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Hello again. Thursday marked the start of quarterfinals in this | :00:32. | :00:40. | |
year's Dafabet Masters 2017. And we have a people's champion, once again | :00:41. | :00:44. | |
one of the star attractions. Ronnie O'Sullivan. This is the six-time | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
champion who many consider slightly fortunate to have made it into the | :00:49. | :00:56. | |
quarters this year after the last gasp effort against Liang Wenbo. He | :00:57. | :01:00. | |
will certainly hope that the flu remedies have kicked in because | :01:01. | :01:06. | |
he'll need a clear head if he's to see off Australia's Neil Robertson, | :01:07. | :01:11. | |
the winner in 2012. We'll share this in the company of John Parrot and | :01:12. | :01:14. | |
birthday boy, Dennis Taylor. Very difficult to predict the winner | :01:15. | :01:26. | |
of this one, John? Yes, talking at the top of the show about the | :01:27. | :01:30. | |
records coming into this. I think probably the main match I'd | :01:31. | :01:33. | |
concentrate on is the Welsh Open because Robertson was 5-2 ahead in | :01:34. | :01:38. | |
that before Ronnie put the after burners on to win seven frames in a | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
trot which I don't think that anybody in the game would win seven | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
frames on the trot. But then seven frames in the semifinals and Ronnie | :01:50. | :01:54. | |
beat him 6-0 and made five breaks over 60 in that match. So whether | :01:55. | :01:57. | |
Neil will be remembering that or this is just a case of another day, | :01:58. | :02:02. | |
we'll soon find out. Well, he came up short there. That | :02:03. | :02:05. | |
was interesting because the table has been absolutely flying a very | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
quick cloth, but this is a new cloth on and even if it is off the same | :02:11. | :02:14. | |
roll of cloth, it will be interesting to see if this table | :02:15. | :02:18. | |
plays as quick. It's the same table but if the cloth plays as fast as | :02:19. | :02:25. | |
the previous one, we'll find out in a couple of shots' time. Good safety | :02:26. | :02:44. | |
there from Neil. Might be able to get past the yellow and blue from | :02:45. | :02:47. | |
that red, but looking at that angle, there's no value in taking that on | :02:48. | :02:51. | |
because he'll be careering into the reds. If it was straight, he could | :02:52. | :02:56. | |
have a go at it and get on to the black. Apparently, I just found out | :02:57. | :03:04. | |
that just the cushion clothes have been changed. So the bed of the | :03:05. | :03:12. | |
table will play it the way it has been. Strange why they would change | :03:13. | :03:21. | |
the cushion cloth? They weren't really bouncing that much, John? No, | :03:22. | :03:25. | |
I suppose if anything is going to wear out quickly, it would be there | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
on the jaws of the pockets. That's probably why that has been done. But | :03:30. | :03:32. | |
anyway, the best safety from Ronnie there, caught the bump on the middle | :03:33. | :03:39. | |
pocket. Excellent cueing. From Neil Robertson. Looking straight forward | :03:40. | :03:42. | |
that. I didn't see much of Neil's match | :03:43. | :04:20. | |
with Allister Carter, I was on in the afternoon, but apparently he | :04:21. | :04:26. | |
played very well. Yeah, I was chatting with Neil the other day | :04:27. | :04:30. | |
before he came out and played and he was saying that scoring wise, he | :04:31. | :04:34. | |
felt like he was right back to his best. He made 13 century breaks and | :04:35. | :04:38. | |
in the little mini league thing that he was playing in. You don't do that | :04:39. | :04:41. | |
unless you're litting the ball properly. But one of the things that | :04:42. | :04:45. | |
you really do need to do if you're playing Ronnie O'Sullivan in what | :04:46. | :04:49. | |
can be deemed as back yard, you need to have plenty of character. You | :04:50. | :04:53. | |
need to stand up to it. Grit comes into it. | :04:54. | :05:02. | |
Two fabulous players who got... You got the abundance of natural talent | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
in O'Sullivan. The best player I've ever seen with a cue in the hand and | :05:08. | :05:14. | |
then the Australian with a laser-like cue action, tremendous | :05:15. | :05:17. | |
break and an all around match player with that Aussie grit. Great matchen | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
up. I mean, what this player achieved in | :05:22. | :05:34. | |
the 2013 and 2014 season has never been done again to make 100 | :05:35. | :05:38. | |
centuries. If you leave the one there. In fact, | :05:39. | :05:56. | |
there's a couple of them that are available. He'lls coming up a little | :05:57. | :05:58. | |
bit short, though. Might just be OK. He needs to pull up a little bit. | :05:59. | :06:23. | |
That's OK. Well, he could play a little cannon into the five reds | :06:24. | :06:30. | |
there. Because there's a big one on the blue. And this could really open | :06:31. | :06:45. | |
things up. Went delicately into the reds. | :06:46. | :06:56. | |
Nicely played that cannon but it could come out a little better. He's | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
got to play this and avoid the cannon on the red just near the side | :07:02. | :07:08. | |
cushion when you pot this one. Which he's managed to do. And already it | :07:09. | :07:14. | |
is there with the break. You can see Neil Robertson knows the importance | :07:15. | :07:17. | |
of a good start in this match. He looks tuned up and ready to go right | :07:18. | :07:25. | |
from the off. Started the season off pretty well early on and had a | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
semifinal. And a couple of disappointing results by his open | :07:30. | :07:33. | |
standards since then. But as I say, you start to make all of the | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
centuries in the last couple of weeks and the hard graft he's put in | :07:38. | :07:42. | |
over Christmas time. If he gets back to his best, he'll take some | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
stopping, he's that good. I was surprised that he dropped down | :07:48. | :08:02. | |
to number seven in the world. He certainly, as Stephen Hendry said, | :08:03. | :08:07. | |
he should be in the top three, you would think. But that is how tough | :08:08. | :08:13. | |
the game is these days and you can quite easily slip down the rankings | :08:14. | :08:18. | |
a little bit if you have a bit of a lean spell. Yeah, he's just taking a | :08:19. | :08:22. | |
bit of time with this one because as you can see there, just over a | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
minute. But he's just got to try to get the next positional shot because | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
the red he was looking at, if he can he can get straight on it, he | :08:32. | :08:36. | |
doesn't want to be playing any cannons. This is not straight | :08:37. | :08:46. | |
forward. I was surprised that he came up off the shot there. | :08:47. | :09:02. | |
Well, he didn't want to risk the delicate hold on the black there. | :09:03. | :09:10. | |
Just forced in and hoping to drop nicely on pink or blue, but it's not | :09:11. | :09:17. | |
absolutely perfect. You've got to avoid the baulk colours and get back | :09:18. | :09:24. | |
up into the scoring end of the table. | :09:25. | :09:30. | |
In and out of the baulk area. I think those two reds near the black | :09:31. | :09:39. | |
definitely pot. He couldn't have hit that much better. That was a lovely | :09:40. | :09:45. | |
shot. Really well controlled. Looking in good nick. | :09:46. | :09:53. | |
Yeah, he got around on those two reds with the aid of a little flick | :09:54. | :09:57. | |
on the brown here. But you can expect this from these | :09:58. | :10:07. | |
two players. I think if the other makes a mistake the way that they're | :10:08. | :10:12. | |
playing, every chance that they'll finish the frame off. Yes, but how | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
important is it to stick your marker down in a match. You, many of times | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
in commentary said about Steve Davis, used to be brilliant within | :10:22. | :10:24. | |
the opening frame. It's very important just to let your opponent | :10:25. | :10:27. | |
know that you're here to play and you're at your best and this is what | :10:28. | :10:32. | |
Neil Robertson is doing. This is hugely impressive. | :10:33. | :10:48. | |
Would be difficult to go with a century break but he's almost over | :10:49. | :10:55. | |
the winning line in the opening frame. | :10:56. | :11:05. | |
Will have to wait for the next frame now because Ronnie does need a | :11:06. | :11:12. | |
snooker regardless of what happens. He's got a chance to move either of | :11:13. | :11:21. | |
the sets of two reds there. Will have to play a double if he's going | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
to have a chance of a century. A double but the frame is well and | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
truly in the bag. Just checking that, looking at the score board. So | :11:31. | :11:35. | |
he might as well have a go at the double. | :11:36. | :11:49. | |
