:00:34. > :00:39.Hello and welcome to Alexandra Palace and highlights of the 2014
:00:40. > :00:44.Dafabet Masters. Coming up, the best of the action from the opening
:00:45. > :00:48.2/4-final matches. We'll see world number two and defending champion
:00:49. > :00:52.Mark Selby take on the man who has won 45 ranking titles, John Higgins.
:00:53. > :01:00.But first, let's remind you how the draw is shaping up.
:01:01. > :01:04.The Mark Selby-John Higgins match a real mouthwatering one this evening.
:01:05. > :01:08.We'll show you how Shaun Murphy got on against Marco Fu. Neil Robertson
:01:09. > :01:13.plays Stephen Maguire tomorrow evening. And world champion Ronnie
:01:14. > :01:18.O'Sullivan takes on Ricky Walden tomorrow at one o'clock. Live
:01:19. > :01:21.coverage on BBC Two. We start this evening with the match involving
:01:22. > :01:25.Shaun Murphy and Marco Fu. Both men looking to win the event-macro for
:01:26. > :01:33.the first time the stop both have tasted defeat in the final. -- the
:01:34. > :01:53.Masters. STEPHEN HENDRY: If it did go, I'm
:01:54. > :01:57.surprised. You would have the green to the left centre. You can see it
:01:58. > :02:09.clearly goes. Didn't look like it was straight but
:02:10. > :02:16.if it was straight, I'm even more surprised he didn't play the pot.
:02:17. > :02:25.JOHN VIRGO: I think he's just gone into a bit of a shell at the moment
:02:26. > :02:33.and doesn't want to take any risks but sometimes you've got to.
:02:34. > :02:36.If you keep waiting for the perfect chance to win the frame, it never
:02:37. > :02:47.comes. Shaun looks in a positive mood as he
:02:48. > :02:58.is eyeing up a pot on this yellow. It's a good one. He's going to be
:02:59. > :03:08.nicely on the green. I bet Marco wishes he had that
:03:09. > :03:22.yellow back now. He wants these four remaining
:03:23. > :03:27.colours so you can only see the problem being pink to lack.
:03:28. > :03:36.Important that he gets a good angle on the blue.
:03:37. > :03:39.He doesn't want to be too straight on the pink, even with his cue
:03:40. > :03:48.power. I think he played to hit the side
:03:49. > :03:57.cushion their first, before the baulk collision. -- cushion. You can
:03:58. > :04:02.only assume he's tried to force the angle and forced it to much. If you
:04:03. > :04:09.take this pink on and miss it, you think you're going to leave it...
:04:10. > :04:23.But in its goes. A good kiss on the black.
:04:24. > :04:33.Shaun Murphy was for -1 behind and looked in real trouble. Marco Fu has
:04:34. > :04:42.let it slip because he now trails Shaun Murphy by one frame. Can he
:04:43. > :04:52.finish off the job? Marco Fu on the table.
:04:53. > :04:57.That was amazing. You would have thought with the angle he had on the
:04:58. > :05:00.red that you'd be trying to nudge of the other reds and that's the only
:05:01. > :05:09.reason I can see him missing this. If he doesn't time the shot right,
:05:10. > :05:21.he misses it. Plenty of movement before the tip of
:05:22. > :05:36.the cue hit the white ball where. Shaun has had the cue ball cleaned.
:05:37. > :05:39.He's low on the black. It's the black that's the problem. A tricky
:05:40. > :05:53.pot. Didn't hit it been enough. There was
:05:54. > :05:55.no problem having position on the next red but he had to pot the black
:05:56. > :06:16.first. He just about got an angle on the
:06:17. > :06:19.blue. Before, when he was having a close look at the reds, I don't know
:06:20. > :06:25.if he was looking at the possibility of a 4-ball plant into the cannon
:06:26. > :06:33.but we'll see how he plays this. He's played the cannon.
:06:34. > :07:26.If he can get through the one to the right, he'll be happy with that.
