the blue line. | :06:55. | :07:13. | |
I suppose he could screw back to the right-hand side cushion and play for | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
the red that's closest to the right corner. Looking at the pink area, | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
but I wouldn't be certain to be on the colour off that. See what he | :07:25. | :07:32. | |
decides. He's played for the one in the pink spot area. The problem with | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
this - it's missable and he's got to find a path for the cue ball to go | :07:39. | :07:43. | |
back up to the blue or try to play a cannon to hold for the black. Don't | :07:44. | :07:45. | |
miss the pot. With the way he played it, I think | :07:46. | :07:58. | |
he was trying to avoid the kiss on the second red. Only a safety shot | :07:59. | :08:04. | |
now. At least if you pot the ball, you get the next shot. | :08:05. | :08:27. | |
UMPIRE: John Higgins, 25. Yeah, it was always going to be difficult to | :08:28. | :08:33. | |
score heavy from that opportunity. With the pink and black, awkward as | :08:34. | :08:36. | |
they were. More concerned with avoiding the | :08:37. | :09:07. | |
reds than getting it back there rather than getting the good length. | :09:08. | :09:10. | |
He's not left anything but it should be an easier, or a better safety | :09:11. | :09:13. | |
shot from John here. And if he misses the yellow, it will | :09:14. | :09:18. | |
be. He just flicked it. Well he played that with a trace of | :09:19. | :09:43. | |
side and played it much too thick. John Higgins gets another chance. | :09:44. | :09:45. | |
Now. Trying to swing it around but just | :09:46. | :09:54. | |
putting that little bit of right-hand side on the superfine | :09:55. | :09:57. | |
cloth. If you don't time it correctly, you just push it to the | :09:58. | :10:02. | |
left and that's why he caught it much too thick. | :10:03. | :10:16. | |
It all depends on the potting angle with the pink. I know it's a thin | :10:17. | :10:23. | |
cut but in potting it, he may just cannon the two reds that are | :10:24. | :10:26. | |
together. This this instance, just concentrate on the pot. | :10:27. | :10:32. | |
That's what he did and he's been a little unlucky. He nudged the reds | :10:33. | :10:41. | |
open. Just watch. For a moment, he was on the red to the corner and | :10:42. | :10:47. | |
then the other one came and blocked it. | :10:48. | :10:53. | |
On the red in between the blue and the baulk area to the corner. But | :10:54. | :11:00. | |
the pressure on that. He's looked at it a couple of times. I think the | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
only thing that wouldn't make me want to play it, he's just looking | :11:07. | :11:10. | |
now. If he leaves the cue ball near the top cushion. If the red goes in, | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
he could play the snooker behind the brown and leave Mark Allen in all | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
kinds of trouble. I wouldn't be risking playing the pot and trying | :11:21. | :11:23. | |
to play for a colour. He's now looking at the possibility of a | :11:24. | :11:28. | |
plant. Doesn't have to do much with the cue ball to be on the black. But | :11:29. | :11:39. | |
it needs making, as you can see. Well, John Higgins had risk in that. | :11:40. | :11:54. | |
Ideally, John would like to leave the four reds that are clustered | :11:55. | :12:31. | |
together in that same position, but can he get a better safety off this | :12:32. | :12:33. | |
red? Wasn't too bothered about bringing | :12:34. | :12:50. | |
the green into play. He's got the yellow and brown in awkward | :12:51. | :12:57. | |
positions. Should Mark Allen get the next chance. Mark Allen will have no | :12:58. | :13:01. | |
hesitation in bringing the four reds into play. Oh, but he could have | :13:02. | :13:08. | |
played it better than that. And this red cuts to the right middle. OK, | :13:09. | :13:12. | |
you wouldn't have much clue where the cue ball is going. But just make | :13:13. | :13:16. | |
