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Hello. Here at Alexandra Palace a Selby Slam is a possibility. The | :00:00. | :00:45. | |
world number one already owns the World Championship trophy which he | :00:46. | :00:48. | |
won last May. He recently claimed the big silver values in December | :00:49. | :00:57. | |
and it is the crystal trophy that he is after now to complete his set. He | :00:58. | :01:03. | |
will join only four or other men to hold all three of the snooker major | :01:04. | :01:07. | |
titles simultaneously. A man he is trying to defeat in round one, is | :01:08. | :01:14. | |
Mark Williams the last person to hold all three summer plane somewhat | :01:15. | :01:20. | |
enviously. They have been watched today by John Virgo and Stephen | :01:21. | :01:31. | |
Hendrick. -- last person to hold all three summer plane as we. -- | :01:32. | :01:42. | |
simultaneously. I could say the same about Mark | :01:43. | :02:00. | |
Williams there. That was a poor shot. The worst thing is that he has | :02:01. | :02:06. | |
opened the black up in the left corner. He may just have to swing | :02:07. | :02:17. | |
this a touch. It should not be a problem. He should still be able to | :02:18. | :02:27. | |
hold for the black. I thought for one minute he had missed the red. He | :02:28. | :02:33. | |
did not want to hit the red doubtful. OK, it went in that he | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
wanted a little more on the left. He can still pot the black but it would | :02:41. | :02:48. | |
be interesting to look with the position. The blue is an easy iPod | :02:49. | :02:56. | |
that he would be struggling to get back in among the red. He is playing | :02:57. | :03:00. | |
the black. That was a bit high. Always high. I don't know if the | :03:01. | :03:41. | |
pink goes to the left middle. Not a problem. What I was saying before, | :03:42. | :03:47. | |
he needs to score today from these opportunities. To win frames in one | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
visit. A little awkward this positional | :03:52. | :04:20. | |
shot. I don't think he will play for the red. So not straightforward to | :04:21. | :04:29. | |
be nicely positioned for the next red. He has played that well. | :04:30. | :05:15. | |
Can he pot this red and avoid a kiss on the pink? I'm not certain he can. | :05:16. | :05:32. | |
If he was a little more straight on this thread, no problem, pot it and | :05:33. | :05:41. | |
threw back on the pink for the next pocket. But of you cannot avoid the | :05:42. | :05:46. | |
kiss on the pink he will not be on it. He did not want to take the risk | :05:47. | :05:51. | |
so he played it more firmly. He always knew he would have the blue | :05:52. | :05:55. | |
but he does not really want to be playing that. So he is nearly | :05:56. | :06:13. | |
perfect position now. I think it could pot the black and come back | :06:14. | :06:20. | |
for the red in the right middle. I think you would go into the bunch | :06:21. | :06:44. | |
from this shot. I think the one thing that could suit him to day, | :06:45. | :06:50. | |
Stephen, because he is not a power player, he likes to float the ball | :06:51. | :06:59. | |
in. A quick table suits his game. That could be to his advantage but | :07:00. | :07:05. | |
having said that... He was a little unlucky on the table there. Could | :07:06. | :07:12. | |
have done with another couple of ounces of our while. I agree. He is | :07:13. | :07:26. | |
a touch player. -- couple of ounces of power were there. To that end it | :07:27. | :07:46. | |
tells you he is going to play safe. You do need to be careful. He has | :07:47. | :07:58. | |
the red near the right corner just over one minute for thinking time. | :07:59. | :08:11. | |
Normally you could glance easily off a red but I do not think that is the | :08:12. | :08:18. | |
case here. He thinks he has found a path. A touch short of pace. A | :08:19. | :08:29. | |
little As you can see he can go past the | :08:30. | :09:23. | |
brown to player safety. He is not guaranteed, however and he has the | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
opportunity of a red on the left-hand side of the table. His | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
thinking if he doesn't do this, he could lose the frame. Decision time. | :09:34. | :09:50. | |
Just tried to hedge his bets slightly there. And on... He's not | :09:51. | :09:58. | |
left anything easy, let put it that way. Did not fully commit on the | :09:59. | :10:09. | |
pot. A little bit of pressure on the | :10:10. | :10:33. | |
spot, if he misses it you would think it would cost in the frame. | :10:34. | :10:47. | |
No. One mile away. So it should cost him his first frame. | :10:48. | :11:14. | |
Ever since I have been covering the snooker over the last few years, | :11:15. | :11:21. | |
watching Matt Selby it is amazing how many times his scrapes through | :11:22. | :11:27. | |
in the first round and then goes on to win. He is definitely the most | :11:28. | :11:31. | |
vulnerable in the first round. And as we said, joining the elite club | :11:32. | :11:38. | |
of triple Crown holders, that is putting pressure on him. And there | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
are no easy matches these days. I think he has a weakness, Mark Selby, | :11:45. | :11:52. | |
sometimes I do not think he believes in himself as much as he should. He | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
is a tremendous player. The man to beat at the moment, for me. | :11:58. | :12:07. | |
Sometimes he doubts his own ability. A chance for Mark Williams to get | :12:08. | :12:14. | |
the good start you thinking needed. He should win the frame at this | :12:15. | :12:16. | |
visit. Obviously came very straight on the | :12:17. | :12:28. | |
yellow. Could not do much with the cue ball. You would think, just make | :12:29. | :12:40. | |
certain, play the blue. Mark Williams shop where he puts the cue | :12:41. | :12:57. | |
under his arm. -- a Mark Williams shot. Just does not want to make | :12:58. | :12:59. | |
contact with that colour. He almost missed the pot fair. Stick | :13:00. | :13:20. | |
into the pocket and that is why the cue ball has ended up there. That | :13:21. | :13:28. | |
chance he had now with lawn. 75 points still remaining. Yeah, he | :13:29. | :13:41. | |
would be disappointed. He had to win the frame from that visit. You need | :13:42. | :13:49. | |
to show Mark Selby that you will punish mistakes. That is what has | :13:50. | :13:57. | |
been happening at every other match of this Masters so far this week. | :13:58. | :14:00. | |
The standard has been incredible so far. | :14:01. | :14:17. | |
Touching the red so there is not a lock Mark Selby could do there. He | :14:18. | :14:24. | |
is not going to gain any advantage. Mark Williams should still have the | :14:25. | :14:27. | |
upper hand in this tactical battle. Mark Selby is in a lot of trouble | :14:28. | :14:54. | |
here. Need to play one cushion on the red which is on the black | :14:55. | :14:56. | |
cushion. A delightful shot. A lovely lion and | :14:57. | :15:22. | |