:07:27. > :07:36.He wasn't missing that type of shot early on in the match. That's been
:07:37. > :07:42.the difference. Early on, every time Shaun made a mistake he punished him
:07:43. > :07:45.to the hilt but it hasn't quite happened in the second half and
:07:46. > :07:56.that's why he's one frame behind Shaun Murphy.
:07:57. > :08:05.He's not good on the blue so he'll need a good shot now. He can play
:08:06. > :08:27.for the baulk cushion with top and right hand side.
:08:28. > :08:36.The perfect angle. Maybe the red at the top of the bunch goes to the
:08:37. > :08:49.left corner but this is the time to type out the pack. S You always need
:08:50. > :08:52.a bit of luck. It's not bad. He'll be a bit disappointed that he's not
:08:53. > :08:56.that Reg to the right-hand side cushion as I think he's going to
:08:57. > :09:24.need that. At least he's got a nice easy Reg to continue with.
:09:25. > :09:33.He's got a choice of reds into this next corner.
:09:34. > :09:39.When he opened them up, he knocked that red to the right-hand side
:09:40. > :09:41.cushion and if he's going to win frame and match at this visit, that
:09:42. > :10:03.is going to be the problem ball. Five reds and five blacks will put
:10:04. > :10:43.him 28 in front. He creeps into the front by two
:10:44. > :11:13.points. A little bit too much angle on the
:11:14. > :11:30.black. Nicely played. Now he'd like to
:11:31. > :11:47.leave himself in a position where he could play the second last red.
:11:48. > :11:58.Somewhere near that cue ball that we've put their... I think he's got
:11:59. > :11:59.enough angle to pot this thread and remove the red from the side
:12:00. > :12:12.cushion. He's done it but as we always say,
:12:13. > :12:19.when you move the red after potting a red, you're never certain to be
:12:20. > :12:21.good on the colour. He never had the ideal angle on the red Sony had to
:12:22. > :12:48.force it a bit. He dug in, which makes a blue
:12:49. > :12:57.missable but in it went. Marco Fu must be fearing the worst now. A
:12:58. > :13:05.great performance this now by Shaun. He's been a different player since
:13:06. > :13:09.he was three frames down earlier. As you said at the time, it's not the
:13:10. > :13:12.ideal thing when you're 43 frames down to stop reducing the best. --
:13:13. > :13:22.three frames down. Snooker is required and Marco Fu
:13:23. > :13:28.will be ruing his missed opportunities, particularly his long
:13:29. > :13:32.potting. If you decisions of the last frame he'll reflect on, which
:13:33. > :13:38.may have cost him dear. -- a few decisions.
:13:39. > :13:48.Two snookers required. Marco Fu didn't get those snookers and Shaun
:13:49. > :13:51.Murphy won five frames on the bounce to become the first man into the
:13:52. > :14:01.semifinals. His eighth career win over Marco Fu and he's the last four
:14:02. > :14:10.of the Masters once again. It didn't look good at for -1. I've seen so
:14:11. > :14:14.many games where you think a match is over and it's not. I thought that
:14:15. > :14:21.if I just kept in there and went for my shots and kept being aggressive,
:14:22. > :14:28.I could go for a break. I think I shook him a bit and we had a couple
:14:29. > :14:32.of nervy ones at the end. I just never had any clear-cut chances to
:14:33. > :14:37.win frames after the interval, except for the first frame after the
:14:38. > :14:41.interval. I think it got a bit scrappy and a bit difficult and
:14:42. > :14:45.Shaun started to play very well. I missed a few long pots and that cost
:14:46. > :14:51.me a bit and Shaun was taking advantage of my little mistakes here
:14:52. > :14:57.and there. What must it be like to come here and play well and play
:14:58. > :15:01.easily from the front and win 6-1? I keep making it hard on myself but
:15:02. > :15:07.I'm still here, still fighting. He is the comeback kid. Who will Shaun
:15:08. > :15:11.Murphy play in the semifinals? Will it be Mark Selby or John Higgins?