A lovely start from the Australian. He got one chance on that and that's | :11:50. | :11:56. | |
all he needed and that lovely break has given him the opening frame. | :11:57. | :12:00. | |
It's 1-0 to Neil Robertson. Well, that's a pity. The break off | :12:01. | :12:17. | |
shot has put a red right next to the black and put it out of commission. | :12:18. | :12:24. | |
Now the player would have liked to have seen that. It just means that | :12:25. | :12:33. | |
Ronnie can't take the red on to the left corner because there's no | :12:34. | :12:34. | |
colour available. Can you believe it, it's 25 years | :12:35. | :13:12. | |
since Haas came on the scene as a referee. Yeah, one of the very best | :13:13. | :13:20. | |
and a lovely man. We've all got older together. | :13:21. | :13:35. | |
As it is, Ronnie may as well stay where he is because he's going into | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
a similar position. This time Ronnie can play down again | :13:41. | :13:56. | |
at the end of the table. You can see the edge of the pack there. | :13:57. | :14:28. | |
Ronnie's God friend, Damian Hirst, renowned artist. He didn't think | :14:29. | :14:35. | |
that he would be back because he thought that Liang Wenbo would be | :14:36. | :14:40. | |
back and knock Ronnie out. And a very easy black to knock the six | :14:41. | :14:49. | |
times former champion out. It can leave a free ball here. He's left a | :14:50. | :14:57. | |
long pot on. I wonder how Neil will take this. Will he go around the | :14:58. | :15:04. | |
back here. We'll just show you here. He can play around on the ball or he | :15:05. | :15:09. | |
could play it to nuch the red away from the black. | :15:10. | :15:16. | |
It's the first time in a while that he's going across the ball there. | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
Usually a feature of the cue action that it goes straight through. But | :15:23. | :15:25. | |
definitely hit across that one. Yeah, this can develop the pink and | :15:26. | :16:01. | |
reds because the black is tied up as well at the moment. So, how hard | :16:02. | :16:10. | |
will he hit this? Might just be able to get through. It's tight, though. | :16:11. | :16:18. | |
Very tight. In fact, I don't think that he can get through to it. A bit | :16:19. | :16:26. | |
unlucky there with the split. Yeah, it wasn't totally ideal with the | :16:27. | :16:30. | |
blue. He couldn't get loads of power into that. But he'd be very | :16:31. | :16:39. | |
disappointed if he doesn't cover it with the blue if he's planning to | :16:40. | :16:41. | |
leave the red there. Just caught the pink half ball. Full | :16:42. | :16:56. | |
ball contact would have been better but he was still a little bit | :16:57. | :16:58. | |
unlucky there. The difficult thing here for Neil is | :16:59. | :17:20. | |
that he's playing off the side of the pack but the red on the | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
left-hand side of the pack is the one that he's got to keep covered. | :17:25. | :17:31. | |
Cue ballually in the same place that he played from. Should be ideal. | :17:32. | :17:39. | |
Well, he hasn't done that and if Ronnie can pot this red and manage | :17:40. | :17:46. | |
to get the cue ball out, then it's a chance. He could finish on the pink | :17:47. | :17:54. | |
here if he hits the reds. Can't get through to that, the main | :17:55. | :18:02. | |
part of the shot. Normally very reliable with this | :18:03. | :18:18. | |
type of shot but he hasn't had much table time. | :18:19. | :18:52. | |
Obviously the black is out of commission and the pink is going to | :18:53. | :18:58. | |
get tied up on-the-spot, it looks like. | :18:59. | :19:05. | |
Now, is there enough room? That's the ball marker that will tell the | :19:06. | :19:13. | |
referee whether there's spots and as John mentioned, the peng now tied up | :19:14. | :19:17. | |
so he'll have to play up for the blue. He had to look to see if the | :19:18. | :19:21. | |
pink would go into the left corner. But we find out the way that he | :19:22. | :19:25. | |
plays the positional side of the shot and if it pots or not. Well, it | :19:26. | :19:33. | |
does. The pink does pass that red by the looks of things. Well, maybe | :19:34. | :19:36. | |
not. Otherwise he would have played it. | :19:37. | :19:47. | |
He did look at it. So Ronnie would have known whether the pink would | :19:48. | :19:51. | |
go, but once the red has been removed, it could develop it. I | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
don't know where the pink would go now. | :19:57. | :20:04. | |
Just can't quite get the position this he likes at the moment. | :20:05. | :20:10. | |
Slightly off with each shot and the bump doesn't help there because it | :20:11. | :20:13. | |
actually puts him straight on the blue. Might have been top side. So | :20:14. | :20:23. | |
another good medium range pot to screw back and back for the blue | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
again. Oh, this is tough. But going close to the left middle pocket. | :20:28. | :20:34. | |
He'll have to be careful here. And hit it lovely. Hit it beautifully. | :20:35. | :20:42. | |
Really well struck and the best thing there is with the position | :20:43. | :20:46. | |
that you see, there's three below the pink but two of the bottom ones | :20:47. | :20:51. | |
are definitely there. So he's got an area to play in there. Straightaway. | :20:52. | :20:54. | |
That's where he is. Well, there didn't look to be many | :20:55. | :21:10. | |
points available to him when he came to the table. The balls were all | :21:11. | :21:14. | |
tied up and he's making a terrific job of this. Always nice to see the | :21:15. | :21:21. | |
big breaks going in when they're all sitting nicely, but when you see | :21:22. | :21:26. | |
them having to work hard like this, it's very skilful, indeed. Now, if | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
he's straight. Now he's got a slight angle. So he can force this in. | :21:32. | :21:38. | |
Yeah, and I think that both of the reds might pot. The one next to the | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
pink and the one below it may do so. Hasn't he taken these well. I mean, | :21:44. | :21:47. | |
the table when he first came to it wasn't brilliant, but so far, this | :21:48. | :21:56. | |
has been superb. Both players in good nick, Dennis. And that's what | :21:57. | :22:02. | |
everybody wanted. The packed house at the Alexander Palace and everyone | :22:03. | :22:07. | |
watching at home. We just wanted to see both of the players playing well | :22:08. | :22:12. | |
and it looks as if we're going to see that. | :22:13. | :22:17. | |
There's always something a bit special about England playing | :22:18. | :22:21. | |
Australia. At any sport. I'll just make sure of this | :22:22. | :22:43. | |
yesterday. The other players that I can think | :22:44. | :22:56. | |
of who would have come here to win this frame from there, O'Sullivan | :22:57. | :22:58. | |
has. Absolutely brilliant break. Ronnie O'Sullivan has returned the | :22:59. | :23:19. | |
compliment, he got a chance and he returned it enough to win the frame. | :23:20. | :23:21. | |
One each. Goodness me. That's a long way off. | :23:22. | :23:50. | |
I don't think that I've seen him miss by that far before. Hmmm. A | :23:51. | :23:58. | |
little worrying. Well, it's not an easy starter for | :23:59. | :24:11. | |
Ronnie. The pot is not so difficult. The position is more difficult. | :24:12. | :24:17. | |
Well, that was a better shot than it looked to have to screw that. So | :24:18. | :24:25. | |
still needs another good positional shot. See the way that it comes off | :24:26. | :24:29. | |
the position here. Watch it straighten up and keep it away from | :24:30. | :24:31. | |
the reds. He made sure of the pot there. But | :24:32. | :24:41. | |
didn't avoid the yellow. Has he potted the yellow? Almost. | :24:42. | :25:10. | |
Wasn't an easy chance that. But Robertson would be delighted that he | :25:11. | :25:13. | |
got six points off of it. He must have thought when he missed that | :25:14. | :25:17. | |
long pot by a mile he was going to be in big trouble. | :25:18. | :25:36. | |
If he can get up and down on the yellow, he needs to get plenty of | :25:37. | :25:43. | |
side on it to at least get up past the blue spot area. He'd like to get | :25:44. | :25:48. | |
a bit closer to the reds. And he's got to avoid the middle pockets when | :25:49. | :25:56. | |
he plays this. Yeah, big shot this, really, just to get position. | :25:57. | :26:03. | |
Well, he is on one. But can he get any position off the red that he's | :26:04. | :26:12. | |
landed on. Pretty tight to the cushion. | :26:13. | :26:17. | |
No good, that one. To have to play something a bit special to get on to | :26:18. | :26:32. | |
the pink from that red. Very awkward. | :26:33. | :26:45. | |
I'll tell you what, what an effort that is. I mean, that... Is... As | :26:46. | :26:54. | |
good a positional shot as you'll ever see. Loads of top spin there. | :26:55. | :26:58. | |
That was a bit special. Well, you won't see a better shot played today | :26:59. | :27:03. | |
than that one. That was absolutely fabulous. | :27:04. | :27:11. | |
Played that just to try to clear the black spot. But to confirm, the red | :27:12. | :27:19. | |
is still covering it. A really brilliant shot that was. He | :27:20. | :27:37. | |
might need another one here looking at this. Has he got a bit of angle | :27:38. | :27:42. | |