a lovely length. And although Mark Williams has a 53 point lead the way | :15:23. | :15:30. | |
that the reds are, Mark Selby could get the next opportunity and he | :15:31. | :15:35. | |
could quickly become favourite for the frame. As John said there is | :15:36. | :16:54. | |
pressure on it now because look at where the reds are situated. If he | :16:55. | :16:58. | |
misses this, it could cost him the frame. Taking a while getting down | :16:59. | :17:22. | |
to it. Good work. Mark Williams will take this first frame. Ooh dear. I | :17:23. | :17:43. | |
think he has been fortunate. So that now puts him 60 points in front. He | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
played to come past the green, not run into it. So he has needed three | :17:50. | :18:04. | |
chances to win this first frame, has Mark. He won't be banking on getting | :18:05. | :18:10. | |
that in most of the frames. You need to take your hat off to | :18:11. | :18:40. | |
him. There was a time only a few seasons ago when he dropped out of | :18:41. | :18:48. | |
the top 32. Yeah, he has the talent. We were speaking before about two | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
other players who turned professional in tears as talented as | :18:54. | :19:02. | |
them. Maybe in a way he has taken pressure off himself by not being | :19:03. | :19:07. | |
bothered about winning. True, you do not put any pressure on yourself. | :19:08. | :19:13. | |
But is for some concern, they should still be competing for different | :19:14. | :20:03. | |
titles. Giving every shot due care and attention. He wants to make | :20:04. | :20:08. | |
certain he gets the cue through street. -- straight. So in those are | :20:09. | :20:56. | |
the black. Plenty of opportunities but he has reduced the world | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
champion to only scoring one point. And Mark Williams is one frame in | :21:02. | :21:03. | |
front. Uncertainty book markers have made | :21:04. | :21:18. | |
Mark Selby a big favourite in this match but you can never discount | :21:19. | :21:28. | |
Mark Williams. Snooker for the connoisseur of, this afternoon could | :21:29. | :21:40. | |
be. Sit back and enjoy. Well, we always say if you are going to miss | :21:41. | :21:48. | |
that sort of shot than hit it too then. If you hit it to thick in the | :21:49. | :21:54. | |
cue ball will never get past the spot. First opportunity to Mark | :21:55. | :21:58. | |
Selby and a chance for him to get his hand on the table and pot a few | :21:59. | :22:01. | |
balls. Well, that just shows you. If he had | :22:02. | :22:31. | |
hit the black in the middle of the pocket he would have the cue ball at | :22:32. | :22:35. | |
a harlot looks like he has the second prize He would have had the | :22:36. | :22:45. | |
cue ball, but it looks as if he has the second prize here. | :22:46. | :23:01. | |
Fortunate to be on it, you could save the hull a good pot, none the | :23:02. | :23:24. | |
less. It goes without saying that the one he wants to get rid of is | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
the one to the right of the black. Can he do that now? | :23:30. | :24:07. | |
Won't be going to the bunch from this shot, but it will be in the | :24:08. | :24:16. | |
back of his mind. Always nice to leave that shot when there's maybe | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
one or two loose reds to give yourself a little bit of insurance | :24:22. | :24:27. | |
if the split does not go well. I don't think he'll be angle the black | :24:28. | :24:35. | |
after the red to go into the bunch. He may choose to play for the open | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
red to go into the bunch off the blue. | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
APPLAUSE That was the fifth red, but he won't | :24:46. | :25:06. | |
be playing for the black now. He is hampered. He'll just have to play | :25:07. | :25:09. | |
for pink and blue. There's a ?10,000 prize for the | :25:10. | :25:23. | |
highest breaker held at the moment by Stuart Bingham. Made an is 132 | :25:24. | :25:29. | |
break in his match against Joe Perry and that was the only frame he won. | :25:30. | :25:31. | |
Tough skill. He's not going to hit the blue, he's | :25:32. | :26:10. | |
looking where he's going to lead the cue ball. Maybe he's thinking about | :26:11. | :26:14. | |
trying to hold the spot. I think he's going to run through a little | :26:15. | :26:18. | |
bit. He decided to play the screw shot in the end. Felt that if he did | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
stun run through, he'd be at full stretch. | :26:25. | :26:33. | |
You mentioned a tough skill, John. What he's done is miss that long | :26:34. | :28:02. | |
ball by a long way, and it looks like it's going to cost him the | :28:03. | :28:04. | |
frame. Seems he's attempted a long ball. | :28:05. | :28:16. | |
Another possible reason why Mark is not completing the bid end so much | :28:17. | :28:21. | |
that he doesn't get most long balls as regularly as he would like. | :28:22. | :28:30. | |
APPLAUSE Yes, applause. Put Mark Selby in a | :28:31. | :28:36. | |
position where his opponent needs snookers. You don't have to do a lot | :28:37. | :28:41. | |
wrong to lose a frame. Still a possibility of beating the | :28:42. | :28:55. | |
132 high break. ?10,000, is not to be sniffed at. | :28:56. | :29:01. | |
Missed the canon, but he's going to be on the red on the line. So still | :29:02. | :29:06. | |
a chance. This has been pretty impressive, | :29:07. | :29:36. | |
though, apart from the sht of the first black which he was a little | :29:37. | :29:42. | |
unfortunate to leave the red near the queen pocket, but he's been | :29:43. | :29:43. | |
flawless nonetheless. Well, cleverly and purposefully in | :29:44. | :30:02. | |
putting that read puts the other two in play. | :30:03. | :30:04. | |
APPLAUSE Now, I don't know if he knows what a | :30:05. | :30:18. | |
high break is. Maybe... I think someone like Mark Selby will know. | :30:19. | :30:28. | |
Looks the right-hand side of the cue ball here. | :30:29. | :30:31. | |
APPLAUSE Beautifully constructed break. With | :30:32. | :30:37. | |
a red black, possibly 139 on. You would think, John, to win the | :30:38. | :30:51. | |
prize, 142-plus, you'd think is standard? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, | :30:52. | :30:59. | |
I was chatting to someone about the odds of a maximum break. | :31:00. | :31:07. | |
We talked about how good the playing conditions are. The player - the top | :31:08. | :31:17. | |
players like that for break-building, never have to hit | :31:18. | :31:22. | |
the ball that hard. Pockets seem to be playing anything little bit in | :31:23. | :31:32. | |
the generous side. So all counts to many big breaks this week. | :31:33. | :31:49. | |
APPLAUSE Yeah, just about perfect. He may | :31:50. | :32:02. | |
have to just stun one off the top cushion. Inch perfect. | :32:03. | :32:25. | |
That equals the high break. This black to set. -- set the break a | :32:26. | :32:36. | |