:15:12. > :15:13.Two experienced campaigners, who know what it's like to win the
:15:14. > :15:28.Masters. It's a great tournament with the top
:15:29. > :15:33.16 best players in the world. Having won it a few times before, I know
:15:34. > :15:44.the feeling of picking that trophy up at the end. I've won the World
:15:45. > :15:50.four Times and the UK a few times on the next step is to win the Masters.
:15:51. > :15:56.It seems to be a tournament I never seem to play well in. It's a tough
:15:57. > :15:59.draw. John is one of the greats of our game. He's been struggling of
:16:00. > :16:07.late but is more than good enough to turn that around. A tough player.
:16:08. > :16:11.Mark is one of the favourites. He'll be favourite going into the match,
:16:12. > :16:20.rightly so, and I'll have to play a bit above my game. Well, it's the
:16:21. > :16:26.defending champion, Selby, with the edge over the Scotsman in career
:16:27. > :16:27.wins. 6-5. We join them on three frames all with Selby 19 points
:16:28. > :16:48.ahead. DENNIS TAYLOR: Well, this is a half
:16:49. > :17:08.chance. It's all about the cue ball, this. It's tight on the cushion.
:17:09. > :17:14.That was a much better shot than it looked. That's a couple of balls
:17:15. > :17:16.that John has knocked in when the cue ball has been frozen on a
:17:17. > :17:19.cushion. Never been in front in the match so
:17:20. > :17:37.far, John Higgins. He did win the first frame but he
:17:38. > :17:38.lost three in a row. This would be three in a row for him if he can
:17:39. > :18:01.take it. Parrot macros The only good news was
:18:02. > :18:05.that the green came down the table. Position is a little trickier,
:18:06. > :18:16.yellow to green and green back to brown. Not
:18:17. > :18:27.It's not perfect. This is the key shot as he looks round at the
:18:28. > :18:31.scoreboard. You'd love test done this in but the
:18:32. > :19:34.yellow pocket might be in the way. If he pots the pink, Mark Selby will
:19:35. > :19:40.be able to tie. He can't believe it himself. He's got to try and pot the
:19:41. > :19:48.pink and can in the black. That's the only way he'll be able to get on
:19:49. > :19:50.the back. -- black. He's missed the cannon. He tried to flick the black
:19:51. > :20:01.out. Unbelievable. He cannot believe it,
:20:02. > :20:08.John. He just looked at the sky and he cannot believe what he's done. If
:20:09. > :20:11.you'd said to him, " play the blue and put yourself in an awkward
:20:12. > :20:18.position," he couldn't have done a better job of it.
:20:19. > :20:23.He's hit it thinner than he needed but it's not an easy pot by any
:20:24. > :20:37.means. The things you can do when you're
:20:38. > :20:41.under pressure. The brain gets addled, it's a bit fuzzy, you make
:20:42. > :20:48.poor decisions. This is a massive shot.
:20:49. > :21:03.It wasn't easy. John's pot won't be easy, either. In fact, John's in a
:21:04. > :21:08.position here where if he doesn't pot this, every chance he can stick
:21:09. > :21:31.it up with a big, big shot. In John's favour, he gets two bites
:21:32. > :21:35.of the cherry, doesn't he? I'm looking at Mark Selby. I think he's
:21:36. > :21:44.going to try to back double this black into the right corner pocket
:21:45. > :21:48.and bring it back up to the table. S he had the safety in mind as well.
:21:49. > :21:51.He looked at the angle. But look where he put the cue ball.
:21:52. > :22:15.APPLAUSE Well, this is a fabulous return
:22:16. > :22:17.safety shot. That seriously is the best shot of the match. Absolutely
:22:18. > :22:29.wonderful judgement. And that's not too bad, either, I
:22:30. > :22:58.can tell you. Brilliant. Wall to wall to wall.