to work with here? Just a slight angle. So in a perfect world, he'd | :27:43. | :27:47. | |
like to get a half ball off the blue and come down and split the pack up | :27:48. | :27:53. | |
with the black. He's just the wrong side there. And you can see, taking | :27:54. | :28:00. | |
the weight towards the baulk area. Well, just look at the cue power of | :28:01. | :28:13. | |
the Australian there. Loads of top spin and left-hand side, but he's | :28:14. | :28:20. | |
going to finish to the cushion. That could be the end of break. And there | :28:21. | :28:33. | |
you can see all covering each other. In fact, the way they finished, it's | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
very awkward to get a good safety shot in. He's just nestling on to | :28:38. | :28:47. | |
the black here. Yeah, the last two frails, the balls | :28:48. | :29:11. | |
have just gone a little awkward, that's why the previous frame lasted | :29:12. | :29:15. | |
just over 29 minutes. The first frame was just over 10 minutes and | :29:16. | :29:19. | |
the second just over 11. But sometimes, the balls dictate what | :29:20. | :29:23. | |
happens and we're back to tipping and tapping again. | :29:24. | :29:30. | |
I'll tell you what, that was nearly a little bit too hard. But his heart | :29:31. | :29:41. | |
was in his mouth for a second there. Yeah, nothing that you can do when | :29:42. | :29:46. | |
it's like this. Neither player can get the cue ball back into the baulk | :29:47. | :29:52. | |
area. So you have to keep playing until an opportunity arises to do | :29:53. | :29:53. | |
so. Scoo he thinks that he can screw | :29:54. | :30:16. | |
down this with some side and get it back into the baulk area. You've got | :30:17. | :30:20. | |
to be careful with these that you don't play a push shot. | :30:21. | :30:36. | |
Yeah, a push shot is where the tip of the cue ball and the object ball | :30:37. | :30:42. | |
are all in contact at the same time. Tough for the referee to decide. | :30:43. | :30:50. | |
What is a push shot. But the player normally would walk away from the | :30:51. | :30:54. | |
table and declare it. You know yourself if you pushed it. But look | :30:55. | :30:56. | |
at this for a safety. Nothing too appetising either side | :30:57. | :31:22. | |
so Ronnie was looking to see if he could drop on the red that's nearest | :31:23. | :31:24. | |
the top cushion. He tried something a bit special | :31:25. | :31:44. | |
there to swing the cue around the angles but it was very, very | :31:45. | :31:48. | |
difficult. He's just looking to see if the black goes into the pocket | :31:49. | :31:52. | |
that he's going to take the red here. Not sure if it is available. | :31:53. | :31:56. | |
It would be a big advantage if the black goes. | :31:57. | :32:04. | |
He's the wrong side of the blue. So maybe the black was just that little | :32:05. | :32:10. | |
bit too tight. And that looks like if you were in | :32:11. | :32:26. | |
behind the black, that you'd be able to pot it. We might have to see a | :32:27. | :32:37. | |
Neil Robertson special here. We talk about cue power. If he takes this | :32:38. | :32:42. | |
red to the right corner, he's going to get a lot of action on this. Just | :32:43. | :32:49. | |
have a look at this. Well, he had an angle so he didn't have to screw it | :32:50. | :32:55. | |
back. He's just scrapping for position there at the moment Neil | :32:56. | :32:59. | |
Robertson. He can't quite get them how he wants them. And slightly | :33:00. | :33:08. | |
wrong all the time. Having to play the cue ball around the table all | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
the time so this is a hard work break at the moment. | :33:13. | :33:24. | |
A little bit coming up after this frame. I mean the first two frames, | :33:25. | :33:32. | |
both players had a chance and made enough to make the frame but the | :33:33. | :33:37. | |
last two, the balls have gone so awkward. | :33:38. | :33:58. | |
Should leave the other red available. A big chance. That's in. | :33:59. | :34:08. | |
And there's no real easing now from this position. Going for a kick or | :34:09. | :34:16. | |
something to win this frame. This is really good for Neil Robertson. It's | :34:17. | :34:20. | |
a good effort because he missed one or two shots in this frame and lost | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
the cue ball a couple of times. One attempt at a long pot was a long way | :34:25. | :34:32. | |
away. If he can get out at the interval 2-2, he'll be delighted. | :34:33. | :34:58. | |
He won't be coming back to the table here. El a he be heading straight | :34:59. | :35:06. | |
off for the mid-session interval. And sometimes the interval can | :35:07. | :35:11. | |
change things around and as I say, the last two frames have been very | :35:12. | :35:21. | |
awkward. And I suppose, 2-2 is a pretty fair reflection? Yeah, I | :35:22. | :35:27. | |
would think so. As you say, just because it is awkward frames doesn't | :35:28. | :35:30. | |
mean it's not important, does it? They're all the same. They all count | :35:31. | :35:33. | |
for one. Doesn't matter about that. Ronnie is | :35:34. | :35:48. | |
on his way out of the arena so a couple of awkward frames. Two very | :35:49. | :35:52. | |
good opening frames and we go to the mid-session interval two frames | :35:53. | :35:53. | |
each. Have a look at that for an opening | :35:54. | :36:55. | |
pot. That was normal service resumed at the Neil Robertson action. Do you | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
think that he could drop next to the black? That would open things up and | :37:00. | :37:03. | |
he might have an angle on the brown to play up on to that. Yeah, it just | :37:04. | :37:08. | |
depends on what angle he has on the brown and which shot he decides to | :37:09. | :37:11. | |
play. It's a natural angle to split the pack but I'm sure that he won't | :37:12. | :37:14. | |
play that. That's pretty good. He got on the | :37:15. | :37:25. | |
red and this opens the black up for the blue this time. | :37:26. | :37:38. | |
Still available, but if he wants to, it will go into the play. The sort | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
of shot that Ronnie would play himself but other players tend to do | :37:45. | :37:48. | |
it slightly different. It just depends how he feels. As I say, he | :37:49. | :37:52. | |
has a couple of loose reds but he might go straight into the pink. No, | :37:53. | :37:57. | |
he's going to play for the loose ones. The one at the back of the | :37:58. | :38:02. | |
pack, if he gets on that in a few shots time, then he can open the | :38:03. | :38:06. | |
reds. Yes, Dennis. He may play for that when he leaves the cue ball low | :38:07. | :38:11. | |
and pots the red and screws off the pack and you bring the reds into | :38:12. | :38:15. | |
play. And you take position. So it all depends on how he goes about it. | :38:16. | :38:24. | |
There's the shot he's got now. He has a choice. He can generally power | :38:25. | :38:28. | |
it through but generally they go back for the black and hopefully | :38:29. | :38:39. | |
bring a few more reds into play. A lot more pressure on this shot than | :38:40. | :38:42. | |
there should have been. Excellent, must have read your book | :38:43. | :39:02. | |
there. John Parrot was probably the best in the game when he was potting | :39:03. | :39:07. | |
there. Should have had better positional play, shouldn't I! You | :39:08. | :39:11. | |
can only just see the top of the ball. Thinking about that first | :39:12. | :39:19. | |
session, I think if there were two players going into it 2-2, I would | :39:20. | :39:24. | |
have been slightly happy with Neil Robertson. Obviously he was 2-1 down | :39:25. | :39:27. | |
in the match so it goes without saying just to level it is great. | :39:28. | :39:31. | |
But I just think on the balance of play, I think that Ronnie was | :39:32. | :39:35. | |
slightly better than him in the opening session. But what you've | :39:36. | :39:38. | |
done with O'Sullivan is establish yourself in the match that you | :39:39. | :39:43. | |
aren't going to let him run away and you kept the crowd fairly quiet. So | :39:44. | :39:50. | |
2-2 at the interval for Neil would have been a pretty decent score. And | :39:51. | :39:59. | |
he's starting this frame like he started the match. | :40:00. | :40:06. | |
Still a couple more reds available after this one. | :40:07. | :40:19. | |
Just to the left on the back of that little bunch of reds, there's also | :40:20. | :40:29. | |
one that's potable. And the one that he's dropping on. And then, he might | :40:30. | :40:38. | |
leave himself on the black to cannon into the reds because he's not that | :40:39. | :40:43. | |
many pots away from securing the frame with one visit - a visit that | :40:44. | :40:47. | |
started with a Neil Robertson special. | :40:48. | :41:02. | |
He's got the angle to play the cannon now. This will determine | :41:03. | :41:07. | |
whether he's going to win the frame at this visit. He wants to cannon | :41:08. | :41:12. | |
the red that's in the middle there. But he wanted to play that with a | :41:13. | :41:18. | |
bit of screw. He's done that in there. Needed to have a bit of screw | :41:19. | :41:24. | |
on it so when he cannoned that, he came ae towards the left-hand side | :41:25. | :41:28. | |
of the table, but he just put it in there. He must have thought when he | :41:29. | :41:32. | |
played it, he was bound to be on one. But if he played the screw | :41:33. | :41:36. | |
