Browse content similar to Day 8. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Welcome to historic Alexandra Palace, perfect for our live | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
coverage of the Masters. This People's Palace was purpose-built | :00:50. | :00:53. | |
for entertainment and that is exactly what you're going to get | :00:53. | :01:00. | |
today. The atmosphere of this place is electric, and even though local | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan exited earlier in the week, this London | :01:04. | :01:14. | |
crowd are passionate about snooker. Expect the roof to be raised today. | :01:14. | :01:18. | |
These are the guys who have had the crowds flocking here this week. The | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
Masters is open only to the top 16 players so big names are guaranteed. | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
They have not let us down with entertainment. Today two of the | :01:29. | :01:33. | |
biggest stars of the game will be battling it out. They will be | :01:33. | :01:37. | |
battling it out for part of the Triple Crown and one of the biggest | :01:37. | :01:43. | |
tournament in the world, the Masters. I was fortunate enough to | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
win this on six occasions, but today we will see a brand new name | :01:47. | :01:54. | |
engraved on the trophy. Prepare to be entertained. Good after noon. | :01:54. | :02:01. | |
Masters Sunday in January, in front of the capital crowd. 10 minutes to | :02:01. | :02:07. | |
go until the start of this Masters final. We will find out who will | :02:07. | :02:10. | |
become the 20th man in the history of this great event to win a very | :02:10. | :02:15. | |
special title, and the first to do so at Alexandra Palace, Allen new | :02:15. | :02:20. | |
venue for the tournament. The rivalry has the makings of a | :02:20. | :02:27. | |
classic because it is England against Australia. Shaun Murphy | :02:27. | :02:37. | |
meets Neil Robertson. Look at the delight on his face. It is great to | :02:37. | :02:42. | |
be in the final after my World Championship win. I have had a lean | :02:42. | :02:49. | |
spell since so it will be fantastic to kick-start another run of | :02:49. | :02:58. | |
victories. There is only 20 odd people who have ever won this | :02:58. | :03:03. | |
championship since it started, only seven who have won the world UK and | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
the Masters, so it is a small group. You can't be invited in, you have | :03:08. | :03:13. | |
got to win your way in. If I can do the business, it will be pretty | :03:13. | :03:20. | |
massive. When Shaun gets going, he is almost impossible to stop. When | :03:20. | :03:24. | |
he gets into good scoring positions, he can score as quickly as anyone. | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
He is a class act. He was a big roar when he first started but he | :03:29. | :03:33. | |
has developed into an all rounder and has this massive record of | :03:33. | :03:38. | |
never having lost in a major final. I am hoping to change that, between | :03:39. | :03:44. | |
you and me! They are both former Crucible champions and both have an | :03:44. | :03:49. | |
attacking style and swagger around the table. In the year that they | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
will both turned 30, they have both achieved so much already. Shaun | :03:54. | :03:59. | |
Murphy was a world champion at only 22, the second youngest in history, | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
and Neil Robertson is already one of the most successful players ever | :04:04. | :04:14. | |
:04:14. | :04:20. | ||
When you see some people walking around the table, you take an | :04:20. | :04:30. | |
:04:30. | :04:32. | ||
instant dislike to them. That look of arrogance, it reminds me of... | :04:32. | :04:38. | |
Stephen and Neil. If it is a complement. He definitely has an | :04:38. | :04:43. | |
aura about him when he is walking around. I have said a couple of | :04:43. | :04:50. | |
times that Neil has become quite a prolific winner. If you win three | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
tournaments in a season, you have had a fantastic season, so such an | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
improved player, I think. From five or six years ago. Now, just a | :05:00. | :05:08. | |
proven winner. When you are playing the likes of me, you know he will | :05:08. | :05:16. | |
not crumble. No, I have known Neil quite a few years now. He moved to | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
Leicester and we lived together for a period of time when he was first | :05:19. | :05:25. | |
on the tour. I used to practice with him a lot, and back then he | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
was a great potter, still is today, but used to push the boat out too | :05:30. | :05:35. | |
much. He has even said that to me, that that is why he probably fell | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
off the tour because he was taking on too many shots. The last few | :05:39. | :05:45. | |
years he has won the World Championships, proved what a class | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
player hears. I could switch the TV on and you would know if he was | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
winning or losing because he has a great temperament. Dropping off the | :05:54. | :06:00. | |
tour a couple of times, we know the storyline. What happened that | :06:00. | :06:07. | |
changed your game around? I think in some ways I was a late developer. | :06:07. | :06:11. | |
One of the problems I had was living in Australia and not playing | :06:11. | :06:16. | |
with a lot of world class players. The standard of amateur snooker in | :06:16. | :06:20. | |
Australia is very high but it is a completely different level to | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
playing with professional players. Something I lacked was there I was | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
always flying over from Australia to the UK, and playing tournaments | :06:28. | :06:34. | |
with very little match practice. It changed to me when I moved to | :06:34. | :06:39. | |
Cambridge in 2003, when I was practising with Joe Perry every day, | :06:39. | :06:44. | |
and players like Mark King. I was learning a lot of match snooker. | :06:44. | :06:52. | |
fancies the job. In an interview, it is always positive. No moaning. | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
What he has got that I am most just about, you think you have played a | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
decent safety and he will pot it and take the white ball the way | :07:01. | :07:07. | |
back to the baulk. The correct answer to this is there is no point | :07:07. | :07:11. | |
in improving, I am perfect as it is - but what part of the game would | :07:11. | :07:16. | |
you improve? Probably my biggest focused this season was to improve | :07:16. | :07:22. | |
my consistency. Watching somebody like Mark play in the last two | :07:22. | :07:27. | |
seasons, he is always in the semi- finals and finals, I have been a | :07:27. | :07:32. | |
little bit inconsistent. I can win a tournament and then go quiet a | :07:32. | :07:36. | |
few tournaments. This season was just to practise really hard and | :07:36. | :07:46. | |
:07:46. | :08:00. | ||
try to get to the later stages as I tend to be at the front of things. | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
I wouldn't say I am a leader of people but I have probably got a | :08:05. | :08:13. | |
bit of OCD. I was born in the wrong era. I would like to have been | :08:13. | :08:18. | |
around in the 30s, pin-striped suits, gangsters in New York. That | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
would have suited me down to the ground. I think I will always be | :08:23. | :08:26. | |
just a little bit fat, I am not bothered to tell the truth. I am | :08:26. | :08:31. | |
trying to lose weight and be healthy, I am running the Sheffield | :08:31. | :08:37. | |
half marathon with a few other lads, but I am happy with myself. I am | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
teaching myself piano, learning languages, trying to fill my time. | :08:41. | :08:46. | |
It takes a second to say please and thank you, but you would be | :08:46. | :08:50. | |
surprised how many people forget about it. Just to say thanks to | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
somebody. I'm not too good at getting over things when they have | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
gone wrong, which is important as a snooker player because things are | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
going wrong all the time and I don't cope with that very well. I | :09:05. | :09:10. | |
am a passionate person, I care about it. It is my biggest laugh, | :09:10. | :09:19. | |
and when it goes wrong it hurts. We are in very good hands and the | :09:19. | :09:24. | |
commentary box this afternoon with former UK champion John Virgo and | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
has six times winner of this event, Stephen Hendry. What makes the | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
Masters final so special? Obviously we are at a brand new venue, new | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
for everybody, but it is still the best in the world competing and you | :09:37. | :09:43. | |
want to prove yourself. John, what has impressed do so far about the | :09:43. | :09:48. | |
form of our finalist this week? They have both had good start and | :09:48. | :09:52. | |
they have built on Mark. That will not happen today because somebody | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
will have a bad start so it will be interesting to see how they react. | :09:57. | :10:00. | |
On the performances so far, you would have to say the best players | :10:00. | :10:06. | |