certain that you pot the red and trust to look for position. If it | :13:17. | :13:22. | |
gets on a colour, he's got the frame in the mercy. Well, looking at the | :13:23. | :13:31. | |
one to the left middle, it's a lot more difficult pot. But still has | :13:32. | :13:34. | |
more control of the cue ball. Right in the heart of the pocket. | :13:35. | :13:51. | |
And you've got to say that that could be the frame winner. Good | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
shot. When we talk about making the right | :13:55. | :14:15. | |
shot selection, if you look where the cue ball finished, he didn't | :14:16. | :14:18. | |
play the shot for nothing. He played it so that if he got it, it won him | :14:19. | :14:25. | |
the frame. And that's run on a little bit more than he wanted, but | :14:26. | :14:27. | |
he's OK. Nice little cannon. 37 points the | :14:28. | :14:43. | |
lead. Probably need four of the remaining | :14:44. | :15:04. | |
reds. But he's got four reds in the open. Well, three now. | :15:05. | :15:13. | |
75 remaining. Three reds, three colours. More than enough. | :15:14. | :15:36. | |
Quick glance at the score board. Red, colour, red. | :15:37. | :15:46. | |
That's to say, it was a very weak safety shot from Mark Allen. But | :15:47. | :15:54. | |
every credit to John Higgins for playing the right shot. Ar it would | :15:55. | :16:01. | |
have been a dangerous one should he have missed it. It would have been a | :16:02. | :16:04. | |
frame winner if it went in. He's not too bothered now. He knows | :16:05. | :16:39. | |
Mark Allen won't be coming back to the table. | :16:40. | :16:45. | |
And that's enough. So John Higgins needed a couple of safety shots | :16:46. | :16:52. | |
there from Mark Allen but we're now all square. We started off best of | :16:53. | :16:56. | |
11. It's now turned out to be best of three. | :16:57. | :17:12. | |
It was a massive frame for John Higgins that last one. | :17:13. | :17:25. | |
And it makes this safety a little bit more which wasn't got the open | :17:26. | :18:32. | |
red in the middle there to coop off so he gets this. | :18:33. | :18:37. | |
And of course, if you catch it fractionally thicker, the chance | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
you'd leave it on and that's what he's done. | :18:43. | :18:58. | |
Once again, getting the advantage from the safety exchange. Could have | :18:59. | :19:23. | |
done with another couple of rolls of the cue ball. OK, it's still got a | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
thin cut on the red, but he's going to do well to control the cue ball | :19:28. | :19:40. | |
here. Needs to come in and out. If he misses at green, he's OK. Well, | :19:41. | :19:46. | |
he may just be able to pot the green. But it begs the question - | :19:47. | :19:54. | |
where does the next red come from? Well, in practice it goes from two | :19:55. | :20:08. | |
cushions into the bunch here. We can only asame that it will go past the | :20:09. | :20:12. | |
main bunch and into the right corner. I liked it better. Well, it | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
was two that went. And only played the bottom one. | :20:18. | :20:22. | |
God shot. Now, has he got the angle on the blue? He has. So he'll pot | :20:23. | :20:39. | |
the blue into the pink. Couldn't have played it much better than | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
that. And he's finished absolutely perfectly. That's all he's looking | :20:45. | :20:48. | |
for. It's an easy red to continue with and he's got that. And the | :20:49. | :20:53. | |
black is available into both corners. Good chance. Sorry, can you | :20:54. | :21:03. | |
turn your ear pieces down a little bit? Thank you. | :21:04. | :21:35. | |
So the ear pieces were just turned up a little bit too loud and the | :21:36. | :21:41. | |
players just get a whiff of what we're saying. Oh! He thought he'd | :21:42. | :21:48. | |
missed it. He thought he'd missed it. | :21:49. | :22:04. | |
And if it goes to the knuckles of the pocket two or three times, | :22:05. | :22:15. | |