shot, he was virtually guaranteed he would have been. Yeah, and now he's | :41:37. | :41:41. | |
only 59 points a very healthy lead. But not with the way that the ball | :41:42. | :41:47. | |
was situated. That was far from being safe against an opponent like | :41:48. | :41:54. | |
Ronnie O'Sullivan. So he could do with putting something on to a | :41:55. | :41:57. | |
cushion if he's playing a safety shot here just as a little bit of | :41:58. | :42:01. | |
insurance. But it's not going to be easy po put the red safe and | :42:02. | :42:06. | |
guarantee a good position for the cue ball. | :42:07. | :42:13. | |
I mean, he could possibly take the pot on but he's going to need a bit | :42:14. | :42:20. | |
of help. He's going to need the swan neck, I think he's asking for. We've | :42:21. | :42:25. | |
got three types of spider under the table there. With the extended | :42:26. | :42:33. | |
spider. I mean, he can play this as a shot to nothing but it's awkward | :42:34. | :42:37. | |
cueing. He's going to need the extension on the cue. He won't be | :42:38. | :42:41. | |
able to really see the shot because he's so far away from it. His eye | :42:42. | :42:47. | |
line, he'll just have to judge it because the cue will be so far up in | :42:48. | :42:51. | |
the air. I mean, it helps that he's just over six feet tall. So he'll | :42:52. | :42:59. | |
play the pot and play the safety shot also. Awkward. | :43:00. | :43:15. | |
Yes, very difficult that shot. Certainly striking down as well and | :43:16. | :43:21. | |
also trying to get some safety with it. It's one of those shots that if | :43:22. | :43:25. | |
you play all out for the pot, you've got a better chance. If you try to | :43:26. | :43:30. | |
get a two in one shot, sometimes you don't get the safety and you don't | :43:31. | :43:37. | |
get the pot. So, can Ronnie make a counterpunch? And after all the hard | :43:38. | :43:47. | |
work at the start of the frame from Neil Robertson... Will he have set | :43:48. | :43:51. | |
the frame up for Ronnie O'Sullivan to come and steal it? The way that | :43:52. | :43:57. | |
the reds are, Dennis, they're lovely, aren't they! Couldn't be | :43:58. | :44:04. | |
better, John. Even the one next to the pink will be available because | :44:05. | :44:08. | |
as he pots the head, they're clearing the path for another. | :44:09. | :44:13. | |
Straight on the black but that doesn't matter. No problem. A little | :44:14. | :44:19. | |
bit of reverse side here. Just to spin off the cushion to the right. | :44:20. | :44:25. | |
Oh, hang on! What has he played there? I was going to say, it was a | :44:26. | :44:29. | |
careless shot the one before. I know for a player with visibility, a | :44:30. | :44:33. | |
straight shot with a little bit of side shouldn't be a problem but he | :44:34. | :44:40. | |
shouldn't have been straight. But there's such a margin for error here | :44:41. | :44:45. | |
and just over hit that. It's a lively cloth but that was... Very | :44:46. | :44:50. | |
poor. Now, can he cut this one in? I mean, what a shot this would be. No. | :44:51. | :45:03. | |
So that... Excellent opportunity has disappeared rapidly. | :45:04. | :45:21. | |
Neil Robertson can't contain his excitement. He must have thought | :45:22. | :45:27. | |
that the frame was going. Ball all in the open the way that Ronnie had | :45:28. | :45:31. | |
been hitting it this afternoon when he had chances and he'd been cueing | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
beautifully. I was amazed that he was back at the table. | :45:38. | :45:53. | |
It would be very interesting to see how that affects Ronnie O'Sullivan. | :45:54. | :46:03. | |
He's looked very focused this afternoon. But inside, he will be | :46:04. | :46:17. | |
seething at what he's just done. If you want to give your opponent any | :46:18. | :46:22. | |
more confidence, keep doing what you've just done. And they'll be | :46:23. | :46:26. | |
feeding off that. This has been going less than 12 | :46:27. | :47:31. | |
minutes. A little bit of an exhibition shot | :47:32. | :47:54. | |
there. So much there. Looked like the white was going to stop near the | :47:55. | :47:59. | |
cushion behind the black and inside, just spun it up the table. | :48:00. | :48:11. | |
And there's another exhibition shot from the Australian. | :48:12. | :48:21. | |
And is that in? Two visits, Neil Robertson. An earlier break of 59. | :48:22. | :48:28. | |
Ronnie had a chance to counterattack. He didn't take it and | :48:29. | :48:32. | |
nearly cleared up with 62. The Australian leads 3-2 frames. | :48:33. | :48:52. | |
And that's a pretty good break off shot. I mean, if the red wasn't near | :48:53. | :49:01. | |
the black, he would have a go at the long red in the left-hand corner and | :49:02. | :49:05. | |
play it as a shot to nothing, but because of the red next to the | :49:06. | :49:09. | |
black, he can't. He would leave that on. So he's just containing the | :49:10. | :49:16. | |
escape off the side cushion. Which could have been judged a little | :49:17. | :49:21. | |
better. Doesn't want to be leaving any sort of pot for Neil. I know | :49:22. | :49:27. | |
it's awkward bridging so he's not even contemplating that red to the | :49:28. | :49:30. | |
left of the blue. Well, he holds his hand up. A nice | :49:31. | :49:39. | |
little flick. And that is another careless one | :49:40. | :50:01. | |
from Ronnie. You can't just keep presenting | :50:02. | :50:33. | |
opportunities. Well, you can if he misses them. Started to look | :50:34. | :50:36. | |
worrying for Ronnie in that frame. Like he was losing momentum. He can | :50:37. | :50:40. | |
go between the red and the black there. Well, he decided that was a | :50:41. | :50:46. | |
little bit risky. On the wrong side of the bl. Possibly could have held | :50:47. | :50:48. | |
for the black. Six. Going to have to swing this | :50:49. | :51:16. | |
around again. 7. Such a good shot. Controlled that you'd unclear. -- | :51:17. | :51:25. | |
beautifully. Played that really well. Well, how does that look? | :51:26. | :51:32. | |
Pretty good. 13. Just OK. I thought that red | :51:33. | :52:01. | |
would block the blue. But it is easily possible. Just wondering, | :52:02. | :52:14. | |
even that little shot Rob missed. How important that is. The first | :52:15. | :52:17. | |
opportunity. It is little things like that in these matches that make | :52:18. | :52:27. | |
all the difference. Hanging with the top boys. 18. 19. There's the shot | :52:28. | :52:39. | |
in the little pocket. It has gone to Ronnie. Will it be | :52:40. | :53:00. | |
costly? 22. 23. Pink, out of commission. The black is awkward. | :53:01. | :53:04. | |
May be in the right corner. Perfect angle on the blue. The black is | :53:05. | :53:19. | |
available but needs to be straight on this red so he can roll it in. No | :53:20. | :53:24. | |
threat on the red. Has to wait for another chance. Back into the blue | :53:25. | :53:32. | |
again here. A slight change of plan again. 1 of those shots where you | :53:33. | :53:44. | |
err on the side of being pacey just in case. Oh. You don't want to be | :53:45. | :53:52. | |
missing the green. Ronnie O'Sullivan. 29. I put that to a | :53:53. | :54:10. | |
lapse in concentration. Maybe a little of the previous frame in his | :54:11. | :54:14. | |
mind. If he has not got position he has been very lucky. Neil Robertson | :54:15. | :54:19. | |
is looking at that right in the back. Does it pot? It is difficult | :54:20. | :54:24. | |
to know. Well, that was your answer. Didn't | :54:25. | :54:51. | |
expect him to make such a poor attempt at | :54:52. | :54:57. | |
That. He is giving Ronnie an easy comeback. You cannot leave him these | :54:58. | :55:11. | |
longshots. He is good at them. That is a useful cannon on the blue. | :55:12. | :55:27. | |
Let us show you this terrific long pot again. He has got an angle on | :55:28. | :55:38. | |
the brown to get back up to the reds. | :55:39. | :55:58. | |
You have to say, one or two worrying signs that Ronnie is looking second | :55:59. | :56:04. | |
best in the match. Careen off the spot which you would not expect him | :56:05. | :56:12. | |
to miss ever. -- green. 6. Make no mistake about it, the Australian, | :56:13. | :56:18. | |
Robertson, will pick up on those. That will give him a little extra | :56:19. | :56:20. | |
boost. As a competitor, you can remember as | :56:21. | :56:34. | |
well as anybody, when you see a weakness in your partner, it is up | :56:35. | :56:38. | |
to you to make the most of it. That is what Neil Robertson is doing. 14. | :56:39. | :56:52. | |
21. Can he bring any reds out? He has to force them through and bring | :56:53. | :57:04. | |
the single red out. That was a good shot. | :57:05. | :57:14. | |
A little bit more on that. He may have to go up the table. Is the blue | :57:15. | :57:29. | |
is available he could play on that. It would be nice to get it back but | :57:30. | :57:33. | |
not essential. That is what he has in mind, to pop the red and get back | :57:34. | :57:42. | |
onto the blue and get back to the scoring end of the tabe. -- table. | :57:43. | :57:51. | |
Having a look to see if there were three reds behind the pink. I do not | :57:52. | :57:56. | |
think that is on. What do you do hear? Play for the single red? He | :57:57. | :58:03. | |
has a natural angle to play a cannon into the pink and three reds, but it | :58:04. | :58:07. | |
is not a big target. That is the angle he has. If he wants to play | :58:08. | :58:12. | |