little bit higher. Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful. Shown why he's | :32:37. | :32:41. | |
the world champion and world number one. That was exquisite. One a | :32:42. | :32:44. | |
piece. APPLAUSE | :32:45. | :33:01. | |
I think he can get past the greens to the reds to the right corner. | :33:02. | :33:11. | |
Yes, just about get through to the potted angle. You practice, you play | :33:12. | :33:18. | |
the canon on the red to the left of the black. | :33:19. | :33:18. | |
APPLAUSE Green looks the obvious colour to | :33:19. | :33:47. | |
take here. Off two cautions - if you brought the cue ball where it is | :33:48. | :33:51. | |
now, it's ideal, you have a choice of two reds at either corner pocket. | :33:52. | :34:15. | |
A little bit more angle on this pot than he would have liked. Makes it | :34:16. | :34:24. | |
missble. Sometimes you miss trying to hold the cue ball. It did go off | :34:25. | :34:28. | |
the right jaw of the pocket. Safely in. | :34:29. | :34:52. | |
Mark Williams looked on most of the last frame. He'll be hoping he isn't | :34:53. | :35:05. | |
here. He might be if the canon goes right. Well, he's on the black. | :35:06. | :35:14. | |
Little bit thinner than he would like, but he feels if he can get the | :35:15. | :35:20. | |
canon from the black. Just a little canon on that red. | :35:21. | :35:33. | |
Well! That was careless. Didn't get into the cue ball at all. | :35:34. | :35:42. | |
Yeah, it was a very kfrble shot in -- comfortable shot in the end. | :35:43. | :35:51. | |
He'll be very disappointed the break has ended this quick. So go back to | :35:52. | :36:04. | |
his chair a bit frustrated - Mark Selby. | :36:05. | :36:04. | |
APPLAUSE Although, I think he broke back into | :36:05. | :36:18. | |
the open here and playing off the main bunch. Looks too thick. And | :36:19. | :36:30. | |
little bit harder, that red would have droped. But played the safety | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
much too thick. Without having doing too much, Mark Selby is back at the | :36:36. | :36:39. | |
table. Another chance to clinch the frame. | :36:40. | :36:57. | |
I thought he may have played for that from that shot. | :36:58. | :37:20. | |
He's gotten into that cue ball so well. | :37:21. | :37:22. | |
APPLAUSE Watch the timing on the cue ball. | :37:23. | :37:34. | |
You see it just - and it goes in between the green and brown, picks | :37:35. | :37:36. | |
up pace. Got nice control of the cue ball, | :37:37. | :38:18. | |
which he's going to need to win the frame at this visit. The reds are | :38:19. | :38:24. | |
spread but there's only maybe two that are easily - easy to get on. | :38:25. | :39:28. | |
Of course as he pots one, he brings the other one into the open. | :39:29. | :39:50. | |
He still needs three of the remaining reds to clinch the frame. | :39:51. | :40:43. | |
Maybe trying to play on the black here. As you saw when he was playing | :40:44. | :40:52. | |
that red, there was little gap and he' played it absolutely | :40:53. | :40:56. | |
inch-perfect. After this, he's looking for one more red, that's why | :40:57. | :41:00. | |
he played for the black. Oozing the confidence. | :41:01. | :41:14. | |
And there's -- there by playing the black he's put the red in the open. | :41:15. | :41:22. | |
This puts him 66 ahead, with 59 remaining. | :41:23. | :41:28. | |
Yeah, he's beginning to my comment, about looking vulnerable complete | :41:29. | :42:08. | |
nonsense. Yeah, he's really looking on top of his game here. | :42:09. | :42:15. | |
Well, the frame was over long before he missed that red. Mark Williams | :42:16. | :42:47. | |
concedes. And Mark Selby leads 2-1. The fourth frame, Mark Selby to | :42:48. | :42:48. | |
break. Mark Selby gets the frame, the one | :42:49. | :43:00. | |
before the mid-session interval on the way. As always for the man who's | :43:01. | :43:07. | |
behind, it's a big frame. Don't want to be two frames behind come the | :43:08. | :43:09. | |
mid-session interval. APPLAUSE | :43:10. | :43:18. | |
Good line. Decent length. Excellent return. | :43:19. | :43:48. | |
APPLAUSE Talking about how well Selby's | :43:49. | :44:03. | |
played in the last two frames, the best 16 players in the world come to | :44:04. | :44:10. | |
this event. I used to love it as world number one competing the other | :44:11. | :44:13. | |
world best players proving why you're number one. That's exactly | :44:14. | :44:19. | |
how he would be feeling. Couldn't get much closer! And he was forced | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
into playing it, but that, as we always say, is the advantage of | :44:25. | :44:27. | |
getting that cue ball tight to the cushion. It just making cueing that | :44:28. | :44:31. | |
little bit more difficult - and so close! And the fact he got so close, | :44:32. | :44:36. | |
the double kiss, he's left a nice easy starter for his opponent. | :44:37. | :45:21. | |
You always feel it's a good chance when the black is in the open and | :45:22. | :45:36. | |
available into both corners. And a nice angle on the yellow and | :45:37. | :45:51. | |
they'll be thinking about making a sizeable contribution. | :45:52. | :46:06. | |
The best angle on this black, just coming around to see. Go to the | :46:07. | :46:15. | |
right corner and then you can follow through with two cushions. The line | :46:16. | :46:19. | |
of three to the left of the bunch, the middle one of these may pot to | :46:20. | :46:21. | |
the right corner. Excellent positional shot there. | :46:22. | :46:27. | |
Absolutely perfect. There you see the shaking of the | :46:28. | :46:47. | |
head in the shot. Almost like a swing, not a shake, John. Yeah, I | :46:48. | :46:55. | |
suppose it isn't a natural position that snooker players get themselves | :46:56. | :47:04. | |
in. It didn't seem to have affected him. He's pushed the cue straight as | :47:05. | :47:13. | |
a dye. It's almost the whole body moving from side-to-side, but it | :47:14. | :47:17. | |
does not affect him one bit as you say. It's just the way he plays. | :47:18. | :47:21. | |
Nice angle to go into the bunch here. Not going to do it this time. | :47:22. | :47:24. | |
Playing with top spin. I think he'll play for an angle this | :47:25. | :47:32. | |
time on the black to go into them. Yes, he's got that perfect angle | :47:33. | :47:44. | |
now. Always knew he had this red to the | :47:45. | :48:10. | |
left corner. It's just a little bit awkward in a passionate sense of the | :48:11. | :48:14. | |
shot. I thought he'd play more of a stun. The red he could have played | :48:15. | :48:21. | |
to the right corner. But as you say, seems to be on the collar here. And | :48:22. | :48:26. | |
then you run into another red, where is the cue ball going to finish. | :48:27. | :48:27. | |
He's not finished too well. If the blue is a natural angle, | :48:28. | :48:42. | |
that's the colour he'll play. But if it's a natural angle to collide with | :48:43. | :48:46. | |
a ball colour, he's got a problem here. | :48:47. | :48:53. | |
Doesn't look as though he can roll the blue and avoid kiss on the | :48:54. | :49:03. | |