normally they don't go in. But with John Higgins in that pocket there, | :22:16. | :22:20. | |
so obviously the shot from Mark Allen had just enough pace to keep | :22:21. | :22:22. | |
the direction. She's going for 27 points. Got this | :22:23. | :22:55. | |
red in the open. He's got one loose red to the left of the cluster. | :22:56. | :23:12. | |
And it went to just over 14 minutes a frame. It's been excellent | :23:13. | :23:33. | |
snooker. Now, has he got the angle in this and just potting it? He can | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
just nudge another red into the open. He did. And that could be key | :23:38. | :23:44. | |
to winning this frame at this visit. When he gets to this situation to be | :23:45. | :24:15. | |
able to win frames in one visit. Couldn't have worked out better. | :24:16. | :24:27. | |
Just a red and a colour needed. This blue to go 72 points in front | :24:28. | :24:54. | |
with just 67 remaining. Would you believe it. Now, has he got position | :24:55. | :24:57. | |
on the red? Would you believe that? John Higgins at the table, 67 points | :24:58. | :25:26. | |
behind. There was 67 remaining. He needs All Blacks. And the six | :25:27. | :25:33. | |
colours to force a respot. Tall order. Going for the snooker in | :25:34. | :25:43. | |
front of John. Looking for the black to see who | :25:44. | :25:53. | |
goes 5-4 up. He'd like to have been a little bit | :25:54. | :26:12. | |
straighter. But remember, he's got to get | :26:13. | :26:25. | |
blacks. Off every red. And the red in between the blue and | :26:26. | :26:42. | |
the pink that is so important that he gets the right potting angle on | :26:43. | :26:47. | |
that one. Well, he thinks he can do it this time around. Now it looks | :26:48. | :26:53. | |
on. Now it looks on. Now, one good positional shot from | :26:54. | :27:35. | |
black to yellow. And this looks absolutely inch perfect. To force a | :27:36. | :27:51. | |
respotted black. He missed a straight forward blue. | :27:52. | :27:55. | |
Mark Allen is sat in his chair tliing - heads or tails? That's the | :27:56. | :28:03. | |
blue he missed. Missed it because he was playing it with left-hand side | :28:04. | :28:05. | |
to get position. And that's just about inch-perfect | :28:06. | :28:22. | |
on the blue. Go for the pink and the blue in the same pocket. | :28:23. | :28:28. | |
What character this man shows! And has done all his career. Brilliant! | :28:29. | :28:58. | |
Absolutely brilliant. S boy, has he got a will to win. So it's a | :28:59. | :29:04. | |
respotted black and as Stephen said, Mark Allen will be thinking - heads | :29:05. | :29:13. | |
or tails? UMPIRE: John, do you want to call it? Tails. It's a head. It's | :29:14. | :29:23. | |
your choice. So John Higgins called tails. It was heads. Mark Allen puts | :29:24. | :29:28. | |
him in. UMPIRE: Settle down please, quiet, please. Can you stop the | :29:29. | :29:33. | |
people coming in now, please. And people are coming in. This is | :29:34. | :29:36. | |
ridiculous. They should be stopped. They shouldn't be coming in during a | :29:37. | :29:38. | |
frame. He's played the double. Where is it | :29:39. | :29:48. | |
going? Is it coming over the middle pocket? Is it running past it? Well, | :29:49. | :29:59. | |
he'd be a brave man to play the double. The double is on. But if you | :30:00. | :30:03. | |
play it and don't get it, you don't know where the black is going to | :30:04. | :30:11. | |
finish. So decided to play the safety. | :30:12. | :30:19. | |
Yeah, could be. I think he's playing that in the lower cue ball. | :30:20. | :30:41. | |
UMPIRE: Settle down, please. Well, what do you do here? Easy safety? | :30:42. | :30:47. | |
But the pot wins you the frame. He wins the frame. What a shot that | :30:48. | :31:05. | |
was! Listen to the roar. Absolute absolutely superb pot on the black. | :31:06. | :31:10. | |
He nearly threw it away. But a pot like that deserves to win any frame. | :31:11. | :31:14. | |
He leaves John Higgins 5-4. Mark Allen breaks off. In the last | :31:15. | :31:36. | |