into the pink. He is looking at the single red. He is looking at the | :58:13. | :58:20. | |
options here. Yeah, I do not blame him there. If he can pop this red... | :58:21. | :58:31. | |
But the cue ball has gone further. It is quite an easy cannon into the | :58:32. | :58:36. | |
pink and blue reds. It was awkward for him. He did not want to risk | :58:37. | :58:47. | |
potting the blue and disturb the three reds and pink. He did not cue | :58:48. | :58:56. | |
that well. Neil Robertson, 35. Just cued across that one slightly. For a | :58:57. | :59:03. | |
Potter like Neil Robertson, you would have to say that is a poor | :59:04. | :59:06. | |
miss. A nice little half ball on the blue. | :59:07. | :59:28. | |
This is all about the cannon here. Need do is to open up and land on 1. | :59:29. | :59:33. | |
That would be a massive favour. APPLAUSE | :59:34. | :59:33. | |
. Six. Yes, nice to have plenty of | :59:34. | :59:56. | |
enthusiasm. But just shouting out at the wrong time can put the player | :59:57. | :00:00. | |
off. I mentioned earlier it would be seriously worrying times if he does | :00:01. | :00:03. | |
not get this 1. These are absolutely lovely now. Levelling the match at | :00:04. | :00:22. | |
three each. OK. Green to brown could be the only slight problem, but you | :00:23. | :00:26. | |
wouldn't expect it. Certainly 4. Another 1 of those that might go all | :00:27. | :00:34. | |
the way, John. Yeah. Neil Robertson will be sitting in his chair and | :00:35. | :00:38. | |
kicking himself about the red that he missed. It was not easy. But he | :00:39. | :00:44. | |
was in command in the frame. Would not fancy knocking that 1 in. Just | :00:45. | :00:55. | |
needs to make sure of the green. 24 is the difference. This is to secure | :00:56. | :01:09. | |
the frame. APPLAUSE. Did not have to play position on the brown, but he | :01:10. | :01:18. | |
did. And a good response from Ronnie. And once again, all square. | :01:19. | :01:20. | |
Great match. 42. 48. Well, the Australian, Robertson, a | :01:21. | :01:42. | |
chance to open up a two-frame advantage but did not take it. | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
Ronnie O'Sullivan took his chance. All square, three frames each. | :01:48. | :02:08. | |
Now, what is the angle like that he has left for Neil? Has he got a pot? | :02:09. | :03:18. | |
Yep. There it goes. You never know where the red that you play is going | :03:19. | :03:30. | |
to go. But that has finished up OK. A very attacking shot on here. | :03:31. | :03:33. | |
Whether he will take it, I don't know. No, he has decided to play the | :03:34. | :03:37. | |
safety shot. There's a pot with the red on the | :03:38. | :03:53. | |
right-hand side. He was not having any of that. He has taken the pot | :03:54. | :04:07. | |
on, but look at the cue ball. It will go to the black and reds. Where | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
will it finished up? Finding a gap. Has he got a shot on the green? If | :04:12. | :04:20. | |
he had the green, he is right-handed, over 6 feet tall, he | :04:21. | :04:24. | |
has got quite a stretch. But even then, he would have to force this. | :04:25. | :04:36. | |
And he could miss the pot if he tried to hit it too hard. It looks | :04:37. | :04:40. | |
tight on the cushion. He has cued it well. Just to make | :04:41. | :04:48. | |
the pot. He'd just misjudged it slightly. A similar sort of shot for | :04:49. | :05:05. | |
Ronnie. Neil Robertson found the gap. Where will the cue ball go this | :05:06. | :05:19. | |
time? This is a little hard. He has to power this. Brilliantly struck | :05:20. | :05:24. | |
and controlled. 8. Perfect. Just feel with this | :05:25. | :06:22. | |
match, the way it has been going, the boys mentioned in the studio | :06:23. | :06:26. | |
that one player could step up and grab hold of the match with scoring. | :06:27. | :06:28. | |
They could run away with it. 21s. 22. 1 red at the back of the bunch. | :06:29. | :06:48. | |
Let us see how he gets on to that red. | :06:49. | :06:56. | |
He has left it in such a way he can develop a few more. Does not help | :06:57. | :07:08. | |
his position, though. 13. Stumbling through. Getting the cue ball | :07:09. | :07:19. | |
running through it. One good cue in here. That is exactly what you got. | :07:20. | :07:24. | |
Beautifully struck as well. 37. He did the right thing like a | :07:25. | :07:52. | |
golfer. He had not made up his mind and got up on the shot and went back | :07:53. | :07:56. | |
down again. That is the worst thing you can do, change your mind and | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
then continue. A lot better. Had to strike down on that. It had to be | :08:03. | :08:05. | |
straight through the middle of the white. Very well cued. 43. Striking | :08:06. | :08:23. | |
down on it, right the way through, then back up for the brown. | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
A lot better than it looked. He can obviously play some sort of cannon | :08:29. | :08:48. | |
of the blue into the reds. But he is worried about losing the cue ball. | :08:49. | :08:54. | |
Thinking about coming off the angle with the brown. It is time to | :08:55. | :08:57. | |
guarantee position here as opposed to taking a chance. He took too long | :08:58. | :09:15. | |
on that. Is he going to fluke it. Surely not! No reaction from me but | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
that is one of the biggest is flukes you could ever see. Did not make up | :09:22. | :09:30. | |
his mind. Did not want to risk the cannon. Then missed the brown by a | :09:31. | :09:36. | |
long way. But how did he fluke it into the corner? He has just played | :09:37. | :09:43. | |
a few strange... 47. It is as if he lost his concentration somewhat. I | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
mean, he just got down on the plant. If that is down you do not just get | :09:50. | :10:02. | |
down and hammer it like that. It is as if he felt guilty for getting the | :10:03. | :10:04. | |
fluke. Well, it might come back to haunt | :10:05. | :10:20. | |
him, the way he played that plant there. But, I mean, just to hit it | :10:21. | :10:26. | |
that hard, did not give it a chance. But this was amazing. He just could | :10:27. | :10:34. | |
not make up his mind. And in the end, he missed it by a long way. And | :10:35. | :10:42. | |
then to see it go in-off the red. Meanwhile, this is not a | :10:43. | :11:12. | |
straightforward chance for Neil Robertson. Left-handed. Those 2 reds | :11:13. | :11:31. | |
on the left-hand side cushion will be as much a problem for him as a | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
right-hander. Nevertheless, these are not ideally situated. APPLAUSE. | :11:35. | :11:39. | |
13. 14. As the option, he could play | :11:40. | :11:58. | |
this firmly and click the red out. He could have played it firmly, as | :11:59. | :12:07. | |
if he missed the cannon... Well, he chose not to do it that way. | :12:08. | :12:18. | |
30. Not the best position he has ever played. He is probably already | :12:19. | :13:16. | |
thinking about the two awkward reds. One very much so. The other not too | :13:17. | :13:20. | |
badly placed. Before the break, on the black, he could have tried to | :13:21. | :13:26. | |
flick that. I know he is left-handed, but that is a tricky | :13:27. | :13:32. | |
shot, where that is. That is to be negotiated later. We will soon find | :13:33. | :13:43. | |
out. APPLAUSE. 33. He has got a slight handle on the black. He is | :13:44. | :13:49. | |
left-handed. He can play a drop in behind it. Or he can try and get it | :13:50. | :13:54. | |
out. Not be perfect angle. He would have to really try and power this | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
in. And he certainly powered this in. But not quite far enough. It | :14:00. | :14:08. | |
looks like it will be a safety. And Ronnie O'Sullivan will be relieved | :14:09. | :14:17. | |
because I think he felt that he might have messed up. But that was a | :14:18. | :14:21. | |
great effort to bring that into play. Neil Robertson, 40. So, still | :14:22. | :14:32. | |
in the balance in this frame. When Ronnie missed the brown. He had an | :14:33. | :14:39. | |
alternative shot that we might be able to show you. I thought he could | :14:40. | :14:47. | |
take the blue and get the cannon on the two reds. But it could not make | :14:48. | :14:53. | |
up his mind. He got the brown and missed it. This is a little bit | :14:54. | :15:05. | |
pacey. Oh, the blue, the blue has come to his rescue there. Yeah. Neil | :15:06. | :15:08. | |
Robertson raises his eyebrows slightly walking towards the com | :15:09. | :15:14. | |
box. Thinking that was going to be a chance. The greenies in the corner. | :15:15. | :15:29. | |
-- green is. There you go. Yep. Nice blue, he is saying. Because if it | :15:30. | :15:47. | |
slips past the blue, the red, he might have a chance, maybe not to | :15:48. | :15:51. | |
pot the red, but certainly to put Ronnie in trouble. He has to | :15:52. | :15:54. | |
negotiate the swerve. He could be knocking it towards the other | :15:55. | :16:03. | |
pocket. So, he was in a lot of trouble there. And he will take | :16:04. | :16:06. | |
that. He might not like the next shot. Trying to get in behind the | :16:07. | :16:11. | |
black here. . He has not hit it hard enough. He has missed a trick there. | :16:12. | :16:27. | |
I see the ties, they are wearing normal ones, you can see him pulling | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