green. He's looking at the black, but - it's a tough shot, but as I | :49:04. | :49:07. | |
say, so far he's looked full of confidence when he's got in. So I | :49:08. | :49:10. | |
can't see him refusing the pot. That's brilliant. | :49:11. | :49:19. | |
APPLAUSE Especially when you forget you're in | :49:20. | :49:35. | |
perfect position and then you got the really tough shot to play. So | :49:36. | :49:38. | |
full of confidence. Immediately pointing his cue, going | :49:39. | :50:23. | |
to play the canon from the blue, hit the pink full in the face. Didn't | :50:24. | :50:28. | |
have to play it too hard. The reds are loose. | :50:29. | :50:33. | |
Well, he stunned past them. I'm not sure that was the intention. Well, | :50:34. | :50:39. | |
whatever. He's got a nice, easy red to continue the break with. | :50:40. | :50:48. | |
I think the reason he missed it and wanted to take the line - actually | :50:49. | :50:54. | |
line touching the pink out of the equation there. Yeah, fair call. | :50:55. | :51:03. | |
Didn't want to risk anything going wrong, he knew as long as he was on | :51:04. | :51:08. | |
a red to carry on, he would win the frame from there. I think Mark | :51:09. | :51:11. | |
Williams has resigned to that fact now. All he potted one ball, Mark | :51:12. | :51:22. | |
Selby, in the first frame. As we say, Mark needed three chances and | :51:23. | :51:28. | |
it's now up to 281 points without reply. | :51:29. | :51:34. | |
APPLAUSE 70 points the lead. 67 remaining. | :51:35. | :51:41. | |
Looks like a two frame advantage going into the mid-session interval. | :51:42. | :51:45. | |
Those two reds together to the left of the pink, one is available to the | :51:46. | :52:30. | |
opposite corner to this black. You have to say, he's really settled | :52:31. | :52:41. | |
in now. He's got that cue ball on a piece of string at the moment. And | :52:42. | :52:46. | |
that is the key to this game - if you get good cue ball control, then | :52:47. | :52:53. | |
you will almost make every shot that much easier. | :52:54. | :52:58. | |
Yeah, this is as good as I have seen Mark Selby play in a first-round | :52:59. | :53:10. | |
match. I think since I can remember. Still potable, this red. The left | :53:11. | :53:12. | |
middle. APPLAUSE | :53:13. | :53:33. | |
Yes, nicely played. Second century, now, it's a formality. He can't | :53:34. | :53:39. | |
better the 139. Lots of left-hand side here. | :53:40. | :53:40. | |
APPLAUSE Have to say, Steve, at the moment, | :53:41. | :53:52. | |
he's making the game look ridiculously easy. Yep, there's no | :53:53. | :54:00. | |
better feeling when you're out there. The pockets will look 3ft | :54:01. | :54:03. | |
wide to Mark Selby at the moment. Just a little shake of the head | :54:04. | :54:17. | |
there, a bit disappointed with that passionate shot. -- positional shot. | :54:18. | :54:31. | |
And in the end he lost the yellow. Mark Williams win the first frame, | :54:32. | :54:36. | |
but since then, Mark Selby has replied with breaks of 139, 62 and | :54:37. | :54:41. | |
109. He gives into the -- goes into the mid-session interval leading | :54:42. | :54:42. | |
3-1. He's on the green. Doesn't look a | :54:43. | :55:21. | |
perfect angle on it. So just dropping it in, now he's | :55:22. | :55:54. | |
going to leave himself the long straight red. But the black is | :55:55. | :56:01. | |
available to the opposite corner. So full concentration on this one. Got | :56:02. | :56:10. | |
to fully commit to these. And did and played it superbly! | :56:11. | :56:11. | |
APPLAUSE Of course that was a very point he | :56:12. | :56:40. | |
made in the studio - OK, you can hang in on a match, but when he gets | :56:41. | :56:44. | |
the opportunities like that, he's got to start winning frames in one | :56:45. | :56:45. | |
visit. Needs to run! He's on the red, but | :56:46. | :57:15. | |
hampered. How much times Williams gets out of position. He's still on | :57:16. | :57:19. | |
this red, but... That's a good recovery. | :57:20. | :57:25. | |
APPLAUSE Again, didn't play that with the | :57:26. | :58:00. | |
power a lot of players would have played it. It's end of break. So | :58:01. | :58:11. | |
again not able to win the frame in that first scoring visit. | :58:12. | :58:16. | |
Looks too thin and been very fortunate. He's canoned into the | :58:17. | :59:16. | |
green, but the blue is covering the red this close to the corner, as you | :59:17. | :59:18. | |
can see. Typical Mark Williams - one of the | :59:19. | :59:55. | |
best single potters the game has ever seen. | :59:56. | :00:01. | |
I was going to say that, John, but never understood really what it | :00:02. | :00:11. | |
meant. Well, I think it means - and I remember they always be able to | :00:12. | :00:16. | |
pot these balls with an element of safety, they always see it as a shot | :00:17. | :00:22. | |
for nothing. No doubt, start to knock the long ones in. That's four | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
in a row. In the last couple of frames. I think a lot of players, | :00:27. | :00:31. | |
when they actually play to pot a ball, they're determined to get | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
position on the next one, but I think Mark has that knack if he | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
think it's a difficult shot, he can put all concentration to red and not | :00:41. | :00:45. | |
be too bothered about position. Sometimes it's hard to tell yourself | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
to do that. Yes, I suppose, it's kind of - when you're playing a pot | :00:51. | :00:57. | |
and you know you're possibly not going to get anything on it, so | :00:58. | :01:01. | |
you're playing the ball for the next shot. Wow, so close. Just the pace | :01:02. | :01:07. | |
kept it out, but fortunately he missed the canon. | :01:08. | :01:07. | |
APPLAUSE Only the pace that kept it out. | :01:08. | :01:15. | |
Rattle, rattle, rattle. APPLAUSE | :01:16. | :01:31. | |
Good length. Ask the question now of Mark | :01:32. | :01:52. | |
Williams, 32 point advantage in this frame now, but got to play a good | :01:53. | :01:54. | |
safety here. That's the players' view. You can | :01:55. | :02:11. | |
see he can hit the red on the left-hand of the table, but you can | :02:12. | :02:14. | |
easily get a double kiss. Just nudging into it. Feels as | :02:15. | :02:24. | |
though that was going to be safe. If he didn't want to risk playing off | :02:25. | :02:28. | |
the main bunch because he could have knocked one over in the corner | :02:29. | :02:32. | |
pocket, just play the containing safety. | :02:33. | :02:54. | |
Oh, struck it beautifully. APPLAUSE | :02:55. | :03:12. | |
. Couldn't have played that much better. Now, in and out of the | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
baulk. Trace of right-hand side. That's careless. I mean, that was so | :03:17. | :04:14. | |
obvious that that red was going to go to the right corner, he's just | :04:15. | :04:19. | |
lost his focus, it appears, at the moment. Yeah, I did say when - | :04:20. | :04:29. | |