frame which he nearly threw away but what a tremendous pot this was. | :31:37. | :31:44. | |
Right in the heart of the pocket. And well, he's so relieved, I think. | :31:45. | :31:47. | |
That's why he did that. That's a tremendous opening frame | :31:48. | :32:00. | |
from John Higgins. You never count this one out. And let's not forget | :32:01. | :32:04. | |
even though he lost the last frame, what a tremendous 67 break he made. | :32:05. | :32:07. | |
To force the respot. Going into the bunch to the right | :32:08. | :33:14. | |
corner. Now he's just making sure at the moment. And probably just a | :33:15. | :33:18. | |
little bit too straight there. He had to force it over. I think if it | :33:19. | :33:22. | |
had more angle, I think that he definitely would have played that. | :33:23. | :33:32. | |
I don't see him going into the bunch here. | :33:33. | :33:46. | |
I think his body language, I would have to fancy him winning the frame | :33:47. | :33:55. | |
at this visit. He's just so focused. Where he lost that frame, the 67 | :33:56. | :34:01. | |
clearance was ver was immense. -- was immense. Now, he may go into the | :34:02. | :34:06. | |
main bunch, but he also may just play a little cannon into the two | :34:07. | :34:10. | |
reds that are just split from the main bunch there. And he decides | :34:11. | :34:16. | |
that he's going in and worked out perfect. He'll be happy with that. | :34:17. | :34:23. | |
And he brought four reds into play. With that one shot. | :34:24. | :34:34. | |
This has really been a tremendous match since the interval. Snooker of | :34:35. | :34:55. | |
the highest account. -- quality. Yes, the first frame was a bit | :34:56. | :35:00. | |
scrappy. The first 30 minutes, but since then, it has been top quality | :35:01. | :35:03. | |
stuff, as you would expect when you've got two of the best players | :35:04. | :35:05. | |
in the world. And that's what you get and expect | :35:06. | :35:15. | |
with the Masters and John Higgins points scored now. Just two points | :35:16. | :35:24. | |
behind at 461 against Mark Allen's 463. And he'll go ahead in points | :35:25. | :35:30. | |
scored with this pink. This pink will put him 58 points in front. So | :35:31. | :35:40. | |
two reds, two colours. That cluster of five, that will mean there's 6 | :35:41. | :35:44. | |
left but he's got this red and he's got the red in the baulk end. That | :35:45. | :35:49. | |
would be sufficient to win the frame. Without having to open the | :35:50. | :35:52. | |
reds. And what's the response? That first long red was a carbon | :35:53. | :36:11. | |
copy of the one that he missed by such a distance before. But when you | :36:12. | :36:15. | |
have to get it. When you know you're backed up against a wall, not a | :36:16. | :36:20. | |
problem. Yes, the sign of a great champion. This of the red. As | :36:21. | :36:29. | |
Stephen said, he caught one too thick a couple of frames ago | :36:30. | :36:34. | |
crossing the frame. Trying to get into the reds and he's into them and | :36:35. | :36:40. | |
he's knocked then on. Well, this is superb stuff from John Higgins. Back | :36:41. | :36:47. | |
firmly against the wall. One chance, that's all he needed to take. | :36:48. | :36:52. | |
Brilliant. Yeah, you just knew didn't you when he went in at the | :36:53. | :36:56. | |
beginning of this frame. Almost when he potted that long red, I sensed | :36:57. | :37:01. | |
that it was going to go 5-5 from this visit. It's just what he does. | :37:02. | :37:09. | |
And I mean this in the best possible way, Stephen his greatest asset, for | :37:10. | :37:14. | |
me, John Higgins, always has been, he hates losing. And that's what can | :37:15. | :37:22. | |
motivate you. The red hasn't gone in but it doesn't matter. Mark Allen | :37:23. | :37:26. | |
won't bother coming back to the table. We have a decider and listen | :37:27. | :37:30. | |
to the crowd. They're going to look forward to this. | :37:31. | :37:37. | |
UMPIRE: Deciding frame, John Higgins to break. | :37:38. | :37:52. | |
So that's when Mark Allen potted that tremendous black in the respot. | :37:53. | :38:08. | |