:22:59. > :23:25.Three consecutive shots, all top-class.
:23:26. > :23:35.That's OK. It's hard enough. John's got a shot here where you send the
:23:36. > :23:39.black all around the angles and hopefully get it on the baulk
:23:40. > :23:41.cushion. Just keep your eye on the black and see how many cushions it
:23:42. > :23:56.hits. Where's the white? But look where
:23:57. > :23:59.he's got the black! This is the best standard of safety play on a black
:24:00. > :24:14.that I've seen for a long, long time. Both players, superb.
:24:15. > :24:23.He hasn't hit it hard enough this time. This is the chance that John
:24:24. > :24:24.Higgins has been waiting for. After that fabulous safety battle on the
:24:25. > :24:42.black, just at this needed. And in the black goes. Mark Selby
:24:43. > :24:47.had an early break of 56 but it wasn't enough and John Higgins wins
:24:48. > :24:50.that frame on a black ball fight and is back in the lead for the first
:24:51. > :24:57.time since the opening frame. JASON MOHAMMAD: This is Higgins'
:24:58. > :25:02.42nd match at the Masters. What a quarterfinal we are watching. They
:25:03. > :25:08.shared the next two frames. Higgins now just one frame away from a
:25:09. > :25:17.famous victory. We join them in the 10th, Selby at the table.
:25:18. > :25:24.JOHN PARROTT: I don't think he's got it behind the pink but he might have
:25:25. > :25:34.got it behind the blue. He hasn't. A chance for John Higgins.
:25:35. > :25:43.DENNIS TAYLOR: Setting himself up for this difficult, long red.
:25:44. > :25:54.Oh, he is unlucky. He's potted a cracking read but he's
:25:55. > :26:10.not on the green. He's going to have to play the snooker.
:26:11. > :26:17.John Higgins was a few inches away from getting himself into the
:26:18. > :26:23.semifinal. That great red - if he had dropped it on the green or
:26:24. > :26:29.brown, he would have won the match. This was a good pot and he just got
:26:30. > :26:41.it right onto the green. A bit unlucky.
:26:42. > :26:50.He hit that full ball. A very good shot. There might be a chance to get
:26:51. > :26:54.the snooker behind the pink but he can play it two waves - thin off the
:26:55. > :27:04.yellow on the left-hand side if he wants... Is he hard enough?
:27:05. > :27:12.Still a good shot but he had the chance of getting the snooker there.
:27:13. > :27:34.It has been a fabulous frame with a little bit of everything.
:27:35. > :27:40.Not a particularly appetising part, that one. He might be sending this
:27:41. > :27:58.one around the angles. Not bad. Easy to escape from and
:27:59. > :28:01.even someone like Mark Selby, who is the best in the business at getting
:28:02. > :28:06.out of snooker is the best in the business at getting out of smokers
:28:07. > :28:07.and knocking his ball safe, you're never absolutely sure where the
:28:08. > :28:30.object ball is going to finish up. He mishit that. Hibbitt was not how
:28:31. > :28:50.he was intending to get out of the snooker. -- that was not.
:28:51. > :29:15.I do not think Mark Selby thought he was going to cut that. What a shot!
:29:16. > :29:24.He had a horrendous kick. That is unbelievable. He parted a most
:29:25. > :29:29.fabulous yellow to put themselves on the green and look what happened
:29:30. > :29:35.next Commissioner Mark that is so cruel. It is. The things that can
:29:36. > :29:41.happen in this game. That was a brilliant yellow. He has a kick like
:29:42. > :30:01.a mule. It looks as if it is too thin for
:30:02. > :30:04.Mark Selby to hold for the brown. That makes the part so much more
:30:05. > :30:16.difficult. He could squared it up and come back. It makes the parting
:30:17. > :30:21.so much tougher. It is not that easy to play safe. It is not one who can
:30:22. > :30:38.run down the table easily. He played it down the side and got
:30:39. > :30:41.on the ground. He had so much ground -- side on that, it makes the part
:30:42. > :31:00.so much more difficult. He needs the brown, the blue and the
:31:01. > :31:25.pink. That is just pure pressure. Will he
:31:26. > :31:33.fluked a snooker behind the blue? No. He had that so hard. That was
:31:34. > :31:40.just pure tension. And at the circumstances, he stroked
:31:41. > :32:15.that into the pocket beautifully. He will not be perfect on the pink.