although that's a shocker from Mark Williams. I did say Mark said he's | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
going to battle against is lack of concentration when everything is | :04:34. | :04:43. | |
coming so easy for you. This is a tough black Mark Williams has left | :04:44. | :04:45. | |
himself. Oh, lovely shot. APPLAUSE | :04:46. | :04:51. | |
Although at first glance, I don't know where the next red is coming | :04:52. | :04:55. | |
from. Tip cam Mark Williams pot - this. Dropping it in dead weight. I | :04:56. | :05:06. | |
think he's on this one along the back cushion. It's a shot to | :05:07. | :05:14. | |
nothing, so the red comes away from the pocket. He's gone all out and | :05:15. | :05:17. | |
that's a great pot. APPLAUSE | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
Looks like he may have a natural angle just to miss the yellow for | :05:24. | :05:31. | |
two cushions for a choice of the red in the right corner. He's picked a | :05:32. | :05:37. | |
lovely time to leave the arena. There's one red in the bottom of the | :05:38. | :06:44. | |
cluster. He pots this blue and he goes 54 points in front with 59 | :06:45. | :06:47. | |
remaining. So he's just looking for the blue and one more red. | :06:48. | :07:02. | |
Well, maybe he can just get through to that bottom red. I'd like it to | :07:03. | :07:10. | |
be a little bit closer to it, made the pot easier, but only the red | :07:11. | :07:17. | |
required. Pot in 55 points in front. With only 51 remaining. | :07:18. | :07:23. | |
Come back complete! APPLAUSE | :07:24. | :07:51. | |
Highly unlikely that Mark Williams will be asked to play on here. Well, | :07:52. | :08:02. | |
62 points difference, 51 remaining. That equates to four point snookers | :08:03. | :08:10. | |
required. -- three 4-point snookers required. | :08:11. | :08:18. | |
Yeah, only a half-hearted attempt. So unbelievably, after what we saw | :08:19. | :08:32. | |
the mid-session interval, Mark Williams is now all square. Three a | :08:33. | :08:34. | |
piece. Where is this cue ball going? It's | :08:35. | :09:07. | |
leaving the chance for Mark Williams. Getting tough out there | :09:08. | :09:10. | |
for both of them. Now 15 points behind. That will | :09:11. | :09:44. | |
equate to taking the remaining reds with colours to get to snookers | :09:45. | :09:45. | |
required stage. This pink to just go one point | :09:46. | :10:25. | |
behind. That wasn't a clean pot, but in it | :10:26. | :11:01. | |
went. Points all square. And the red that's close to blue, I think he can | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
get on that to the left middle. May play for it now. I think he may just | :11:06. | :11:22. | |
be about on it, but... I would rather have played it for it now, | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
and he should have been straighter on that. He's careless to leave | :11:27. | :11:28. | |
himself short as he has done. Not the best positional shot, but | :11:29. | :11:44. | |
this givers him another opportunity to get that red near the blue. Yeah, | :11:45. | :11:51. | |
the only problem in leaving the red playing the black until last,er | :11:52. | :11:55. | |
specially now, he's going to have to pay a decent positional shot to go | :11:56. | :12:08. | |
on that. And it's not easy from there. Suppose if he doesn't get on | :12:09. | :12:12. | |
the red properly, he can always play the snooker. | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
Yep, snooker it is. 18 points the lead. | :12:17. | :12:30. | |
You see the disappointment on Mark's face he didn't win the frame on that | :12:31. | :12:54. | |
visit. But he's a big, big favourite now. | :12:55. | :13:06. | |
Good hit. And a double kiss. Didn't put his hand up to apologise - Mark. | :13:07. | :13:21. | |
He's been favouring his opponent over the last couple of frames. | :13:22. | :13:26. | |
But even though he has left his red safe, it's every chance that Mark | :13:27. | :13:34. | |
Williams can play another snooker here. That pair of blue is a fair | :13:35. | :13:43. | |
target. He can still get the cover with the brown and the blue. | :13:44. | :13:51. | |
That wasn't the best shot for me. He's not put Mark Selby really in | :13:52. | :14:03. | |
any trouble here. So any advantage he had in this tactical has changed, | :14:04. | :14:06. | |
it's gone now. Mark Selby is brilliantly at digging | :14:07. | :14:19. | |
himself out of holes in matches. He's going to need one here here in | :14:20. | :14:21. | |
this match. He's scratching his head now, and | :14:22. | :14:32. | |
shaking his head. I mean, normally you'd think he'd get down - I now he | :14:33. | :14:36. | |
can't the right-hand down of the red, but try to get the cue ball | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
behind the ball. Normally he wouldn't think twice about it. | :14:41. | :14:53. | |
Safe enough, you wouldn't think Mark Williams would be tempted by this. | :14:54. | :15:10. | |
Good chance to get behind the brown and blue here, send the red back up | :15:11. | :15:49. | |
the table. Oh, he's got the red. Too thin. Think he's left this red. | :15:50. | :15:58. | |
That Dunn surprise me a little bit. -- that does surprise me a little | :15:59. | :16:26. | |
bit. He's played an excellent safety shot there. Thought he might have | :16:27. | :16:28. | |
been tempted by the pot there. You wouldn't believe there was a gap | :16:29. | :16:39. | |
around the back of that red. The fact he's got this natural to | :16:40. | :17:09. | |
cushion a scape, it looks like he's going to push the red up the table. | :17:10. | :17:12. | |
Just a minor adjustment required. But miss judged it again and now | :17:13. | :17:22. | |
this time Mark Selby will be taking this red on. This is a test, this | :17:23. | :17:35. | |
first red. He's not been comfortable - looked comfortable at all this | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
interval, or certainly since that break that was on in the fifth | :17:40. | :17:42. | |
frame. There's pressure on this. APPLAUSE | :17:43. | :17:51. | |
Good shot. Just got a quick glimpse there of | :17:52. | :18:07. | |
Mark Williams who'll be fearing the worst now. Still little bit to do, | :18:08. | :18:15. | |
of course. Particularly with the brown, just makes it a little bit | :18:16. | :18:20. | |
more awkward, but the blue will be going back on to its spot after | :18:21. | :18:22. | |
this. Couple of key shots coming up now, | :18:23. | :18:34. | |
position from yellow to green and then green to brown. He needed to be | :18:35. | :18:44. | |
closer to the yellow. He had a shot to green to brown as a deciding shot | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
in this frame but because he's left himself a tough shot just to get on | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
the green, even tougher to get the right angle on the green. | :18:55. | :19:07. | |
He's up there, saying a bad contact. It certainly looked heavy. | :19:08. | :19:16. | |
The cue ball seemed to jump even before it got to the yellow, John. | :19:17. | :19:25. | |
That's the thing with this superfine close, if you're striking down | :19:26. | :19:30. | |