And John Higgins when he won that frame in one visit, all done in the | :38:09. | :38:14. | |
best possible taste. And what a deciding frame we've got | :38:15. | :38:19. | |
now and that's an excellent safety shot for Mark Allen. But he has left | :38:20. | :38:26. | |
a possibility of a pot. And if the black goes to the opposite corner, | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
John Higgins may be tempted. A big shot. You have to think that | :38:31. | :38:49. | |
you're leaving everything on should you miss this. Oh, brilliant. | :38:50. | :39:03. | |
Sensational. What a great shot that was. The consequences should he miss | :39:04. | :39:08. | |
it... When he won that frame, I think | :39:09. | :39:24. | |
since then, John Higgins has never missed a ball. | :39:25. | :39:32. | |
Well, I think it certainly had an effect on John because I've never | :39:33. | :39:42. | |
seen John react like that. It must have done, because for him to mimic | :39:43. | :39:46. | |
Mark when he won the last frame, that's not like John at all. Anyway, | :39:47. | :39:52. | |
he's got first chance in this all important deciding frame. Can he | :39:53. | :39:53. | |
make the most of it? What a match. , He's cueing well, especially under | :39:54. | :40:37. | |
this pressure. Certainly don't expect him to miss it. | :40:38. | :40:48. | |
If he wants to go into the bunch, it's easy to go into the side of | :40:49. | :40:55. | |
them and lose the cue ball to the other end of the table here, so he's | :40:56. | :40:59. | |
going to have to leave himself as a middle distance red. | :41:00. | :41:09. | |
It's just outside of the bunch there, it is available but he'd much | :41:10. | :41:15. | |
rather be playing for an angle here to be able to go into them. You've | :41:16. | :41:17. | |
got to cue these well. No, it's one of those. If you just | :41:18. | :41:33. | |
slightly decellerate on those, you always hit them too thin. If you go | :41:34. | :41:37. | |
for the blue, then you have to play a more positive shot. I can only | :41:38. | :41:43. | |
assume he's holding for the pink to play that loose red. | :41:44. | :42:06. | |
So if that was a shot, I presume that the pink doesn't respot. So it | :42:07. | :42:14. | |
is a matter of holding the pink ball there. And if you can get high on | :42:15. | :42:19. | |
the red the chance to open on the bunch at the same time as potting | :42:20. | :42:21. | |
it. So this is a big shot. He says - give me a second. In the | :42:22. | :42:43. | |
pink spot, then this red would not be available so that's why John | :42:44. | :42:47. | |
Higgins on his previous shot played for the pink. If he has got the | :42:48. | :42:54. | |
angle that Stephen is thinking of, he may be able to nudge a few reds | :42:55. | :43:01. | |
into play. They can bring the cue ball back up to the blue and maybe a | :43:02. | :43:06. | |
ball colour. The reds will go everywhere here. Didn't get the | :43:07. | :43:13. | |
power into the ball that I thought he might. That would really power | :43:14. | :43:17. | |
the ball there, have more control. Just got into it too much but | :43:18. | :43:42. | |
there's one thing for sure - neither player hauled him back. It's going | :43:43. | :44:18. | |
towards the corner. I suppose the only thing looking at it from first | :44:19. | :44:21. | |
glance, it's a little bit straight. And if John has to use the rest, | :44:22. | :44:27. | |
he's going to take a good shot. And go this side of the baulk line from | :44:28. | :44:35. | |
this colour. He's going to screw it in and good cueing needed here. | :44:36. | :44:46. | |
Got a shot at the yellow. This is an aggressive shot. He's going to play | :44:47. | :44:56. | |
the yellow off two cushions. Two cushions going to the bunch. What an | :44:57. | :44:58. | |
attacking shot this is. Maybe wishing now he'd have held | :44:59. | :45:17. | |
back but as I said previous, neither play seems to want to play safe. If | :45:18. | :45:22. | |
they get an opportunity, they're thinking of winning frame and match. | :45:23. | :45:26. | |