are here. Neil Robertson has never lost a major final, and as for | :10:06. | :10:11. | |
having -- heavy scoring - Shaun Murphy has had six centuries this | :10:12. | :10:17. | |
week. The scoring is so important these days, you must win frames as | :10:17. | :10:22. | |
quickly as possible in one visit so I will be going with Shaun. I agree | :10:22. | :10:30. | |
with Stephen. Stevens set the bar with attacking play. I have noticed | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
Shaun Murphy is attacking a bit more and it is a fine dividing line | :10:34. | :10:38. | |
whether they go in or not, but if they do I would agree with Stephen | :10:38. | :10:42. | |
and go for Shaun. The house is waiting for the final to get under | :10:42. | :10:49. | |
way. Good afternoon, ladies and | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
gentlemen. After seven days of world class and Snooker it is time | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
for the big one. Welcome to the final of the Masters. Both players | :10:57. | :11:01. | |
waiting at the top of the stairs are on their first final here, so a | :11:01. | :11:05. | |
new chapter of snooker history is about to be written at Alexandra | :11:05. | :11:15. | |
:11:15. | :11:26. | ||
Palace. Without any further red do, Please welcome a class act on and | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
off the baize. What a week he has had, knocking out the world number | :11:30. | :11:36. | |
one, the reigning world champion, on his route to the final. A world | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
champion, a UK champion, here bidding for the ultimate snooker | :11:40. | :11:50. | |
:11:50. | :12:21. | ||
hat-trick - the pride of Manchester, And his opponent, an Australian | :12:21. | :12:25. | |
whose attitude on and off the table has endeared him to audiences | :12:25. | :12:30. | |
around the world. Are simply superb long potter who has never lost a | :12:30. | :12:36. | |
major final. Sinks ranking event titles in all, including the world | :12:36. | :12:41. | |
championship in 2010. Beating Mark Williams and Judd Trump en route to | :12:41. | :12:48. | |
this final, can you hear the rumble - it is the thunder from down under, | :12:48. | :12:58. | |
:12:58. | :13:20. | ||
A great atmosphere in the room. The best of 19 frames today, eight to | :13:21. | :13:30. | |
:13:31. | :13:36. | ||
play this afternoon. Settle back Shaun Murphy just waiting, as usual, | :13:36. | :13:42. | |
for the opposing player to fill his glass with water. When you are | :13:42. | :13:50. | |
first out, you're all right. You have already filled your glass. | :13:50. | :13:55. | |
Smiling right now but that will soon be forgotten, the best of | :13:55. | :14:02. | |
enemies. Yes, a packed crowd here. I have been very impressed with his | :14:02. | :14:12. | |
:14:12. | :14:23. | ||
then you at Alexandra Palace. The Eight frames will be played in this | :14:23. | :14:31. | |
first session this afternoon, and the remaining frames played to a | :14:31. | :14:41. | |
:14:41. | :15:01. | ||
Of course, being best of 19, 10 is the target to lift that wonderful | :15:01. | :15:11. | |
:15:11. | :15:20. | ||
Just catching the brown, which has left the cue ball on the baulk line. | :15:20. | :15:24. | |
Stephen, both of these players seemed to have had very good starts | :15:24. | :15:29. | |
to the matches but it will be interesting to see if one gets | :15:29. | :15:36. | |
behind. Yes, so important in a final. He would love to get off to | :15:36. | :15:44. | |
a good start. The last thing you want to be doing is chasing. I used | :15:44. | :15:54. | |
:15:54. | :16:03. | ||
to think you can always win the Has he been lucky? Don't think so, | :16:04. | :16:12. | |
left a nice easy starter for Shaun Murphy. He thought it would be a | :16:12. | :16:22. | |
:16:22. | :16:29. | ||
A typical first shot really. Getting into the cue ball far too | :16:29. | :16:36. | |
much, which is why he is so close to the blue. I think the adrenalin | :16:36. | :16:45. | |
was pumping. Hit that far too hard. As I mentioned yesterday, one of | :16:45. | :16:55. | |
:16:55. | :17:00. | ||
the best players in the world with That's how good, he avoided the | :17:00. | :17:08. | |
commentator's curse! Once again, a fraction too far. He played for the | :17:08. | :17:14. | |
red to the left corner, he is not on it. If he is not on that, it | :17:14. | :17:24. | |
:17:24. | :17:33. | ||
A little bit disappointed but I understand, as I say, first frame | :17:33. | :17:43. | |
:17:43. | :17:48. | ||
Neil has got a tough safety shot but he will be delighted that last | :17:48. | :17:54. | |
shot only cost him for points, especially the way Shaun has been | :17:54. | :18:04. | |
:18:04. | :18:24. | ||
Much too thick. I suppose it is better at the ball turned, but | :18:24. | :18:30. | |
there is still a red on to the left corner. I think he can swing the | :18:30. | :18:40. | |
:18:40. | :18:45. | ||
cue-ball background the back of the That is handy. That is very handy, | :18:45. | :18:53. | |
a lovely little flick off the blue. He may decide to play the blue and | :18:53. | :19:03. | |
:19:03. | :19:11. | ||
It was such a big target, he will be disappointed he didn't catch | :19:11. | :19:16. | |
them more fully than not. He certainly wasn't aiming for the | :19:16. | :19:26. | |
:19:26. | :19:50. | ||
right hand red of that cluster. It Go into them again, Stephen? He has | :19:50. | :19:57. | |
a big angle, so go into the pack if only to stop the pace on the white. | :19:57. | :20:05. | |
Nobody could have foreseen that, that was unlucky. To knock that red | :20:05. | :20:14. | |
in, it was six inches away from the pocket. It would have been a tough | :20:14. | :20:21. | |
pot this commission Mark Waugh at a lovely opening now for Neil. Shaun | :20:21. | :20:26. | |
has had the first chances, but it is Neil who comes to the table with | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
the reds split, having made the most mistakes so far. It was the | :20:31. | :20:36. | |
dreaded run of the ball which stopped Shaun in his tracks, now he | :20:36. | :20:46. | |
:20:46. | :21:22. | ||
will sit in his seat and suffer. Overdid it slightly but in all | :21:22. | :21:32. | |
:21:32. | :21:45. | ||
honesty he should have been better When you are a bit edgy, as both | :21:45. | :21:49. | |
players obviously are, you want to play a couple of nice positional | :21:49. | :21:56. | |
shots. A couple of shots in a row in perfect position soon settles | :21:56. | :22:06. | |
:22:06. | :22:12. | ||
Even a shot as simple as that. The fact he is perfect on the red will | :22:12. | :22:22. | |
:22:22. | :22:31. | ||
And again, he will have to use the three reds to kill the pace of the | :22:31. | :22:41. | |
:22:41. | :22:49. | ||
white. Concentrating that much on the cannon, he took his eyes off | :22:49. | :22:59. | |
:22:59. | :23:17. | ||
the pot. An edgy start from both It is one of those frames, John, | :23:18. | :23:26. | |
were whoever makes the last mistake will be the one who is punished. | :23:26. | :23:31. | |
always get the feeling about this type of frame, that if you win it | :23:31. | :23:35. | |
you put the mistakes to the back of your mind. If you lose it, they can | :23:35. | :23:45. | |
:23:45. | :23:53. | ||
Obviously if he was more straight on the blue, he would play for | :23:53. | :24:03. | |
:24:03. | :24:09. | ||
I don't think he meant to kiss that red. Still got a red to the right | :24:09. | :24:19. | |
:24:19. | :24:44. | ||
All square on points. Trying to bring these reds into play, and he | :24:44. | :24:50. | |
has sneaked round the back of them. The only possible red will now be | :24:50. | :24:55. | |
hampered by the yellow. I don't blame him for playing the cannon. | :24:55. | :25:02. | |
No, it was the right shot. Give him another 10 shot at that, I bet he | :25:02. | :25:12. | |
:25:12. | :25:12. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :25:12. | :25:55. | |
That's careless. Has the blue come I suppose in a way it wouldn't be | :25:55. | :26:01. | |
the hardest red to cover. You could push this red down and use the pink | :26:01. | :26:09. | |
and those two reds as a cover. It wouldn't be the easiest safety shot | :26:09. | :26:19. | |
:26:19. | :26:23. | ||
He played to move it. Unlucky to knock the black in, but I don't | :26:23. | :26:29. | |
think that would have been my choice. A fee played the plant dead | :26:29. | :26:39. | |
:26:39. | :27:01. | ||
weight he would have covered it, Nicely played. Didn't have to do | :27:01. | :27:05. | |
much with the cue ball to get position on the brown, but he still | :27:05. | :27:10. | |
needs these reds next to the pink if he is going to win the frame at | :27:10. | :27:17. | |
this visit. It will not be easy but he has played an excellent | :27:17. | :27:21. | |
positional shot. If he can leave himself a nice angle - that is why | :27:21. | :27:26. | |
he is coming round the table, just looking at the angle he would like | :27:26. | :27:36. | |
:27:36. | :27:56. | ||
That looks perfect. If this goes Unlucky. I don't think the red | :27:56. | :28:00. | |
passes the blue, and this red into the left corner is a little bit | :28:00. | :28:07. | |
tricky. He still needs both the reds. Could have worked out better, | :28:07. | :28:13. | |
that. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but he has an easy | :28:13. | :28:21. | |
snooker if he hits this red full in the face. Feb you can say it, | :28:21. | :28:26. | |
Stephen. You are in the commentary box now! But yes, the snooker looks | :28:26. | :28:31. | |
to be the shot. The red is risky and I think he is taking your own | :28:31. | :28:41. | |
:28:41. | :28:56. | ||
Both percentage wise, without doubt the best shot. If we were a few | :28:56. | :29:01. | |
frames into this final, he might have taken that red on, but the | :29:01. | :29:06. | |
first frame is so important. That is why, as we said, taking a | :29:06. | :29:13. | |
percentage route. Yes, and what made this a little bit different is | :29:13. | :29:23. | |