slightly and unless he's got the perfect angle to roll this green in | :19:31. | :19:36. | |
and canon the brown, he's - it's a tough pot! And tough to get good | :19:37. | :19:38. | |
position. Good pot. Where's the cue ball! Oh! | :19:39. | :19:53. | |
Flicks off the brown. Nearly went in the middle. Now the brown is safe. | :19:54. | :20:04. | |
Both players now needing brown, blue and pink. | :20:05. | :20:30. | |
Good line. APPLAUSE | :20:31. | :20:41. | |
A decent one. The only problem with this is if Mark Williams can come | :20:42. | :20:47. | |
off the top cushion and hit this brown full in the face, you could | :20:48. | :20:53. | |
get a snooker back here. It's in the realms of possibility. Didn't hit it | :20:54. | :20:58. | |
full in the face, though. He looks very much under pressure to | :20:59. | :21:56. | |
me, at the moment, the world number 1. | :21:57. | :22:07. | |
It's a tough shot. He's had a lot at the potting angle so you feel he's | :22:08. | :22:14. | |
going to take it on. It's difficult to say from our | :22:15. | :23:12. | |
commentary position whether it's easier to kit in the right middle or | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
- looks like the right middle. He's played it well. Where's the cue ball | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
going?! Where is the cue ball going?! | :23:23. | :23:26. | |
Yeah, whatever happens with the blue is going to be a pressure pink from | :23:27. | :23:44. | |
distance. That cue ball is a little bit closer to the side cushion than | :23:45. | :23:45. | |
he would have liked. Big shot. APPLAUSE | :23:46. | :24:00. | |
And right into the pocket. Puts his cue down. He's storming off to the | :24:01. | :24:05. | |
dressroom. Boy, he's a mighty relieved man. Just one frame away | :24:06. | :24:07. | |
from a place in the quarterfinal. Hoping that that's his last break of | :24:08. | :24:26. | |
the match. Because if he wins this frame, he's through to the | :24:27. | :24:33. | |
quarterfinal. But has to be said, Mark Williams has put him through | :24:34. | :24:41. | |
the ringer. And frames have started to be a bit more drawn-out. That's | :24:42. | :24:47. | |
why we're just going on to the three-hour mark. | :24:48. | :24:55. | |
Just looking at the average playing time is practically 20 minutes. | :24:56. | :25:07. | |
He came over to look at the black. So I don't know whether he's | :25:08. | :25:12. | |
thinking about the red that's to the right of the pink, to the right | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
corner and stunning the cue ball across of the black in the same | :25:18. | :25:22. | |
pocket. Now, this shot you can play it more positively around the | :25:23. | :25:26. | |
angles, a thicker contact in the pack or you can just brush off it, | :25:27. | :25:28. | |
which is what he's done. That was a nice little bruch-off the | :25:29. | :25:39. | |
yellow, just blocked the left-hand side of the pack. It certainly was. | :25:40. | :25:49. | |
He stopped the escape route down the left-hand side of the table. He's | :25:50. | :25:55. | |
taking this red on. Oh, tremendous shot! Look at the cue ball control! | :25:56. | :25:57. | |
APPLAUSE That's funny - if Mark Selby doesn't | :25:58. | :26:18. | |
get the lucky brush off the yellow, he playing the safety shot. He was | :26:19. | :26:22. | |
forced into playing it, he couldn't see a safety. | :26:23. | :26:35. | |
It didn't take him long to get out of position. It's frustrating to | :26:36. | :26:40. | |
watch, never mind how he must feel. He's got this red to the middle. He | :26:41. | :27:07. | |
likes it a bit easier than this. In it goes. It's going to close, leaves | :27:08. | :27:17. | |
a good angle on the blue. Now, can he just drop these in a little hole. | :27:18. | :27:22. | |
He couldn't so he's having to play for the red along the top cushion. | :27:23. | :27:30. | |
These are tough. Yes, specially because he's going to play with a | :27:31. | :27:35. | |
bit of pace to get out from the black. Great shot. | :27:36. | :27:42. | |
He's played these shots into the pack a bit tentatively so far. I | :27:43. | :27:51. | |
wonder how he's going to play this one? Again just played the | :27:52. | :27:57. | |
touch-shot. But it's not worked out. This red does cut to the right | :27:58. | :28:03. | |
corner. He actually can play for the black, the bottom left-hand side of | :28:04. | :28:05. | |
the cue ball. It was a Mark Williams special | :28:06. | :28:25. | |
coming up there - he's the only player in the whorld who can do | :28:26. | :28:26. | |
that. Yeah, may still be one. APPLAUSE | :28:27. | :28:43. | |
He's given run past the baulk line. It's not a bad one. It's not bad. | :28:44. | :28:51. | |
The red that's loose is available. It's amazing how he can talk himself | :28:52. | :28:55. | |
into that position. Text book that, wasn't it? Text book. | :28:56. | :29:04. | |
Rolled it in and he's perfect. In fact, the choice of two reds and | :29:05. | :29:11. | |
playing this one and puts another one into play. What a time in the | :29:12. | :29:21. | |
match it would be to win a match in one visit. And would take us to a | :29:22. | :29:23. | |
decider. But once again, understood hit it. | :29:24. | :29:39. | |
Should have been straight on this. -- underhit it. Shov have been | :29:40. | :29:43. | |
straight on this. Going for the blue now. But it gave him an opportunity | :29:44. | :29:57. | |
- his wife, Jo. Feeling every anguish and willing every ball into | :29:58. | :30:06. | |
the pocket. It's worth -- worse watching them playing. | :30:07. | :30:20. | |
This is a good positional shot. APPLAUSE | :30:21. | :30:29. | |
Need a fraction more. I'm not sure if the pink goes to the left corner. | :30:30. | :30:31. | |
It'd help if it would. It doesn't. So will he - he can stun | :30:32. | :30:49. | |
down for the black. No problem. He's got a nice angle on the black. | :30:50. | :31:00. | |
Well, that can only be bit of tension in the arm, can't be | :31:01. | :31:16. | |
anything else. APPLAUSE | :31:17. | :31:47. | |
Disappointing end. I thought he was going to win the frame in one visit | :31:48. | :31:49. | |
there. A strong 53-point lead. The last thing he wants is the pink | :31:50. | :32:27. | |
tight against the cushion. But then I suppose he is forcing | :32:28. | :32:39. | |
Mark to bring this red away from the cushion. | :32:40. | :32:44. | |
He's not played it well. So here is a chance for the counterattack now, | :32:45. | :32:51. | |
for Mark Selby. Yeah, looks like if Mark Selby is to | :32:52. | :33:38. | |
win this match, he's got to fall over the line. Oh, Mark! You can't | :33:39. | :33:46. | |
buy a positional shot at the moment. No. He's looking at the scoerboard, | :33:47. | :33:54. | |
he -- scoreboard at the moment. He needs red - the colour red. | :33:55. | :33:57. | |
APPLAUSE Played it well. Played it nicely. | :33:58. | :34:04. | |
He's on the brown. And he's on the red to clinch the | :34:05. | :34:22. | |
frame. This red will put him 65 points in front with just 59 | :34:23. | :34:24. | |
remaining. In it goes! | :34:25. | :34:35. | |