This was too thin. Got the cannon and left a red on for Mark. | :45:27. | :45:36. | |
He's got a slinth angle of blue. I'm not certain that he can get position | :45:37. | :45:42. | |
on the red immediately above the black. He's looking now where he'd | :45:43. | :45:44. | |
have to look at the cue ball. Now, has he come far enough? A shake | :45:45. | :46:05. | |
of the head. Doesn't look good. He needed a fraction more on the cue | :46:06. | :46:12. | |
ball. OK, I may be able to drop it right into the middle but he | :46:13. | :46:15. | |
wouldn't have the right angle on the blue. Can he play a little swerve | :46:16. | :46:21. | |
here? Trying to bend this with a touch of side. Trying to bend it | :46:22. | :46:23. | |
with a touch of side! He first looked at it. He didn't | :46:24. | :46:34. | |
think that he could pot it. He had a second look and thought he could. | :46:35. | :46:43. | |
Is that the mistake at that cost that could cost him the match? John | :46:44. | :46:52. | |
will have to play the cannon here on the four reds because he can't play | :46:53. | :46:57. | |
for the loose red. It could all come down to this one shot. | :46:58. | :47:13. | |
That is just pressure. But even under the intense pressure, I never | :47:14. | :47:22. | |
expected John Higgins to miss the black off the spot. But just looking | :47:23. | :47:26. | |
at it again, the black did bounce, didn't it? | :47:27. | :47:36. | |
So the chance falls to Mark Allen. Watch the black as it bounces. Was | :47:37. | :47:47. | |
it a bad contact. It may well have been. | :47:48. | :47:54. | |
The red that's closest to the left-hand cushion, I think if you | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
got right behind it, you could just drop it in the mid. Doesn't have to | :48:00. | :48:04. | |
drop any cannons. Pots this black and he'll be five points behind. So | :48:05. | :48:10. | |
he can win it with the remaining reds on the table. | :48:11. | :48:19. | |
Well, he's got a straight red to the far right corner. Normal | :48:20. | :48:26. | |
circumstances, you'd fancy him knocking it in. As Stephen said, | :48:27. | :48:30. | |
there's pressure now. Played the delicate red to the right | :48:31. | :49:03. | |
middle and played it to perfection. It's all there for the taking, as I | :49:04. | :49:08. | |
say. I'm certain that that red that's close to the middle. If you | :49:09. | :49:12. | |
get right behind it, you can drop it in. That's all he'll be hoping, | :49:13. | :49:16. | |
that's all he needs is just to drop the red in. | :49:17. | :49:33. | |
Ten points the lead. OK, he can drop it in and play for green or brown, | :49:34. | :49:43. | |
but he wants close cue ball control here in the pressure situations. | :49:44. | :49:52. | |
He could play the cue ball in an area for both reds here from the | :49:53. | :50:01. | |
brown. In between the two reds with the choice. | :50:02. | :50:10. | |
He'd be tempted to play it now, the one near the middle pocket, but it's | :50:11. | :50:18. | |
obviously trickier than it looks now on the screen. Well, if he's | :50:19. | :50:27. | |
straight on the black, it means that he can't get close to the awkward | :50:28. | :50:36. | |
red. Needs a better angle on the black than this. John Higgins may be | :50:37. | :50:42. | |
thinking here's a chance to come back to the table. | :50:43. | :50:59. | |
Close to the score board. Pot the blue and go 29 points in front with | :51:00. | :51:19. | |
27 remaining. John Higgins fearing the worst. | :51:20. | :51:28. | |
And that should be that. But what a match. | :51:29. | :51:43. | |
John Higgins missed a spot off the black and I'll give him the benefit | :51:44. | :51:49. | |
of the doubt and say it wasn't the best of contacts when the black | :51:50. | :51:54. | |
jumped in the air, but every credit to Mark Allen holding himself | :51:55. | :52:00. | |
together. And he's now 31 points in the lead. 25 remaining. Two snookers | :52:01. | :52:07. | |
required. Is there a gap? There there's always | :52:08. | :52:25. | |
a gap. Nicely played. OK, normally you | :52:26. | :52:54. | |