at it. That is why we used to wear bowties, because a normal 1 gets in | :16:32. | :16:39. | |
your way slightly. Oh. I am a massive fan of Neil Robertson, I | :16:40. | :16:43. | |
really am, but he has played 2 was 3 shots today that are totally out of | :16:44. | :16:49. | |
character for him. He never usually does that. | :16:50. | :16:56. | |
One. For him to play that, obviously, do not put the object | :16:57. | :17:04. | |
ball over the pocket. He has overhit that and now it will | :17:05. | :17:36. | |
be awkward because he needs the brown also. He is having a quick | :17:37. | :17:45. | |
look at the scoreboard there. 15 ahead. Green and brown, and he will | :17:46. | :17:49. | |
need assistance. I do not know if he can get it with the rest. He may | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
just be able to get it passed the blue. But if he gets it too card. -- | :17:54. | :18:03. | |
hard. You can try to flick it in. That was the good news about that | :18:04. | :18:15. | |
shot. Well, one could long pot, and we are right down the line of the | :18:16. | :18:18. | |
shot. It is there. 16. APPLAUSE. Ronnie O'Sullivan, 16. A lapse in | :18:19. | :18:32. | |
concentration, but Neil needs... Settle down, please. He needs a | :18:33. | :18:53. | |
snooker, as you can see. Did that previously in the match when he | :18:54. | :18:56. | |
missed a pink in the middle and had to wait another 10 minutes. This is | :18:57. | :19:07. | |
the blue again. Looks like nothing, but it stops your momentum. You | :19:08. | :19:11. | |
think you are going to win the frame but it is all over. It gives you 10- | :19:12. | :19:16. | |
15 minutes of complete aggravation for no reason at all. | :19:17. | :19:26. | |
It's been a funny frame this. It's had a little bit of everything. | :19:27. | :19:40. | |
Only needing the one snooker, there is no way he will be potting the | :19:41. | :19:53. | |
blue if he had a chance. More chance of the snooker with pink and black | :19:54. | :19:58. | |
on the table. But as well as playing for the snooker, you have the try | :19:59. | :20:00. | |
and keep the object ball safe. Well, he didn't mean to pot that! | :20:01. | :20:10. | |
LAUGHS He's looking down... Didn't plan to | :20:11. | :20:16. | |
pot that. But he might be able to get by with the black here. More | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
difficult now with just the one Snookering ball on the table. And | :20:22. | :20:26. | |
more difficult, Dennis, because the black is off the spot. The cushion | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
for the black - easier to get a snooker behind. But where it is | :20:31. | :20:34. | |
now... You have got to be absolutely perfect. You they would he would | :20:35. | :20:38. | |
have to get it right tight behind. He has one real good shot left at it | :20:39. | :20:42. | |
and it's not great, what he's got left anyway. So, good luck with this | :20:43. | :20:45. | |
one. I will tell you what - it's a pretty | :20:46. | :20:57. | |
good effort if the pink holds up. Just ran a bit too far. | :20:58. | :21:00. | |
APPLAUSE Not a bad effort. | :21:01. | :21:10. | |
In or over is how you may that shot. CHEERING | :21:11. | :21:17. | |
That's in! It's a frame either play would have won, but in the end | :21:18. | :21:21. | |
Ronnie O'Sullivan. He will be absolutely delighted. He gets himg | :21:22. | :21:23. | |
into a four frames to 3 lead. A good length with the cue ball, but | :21:24. | :21:44. | |
there is a bit of a free pot for Ronnie. He can go around the back of | :21:45. | :21:47. | |
the black and take this on. An interesting part in that last | :21:48. | :22:18. | |
frame, Dennis. It ultimately went down to the last red. There was a | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
shot where I was saying Roberts could have potted the red. If he | :22:24. | :22:27. | |
plays it nice and firm and plays that, knocks it out, he could end up | :22:28. | :22:31. | |
going on to win the frame F he missed it he was a red baulk. So a | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
bit of a shot to nothing really. I think he may have missed a trick | :22:37. | :22:40. | |
there. Ultimately that red was the last one he had to get and he | :22:41. | :22:42. | |
couldn't get on it. CHEERING | :22:43. | :23:00. | |
Well, that was what we call an Aussie special! I mean, one of the | :23:01. | :23:08. | |
greatest long potters the game's ever seen, without a doubt. | :23:09. | :23:12. | |
Tremendous cuing. I mean, such a hard pot anyway. But to knock it in | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
with a top spin Yan get back on the correct side of the blue is just a | :23:17. | :23:19. | |
wonderful shot. Yeah. I think I mentioned at the | :23:20. | :23:28. | |
start of the tournament how many great left-handers there are in the | :23:29. | :23:32. | |
game and what great potters they are. Going way back, there was only | :23:33. | :23:39. | |
a few. There was a great potter from South Africa. | :23:40. | :23:45. | |
But now there's... I mean, there's so many great left-landed players. | :23:46. | :23:56. | |
Then Jimmy White came on the seen, Barry Hawkins... | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
Well, he knocked in an unbelievable opening red. How do you see a | :24:02. | :24:10. | |
missing one like that? I know. If anything, I was looking at Neil | :24:11. | :24:14. | |
Robertson today and haven't seen him play much this season other than | :24:15. | :24:20. | |
when we ump # -- we bumped into him. His concentration is never as high | :24:21. | :24:24. | |
as it usually is, that's the only thing you can say, because he would | :24:25. | :24:28. | |
never miss a shot like that. CHEERING | :24:29. | :24:34. | |
Great pot from Ronnie. Did well to avoid the cannon on that red there. | :24:35. | :24:43. | |
So, # -- Ronnie's turn to sense weakness in his opponent. Can he | :24:44. | :24:47. | |
make the most of it? I agree with Stephen Hendry - | :24:48. | :25:11. | |
standard-wise probably one of the worst matches. Although it's still | :25:12. | :25:19. | |
very, very exciting. But no century break, highest 74, Ronnie's highest | :25:20. | :25:26. | |
63. But fascinating stuff. Yeah. Interpret similar to yesterday's | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
match with Mark Selby and Mark Williams. It doesn't have to be one | :25:31. | :25:33. | |
with the snooker all the time to make it fascinating. A brilliant | :25:34. | :25:36. | |
match yesterday and Mark Williams desperately unlucky. He played some | :25:37. | :25:39. | |
fantastic match play. What is going on here at the minute? | :25:40. | :25:51. | |
What is going on? Are we now at the stage where both players are maybe | :25:52. | :25:56. | |
trying to that little bit too hard? Well, he got a heavy contact there. | :25:57. | :26:20. | |
The red's gone in, but it's spoiled the position outside of the shot. | :26:21. | :26:34. | |
Supposed to be fair, in this year's Masters there hasn't been a great | :26:35. | :26:40. | |
deal of kicks. Less than there has been for quite some time, I think. | :26:41. | :26:44. | |
Unfortunately when it happened, look it did yesterday -- like it did | :26:45. | :26:47. | |
yesterday for Mark Williams on the blue. Neil Robertson having to take | :26:48. | :26:51. | |
on here, it was magnified. But this is a big shot to take on. . Wow! | :26:52. | :26:55. | |
APPLAUSE What a pot! To do it after the | :26:56. | :27:00. | |
disappointment of the kick and the loss of position is fabulous. | :27:01. | :27:10. | |
Think he is still keen on winning this match after that shot? As I | :27:11. | :27:14. | |
say, they both want it so badly. But it has to be said, Ronnie was in | :27:15. | :27:31. | |
the balls and he was looking good and... He will have just gone to | :27:32. | :27:41. | |
clean hi # -- clean his hands. A little bit sticky maybe. | :27:42. | :28:18. | |
That's gone wrong. It is amazing. I was just about to say with these | :28:19. | :28:25. | |
players, you normally expect to them a win with one visit. But what's | :28:26. | :28:30. | |
been happening - there is all sorts of hitting things going on. There is | :28:31. | :28:34. | |
another one, when it ran on to the red and out of position. I don't | :28:35. | :28:38. | |
think it is December Pratt. He has the one insurance policy in the | :28:39. | :28:42. | |
baulk area. May have lost position there, but the way his long | :28:43. | :28:46. | |
potting's been, this will be going in. | :28:47. | :28:48. | |
APPLAUSE Not all bad news there. Got a chance | :28:49. | :29:02. | |
here. He can pot the yellow off the said cushion and into the pack, if | :29:03. | :29:08. | |
he wants to. The red over the middle pocket would be there as well. | :29:09. | :29:12. | |
That's what he played. But he hit that so badly he was nowhere near | :29:13. | :29:17. | |
it! I don't know about how, John, but you just sense... Normally you | :29:18. | :29:21. | |
would say they are in, they are going to win the frame you sense | :29:22. | :29:25. | |
with what's going on, they are not confident of winning the frame with | :29:26. | :29:28. | |
one visit. If there is a three-ball plant what a bonus that is. I don't | :29:29. | :29:33. | |
think it will go in... Unless there is a gap between the two reds. P | :29:34. | :29:37. | |
those two reds are close together it will squeeze it away from the | :29:38. | :29:41. | |