:32:16. > :32:26.He will have to cut this in with the rest. The black is safe. It takes a
:32:27. > :32:36.little bit of pressure of the part. -- the part.
:32:37. > :32:41.I do not blame him for coming around and looking at the angle. Not
:32:42. > :33:00.guaranteed. It is there. John Higgins had one
:33:01. > :33:06.foot in the semifinal. Mark Selby is not done with yet. He has taken the
:33:07. > :33:12.frame and we are all square. We are down to a shoot out.
:33:13. > :33:16.It goes down to the wire . Mark Selby is at the table, five points
:33:17. > :33:34.behind. He has missed it. This could he a
:33:35. > :33:46.free ball as well. -- be a free ball.
:33:47. > :33:58.If he can get on a colour of the brown and he is trying to get over
:33:59. > :34:04.to the spot. He has come a little bit short. He will have two leave a
:34:05. > :34:29.tricky one along the cushion. It will be interesting to see his
:34:30. > :34:38.next choice of shock. -- shot. There are two ways of playing this. He
:34:39. > :34:55.could put Mark in all sorts of trouble. He is 17 points in front.
:34:56. > :35:07.No, but he tries to covered it. I do not think he has. It is covered, but
:35:08. > :35:27.he may be able to pop this after the cushion.
:35:28. > :35:39.Mark Selby has a great knowledge of pool and the angles of the table. I
:35:40. > :35:49.think he is dropped in a place where he cannot do it. That is too much
:35:50. > :35:52.angle on the blue. He could play the blue and try to cannon the red. What
:35:53. > :36:01.about bringing the green into play? It will take some key will action.
:36:02. > :36:10.-- cue action. If he can bring the green into
:36:11. > :36:39.play... I think you are right. The 16 point advantage does not mean
:36:40. > :36:46.a great deal because the colours are all now available. Not quite a
:36:47. > :37:06.snooker, but by does he need a thin edge here. -- by Des he'd need a
:37:07. > :37:14.thin edge here. --boy does he need a thin edge here.
:37:15. > :37:20.He has got to make sure he gets the red thick enough and the pupil does
:37:21. > :37:30.not get lost and not too thick that he had the black.
:37:31. > :37:55.That is the problem. He had the black. It is over the pocket.
:37:56. > :38:07.It is not a straightforward safety shot. Will he take this on? It is a
:38:08. > :38:14.big shot. I am sure John Wells has something out if he wants a safety
:38:15. > :38:26.but it is not straightforward. -- John will suss something out.
:38:27. > :38:31.The last place I thought he would take it on would be up the middle
:38:32. > :38:50.pocket. He was unlucky to hit the yellow and
:38:51. > :39:10.get into the pocket. The defending champion has battled so hard.
:39:11. > :39:17.He did not want to finish bang on the cushion. Unbelievable the way
:39:18. > :39:18.these things can happen. If that bounces another three or four inches
:39:19. > :39:46.and it would probably be game over. No, he was trying to get all around
:39:47. > :39:52.the ankles. He needs to pull out a cracker here. That is a big second
:39:53. > :39:57.prize he had thought he could hit the blue and finish anywhere. If he
:39:58. > :40:12.knocks the yellow in, he will definitely be on the green.
:40:13. > :40:33.The tension here at the Alexandra Palace is quite something at the
:40:34. > :40:46.moment. What a conclusion to this quarterfinal!
:40:47. > :40:54.Well, everything is happening. The yellow wobbled for or five times and
:40:55. > :40:58.it dropped in. But because of the way he parted it, he has not
:40:59. > :41:06.finished on the green. Seven points the difference.