:29:23. | :29:28. | ||
that red by the blue, at the moment, I don't know if Neil Robertson will | :29:28. | :29:37. | |
want play on that red near the blue. It looks like he will do. Always | :29:37. | :29:41. | |
difficult to judge getting out of the snooker when the cushion comes | :29:41. | :29:51. | |
:29:51. | :30:12. | ||
JOHN VIRGO: he has got to play this deadweight or else he could leave | :30:12. | :30:22. | |
:30:22. | :30:30. | ||
the red. If he hit it as he likes, He has missed it. That will be | :30:30. | :30:40. | |
:30:40. | :30:50. | ||
What a difference that makes. Now, Shaun Murphy just requires one red | :30:50. | :30:58. | |
and a colour. But he has had a bit of practice. You think he has to | :30:58. | :31:08. | |
:31:08. | :31:08. | ||
hit it this time. And that diversion from the middle pocket | :31:08. | :31:18. | |
:31:18. | :31:26. | ||
has made it safe. He will settle Now, will Shaun Murphy it fancy the | :31:26. | :31:32. | |
long straight one? No, he is opting not to. He is taking the cautious | :31:32. | :31:42. | |
:31:42. | :31:47. | ||
He needs their brown to come to his rescue. I am not sure that it has. | :31:47. | :31:57. | |
:31:57. | :32:10. | ||
And even if he did not get on to a colour, there was always going to | :32:10. | :32:20. | |
:32:20. | :32:41. | ||
I would not be refusing this. But he is. Neither player is taking any | :32:42. | :32:51. | |
:32:52. | :32:52. | ||
Yes, we said the same air earlier when Shaun Murphy refused a pot. | :32:52. | :33:02. | |
:33:02. | :33:18. | ||
Had it not been the first frame, I It looked as if he was close enough | :33:18. | :33:25. | |
to the green to prevent the one cushiony skate, but he was not. But | :33:25. | :33:35. | |
:33:35. | :33:40. | ||
This red will pot past the black. It is not easy. But there is an | :33:40. | :33:50. | |
:33:50. | :34:03. | ||
He is now the new favourite for this frame. He needs a colour and | :34:03. | :34:13. | |
:34:13. | :34:28. | ||
Of course, if he pink was on its spot, you would think this was a | :34:28. | :34:38. | |
:34:38. | :34:41. | ||
OK, been left handed, the pink is on the right hand of the table for | :34:41. | :34:51. | |
:34:51. | :35:07. | ||
He's going to pot the blue in the middle and come off the top and | :35:07. | :35:17. | |
:35:17. | :35:39. | ||
Last night, we saw a similar shot from John Higgins. The one thing | :35:39. | :35:47. | |
you do not want to do is get into their shot too much. John Higgins | :35:47. | :35:51. | |
did exactly the same last night, when it looked for all the world as | :35:51. | :36:01. | |
:36:01. | :36:14. | ||
He is trying to get the white in He could not do that. OK, he has | :36:14. | :36:24. | |
:36:24. | :36:39. | ||
got the white safe, but there is no It has just bounced off the baulk | :36:39. | :36:49. | |
:36:49. | :36:57. | ||
I thought for a moment that was not going to reach the side cushion. It | :36:57. | :37:07. | |
:37:07. | :37:11. | ||
I thought he would come off the top cushion first and send the pink | :37:11. | :37:21. | |
:37:21. | :37:22. | ||
But this is a mistake from Shaun. He was trying to force around the | :37:22. | :37:28. | |
ankles and should have made a better jaw of it than that. But | :37:28. | :37:38. | |
:37:38. | :37:46. | ||
Neil Robertson needs both of these You would not think Shaun Murphy | :37:46. | :37:54. | |
will be getting another chance. In goes the black. It was a frame | :37:54. | :37:58. | |
which was packed with errors. But it was Shaun Murphy who made the | :37:58. | :38:08. | |
:38:08. | :38:10. | ||
last one. Neil Robertson takes the Neil Robertson has been very good | :38:10. | :38:18. | |
in that respect all week. John Parrott is with me in the studio. | :38:18. | :38:27. | |
Taking a watching brief in the cues own is Steve Davis. I think he is | :38:27. | :38:37. | |
:38:37. | :38:45. | ||
Well, he was almost showing off! If you have got any comments for Steve, | :38:45. | :38:55. | |
:38:55. | :38:59. | ||
Now, at regarding the build up to this final. Both of them had heavy- | :38:59. | :39:07. | |
duty semi-finals yesterday. Yes, all this there they both had great | :39:07. | :39:15. | |
results. Neil Robertson got revenge on Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy, to | :39:15. | :39:20. | |
beat John Higgins any time is fantastic, but two beaten in the | :39:20. | :39:30. | |
:39:30. | :39:31. | ||
semi-final of the Masters was Now, Shaun Murphy has lost the | :39:31. | :39:35. | |
first frame in three out of his first four matches, but gone on to | :39:35. | :39:45. | |
:39:45. | :39:46. | ||
win. But what do you feel about his shot selection? Yes, it was one | :39:46. | :39:50. | |
paid you want to put the pink slightly lower than the cue ball. | :39:50. | :39:55. | |
But he went round the ankles and mishit it. I agree with what the | :39:55. | :40:03. | |
guys were seen in the commentary box, up when you are playing | :40:03. | :40:08. | |
someone who is playing high-quality match play like Neil Robertson, you | :40:08. | :40:12. | |
know that if the frames go very scrappy, and Neil Robertson | :40:12. | :40:22. | |
:40:22. | :40:43. | ||
JOHN VIRGO: That looks like a He was having a look to see if | :40:43. | :40:49. | |
there Read would actually cotton to the middle pocket. He cannot get | :40:49. | :40:59. | |
:40:59. | :41:17. | ||
Deciding to just come off the side There is that red. I do not think | :41:17. | :41:27. | |
:41:27. | :41:40. | ||
He got down as if he was going to play this, but he is now having | :41:40. | :41:50. | |
:41:50. | :42:25. | ||
second thoughts. There is a few Cheers, guys! John Virgo rocks! I | :42:25. | :42:35. | |
:42:35. | :42:46. | ||
STEPHEN HENDRY: They must have heard juicing in the other day. -- | :42:46. | :42:56. | |
:42:56. | :43:09. | ||
He did not play that very well. He hit the brown fill in the face. A | :43:09. | :43:19. | |
:43:19. | :43:30. | ||
dangerous thing to do, with the Nice cueing. That was worth | :43:30. | :43:35. | |
mentioning, because when you have to put more piece into the shot, it | :43:35. | :43:45. | |
:43:45. | :43:46. | ||
He will not be that happy with the shot. He is a lot closer to the | :43:46. | :43:56. | |
:43:56. | :44:09. | ||
There is always a danger that, when you're not in position, you say to | :44:09. | :44:19. | |
:44:19. | :44:29. | ||
There was the option of playing for the red at the end of the cluster. | :44:29. | :44:34. | |
He has played for it, but once again, he is a bit tight on the | :44:34. | :44:44. | |
:44:44. | :45:04. | ||
But no problem. This time, surely He aimed very low down on the cue | :45:04. | :45:14. | |
:45:14. | :45:17. | ||
ball. I think the stunned Short is Yes, the white seems to go forward | :45:17. | :45:27. | |
:45:27. | :45:35. | ||
He did not play the pot. He tried his best to get back to the baulk | :45:35. | :45:45. | |
:45:45. | :45:46. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :45:46. | :46:29. | |
end of the table. But he has not This is his view of it. He | :46:29. | :46:38. | |
attempted to just nestle into these two eggs. That was careless. -- | :46:38. | :46:48. | |
:46:48. | :46:48. | ||
these two reds. That was careless. He will have another go and they | :46:48. | :46:58. | |
:46:58. | :47:05. | ||
would be surprised if he did not I think he just has to get slightly | :47:05. | :47:15. | |
:47:15. | :47:28. | ||
Now, could he actually see any red full ball. Let us listen to the | :47:28. | :47:38. | |
:47:38. | :47:43. | ||
referee here. Let us hear what he Not, he did not give him a warning, | :47:43. | :47:49. | |
so obviously he could net not get through to hit a red full ball. | :47:49. | :47:54. | |
Otherwise, he would have been warned, because after three misses | :47:55. | :48:04. | |
:48:05. | :48:14. | ||
when you are not snookered, you Well, we just don't have time to | :48:14. | :48:24. | |
:48:24. | :48:28. | ||
So, he just tried to play a containing safety, and all things | :48:28. | :48:38. | |
:48:38. | :48:42. | ||
considered, I think he has done a I think sometimes the referees | :48:42. | :48:46. | |
don't fully explain it to the players and assume that they know | :48:46. | :48:56. | |
:48:56. | :48:56. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :48:56. | :49:42. | |
Too thick. He has left the red on The black is tied up and the pink | :49:42. | :49:52. | |
:49:52. | :50:01. | ||
is tied up. He has got to try and In an effort to do that, it caused | :50:01. | :50:11. | |
:50:11. | :50:11. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :50:11. | :51:03. | |
Now, this has opened a frame-up. That is an excellent safety shot | :51:03. | :51:13. | |
:51:13. | :51:15. | ||
I was watching Neil Robertson walking down and having a look at | :51:15. | :51:25. | |
:51:25. | :51:33. | ||
But he got it much too full. Now, the table is in a much better | :51:33. | :51:37. | |
position for break-building opportunities. The black is now in | :51:38. | :51:47. | |
:51:48. | :52:01. | ||
It is Shaun Murphy that gets a good chance now. The black is certainly | :52:01. | :52:10. | |
available into the bottom left-hand This is the sort of opportunity | :52:10. | :52:20. | |
:52:20. | :52:28. | ||
that he was grabbing with both It is always nice when you have to | :52:28. | :52:38. | |
:52:38. | :52:42. | ||
play that shot that you have the He can now play this unscrew off to | :52:42. | :52:52. | |
:52:52. | :53:03. | ||
He decided to play for this red, because I think this is the one | :53:04. | :53:08. | |
that is stopping the black potting into the bottom right-hand corner | :53:08. | :53:12. | |
pocket. The black will now be available in to both of the bottom | :53:12. | :53:22. | |
:53:22. | :53:27. | ||
Anyway, there is plenty of room for He will want to win the frame at | :53:27. | :53:35. | |
this visit. He had a few chances in the first frame. The Balts are | :53:35. | :53:45. | |
:53:45. | :54:02. | ||
perfect here. This is a real Those to red so near the top | :54:02. | :54:06. | |
cushion a just cause in a little bit of a problem. He does not want | :54:06. | :54:16. | |