APPLAUSE So we'll have a decider for Jo to | :34:36. | :34:37. | |
have to live through! Mark Selby will not be coming back | :34:38. | :34:49. | |
to the table. He will now be preparing for the deciding frame. | :34:50. | :34:57. | |
Should you go out there and wash your hands or should you just wait | :34:58. | :35:02. | |
there until the referee sets the balling up? | :35:03. | :35:09. | |
We have already had three of these first-round matches going into the | :35:10. | :35:17. | |
deciding frame. I don't suppose you expect to have any runaway | :35:18. | :35:21. | |
victories, particularly as the top 16 players in the world. | :35:22. | :35:29. | |
But I'll be honest with you, Stephen - when Mark Selby was 3-1 in front, | :35:30. | :35:37. | |
dent see this. -- didn't see this. No, not at all. We have mentioned | :35:38. | :35:42. | |
that shot that went for Mark Selby when it looked like he was going to | :35:43. | :35:47. | |
go 4 and up. But since then, every credit to Mark Williams. We keep | :35:48. | :35:52. | |
mentioning he hasn't won a frame in one visit, but tremendous character, | :35:53. | :35:53. | |
tremendous match-play. Could he be saving the frame for the | :35:54. | :36:19. | |
win in the decider. As we say the decider can be the toss of a coin. | :36:20. | :36:26. | |
So world champion, United Kingdom champion, world number one. The | :36:27. | :36:36. | |
chances of all in the three Majors at the same time are all going to be | :36:37. | :36:39. | |
down to a deciding frame. Not on the blue, but he's not | :36:40. | :36:45. | |
bothered. So Mark Williams, once again, we are | :36:46. | :37:05. | |
parity, but this time it's five a piece. First to six - decider to | :37:06. | :37:07. | |
come. Thank you. The deciding frame. Mark | :37:08. | :37:09. | |
Williams to break. Well, the break-off, but left a | :37:10. | :37:38. | |
possibility of a pot. And not getting the cue ball so close to the | :37:39. | :37:42. | |
baulk cushion, not too difficult a safety shot either. | :37:43. | :38:22. | |
Looks like he's playing the containing safety. Surprises me a | :38:23. | :38:29. | |
little bit. I thought he may have tried to get back to the ball. I | :38:30. | :38:35. | |
assume he's not left this red to the side of the black because he can't | :38:36. | :38:37. | |
get to the pot in that order. I wonder if he can play the double | :38:38. | :38:55. | |
in this red, the right of the black. That's a shot to nothing. Can still | :38:56. | :38:59. | |
retain some sort of position on the black. He's played it. Has he left | :39:00. | :39:06. | |
the right to the right middle though? I thought he may have left | :39:07. | :39:10. | |
the cue ball a by further to the right-hand side of the table there. | :39:11. | :39:12. | |
This is definitely on. Didn't appear he can get to the red | :39:13. | :39:28. | |
to the left middle there. The problem with the one on the right | :39:29. | :39:31. | |
middle is it's definitely missble. Has to play it, though. He's not | :39:32. | :39:36. | |
happy, though. He's not - if he was comfortable with the shot, he'd be | :39:37. | :39:42. | |
down by now. So he's feeling it. Yeah, I think the comfort zone is | :39:43. | :39:47. | |
long since gone. -- gone in this match for Mark. Yep, I'm shocked at | :39:48. | :39:55. | |
that that he's refused that red. The cue ball may have been canoned into | :39:56. | :39:59. | |
baulk covers but still you get a good kiss, you land on the ball | :40:00. | :40:03. | |
colour. Get a better chance than that. | :40:04. | :40:17. | |
He's now looking at this long red to the left corner and a dead weight | :40:18. | :40:53. | |
for the black, is he? Or looking at another containing safety? I suppose | :40:54. | :41:00. | |
if he rolled it in, he could get position on the black, but... I | :41:01. | :41:08. | |
think he's getting a little bit bogged down. It can get you, the | :41:09. | :41:18. | |
game. It's not been smooth. It's just getting to him a bit. Yeah, can | :41:19. | :41:22. | |
only presume he couldn't see the red on the right-hand side cushion | :41:23. | :41:27. | |
because of the yellow, because it's quite a simple shot to get the cue | :41:28. | :41:29. | |
ball back to That could be a mistake. He's left | :41:30. | :41:43. | |
his red on to the middle. He won't refuse this one. | :41:44. | :41:49. | |
This is, again, one of these that looks very easy on the screen, but | :41:50. | :41:58. | |
under this pressure, it's very smelly indeed. Yeah, and the fact | :41:59. | :42:07. | |
that you got to roll it in dead weight, if he plays it with any | :42:08. | :42:15. | |
pace, you got to trust the table and trust your cueing and hit the centre | :42:16. | :42:17. | |
of the cue ball. He's missed it! So the first chance | :42:18. | :42:47. | |
faults to Mark Williams. Looks like the red left of the middle is one to | :42:48. | :42:50. | |
play. Looks slightly hampered. APPLAUSE | :42:51. | :42:54. | |
Played it well. Surely not! Surely not! Had a choice | :42:55. | :43:53. | |
of two reds, the one below the pink and one past the pink to the | :43:54. | :43:56. | |
right-hand side. Surely he's on one of them. Again, it's the position | :43:57. | :44:02. | |
that's letting him down, isn't it, John? Yeah, but to be fair, you'd | :44:03. | :44:09. | |
have to say it's a little bit unfortunate. You play a twin area, | :44:10. | :44:15. | |
as you say there's a couple of reds you could be on, to not be on one of | :44:16. | :44:20. | |
them is unbelievable really. He's now having to play this very risky | :44:21. | :44:24. | |
pot. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | :44:25. | :44:28. | |
Good shot. That's what it's like, folks - | :44:29. | :44:44. | |
watching your hubby play snooker. Oh, he got the kick. Has it thrown | :44:45. | :45:43. | |
the blue off-line?! It has! He's had a very good run of the ball, but | :45:44. | :45:49. | |
that was cruel. If that's cost him the match, that's awful. | :45:50. | :45:57. | |
The worst type of bad contact, the fact that it threw the blue | :45:58. | :46:18. | |
off-line. Could have played this better. Yeah, why was he playing for | :46:19. | :46:33. | |
the blue? OK, but, when you play blue, but now using the rest, OK, I | :46:34. | :46:41. | |
mean, he's - he's quite capable of playing the deep string to get the | :46:42. | :46:47. | |
cue ball to this end, but the more distance the cue ball has to travel, | :46:48. | :46:51. | |
the more likely it's not getting back to perfect position. | :46:52. | :47:02. | |
He's played this well. APPLAUSE | :47:03. | :47:10. | |
So now at that stage it's just one shot at a time. You can't start | :47:11. | :47:20. | |
thinking ahead of yourself now at this stage. | :47:21. | :47:51. | |
He's on the pink, but not perfect. Clear Now, the referee just heard | :47:52. | :48:16. | |
him say, "Give me a second, Mark." Because I don't think the pink spot | :48:17. | :48:21. | |
is available. It's definitely one red that's on. So it's not going to | :48:22. | :48:26. | |
affect the next pot. Just reminding Pot this and try the nudge the red | :48:27. | :48:45. | |