pocket. Well, let's see. The first two to the left... Close together, | :29:42. | :29:46. | |
the angle he's got, he won't make - he will squeeze it away from the | :29:47. | :29:48. | |
pocket, I think. Well, from that angle maybe he could | :29:49. | :30:00. | |
possibly make it, because there is a little gap between the reds. But | :30:01. | :30:11. | |
still doesn't fan it is. -- fancy it . Well... | :30:12. | :30:13. | |
CHEERING 25. He would be kicking himself. | :30:14. | :30:20. | |
Such a margin for error there. Comes off there, the side of the cushion, | :30:21. | :30:24. | |
goes into the pack with the balls, red over the middle. Looking like a | :30:25. | :30:30. | |
frame-winning chance but it's gone now. | :30:31. | :30:44. | |
APPLAUSE Good stuff, though. I don't know | :30:45. | :30:48. | |
what's going to happen next! LAUGHS | :30:49. | :30:53. | |
What happened next? That used to be a programme. How many years were you | :30:54. | :30:55. | |
the captain? What happened next? Well, he thought he could pot that. | :30:56. | :31:11. | |
And the white needs to keep running, otherwise he's left it. Yeah. I | :31:12. | :31:14. | |
think he can get past the blue. CHEERING | :31:15. | :31:39. | |
Just someone shouted out there, "Get in." Before the white got near the | :31:40. | :31:43. | |
red. We don't need anyone like that shouting while the player is playing | :31:44. | :31:49. | |
the shot because it will put the player he's supporting off. | :31:50. | :31:56. | |
Once again, though, the position... Not ideal for Ronnie. This - the | :31:57. | :32:05. | |
choice of it up into the yellow pocket, which is what he's doing, | :32:06. | :32:09. | |
but he played for it in the centre. CROWD: Oh! | :32:10. | :32:12. | |
CHEERING He should be taking this one! Quiet | :32:13. | :32:21. | |
please! Listen, you get enough bad luck at | :32:22. | :32:36. | |
times in a game. If you get a fluke like this, why not take full | :32:37. | :32:43. | |
advantage? Left of the cushion. Then seemed to come back in. I think | :32:44. | :32:47. | |
there was a bit of swerve on it, hitting the angle. Yep. Arced it | :32:48. | :32:50. | |
around into the pocket. I'm with you - you get a fluke, you | :32:51. | :32:59. | |
make sure you get the most of it. You see it's the jaws, and then it | :33:00. | :33:06. | |
hits the caution and... Flick off the brown? Wow! That brown's been | :33:07. | :33:13. | |
pretty good, hasn't it? It should have been in the other one, but of | :33:14. | :33:17. | |
course he played the plant afterwards with not a lot of care. | :33:18. | :33:20. | |
But what a fluke that was! He didn't play that too well. That's | :33:21. | :33:38. | |
a bit careless there. Miss challenged the cannon completely. | :33:39. | :33:43. | |
He's just battling himself a little bit at the moment. You can see the | :33:44. | :33:50. | |
about jebt disappointment on -- abject disappointment on his face | :33:51. | :33:53. | |
when he losses position. Welcome to our world Ronnie. That's what | :33:54. | :33:56. | |
happens to most players. APPLAUSE | :33:57. | :34:14. | |
Welcome back to Ronnie's world! LAUGHS | :34:15. | :34:19. | |
Yeah. For all the great play and misses and bad safeties Yan # -- | :34:20. | :34:28. | |
safeties Yan great safeties, you can't beat a little bit of luck. | :34:29. | :34:32. | |
What a fluke that was! CHEERING | :34:33. | :34:45. | |
Very focused. Great temperament, but that was hard to take. Because it | :34:46. | :34:54. | |
means now that he's going to have to win the last three frames. He's | :34:55. | :35:01. | |
quite a while capable of doing that, as Ronnie overscrews the yellow. But | :35:02. | :35:05. | |
that doesn't matter. He will stay in the seat. Or he might leave the | :35:06. | :35:10. | |
arena just to compose himself, but it doesn't matter about the green. | :35:11. | :35:15. | |
That was an unbelievable fluke for Ronnie O'Sullivan! | :35:16. | :35:16. | |
CHEERING No wonder he's leaving the arena. | :35:17. | :35:22. | |
He's now just one frame away from the place in the semifinal. It's 5-3 | :35:23. | :35:25. | |
to The Rocket. Ronnie, a bit short with the | :35:26. | :35:49. | |
break-off shot. Could do with a long pot here. | :35:50. | :35:55. | |
Given the cue a clean there, just to make sure it's nice and smooth. He | :35:56. | :36:47. | |
could do with a couple of Robertson specials. He's at the stage now | :36:48. | :36:54. | |
where he knows he can't afford many more misses. | :36:55. | :37:10. | |
Just having a look there to see if that red at the back of the black is | :37:11. | :37:34. | |
pottable. At some stage... Obviously not playing on it there, but he's | :37:35. | :37:38. | |
just seeing if he can pot that and get it away are the black. It will | :37:39. | :37:44. | |
free it. But... I don't know about that one. | :37:45. | :37:53. | |
Here he is again, checking just to see. All those ones you have to keep | :37:54. | :38:04. | |
the qubl high, so -- cue ball high so when you get the natural angle | :38:05. | :38:08. | |
you can screw off for the black. It is a tough angle for the black, | :38:09. | :38:15. | |
certainly on these tables. And he would be disgusted with that. You | :38:16. | :38:19. | |
can see him turn his head away because the one thing he didn't want | :38:20. | :38:24. | |
to do was come low. Just got into that a bit too much. | :38:25. | :38:32. | |
Not even sure that pots. It's very tight. | :38:33. | :38:42. | |
Yeah. Not from angle. Had the white been near and to the right he would | :38:43. | :38:48. | |
have been OK. He worked that out an if you shots ago. Stephen mentioned | :38:49. | :38:58. | |
in the studio that struggling for positional play today. A good | :38:59. | :38:59. | |
example. A very good example. A good opening pot. Played as a shot | :39:00. | :39:35. | |
to nothing. Because if the red doesn't go in - have a look where | :39:36. | :39:39. | |
the cue ball was. The fact he potted it, he knew he was always going to | :39:40. | :39:41. | |
have a chance of the brown. CROWD: Oh! Boy, to hit it that hard | :39:42. | :40:05. | |
and expect the pocket to accept the brown was asking something. | :40:06. | :40:28. | |
Foul! Oh, he fouled it. He was looking and he may have thought he | :40:29. | :40:38. | |
was OK, but he touched it with his sleeve. Yeah. Bad news on the foul. | :40:39. | :40:49. | |
Good news was - that red came across and hit the black and didn't leave | :40:50. | :40:55. | |
one on. Could have been all bad for Neil there. | :40:56. | :41:25. | |
APPLAUSE Interesting, though, Ronnie tapped | :41:26. | :41:34. | |
the table a few times. He tapped the table before the white got anywhere | :41:35. | :41:38. | |
near the cushion. He knew where it was going to finish up. | :41:39. | :41:45. | |
Don't mind him missing altogether with the first attempt... Much | :41:46. | :41:53. | |
better doing that than hitting the red thick. He will have another go | :41:54. | :42:01. | |
at it. He will want to really make contact this time, because three | :42:02. | :42:06. | |
misses from this situation and you lose the frame. So, can he get a | :42:07. | :42:09. | |
thin enough contact here? No. The referee will now warn | :42:10. | :42:21. | |
Ronnie. I said earlier anything else going to happen in this match? | :42:22. | :42:25. | |
Certainly he won't lose a frame from missing the reds she times? | :42:26. | :42:35. | |
UMPIRE: I have to warn you this time. Put plenty on chalk of the | :42:36. | :42:40. | |
tip. The last thing you want to do is miscue. | :42:41. | :42:48. | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Well! In the end it was a terrific | :42:49. | :42:57. | |
safety shot he played. But... He hasn't reacted, but he couldn't stop | :42:58. | :43:01. | |
smiling there. It looked, from that... He must have tried to plant! | :43:02. | :43:05. | |
LAUGHS I will tell you what - this is a big | :43:06. | :43:08. | |
shot to take on. Well, you were right, John. It was a | :43:09. | :43:13. | |
big shot. Don't be giving too many chances to | :43:14. | :43:40. | |
someone like Neil Robertson. He was in the jaws of the pocket. So close. | :43:41. | :43:45. | |
But very tough shot he took on there. | :43:46. | :43:58. | |
Yes. Not a brilliance chance this. Blackcurrantly is out of commission | :43:59. | :44:04. | |
-- black currently out of commission. Pink certainly is. Brown | :44:05. | :44:06. | |
on the side cushion. Not perfect on the blue. I suppose | :44:07. | :44:22. | |
he could take the green, being left-handed. It might actually be a | :44:23. | :44:27. | |
natural angle back at the red at the bottom of the cluster, because that | :44:28. | :44:33. | |
will pot. But is he hampered with his cuing? Mmm. Looks like it. | :44:34. | :44:46. | |
He is looking at the blue to the middle pocket. This is a thin cut. | :44:47. | :44:52. | |
He will go into the pink and reads and it will open the game up. Foul. | :44:53. | :45:01. | |
That's a bit unlucky. It was a very thin snick required. He got the main | :45:02. | :45:05. | |
part of the shot. Didn't quite enough get screw on it. But to go in | :45:06. | :45:11. | |
off was very unfortunate indeed. Yeah. Added unfortunate part of that | :45:12. | :45:15. | |
shot - I think he's opened the pink into a pottable position as well. I | :45:16. | :45:19. | |
think the pink now goes - the red removed from the side of the pink - | :45:20. | :45:24. | |
if Ronnie can pot this and come through, then he's got pink or blue | :45:25. | :45:27. | |