:54:16. | :54:21. | ||
He has under had that slightly and two I do not think he can stay on | :54:22. | :54:31. | |
:54:32. | :54:39. | ||
the black. But that was a decent That could have gone wrong, but he | :54:39. | :54:49. | |
:54:49. | :54:52. | ||
Neither player has had the cue ball on a string when they have been in | :54:52. | :55:02. | |
:55:02. | :55:17. | ||
I do not think the pink will re- spot on its own spot, so it will go | :55:17. | :55:27. | |
:55:27. | :55:27. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :55:27. | :56:16. | |
27 points the lead. These two reds with colours will leave him 46 | :56:16. | :56:26. | |
:56:26. | :56:46. | ||
But it will not be over until he That looks inch-perfect to me. The | :56:46. | :56:56. | |
:56:56. | :57:09. | ||
split will put and 43 in front, Yes, there was a chance of | :57:09. | :57:19. | |
:57:19. | :57:26. | ||
developing both of them, but they do not think he is on anything now. | :57:26. | :57:31. | |
I am not saying the pinky earlier was a wrong shot, but he if he had | :57:31. | :57:39. | |
stayed on the black, Neil Robertson would now be requiring a snooker. | :57:39. | :57:49. | |
:57:49. | :57:49. | ||
The referee has called a touching He would loftily a snooker on both | :57:49. | :57:59. | |
:57:59. | :58:08. | ||
He will be disappointed with that. Do not get me wrong, it was not an | :58:08. | :58:18. | |
:58:18. | :58:54. | ||
easy shot, but was an opportunity He did not feel he could do | :58:54. | :59:01. | |
anything else, but it has been covered by the blue. In an ideal | :59:01. | :59:08. | |
world, he would stun this red near him up the table and snooker Shaun | :59:08. | :59:17. | |
Murphy behind the yellow. If he plays the pot and does not get on | :59:17. | :59:27. | |
:59:27. | :59:37. | ||
the black, he will require a That was a big ask, and that is | :59:37. | :59:47. | |
:59:47. | :59:49. | ||
surely end of frame in favour of The first frame was a scrappy | :59:49. | :59:57. | |
affair which took 23 minutes. This is only just less than 20 minutes, | :59:57. | :00:07. | |
:00:07. | :00:15. | ||
but a bit more solid snooker, This match has all the makings of | :00:15. | :00:25. | |
Certainly wants these early nerves go from the cue arm, we are going | :00:25. | :00:35. | |
:00:35. | :00:58. | ||
The brown did not going, but it did not matter, the frame was over | :00:58. | :01:02. | |
before then, so both players have had a chance to settle. We are in | :01:02. | :01:06. | |
for a cracking match, I do believe, but that was better from Shaun | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
Murphy, who will sit a lot more comfortably at 1-1. An interesting | :01:11. | :01:16. | |
thing. We have two eyes, but we only see one picture, so when you | :01:16. | :01:21. | |
are playing snooker, there is a problem. Where do you put your eyes | :01:21. | :01:26. | |
over the cue? You would think the middle, one either side. That is | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
how Shaun Murphy thinks, but Neil Robertson has another wave. He is | :01:30. | :01:35. | |
completely over his right eye. The question is, has Neil Robertson got | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
a dominant eye? Or is that the way he has just got used to playing the | :01:39. | :01:43. | |
game? The question also is, if Neil Robertson has a dominant eye, and | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
everybody has one, then why hasn't Shaun Murphy? They should not be in | :01:48. | :01:54. | |
the middle! I could not agree more, talking about a dominant eye, and | :01:54. | :01:57. | |
the fact that Shaun does not actually cue the way most other | :01:57. | :02:03. | |
players do. How did you do it? How did you see it? I am, and left eye, | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
which is similar to John Virgo, who is in the commentary box. -- I am a | :02:09. | :02:14. | |
dominant. My right eye is pretty poor, I used my left eye. As John | :02:15. | :02:19. | |
visibility begins to decline with age, and it comes to us all, but | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
has that impact on a snooker player? Are there any dramatic | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
examples of it? I found it took a little bit longer to focus on the | :02:27. | :02:33. | |
longer shots, just a little bit longer. When you were 18 or 19, he | :02:33. | :02:38. | |
will do it straight away, but in your 30s you have to look up and | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
take a little bit more time. problem about Shaun Murphy sighting | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
the ball at that point. Your impressions of that last frame, | :02:45. | :02:50. | |
John? He started scoring like he has been all week. His scoring has | :02:50. | :02:54. | |
been superb, and he strikes the ball so beautifully with that cue | :02:54. | :03:00. | |
action. When I came here this week, people said, last 16, he will win? | :03:00. | :03:04. | |
Quarter-final, semi-final, the final, I don't know, and you employ | :03:04. | :03:14. | |
:03:14. | :03:16. | ||
JOHN VIRGO: To be fair to John, I do not think many of us know, | :03:16. | :03:24. | |
because it is such a closely I think what will be the test for | :03:24. | :03:30. | |
either player, if it does a couple of frames behind. As I said earlier, | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
both players in their matches have always had a leader and a little | :03:34. | :03:42. | |
bit of a cushion to rely on. Or it could just go frame for frame, and | :03:42. | :03:46. | |
then it is about to hold their nerve in the closing stages better | :03:46. | :03:56. | |
:03:56. | :04:29. | ||
than the other. It could be that Both players had a go at a long | :04:29. | :04:34. | |
ball, both players quite a distance away, but Neil has been the unlucky | :04:34. | :04:44. | |
:04:44. | :05:04. | ||
There we go, that is picking out what Steve is said. To me, he is | :05:04. | :05:12. | |
looking through the right eye there. Certainly, you would think the | :05:12. | :05:17. | |
dominant eye for Shaun is the right eye. Only Steve Davis could get us | :05:17. | :05:27. | |
:05:27. | :05:49. | ||
involved in this! I know, leave me Well, he went into them very | :05:49. | :05:55. | |
aggressively, but has he been unlucky? He would settle for just | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
rolling the red to write medal, but I do not think he can do that. -- | :06:00. | :06:05. | |
Write Middle. Very unlucky, he went in well, and they seemed to be | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
opening up nicely enough. He found a decent gap. I suppose you could | :06:09. | :06:15. | |
say a little bit more pace required, but he is unlucky if he is not on | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
the red to the middle, and he is not. Yeah, if you asked him, the | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
cue ball went exactly where he wanted it to. Very unlucky not to | :06:25. | :06:30. | |
be on a red. Sometimes you go into the pack and you do not hit then | :06:30. | :06:33. | |
the way you want, and you still have a moan that you do not deserve | :06:33. | :06:43. | |
:06:43. | :06:51. | ||
to be on one, but he played it Well, he had to settle for the | :06:51. | :06:56. | |
safety and it is... Well, good length for the cue ball, but he | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
could leave this red to the right corner. Although having looked at | :07:00. | :07:06. | |
it, it is very straight. If it had a slight angle, you could see Neil | :07:06. | :07:11. | |
trying to force the cue ball back at the table, but he can only roll | :07:11. | :07:21. | |
:07:21. | :07:33. | ||
this in dead weight if he plays the Are a fraction to the right, and it | :07:33. | :07:37. | |
would have followed him with the white as well. He would not touch | :07:37. | :07:41. | |
been too disappointed by that. one thing was to get the red away | :07:41. | :07:45. | |
from the corner pocket. That is why I always stress the importance of | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
getting good length with the cue ball near the baulk cushion, | :07:49. | :07:53. | |
because if he had his hand on the table, he could have screwed back | :07:53. | :08:03. | |
:08:03. | :08:18. | ||
or anything. But once you are tight, Well, that is a pretty good safety. | :08:18. | :08:22. | |
I do not think there is an escape route down the left-hand side. If | :08:22. | :08:27. | |
he plays down the right, he has to be very wary of the red near the | :08:27. | :08:31. | |
cushion. It could be a blocker for anything that is not quite hit | :08:32. | :08:41. | |
:08:42. | :09:07. | ||
Well, he found a good bath and a decent length, excellent shot. -- | :09:07. | :09:15. | |
could have. So a spot of bother, found a good escape route. OK, it | :09:15. | :09:24. | |
looks as though this red to the left corner is on. Possibly a | :09:24. | :09:28. | |
slight angle on it to pot it and play for the black, but it is a | :09:28. | :09:38. | |
:09:38. | :09:47. | ||
dangerous shot. If he goes for it, Well, he did not even hit the red | :09:47. | :09:57. | |
:09:57. | :09:57. | ||
on the right side there. A long way Sometimes you can hit them better | :09:57. | :10:01. | |
than that, not going and get a double kiss. I do not think he has | :10:01. | :10:11. | |
:10:11. | :10:37. | ||
Good shot, imperative that he covered the red near the baulk line, | :10:37. | :10:47. | |
:10:47. | :11:01. | ||
If he had come off that side cushion and hit the red half-ball, | :11:01. | :11:06. | |
he would send the red up this end and leave the cue ball up that end. | :11:06. | :11:16. | |
:11:16. | :11:16. | ||
That is pretty good. Well, there's always a red that seems to get | :11:16. | :11:22. | |
knocked out. It was looking very good, and then all of a sudden a | :11:22. | :11:28. | |
red came out, and it is going to the right corner, leaving him | :11:28. | :11:38. | |