near the right middle. Just try to nudge that over the middle. He'll | :48:46. | :48:50. | |
still be on the blue. That's what he's played. Didn't want him to | :48:51. | :48:54. | |
drop. That's the last thing he wanted. He didn't want that. He | :48:55. | :48:57. | |
wanted that red to stay over the pocket. Now it's gone in, he's going | :48:58. | :49:03. | |
to have a problem getting on to the next red. | :49:04. | :49:14. | |
Oh, that's a good shot. Well, a good shot, he's cued it well. But you | :49:15. | :49:21. | |
have to say sometimes, depending on the potting angle and the potting | :49:22. | :49:25. | |
angle is absolutely perfect, to play the blue and wring that red into | :49:26. | :49:30. | |
play. It was a natural, wasn't it? Unfortunate to knock the red in the | :49:31. | :49:36. | |
middle but fortunate to have that natural angle. Now green and into | :49:37. | :49:40. | |
the bunch of five reds and the pink and this could be the frame and | :49:41. | :49:43. | |
match-winning shot coming right up here. | :49:44. | :49:53. | |
Could have been better. Could have been better. Absolutely once you got | :49:54. | :50:03. | |
into him, you thought he'd have a nice easy red to continue with but | :50:04. | :50:05. | |
that's not the case. Yeah, he almost kneaded to hit the | :50:06. | :50:15. | |
pink there, I think, to get the perfect split. And this red is | :50:16. | :50:20. | |
looking at to the left middle, I think you can play to the black | :50:21. | :50:24. | |
perhaps to the left corner. Wouldn't leave anything should he miss it. | :50:25. | :50:36. | |
He's looking to see where's the cue ball. He's looking to play this to | :50:37. | :50:42. | |
the Far Left core next the yellow pocket. Again playing for the black, | :50:43. | :50:47. | |
but he's playing that shot under pressure. | :50:48. | :50:50. | |
APPLAUSE He didn't leave the red to the right | :50:51. | :51:12. | |
corner. But he won't be taking this for granted. No, Liang Wenbo will | :51:13. | :51:25. | |
tell you that. Great shot. OK, can't play for the black after this, but | :51:26. | :51:30. | |
this was a much better pot than it looked. | :51:31. | :51:48. | |
The kick on the blue. It would be a terrible way to lose a match. This | :51:49. | :51:55. | |
was it. Straightforward blue, you'd never fancy a miss here, you got the | :51:56. | :51:59. | |
heavy contact and you see through his cue on the table because apart | :52:00. | :52:06. | |
from the heavy contact, it threw the blue off-line. So 18 points the | :52:07. | :52:14. | |
lead. Three reds, red colours. And he's | :52:15. | :52:26. | |
got three reds in the open. It would take him into the quarterfinal. He | :52:27. | :52:32. | |
may have to take this red with the rest. He's finished awkward on that | :52:33. | :52:34. | |
red beside the pink. Just got a positive stroke on this. | :52:35. | :53:01. | |
Decelerate in any way, he'll miss it to the left knuckle. Matter of fact | :53:02. | :53:07. | |
he's screen back to the blue. He hasn't gone far enough. He'll | :53:08. | :53:22. | |
probably play in between green and brown, lots of right-hand side. | :53:23. | :53:24. | |
Baulk cushion, right-hand side cushion. | :53:25. | :53:34. | |
That's a good shot. I thought maybe he wouldn't play that because if you | :53:35. | :53:42. | |
get too much side in it... APPLAUSE | :53:43. | :53:48. | |
If the black doesn't go to the right corner, and the pink is tied up, | :53:49. | :53:53. | |
he's got to come back to the blue, it's not a formality this, to win | :53:54. | :53:55. | |
the frame at this visit. Good pot. Now, what sort of an angle | :53:56. | :54:12. | |
does he get on the blue. Absolutely inch-perfect! | :54:13. | :54:17. | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Under pressure. | :54:18. | :54:28. | |
Is it too hard?! Is it too hard?! It's too hard! And I don't think he | :54:29. | :54:40. | |
can see enough of the red above the pink to pot it in the right middle. | :54:41. | :54:47. | |
So the chance of winning the frame in the match is gone. He's looking | :54:48. | :54:51. | |
at the cushion there. Unlike you, John, I thought it was too hard to | :54:52. | :54:55. | |
start with. Yes, as soon as it came off the blue, it looked to me as | :54:56. | :55:00. | |
though he put too much pace into it. Can he hit that red to pot it in the | :55:01. | :55:06. | |
middle. It's not what he played for. I don't know, it's tight. He needs a | :55:07. | :55:12. | |
red and a colour. He thinks he can pot it. | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
He's lucky to have this alternative. It's not the red he played for. | :55:18. | :55:24. | |
Yeah, if you're in the practice room, you can play this on the | :55:25. | :55:29. | |
right-hand side to make the angle thicker, to let yourself to pot it. | :55:30. | :55:31. | |
A brave man to play that shot here. I think he's convinced himself to go | :55:32. | :55:37. | |
for it. Certainly when you're right down | :55:38. | :56:00. | |
behind it, whether you can feel you can pot it or not, but... This is | :56:01. | :56:08. | |
decision, and he's playing it now with his right-hand side, you can | :56:09. | :56:12. | |
see that to try to square the red up. And he did it! He's done it! | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
APPLAUSE And that's frame and match. | :56:18. | :56:24. | |
He knows he didn't think that red could go, he didn't play for that - | :56:25. | :56:34. | |
Mark Williams. Mark Williams must be cursing his luck. How hard he's | :56:35. | :56:39. | |
battled in this match. APPLAUSE | :56:40. | :56:44. | |
. Fortunate to still be on the red, | :56:45. | :57:00. | |
but he looked completely under pressure of sorts. Terrible bad | :57:01. | :57:05. | |
fortune for Mark Williams but this has been an awesome break to win the | :57:06. | :57:11. | |
match. Yes, as we were saying in the studio last year, Mark Williams took | :57:12. | :57:24. | |
it all the way. Bad habit to have - taking the top players all the way | :57:25. | :57:28. | |
and losing it by a frame. Extending hand, in goes the pink. | :57:29. | :57:52. | |
APPLAUSE And in the black. Mark Selby, world | :57:53. | :58:11. | |
number one world champion, UK champion. Eventually gets over the | :58:12. | :58:17. | |
line. Mark Williams really pushed it all the way, but the triple crown is | :58:18. | :58:23. | |
still on. He's through to the quarterfinal. He wins six frames to | :58:24. | :58:28. | |
five. What might have been for Mark | :58:29. | :58:32. | |
Williams, if it hasn't been for that kick on the blue in that final frame | :58:33. | :58:36. | |
decider, but a great match and sell el sell, the world number one comes | :58:37. | :58:40. | |
through in fine style in the end, the Selby Slam is very still very | :58:41. | :58:44. | |
much on. Our next live snooker for you is this afternoon 1 o'clock when | :58:45. | :58:52. | |
the defending, six time champion, Ronnie O'Sullivan, meets Neil | :58:53. | :58:56. | |
Robertson of Australia. In the meantime, sleep well. Looking | :58:57. | :58:59. | |
forward to seeing you soon. Bye. | :59:00. | :59:00. |