that's available. What he needs to do is get his focus | :45:28. | :46:23. | |
back that he had at the start of the match. | :46:24. | :46:24. | |
APPLAUSE It has to be said, just a few little | :46:25. | :46:31. | |
signs that he is getting a little frustrated with himself. He sets | :46:32. | :46:35. | |
himself such high standards, Ronnie O'Sullivan. | :46:36. | :46:54. | |
That was a good shot that Neil played there. Knew he would be | :46:55. | :46:59. | |
clipping the red towards the corner, but as long as he could use the | :47:00. | :47:03. | |
yellow, green or blue to cover it up, it was OK. Similar shot for | :47:04. | :47:08. | |
Ronnie here, but Ronnie has to be careful with... Don't want to hit | :47:09. | :47:12. | |
the pump in the middle pocket either. Has he covered it? | :47:13. | :47:22. | |
He's covered the one closest to the pocket. And the one on the left-hand | :47:23. | :47:29. | |
side he is hampered by the yellow. So, not great for Neil. | :47:30. | :47:52. | |
I just noticed, John, something with Ronnie when down on the shot. It is | :47:53. | :47:58. | |
as if he's moving around a little bit. He never used to do that. Rock | :47:59. | :48:02. | |
solid. But detected just a little bit of movement while he was getting | :48:03. | :48:13. | |
ready to deliver the cue. That was just a containing safety. | :48:14. | :48:40. | |
A tough shot, these. Yeah. Not surprised he missed it actually. One | :48:41. | :48:55. | |
of the ones... That is on the thin side. Ronnie isn't looking to see | :48:56. | :48:59. | |
about the red on the right-hand side. He doesn't fancy that. Well, | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
that, I suppose... He normally he could have potted that and got on | :49:05. | :49:11. | |
the pink. Didn't even look at it, did he? | :49:12. | :49:15. | |
Just while they are replacing it there, just... You see, there's | :49:16. | :49:24. | |
where it is, nearly on the brown spot. Mmm. Looked as if he could | :49:25. | :49:28. | |
take it on. Wouldn't have left a great deal but he had it replaced. | :49:29. | :49:37. | |
Now! It's Robertson's turn to be warned. He won't even look at the | :49:38. | :49:47. | |
red this time. Of course, if he did it and missed it three times then | :49:48. | :49:51. | |
this would be frame and match. Do you know what I think happened? It | :49:52. | :49:55. | |
happened in the Irish Masters, and I think Ken was playing Steve Davis. | :49:56. | :50:02. | |
Was it Steve who lost the match with three consecutive misses? Yep. Yep. | :50:03. | :50:07. | |
You're dead right. That's what happened. | :50:08. | :50:10. | |
REFEREE: I have to warn you this time Neil. This will be too thick | :50:11. | :50:13. | |
now. Needs to be very careful here. APPLAUSE | :50:14. | :50:36. | |
Yep. Too thick. But I tell you what - he will be glad when it's finished | :50:37. | :50:44. | |
T -- finished. The blue's come to his rescue. | :50:45. | :50:54. | |
Played that with a loaded check side. Just to straighten the cue | :50:55. | :50:59. | |
ball up. APPLAUSE | :51:00. | :51:05. | |
He's played it very well. Where the reds have turned out, he's had a | :51:06. | :51:11. | |
little bit of luck, of course. He's covered those two red near the | :51:12. | :51:15. | |
corner pocket. Little bit of luck with one of the balls, but it was | :51:16. | :51:22. | |
well played. On first glance, looks like a fair bit of trouble. | :51:23. | :51:31. | |
Well, that is what he is faced with there. As you can see, a very | :51:32. | :51:38. | |
difficult situation. He will have to give this one a | :51:39. | :51:48. | |
little bit of thought, because he knows one mistake here and he could | :51:49. | :51:54. | |
be out of this year's Masters. Yeah T two reds that are near the top | :51:55. | :51:58. | |
corner, the bottom one, Neil was looking at trying to roll up and | :51:59. | :52:03. | |
drop on. But if you don't get that right you are leaving a red into the | :52:04. | :52:06. | |
middle pocket. That's what he's had a look at. If he can just come up | :52:07. | :52:11. | |
dead weight and rest on it. But you have to get that right. | :52:12. | :52:28. | |
Well, this is very delicate. It isn't going to reach. Foul. | :52:29. | :52:37. | |
Oh that was the way he was trying to get in behind that red. Ronnie's not | :52:38. | :52:46. | |
having the one in the middle pocket. So, obviously the... That pot isn't | :52:47. | :52:51. | |
something he fancies. But he's got Neil in a right load of trouble | :52:52. | :52:53. | |
here. Same shot, is it? Has he done the same thing again? | :52:54. | :53:13. | |
And then... REFEREE: Foul. And a miss. Yep. He | :53:14. | :53:20. | |
will have to be warned again. For the second time... That doesn't | :53:21. | :53:25. | |
happen very often where a player is warned twice in one frame. | :53:26. | :53:30. | |
REFEREE: I have to warn you again, Neil. You played a miss. You will | :53:31. | :53:31. | |
lose the frame. Yeah. And the match. Oh! Well! He's given a foul away. 7 | :53:32. | :54:02. | |
points. But the... Black, will it go on its own spot! I think it's the | :54:03. | :54:07. | |
ultimate whammy. I think everything pots. | :54:08. | :54:10. | |
REFEREE: Settle down, please. Quiet now. Thank you! He is so many | :54:11. | :54:15. | |
trouble. He thought he had to take on that pottable pot. There was no | :54:16. | :54:20. | |
pocket to go in. But some of the balls were very awkward, but have a | :54:21. | :54:29. | |
lack at how they have split up. For those to finish like that, and | :54:30. | :54:32. | |
forget the black on the spot, with everything in the open, you couldn't | :54:33. | :54:35. | |
ask for anything more. The only thing is... The way it's gone this | :54:36. | :54:38. | |
afternoon, will it be over? They have played each other twice in | :54:39. | :55:04. | |
the Masters. Neil one 6-1 in the semifinal 2015. Ronnie won 6-4 in | :55:05. | :55:12. | |
Round 2 in 2010. Even that shot wasn't played up to | :55:13. | :55:27. | |
his usual standards. You could see him down in shot, he was in two | :55:28. | :55:32. | |
minds, the way he played. Obviously to knock the black he should be | :55:33. | :55:36. | |
knocking this in. But just little unpositional blips from Ronnie | :55:37. | :55:41. | |
O'Sullivan that you don't normally see. These are just spread lovely. | :55:42. | :55:48. | |
No excuses now. Before this match started, we | :55:49. | :56:02. | |
were... Thought we were going to be in for century breaks flying in all | :56:03. | :56:06. | |
over the place. But... Ronnie's highest break had been 63. Neil's | :56:07. | :56:11. | |
74. But... I will tell you what - there's been lots of 50s and 40s and | :56:12. | :56:16. | |
misses. We've had a bit of everything. Yep. It's been great | :56:17. | :56:21. | |
theatre this afternoon, that's for sure. You know, this audience this | :56:22. | :56:27. | |
afternoon, OK, as you say, not centuries rolling off every frame, | :56:28. | :56:31. | |
but it's been fascinating right the way through. It's been difficult to | :56:32. | :56:36. | |
commentate on because we know what was going to happen. On occasions | :56:37. | :56:40. | |
people looking like they are going to clear up, pole positions, and a | :56:41. | :56:46. | |
few missed pots you wouldn't get. But fascinating nonetheless. | :56:47. | :56:51. | |
APPLAUSE That's the frame and the match | :56:52. | :56:59. | |
secure. Neil Robertson had a chance to go 4-2 in front. And for me, that | :57:00. | :57:05. | |
was the big, big turning point in the match. | :57:06. | :57:10. | |
The crowd here at Alexandra Palace have been very fair to both players. | :57:11. | :57:18. | |
A lot of Ronnie fans here, but Neil Robertson's had terrific support | :57:19. | :57:24. | |
also. But it's not going to be his year. | :57:25. | :57:30. | |
Just looked as if he had lost a little bit of focus. He was very up | :57:31. | :57:38. | |
for it. The start at match, but just seemed to lose his way towards the | :57:39. | :57:43. | |
end, and... Probably because he set such a high standard. | :57:44. | :57:46. | |
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 61. He's had a few flukes here and | :57:47. | :57:55. | |
there which always help. APPLAUSE | :57:56. | :58:02. | |
Interesting... Well, he will be delighted, Damien Hurst, his good | :58:03. | :58:05. | |
friend. It will be interesting to hear what Ronnie has to say about | :58:06. | :58:08. | |
the match. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE | :58:09. | :58:11. | |
Both players big smiles for each other. It's been a fascinating | :58:12. | :58:19. | |
tussle between these two great players. There Ronnie acknowledges | :58:20. | :58:21. | |
the crowd. He will be delighted. In the end a comfortable win, 6-3, for | :58:22. | :58:28. | |
the Rocket. Curious match. But Ronnie O'Sullivan is over the line | :58:29. | :58:33. | |
and into a 13th Masters semifinal. He's only ever lost one of those and | :58:34. | :58:37. | |
ironically that was a couple of years ago to the very same Neil | :58:38. | :58:41. | |
Robertson. He aadvantaged that one. We will be back with more live | :58:42. | :58:45. | |
snooker in yet another quarterfinal. It is Mark Selby, the world number | :58:46. | :58:51. | |
1, and threetime winner of the great event, against the runner-up, Barry | :58:52. | :58:56. | |
Hawkins. We will catch you for 1:00pm BBC Two. | :58:57. | :58:57. | |
Goodnight. Why would James Delaney hate | :58:58. | :58:59. | |
the India so? | :59:00. | :59:03. |