:11:38. | :12:08. | ||
perfect on the black. There is That was well judged, inch perfect | :12:08. | :12:18. | |
:12:18. | :12:34. | ||
Already, with a 29 point lead, I expect him to win the frame at this | :12:34. | :12:41. | |
visit, the way peoples are situated. I suppose the only downside was the | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
pink and blue being together. But with the black available into both | :12:45. | :12:55. | |
:12:55. | :13:17. | ||
corners and the reds nicely in the Definitely the quicker of the two | :13:17. | :13:27. | |
:13:27. | :13:27. | ||
in amongst the balls, Shaun Murphy. There you go, five seconds per shot, | :13:28. | :13:36. | |
quicker than Neil. Some of that is due to the fact that Neil has not | :13:36. | :13:39. | |
been in ideal positions, so he has had to think about things more, but | :13:39. | :13:49. | |
:13:49. | :14:06. | ||
Well, for the first time, he has just run slightly out of position. | :14:06. | :14:15. | |
He could not play for the black off He will have to go for a baulk | :14:15. | :14:20. | |
colour, and once the cue ball has to travel distances, things can go | :14:20. | :14:30. | |
:14:30. | :14:39. | ||
57 points is the lead now. I think he can run through here for the | :14:39. | :14:49. | |
:14:49. | :14:53. | ||
He and this black and one more red would have secured a frame. | :14:53. | :15:03. | |
:15:03. | :15:19. | ||
Pot the red to go 66 ahead with So Neil Robertson knows he is not | :15:20. | :15:27. | |
going to get anything out of this frame now. Shaun was nicely on the | :15:27. | :15:33. | |
green, which means Neil, even if he had a chance, would not come back | :15:33. | :15:43. | |
:15:43. | :15:44. | ||
to the table, and it is unlikely Yes, an early warning sign for Neil, | :15:44. | :15:52. | |
65 in the last frame from Shaun, 64 and counting here, so he does not | :15:52. | :16:02. | |
want to let Shaun get into his Yes, and I suppose worrying | :16:02. | :16:08. | |
slightly for Neil Robertson and his fans that he has had a few chances | :16:08. | :16:13. | |
but his highest break is only 30. He knows he will have to improve on | :16:13. | :16:20. | |
that. No panic yet, best of 19. There will be a midsession interval | :16:20. | :16:30. | |
:16:30. | :16:41. | ||
after this frame. So time, after Is probably one of the best players | :16:41. | :16:48. | |
in the world with the rest. -- he is. Well, tremendous shot with the | :16:48. | :16:53. | |
rest! I have got to be honest with you, I never really noticed, but I | :16:53. | :17:03. | |
:17:03. | :17:08. | ||
see where you are coming from. He Yeah, why he does well with the | :17:08. | :17:12. | |
rest is that his cueing action is almost identical to his cueing | :17:12. | :17:19. | |
action with his bridge Hand, which a lot of players do not do. That is | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
the way they say to play with the rest. As you say, it is almost the | :17:24. | :17:33. | |
same as when you get your hand on Now, this blue for a terrific | :17:33. | :17:43. | |
:17:43. | :17:45. | ||
Well played! Very well played. Just one knows positional shot is all it | :17:45. | :17:52. | |
took, and it wasn't that bad. His gathering a head of steam here. The | :17:52. | :17:59. | |
cue ball needs to slow up a touch, slowdown, slowdown! Oh, what a | :17:59. | :18:07. | |
shame! Anyway, we got the century, and that will suit Shaun Murphy. | :18:07. | :18:11. | |
Neil Robertson, just a little bit to think about, it is early days, | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
but it is 2-1, Shaun Murphy. Just days there of a chance, and | :18:16. | :18:22. | |
you will make his 7th century of the week. -- just a sniff of a | :18:22. | :18:28. | |
chance. Stephen said about keeping his head perfectly still, but the | :18:28. | :18:35. | |
cue goes through like a laser. There are various theories on how | :18:35. | :18:37. | |
to cue the snooker ball, some people what to be compact, the | :18:37. | :18:41. | |
close in. He has practised for hours and hours, he can take it | :18:42. | :18:45. | |
back as far as he likes in a straight line. When he comes | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
through, there is no effort in it, and there is plenty of work on the | :18:49. | :18:55. | |
cue ball, beautifully cute. In 2005 he basically blasted everyone off | :18:55. | :19:00. | |
the table, going for all of his shots as a 120-1 outsider, a | :19:00. | :19:03. | |
qualifier, and everyone said, he cannot keep playing like that, and | :19:03. | :19:07. | |
he has modified his style a little bit. The EC more echoes of that | :19:07. | :19:14. | |
kind of form now? -- do you see? think we can see more of that. It | :19:14. | :19:19. | |
was a ridiculous display in 2005, he went for everything, but he is | :19:19. | :19:24. | |
close to it. Scoringtwice, this is the best I have seen for a long | :19:24. | :19:29. | |
time. He did the same thing as Martin Gould and Mark Selby, he | :19:29. | :19:34. | |
seems to love to be a front runner. What makes him so strong in that | :19:34. | :19:38. | |
position? He is just in great form. He cannot always know when you are | :19:38. | :19:45. | |
going to have that form, you just have to go with it. He has come | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
here through various events, played himself into great form, and this | :19:48. | :19:52. | |
week he is hitting the ball as good as I had seen him. He has got to | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
make the most of it. And from Neil Robertson's point of view, not a | :19:57. | :20:02. | |
guitar break. He will want to go into the interval at 2-2, you do | :20:02. | :20:12. | |
:20:12. | :20:19. | ||
not want to be behind from the JOHN VIRGO: Well, a decent break | :20:19. | :20:29. | |
:20:29. | :20:32. | ||
off, you have got to say that now Not on this occasion. Yes, the | :20:32. | :20:36. | |
break-up has become such an important shot in the game of | :20:36. | :20:42. | |
snooker nowadays. -- break-off. All the players are so good at potting | :20:42. | :20:52. | |
:20:52. | :21:11. | ||
Well, a terrific opening red. Now then, can he get his hand on the | :21:11. | :21:20. | |
table and score heavily? He himself a bit of confidence? -- give | :21:20. | :21:30. | |
:21:30. | :22:09. | ||
Well, how many times do we see that You think, should I play the run | :22:09. | :22:15. | |
through all the screw shut? And the cue ball invariably finishes tide | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
against the cushion! He is very straight on his black, so unless | :22:19. | :22:23. | |
there is a red he can get on just by rolling the black in, it is | :22:23. | :22:29. | |
difficult. Oh, and he has missed the black anyway! Does this red go | :22:29. | :22:38. | |
to the right Medal? -- metal. Well, it does, but he hit the black so | :22:38. | :22:48. | |
:22:48. | :22:59. | ||
badly that this red is now A terrific pot. OK, he is unlucky | :22:59. | :23:03. | |
not to be on the black, but that shows you the confidence that Shaun | :23:04. | :23:13. | |
is playing with, no hesitation. That was a tough pot. As I say, not | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
on the black, but he can certainly get through to the blue. He is just | :23:17. | :23:27. | |
:23:27. | :23:39. | ||
having a look at what reds are Well, it is a good effort. He has | :23:39. | :23:46. | |
just overran it a little bit. I think he was thinking he may be on | :23:46. | :23:51. | |
a red to the left middle, there you go, but as you can see, he has run | :23:51. | :24:01. | |
:24:01. | :24:21. | ||
He has made a good job of that, Yeah, good weight, to snooker | :24:21. | :24:27. | |
someone from that position. Well nigh impossible! But he has | :24:27. | :24:37. | |
:24:37. | :24:42. | ||
Not touching ball. If it had have been, the referee would have | :24:42. | :24:52. | |
:24:52. | :24:58. | ||
A big day of the referee, of course, his first ever Masters final, a big | :24:58. | :25:08. | |
:25:08. | :25:23. | ||
moment. Piers from Sheffield, the Well, I was going to say, he caught | :25:23. | :25:28. | |
that safety a little bit too thin, but that is a bonus. He tried to | :25:29. | :25:35. | |
find the baulk cushion, really. But he caught it a little bit too thin | :25:35. | :25:44. | |
off the baulk cushion, snooker behind the green on Wall reds. -- | :25:44. | :25:54. | |
:25:54. | :25:59. | ||
As he made a mistake here? Has he Well, there is a red in line with | :25:59. | :26:04. | |
the cue ball, but are they too close together. They are very close | :26:04. | :26:13. | |
The referee will be keeping a close eye on this one, looking for the | :26:13. | :26:23. | |
:26:23. | :26:24. | ||
I will tell you what, that was a heck of a shot, that was. I mean, | :26:24. | :26:34. | |
:26:34. | :26:37. | ||
to get that amount of run-through. Yes, I bet the referee had his | :26:37. | :26:41. | |
heart in his mouth there, he didn't want to have to make a dodgy | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
decision in the final, his first Masters final. He has refereed | :26:45. | :26:55. | |
:26:55. | :27:03. | ||
Yes, I think with that shot of Neil, it was the advantage of being a | :27:03. | :27:13. | |
:27:13. | :27:17. | ||
left-hander. I would not have Obviously, this red just above and | :27:17. | :27:27. | |
:27:27. | :27:33. | ||
to the right of the black will go Not perfect. Every time he has been | :27:33. | :27:40. | |
into there, he has struggled with his positional play. Over 19 frames, | :27:40. | :27:48. | |
you cannot keep putting yourself in What makes this shot a little bit | :27:48. | :27:51. | |
more difficult, the yellow is not on its part, but it is in the path | :27:51. | :27:55. | |
where he would like to send the cue ball. If he decides to come down | :27:55. | :28:00. | |
the right-hand side of the table... Playing below, that cuts out that | :28:00. | :28:06. | |
problem but still a good shot needed. -- the yellow. It is all | :28:06. | :28:16. | |