:41:07. > :41:17.What else are we going to see? It looked for all the world that if he
:41:18. > :41:20.parted the yellow he would be on the green. But it did not turn out that
:41:21. > :41:48.way. It is the swerve shot. It has
:41:49. > :41:54.knocked the blue into an awkward position. The pink is not absolutely
:41:55. > :41:59.safe. That is another chance here of the clean. I think the blue will
:42:00. > :42:10.come to his rescue. Will he be hampered? He will play
:42:11. > :42:57.the slow roll. No, he is not. At this stage, a
:42:58. > :43:09.little bit of touching going on. -- twitching going on.
:43:10. > :43:55.Not the best shot that John has ever played. It is all about the brown. I
:43:56. > :44:01.fancy him to pop the green. How will he finish on the ground? That is the
:44:02. > :44:07.question -- on the brown Western Mark -- brown?
:44:08. > :44:20.If it pulls up and he has the angle to full the blue. -- Paul the blue.
:44:21. > :44:31.That was a brilliantly controlled shot.
:44:32. > :44:42.If he parts the brown, they will be tied.
:44:43. > :44:53.Just over four hours of fascinating snooker from these great players.
:44:54. > :45:01.There are also to things they could do. -- they are all things that
:45:02. > :45:13.sorts of things they could do. He is looking at the back double and
:45:14. > :45:29.playing the white up and down the table to get the pink.
:45:30. > :45:40.He may be playing the cost of the now. He will have to play safe. He
:45:41. > :45:48.is looking at it. He is looking at doubling that and skewing of the
:45:49. > :46:02.baulk cushion. If he pulls this off, he will bring the house down.
:46:03. > :46:21.Is he on the pink? What a shot he played their explanation mark --
:46:22. > :46:25.what a shot he played there! He is looking at the angle to the middle
:46:26. > :46:36.pocket. He is looking at the angle to the corner.
:46:37. > :46:48.Absolutely amazing. The defending champion just would not give up. He
:46:49. > :46:52.has battled his way back and has won three frames in a row. What a
:46:53. > :46:55.finish. He is still in the cupboard edition and keep beat John Higgins
:46:56. > :47:06.by one frame. Mark Selby joins me now. You left
:47:07. > :47:10.that pretty late? I started off well before the interval. I seemed to
:47:11. > :47:18.fall asleep and John Higgins played a bit. You said you had to be
:47:19. > :47:23.clinical to beat John Higgins and you are not that halfway through the
:47:24. > :47:30.match. I was very clinical at the start. I had my chances. I had
:47:31. > :47:32.plenty of chances to go on and win the match but missed a lot of balls
:47:33. > :47:42.and John Higgins capitalised on that. He said being the underdog was
:47:43. > :47:46.suiting him. He is one of the greats of our sport. You know you have to
:47:47. > :47:55.be at the top of your game to play him. There was a great relief at the
:47:56. > :48:02.end. It was more relief than anything. I had chances to win the
:48:03. > :48:12.match and jumble sale he had the chances as well. Shaun Murphy is
:48:13. > :48:19.back into form. I played him last year. It will be another tough game.
:48:20. > :48:24.We are a great friends and have known each other for many years. I
:48:25. > :48:30.look forward to seeing you in the semifinals. Let us take a look at
:48:31. > :48:42.how the quarterfinals at shaping. -- are shaping. A couple of matches to
:48:43. > :48:51.go. Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy are to the semifinals. We will have a
:48:52. > :48:57.battle for semifinal spot later today. Snooker extra app next with
:48:58. > :49:12.extended highlights of Shaun Murphy checking on Marco Fu. -- taking on.
:49:13. > :49:17.Join us tomorrow at one o'clock. It is proving to be a terrific
:49:18. > :49:18.tournament. A great day for Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby. Goodbye for
:49:19. > :49:20.now.