think of one cushion escape, but at this level, you wouldn't expect him | :52:55. | :53:00. | |
to miss it. But funny how the mind can play tricks on you. Yeah, and | :53:01. | :53:05. | |
when the object balls are right in the middle of the table, just puts a | :53:06. | :53:07. | |
little bit of doubt in your mind. Now, if John was to pot green, brown | :53:08. | :53:23. | |
and blue, he would need one snooker on there to tie. At the moment, it's | :53:24. | :53:30. | |
two snookers required. But he he'd rather keep more balls there and he | :53:31. | :53:35. | |
doesn't want the green in. He didn't want it in. | :53:36. | :53:45. | |
Still two snookers needed. Oh, he's caught this much too thin. He's left | :53:46. | :53:55. | |
the brown. He's left the brown. John walks away from the table. Drops his | :53:56. | :53:59. | |
shoulders, drops his head. This brown for the match. Oh, would you | :54:00. | :54:06. | |
believe it? Well... That's amazing. OK, I know | :54:07. | :54:18. | |
it's two snookers but the match should have been over. | :54:19. | :54:51. | |
Yeah, good shot. Good shot. And even at this moment, fair play to John | :54:52. | :55:00. | |
Higgins taking time to tap on the table to say - good shot. Needs to | :55:01. | :55:04. | |
hit this and get it safe. He has. And he's got it safe. And that pink | :55:05. | :55:11. | |
and black and blue in that line down the middle of the table will give | :55:12. | :55:17. | |
John Higgins some hope. This isn't over just yet, even though two | :55:18. | :55:18. | |
snookers are needed. It's a good line? And it has just | :55:19. | :56:29. | |
come across the table enough. Not quite the snooker, or even if it is, | :56:30. | :56:32. | |
easy swerve. As I was saying, I was thinking | :56:33. | :56:47. | |
before, if he potted the two colours then one snooker on the pink to tie. | :56:48. | :56:52. | |
But he didn't refuse to pot the green so he'll be playing the | :56:53. | :56:55. | |
snooker off the brown here. Well, he's decided to pot the brown. So if | :56:56. | :57:00. | |
he's going to pot the brown, will he pot the blue? And one snooker to tie | :57:01. | :57:13. | |
on the pink? That's the plan. In fact, if Mark Allen missed that very | :57:14. | :57:17. | |
easy brown a few moments ago. If John does get a snooker, he's put | :57:18. | :57:27. | |
himself under pressure. Just going a little bit too far. Trying to get | :57:28. | :57:29. | |
behind the black. Needs this pink to run otherwise | :57:30. | :57:41. | |
he's going to leave it for the middle. | :57:42. | :57:45. | |
The pink - for the match. Oh, he didn't want to risk it. He's | :57:46. | :57:54. | |
played it over the corner. It doesn't matter, it's there anyway. | :57:55. | :57:58. | |
It's in. Well, what a great match and John Higgins gives him a warm | :57:59. | :58:04. | |
congratulations. And Mark Allen has really done well. John Higgins led | :58:05. | :58:08. | |
2-0 but Mark Allen battled away and after the interval, the snooker has | :58:09. | :58:12. | |
been absolutely top class. It could have gone either way but in the end, | :58:13. | :58:18. | |
it went the way of the man from Antrim, Mark Allen. He beats the | :58:19. | :58:21. | |
world number three, John Higgins. He's through to the quarterfinal. He | :58:22. | :58:24. | |
wins 6-5. So the two-time champion John | :58:25. | :58:32. | |
Higgins is on his way back to Glasgow and in fact, that's the | :58:33. | :58:35. | |
third time he's been knocked out at this stage by Mark Allen. Brilliant | :58:36. | :58:39. | |
game, wasn't it? And a terrific performance in the end by Mark | :58:40. | :58:45. | |
Allen, the man from Antrim. He will await the winner of the match | :58:46. | :58:49. | |
between Judd Trump and Marco Fu to see who he'll play and that match is | :58:50. | :58:53. | |
the feature match this afternoon from 1:00 this afternoon. Live | :58:54. | :58:56. | |
coverage on BBC Two then. In the meantime, get some sleep. Goodnight. | :58:57. | :59:02. | |
Returning soon to BBC Two - Insert Name Here, the comedy... | :59:03. | :59:04. |