:28:16. | :28:34. | ||
about the line and length. The cue That is one of the best position of | :28:34. | :28:41. | |
charge he has hit today, a tough shot from the jaws of the pocket. | :28:41. | :28:46. | |
He would like to go into the two reds below the blue fall in the | :28:46. | :28:56. | |
:28:56. | :29:09. | ||
Now then, how does he play this? Does he play it with pace, or does | :29:09. | :29:14. | |
he feel he does not need to inject that much pace into the cue ball? | :29:14. | :29:24. | |
:29:24. | :29:39. | ||
He needs to be on a red, that is That is pretty good. It is not | :29:39. | :29:47. | |
banned. I thought it might go slightly wrong. He appears to have | :29:47. | :29:52. | |
the perfect angle, so does not have to do much with this. But he needs | :29:52. | :30:02. | |
:30:02. | :30:25. | ||
Played it confidently and the frame He will now be looking to level the | :30:25. | :30:35. | |
:30:35. | :30:42. | ||
match at 2-2. Actually, I think he missed the cannon, but he missed it | :30:42. | :30:46. | |
by so far, that he may be was not even going for it in the first | :30:46. | :30:56. | |
:30:56. | :31:08. | ||
That is now his highest break of You would expect a lot more during | :31:08. | :31:14. | |
the course of the match. In fact, it would not surprise me if he hit | :31:14. | :31:19. | |
a century break here. He is just checking with the scoreboard to see | :31:19. | :31:29. | |
:31:29. | :31:34. | ||
If he stayed on the black, it would leave him with 79 points after all | :31:34. | :31:38. | |
the reds had gone and then the 27 points for the colours would get | :31:38. | :31:48. | |
:31:48. | :32:11. | ||
It means both players have now settled in and got used to the pace | :32:11. | :32:16. | |
of the table. They have got rid of these a genius that where apparent | :32:16. | :32:26. | |
:32:26. | :32:44. | ||
in the first frame, particularly. - As long as you have reached 73 by | :32:44. | :32:54. | |
:32:54. | :33:07. | ||
the time you get to the course, you As a left-hander, I always feel | :33:07. | :33:10. | |
that the yellow is the easiest ball to get on, because you have a much | :33:11. | :33:20. | |
:33:21. | :33:23. | ||
Yes, you can always get your hand at on the table. And he will want | :33:23. | :33:30. | |
to clean up these colours and get a century. He will want to sure Shaun | :33:30. | :33:40. | |
:33:40. | :33:42. | ||
Murphy that if he makes any Yes, it is the psychological game | :33:42. | :33:46. | |
and he wants to sure this packed crowd at the Alexandra Palace that | :33:46. | :33:56. | |
:33:56. | :34:04. | ||
Shaun Murphy made 102 in the last This will be the 20th century break | :34:04. | :34:12. | |
of this year's Masters. Any doors. 102 from Shaun Murphy - anything | :34:12. | :34:22. | |
:34:22. | :34:24. | ||
you can do, I can do better. 2-2 at Impressions of the way that Neil | :34:24. | :34:32. | |
Robertson has dug in? As I said yesterday, I have seen him play | :34:32. | :34:38. | |
better, but I have not seen him compete better. This week, he has | :34:38. | :34:44. | |
been magnificent in that department. He has gone up an extra gear and | :34:44. | :34:51. | |
made that century break. In the early part of that match, Neil | :34:51. | :35:00. | |
Robertson seemed fractionally off or any positional sense at first? | :35:00. | :35:04. | |
Yes, when Shaun Murphy is and the balls, everything has looked a much | :35:04. | :35:12. | |
easier. But he is in their competing and now starting to score. | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
And as John Virgo said in the commentary, we should be in for a | :35:16. | :35:26. | |
:35:26. | :35:28. | ||
cracker. A few of the press boys have apparently had a bet that | :35:28. | :35:36. | |
there will be six centuries in this match. It was 22-1. We have now had | :35:36. | :35:46. | |
:35:46. | :35:48. | ||
two of them. We will keep an eye on Now, we saw a few shots off the | :35:48. | :35:55. | |
cushion. First thing, do not panic if you're on the cushion. Firstly, | :35:55. | :36:03. | |
make sure that you shock the cue very good all round the tip. OK, | :36:03. | :36:10. | |
this is a bird's-eye view. We are told to keep the cue as level to | :36:10. | :36:20. | |
:36:20. | :36:21. | ||
the table, as parallel to it, as possible. The trouble was, this is | :36:21. | :36:29. | |
what happens. But I say you should check the cue up in the air, so you | :36:29. | :36:39. | |
:36:39. | :36:46. | ||
can see a bit more of the cue ball. Nice one. He will do well if he | :36:46. | :36:55. | |
keeps practising! In 1975, the first Masters tournament to place. | :36:55. | :37:02. | |
We have seen some incredible matches down the years. One in | :37:02. | :37:12. | |
:37:12. | :37:16. | ||
particular, 1998, the final, Mark The No. 1 ranked player in the | :37:16. | :37:24. | |
world, Stephen Hendry! Stephen dominated in the 1990s in a fashion | :37:24. | :37:34. | |
:37:34. | :37:34. | ||
we will probably never see again. Mark Williams! Mark was very much | :37:34. | :37:39. | |
her racing start at this moment. He had won some ranking events, but | :37:39. | :37:49. | |
:37:49. | :37:49. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :37:49. | :38:34. | |
Hendry is contemplating the pink. This ever have shown what a class | :38:34. | :38:44. | |
:38:44. | :38:46. | ||
the and fluent player Mark Williams Atypical Stephen come back. Having | :38:47. | :38:52. | |
looked out of touch in the last frame, his concentration comes | :38:52. | :39:02. | |
:39:02. | :39:17. | ||
together. Magnificent. He goes back He is left-handed, but will not be | :39:17. | :39:24. | |
able to stretch over that far. This is now a critical pot. He has to | :39:24. | :39:33. | |
commit himself to dropping it in dead weight. He is OK. A great roar | :39:33. | :39:41. | |
from this conference centre crowd. He is going to the mid-session | :39:41. | :39:51. | |
:39:51. | :40:02. | ||
interval trailing by 5-3 to Stephen He is getting very good at those! | :40:02. | :40:12. | |
:40:12. | :40:26. | ||
There is the 100. Mark Williams He is taking these other 21 to the | :40:26. | :40:36. | |
:40:36. | :41:06. | ||
The reds have opened up nicely. He is back in once again. He would | :41:06. | :41:14. | |
have loved to have made another century. But very impressive. He | :41:14. | :41:24. | |
:41:24. | :41:39. | ||
At 9-6 ahead, surely Stephen was He has gone a little bit too far. | :41:39. | :41:44. | |
He is going to have to come right round the ankles to get back on to | :41:44. | :41:54. | |
:41:54. | :42:20. | ||
It was a difficult shot. It was a A mighty roar from the Wembley | :42:20. | :42:27. | |
Conference Centre. Mark Williams is still in this match. He now trails | :42:27. | :42:37. | |
:42:37. | :43:04. | ||
A tremendous roar from the Wembley Two more pots and we will have a we | :43:04. | :43:14. | |
:43:14. | :43:30. | ||
Perfect. Listen to the roar of the A wry smile on Stephen Henry's face. | :43:30. | :43:40. | |
:43:40. | :43:42. | ||
We're going to have the re-spotted He's going to put the black on to | :43:42. | :43:52. | |
:43:52. | :43:53. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :43:53. | :44:48. | |
the side cushion. Now, will Mark You cannot get any closer. But the | :44:49. | :44:58. | |
:44:59. | :45:01. | ||
one Stephen is left with. He is It is not 10, but I think you will | :45:01. | :45:11. | |
:45:11. | :45:15. | ||
The scheme has got away from Stephen Hendry. It was not easiest | :45:15. | :45:25. | |
:45:25. | :45:32. | ||
A tremendous cheers. Mark Williams from Wales has never been in front | :45:32. | :45:42. | |
:45:42. | :45:57. | ||
in this final. By a slow roll It was a fantastic victory for Mark. | :45:57. | :46:04. | |
He then won the World Championship and became No. 1 in the world. | :46:04. | :46:14. | |
:46:14. | :46:15. | ||
bet that brought back a few memories? Yes, all of them bad! | :46:15. | :46:24. | |
assume most of the crowd were cheering on Mark? Yes, most of them. | :46:24. | :46:33. | |
Now, looking at that final shot. The black was relatively straight. | :46:33. | :46:41. | |
What was going through your mind? thought this was it, I am going to | :46:41. | :46:51. | |
:46:51. | :46:55. | ||
win the tournament. I still say the You where playing across two lanes | :46:55. | :47:05. | |
:47:05. | :47:06. | ||
of slate. I know about excuses. You are going to play this, but you | :47:06. | :47:10. | |
could not play it too hard, because there was a possibility the white | :47:10. | :47:18. | |
ball could have carried on through into the middle pocket. So when you | :47:18. | :47:28. | |
:47:28. | :47:30. | ||
got down to play this, where you shaking? Absolutely. At what stage | :47:30. | :47:38. | |
when you hit it did you think you had missed it? For actually as soon | :47:38. | :47:48. | |
:47:48. | :47:55. | ||
I missed it in the other side. Williams is going to be at home | :47:55. | :48:05. | |
:48:05. | :48:09. | ||
gloating about this. I can just see If you do joint or commentary team | :48:09. | :48:17. | |
Stephen Hendry, this is the sort of nonsense you have to put up with. | :48:17. | :48:23. | |
Finally, Steve Davis was able to focus on the black ball finish | :48:23. | :48:33. | |
:48:33. | :48:37. | ||
other than his defeat in the 1985 Sport Relief is back and it is your | :48:37. | :48:41. | |
chance to be part of the biggest cheers of support. We want the | :48:41. | :48:48. | |
whole nation to get together and raise a whole lot of cash. We will | :48:48. | :48:55. | |
help the world poorest countries on March 25th. We want one million | :48:55. | :49:03. | |
people to take part. Of course, you can raise money by buying these | :49:03. | :49:11. | |
lovely socks or T-shirts. There will be jaw-dropping celebrity | :49:11. | :49:17. | |
challenges and loss of star studded entertainment. A row over you | :49:17. | :49:25. | |
decide to do it, go the extra mile for Sport Relief. I thing that went | :49:25. | :49:35. | |
:49:35. | :49:39. | ||
John Parrott is already in training for the Sport Relief marathon. And | :49:39. | :49:45. | |
Shaun Murphy is training for a half-marathon. Several other | :49:45. | :49:55. | |
:49:55. | :49:55. | ||
snooker players are taking part, including Steve Davis. Now, we | :49:55. | :50:00. | |
welcome the All Ireland jewel in the commentary box of Dennis Taylor | :50:00. | :50:10. | |
:50:10. | :50:22. | ||
We know that there is going to be a new name won the trophy at the end | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
of this evening. Will it be Shaun Murphy or the Australian Neil | :50:26. | :50:36. | |
:50:36. | :50:58. | ||
KEN DOHERTY: Yes, the atmosphere here has been absolutely electric. | :50:58. | :51:08. | |
:51:08. | :51:13. | ||
The crowds have really turned out It has been building up nicely, | :51:13. | :51:23. | |
:51:23. | :51:43. | ||
hasn't it? In the last two frames, That case on the lock might have | :51:43. | :51:48. | |
left a shot for Shaun. If he had not got that Kenan on the yellow, | :51:48. | :51:58. | |
:51:58. | :52:19. | ||
Yes, it was a great pot. He was very unfortunate to go in-off. He | :52:19. | :52:29. | |
:52:29. | :52:43. | ||
has now left the half chance here Both players are among the best in | :52:44. | :52:53. | |
:52:54. | :53:09. | ||
Bury St cueing. He is a bit unlucky there. This summer red is hampering | :53:09. | :53:19. | |
:53:19. | :53:20. | ||
him and preventing him from getting But he could not Forcett and it | :53:20. | :53:26. | |
looks like he has dropped on absolutely nothing, unless there is | :53:26. | :53:31. | |
a plant owned. It could not have finished more awkward, that last | :53:31. | :53:41. | |
:53:41. | :53:58. | ||
positional shot. So, just a safety Yes, good shot from Neil Robertson. | :53:58. | :54:08. | |
:54:08. | :54:12. | ||
He has covered those reds won the It is a part of his game that he | :54:13. | :54:20. | |
has worked on, Dennis. We saw against Judd Trump that he played | :54:20. | :54:26. | |
very good matchplay snooker. There was top quality safety play. He has | :54:26. | :54:36. | |
:54:36. | :54:37. | ||
certainly improved of the last Yes, John Virgo was talking about | :54:37. | :54:43. | |
it. In his first appearance at the Masters, he played Jimmy White and | :54:43. | :54:50. | |
back then, Neil was an out and out potter. Back then, Jimmy beaten | :54:50. | :54:54. | |
quite easily. But now he is one of the players to beat in any | :54:54. | :55:03. | |
tournament, he really is. He is a very accomplished all-rounder. He | :55:03. | :55:13. | |
showed that there with that very He is certainly one of the greatest | :55:13. | :55:23. | |
:55:23. | :55:23. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :55:23. | :56:08. | |
He could not get behind the yellow and brown that time, but wanted the | :56:08. | :56:11. | |
cue ball as close to that top cushion as possible. Shaun has to | :56:11. | :56:16. | |
be careful here that the red does not spring over the bottom right- | :56:16. | :56:22. | |
hand pocket here. That is exactly what can happen. He needed that | :56:22. | :56:32. | |
:56:32. | :56:45. | ||
It has covered the one on the right, Now, I am just wondering if he can | :56:45. | :56:49. | |
hold for the black here. Is he going to take the bull by the | :56:49. | :56:58. | |
horns? He played for the black and played it beautifully. Very | :56:58. | :57:08. | |
:57:08. | :57:09. | ||
He is in the right frame of mind. That is the way you have got to | :57:09. | :57:13. | |
think in this game. You have got to think, if I knock this then, I am | :57:13. | :57:19. | |
going to have a great chance. There is a tendency that players get | :57:19. | :57:29. | |
:57:29. | :57:50. | ||
negative and think, if I miss this, Would you believe it? That is not | :57:50. | :57:56. | |
the position you would want to be in. It makes the black a lot more | :57:56. | :58:06. | |
:58:06. | :58:09. | ||
I do not think Keet even has the angle to just be able to Wollerton | :58:09. | :58:19. | |
:58:19. | :58:32. | ||
That is a good shot. That was the best he could do. He did as well as | :58:32. | :58:41. | |
he could have from a position. The red on the right inside of the | :58:41. | :58:51. | |
:58:51. | :59:00. | ||
table is likely in his way and he That is well played. Very well | :59:00. | :59:10. | |
:59:10. | :59:38. | ||
controlled. He is now back in prime He would have liked to have been | :59:38. | :59:48. | |
:59:48. | :00:02. | ||
The pink spot is not available, so it goes on the highest available, | :00:02. | :00:12. | |
:00:12. | :00:12. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :00:12. | :00:53. | |
Well, that was an excellent pot, and he had been very, very unlucky. | :00:53. | :01:00. | |
And you would expect, the way the bunch was scattered, that tight | :01:00. | :01:04. | |
together, that he had to be on one of those red, and that is very | :01:04. | :01:14. | |
:01:14. | :01:21. | ||
unfortunate. That looks like end- And not all that easy to get the | :01:21. | :01:25. | |
cue ball up into the blog area. The yellow, brown and pink are | :01:25. | :01:30. | |
perfectly placed, but he has finished so close to that red, it | :01:30. | :01:34. | |
is difficult to get enough side to get back at the table. If it had | :01:34. | :01:39. | |
been touching, it would have been a lot easier. Even if it had not been | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
touching, he would have to find a path for the way around the table. | :01:44. | :01:54. | |
:01:54. | :01:55. | ||
It could not have finished any Especially with a 48 points | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
advantage, one could split and the frame was his. This is all he can | :02:00. | :02:10. | |
:02:10. | :02:13. | ||
Even then, he has left a possible pot to the left middle pocket, and | :02:14. | :02:20. | |
I think the natural angle will take the white Past the blue. I think it | :02:20. | :02:26. | |
might also miss the green, so if he does pot this and can avoid the | :02:26. | :02:36. | |
:02:36. | :02:44. | ||
blue and the green, he could finish And the brown, well, it is not a | :02:44. | :02:50. | |
lot of use, because it is the wrong angle to get to the red. A good | :02:50. | :02:55. | |
snooker here could be the order of the day with the reds situated as | :02:56. | :03:05. | |
:03:06. | :03:13. | ||
they are, even though he is 47 Yes, quite a clever little shot, | :03:13. | :03:19. | |
because Shaun knows full well, 47 points behind, he wants the green | :03:19. | :03:25. | |
away from the commission if he gets another opportunity. Just looking | :03:25. | :03:31. | |
at it, Ken, there is no shot to lay on a red. Sometimes you are better | :03:31. | :03:36. | |
off just hitting it hard off the side cushion and hoping. How does | :03:36. | :03:44. | |
he land on one and leave it safe? There is no shot on to do that. | :03:44. | :03:48. | |
he may just come off the side cushion inside the green here. Hard | :03:48. | :03:58. | |
as you can, close your eyes and But I think that is his only shot, | :03:58. | :04:08. | |
:04:08. | :04:17. | ||
Has he got one safe? Has he got them all safe? If this red does not | :04:17. | :04:22. | |
pass the one on the pink spot, he has got it relatively safe, and it | :04:22. | :04:27. | |
doesn't. He will take that. There is still a red to the right corner, | :04:27. | :04:32. | |
but that is not the easiest shot in the world. He has had a right | :04:32. | :04:42. | |
:04:42. | :04:58. | ||
Big-shot coming up. A beauty, it is Just have a look at this, how about | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
that? He cued that, so much pressure, knowing that if he missed | :05:02. | :05:12. | |
:05:12. | :05:19. | ||
it, it is framed over. Now he has The red that is not tight on the | :05:19. | :05:25. | |
cushion, just to the right side of the table, that is going to be a | :05:25. | :05:35. | |
:05:35. | :05:35. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :05:35. | :06:20. | |
Yes, and this is the type of positional where professionals at | :06:20. | :06:27. | |
this level will be thinking two or Crewe or possibly four shots ahead. | :06:27. | :06:33. | |
There is no doubt what is getting on in his mind, getting a good | :06:33. | :06:39. | |
position on these colours and the red that is close to the cushion. | :06:39. | :06:43. | |
That looks like the only problem ball at the moment. I know he has | :06:43. | :06:48. | |
the angle on the red, but it might be better to get a nice angle on | :06:48. | :06:57. | |
I am not quite sure where he tried to move its there. But he is still | :06:58. | :07:06. | |
Yes, always a bit risky moving a red when potting a red, always | :07:07. | :07:12. | |
better doing it from a colour. And that is what he tried to do there, | :07:12. | :07:16. | |
believe it or not, so it has all gone slightly wrong for Shaun | :07:16. | :07:22. | |
Murphy, he could still cut this in, or can he? Maybe it is too thin. He | :07:22. | :07:32. | |
:07:32. | :07:41. | ||
Well, he has hit its tooth in, so he has led a golden opportunity | :07:41. | :07:46. | |
slip away. -- too thin. He did not get it right when trying to | :07:46. | :07:56. | |
Yes, and now Neil Robertson is in a similar situation. He could try to | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
cannon the other red into play, but he would be taking a chance on | :08:00. | :08:04. | |
where the cue ball would finish. He may rely on a little bit of luck | :08:04. | :08:14. | |
:08:14. | :08:22. | ||
Oh, dear! He nearly potted the I think he thought he might have | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
been going to flick the red and then the black, but he went | :08:26. | :08:33. | |
straight into the black and nearly But those colours are nicely placed | :08:33. | :08:43. | |
:08:43. | :08:47. | ||
to get a sticker in behind. -- If you could see the pain here, it | :08:47. | :08:54. | |
would be straightforward, but I think the blue is covering the pink. | :08:54. | :08:59. | |
There you see it, he can play the pink half-ball off the top cushion, | :08:59. | :09:09. | |
side cushion, a big target to cover this last red. He has gone for the | :09:09. | :09:19. | |
:09:19. | :09:30. | ||
blue. I am not sure why he is not The only reason I can think is the | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
fact that he is 12 points in front, and he may be wants to keep that | :09:34. | :09:44. | |
:09:44. | :09:50. | ||
high-value colour in a safe Oh, he has not fluked it, has he? | :09:50. | :09:54. | |
No. So Neil Robertson can score enough without needing that awkward | :09:55. | :10:04. | |
Shaun just took the chance to bring the black into play, but he did not | :10:04. | :10:14. | |
:10:14. | :10:30. | ||
I think the green may pot into the right corner in a few shots' time, | :10:30. | :10:36. | |
but this hasn't dropped absolutely perfectly for Neil. No. If he had | :10:36. | :10:40. | |
been straight on the brown, it would have been straightforward, | :10:40. | :10:45. | |
but he has not got the perfect angle on his brown to get on a | :10:45. | :10:49. | |
yellow nicely. He is looking to see if he can drop it in and nudged the | :10:49. | :10:59. | |
:10:59. | :10:59. | ||
low towards the left-hand corner He could also possibly play a | :10:59. | :11:09. | |
:11:09. | :11:17. | ||
cannon on to the pink and green. It Yes, and if he plays for the gap, | :11:17. | :11:22. | |
he could quite easily snooker himself. If he tries to pot the | :11:22. | :11:32. | |
:11:32. | :11:33. | ||
brown and goes into the gap, so a He has played for the gap. If it | :11:33. | :11:40. | |
pulls up, he is OK. I say he is OK, but can he get to the green? That | :11:40. | :11:50. | |
:11:50. | :12:02. | ||
is the problem. Well, he may be Well, he has played to leave it for | :12:02. | :12:12. | |
:12:12. | :12:43. | ||
Beautifully played! Never easy into Well, we have just had two century | :12:43. | :12:47. | |
breaks in the two frames before, not in this one, but it was quite | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
an exciting frame. Shaun Murphy had his chance, but the Australian gets | :12:51. | :12:57. | |
himself into the lead, 3-2. Yes, the first time he has been in | :12:57. | :13:01. | |
the league since the opening frame, and I know you have been watching | :13:01. | :13:05. | |
this match avidly, your impressions of the way it has been going so far. | :13:05. | :13:09. | |
As befits the final, both players are vying for table time and | :13:09. | :13:14. | |
getting a fair bit each. We had seen in some of the other matches, | :13:14. | :13:19. | |
one player would get off to a good start, so for the fans it is nice | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
to see this, it makes it more of a game of chess in the mind. It is | :13:23. | :13:27. | |
exactly that, there has been a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing. Key | :13:27. | :13:32. | |
shots in that one? We say chairs with balls, there was a mistake and | :13:32. | :13:38. | |
Shaun Murphy's shot, and that first and you think it is going to go in, | :13:38. | :13:42. | |
but this is the one that loses in the frame. -- at first hand. He | :13:42. | :13:48. | |
tries to bring the black into play, hoping the red goes safe, and there | :13:48. | :13:51. | |
was still plenty to do, but Neil Robertson made a good clearance of | :13:51. | :13:56. | |
got enough of the balls to take the frame. Both players realise they | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
are in the kind of form that they will be able to pounce on any | :13:59. | :14:05. | |
mistake. How does that dictate your thinking when you are making shots? | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
Ah, well, you just play the table, you play the shot. You are happy | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
that you are in good form, you would not have got to the final | :14:12. | :14:16. | |
otherwise. New line aware that the other guy has been playing pretty | :14:16. | :14:20. | |
decent as well. -- You are aware. If you have not watched too much of | :14:20. | :14:24. | |
the other half of the draw, you might wonder whether your heart was | :14:24. | :14:28. | |
playing a better standard, but I think they both know that they are | :14:28. | :14:35. | |
pitting their wits against somebody of equal stature. It is Robertson | :14:35. | :14:45. | |
:14:45. | :14:50. | ||
once again with his nose in front, DENNIS TAYLOR: He has not quite got | :14:50. | :14:55. | |
the cue ball close to the cushion, so it has left a possible shot to | :14:55. | :15:02. | |
nothing. I think he can avoid the black iffy parts this. -- if he | :15:02. | :15:07. | |
parts this. He made sure that he did not cannon the black, but he | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
has cannoned the brown. Having said that, this red into the right | :15:11. | :15:21. | |
:15:21. | :15:21. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :15:21. | :16:02. | |
Very evenly matched, as we said. In all departments, I suppose, the | :16:02. | :16:06. | |
safety success rate, Shaun is just slightly ahead, the pot success | :16:06. | :16:10. | |
rate, just 1% is the difference, and when you get into the 90s you | :16:11. | :16:20. | |
:16:21. | :16:41. | ||
4% is the difference with table An interesting one, Neil Robertson | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
scoring less points than Shaun Murphy, but he has a one frame | :16:45. | :16:52. | |
That was an awkward safety for Shaun Murphy, hampered by the brown, | :16:52. | :17:01. | |
and it has given a chance. Shaun had a very tough shark indeed there. | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
That is almost dead straight, Neil could do with screwing the white | :17:05. | :17:15. | |
:17:15. | :17:18. | ||
Look at that, look at the power, he has got too much, and that is | :17:18. | :17:22. | |
probably the new tip. I was talking to Anne at the midsession interval, | :17:22. | :17:28. | |
and he has had three tips put-on. - - Neil. This one felt really good, | :17:28. | :17:35. | |
but it is probably too good if you get that sort of action on it. | :17:35. | :17:40. | |
Because the tip that he used, I do not know what it was, it usually | :17:40. | :17:45. | |
took two or three days to get used to a new one. Normally they are | :17:45. | :17:55. | |
:17:55. | :17:56. | ||
quite soft, hard they? It does take a few days. -- aren't they? One of | :17:56. | :18:06. | |
:18:06. | :18:30. | ||
the lads at his club cut the tip in I do not think those two are a | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
plant, Neil is having a look. Maybe they are, I am not sure. They are | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
not too far away, but I do not think he can see enough of the | :18:40. | :18:50. | |
:18:50. | :18:50. | ||
He is prevented from hitting the first red as he would need to make | :18:50. | :19:00. | |
:19:00. | :19:04. | ||
Oh, he has put the red over the middle, that is careless. That is | :19:04. | :19:10. | |
very careless. There might be an in-off to the corner pocket, but | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
that red should not have been going anywhere near there. That has | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
confused kneels lightly. He did not anticipate that one finishing over | :19:19. | :19:25. | |
the middle. -- that has confused Neil slightly. It is all about the | :19:25. | :19:35. | |
:19:35. | :19:45. | ||
cue ball. He has got to avoid the Not quite sure whether the yellow | :19:45. | :19:51. | |
passes that round here. No, it doesn't. -- the brown. He has the | :19:51. | :20:01. | |
:20:01. | :20:08. | ||
possibility of the green, but it is He has played all week in a very | :20:08. | :20:14. | |
positive frame of mind. That is why he is taking this green on. But it | :20:14. | :20:24. | |
:20:24. | :20:24. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :20:24. | :21:27. | |
That has finished nowhere. It was awkward, that, he could not play a | :21:27. | :21:31. | |
cannon on the two reds that were close together, he decided to go | :21:31. | :21:36. | |
into than, and he got plenty of action, but he could not spin the | :21:36. | :21:46. | |
:21:46. | :22:19. | ||
white any further, the two reds Oh, that has rocked back, is it | :22:19. | :22:29. | |
Well, it is certainly touching one of them. The referee was just | :22:29. | :22:34. | |
pointing out which one it is, Brendan Moore doing a great job in | :22:34. | :22:38. | |
his first final at the Masters. He has been looking forward to it all | :22:38. | :22:45. | |
week. But even though it is a touching ball, there is no easy | :22:45. | :22:55. | |
:22:55. | :22:59. | ||
path through all those reds to get He is having to use the other end | :22:59. | :23:09. | |
:23:09. | :23:42. | ||
Yes, ideally, Neil Robertson would like to get the cue ball as close | :23:42. | :23:47. | |
to the baulk cushion as possible, possibly behind the brown to try | :23:47. | :23:52. | |
and block the reds down the right- hand side of the table. But he is | :23:52. | :23:57. | |
looking to put it in the green pocket as well. I think they are | :23:57. | :24:01. | |
just sitting so awkwardly that he cannot get the cue ball over behind | :24:01. | :24:11. | |
:24:11. | :24:13. | ||
That is about all he could do, get it as close to the jaws of the | :24:13. | :24:23. | |
:24:23. | :24:30. | ||
Yes, that is an excellent pace on This red close to the left hand | :24:30. | :24:36. | |
side cushion is probably easiest to play the safety off, just a half- | :24:36. | :24:42. | |
ball. But he has got to be careful, that red will be going into other | :24:42. | :24:46. | |
reds, and he does not want to knock anything over towards his right- | :24:46. | :24:53. | |
hand pocket. It is always very difficult when the play from the | :24:53. | :25:03. | |
:25:03. | :25:04. | ||
Well, he nearly knocked the black in, but he has got a good cue ball. | :25:04. | :25:12. | |
There was a couple of choices to get back, and the only downside to | :25:12. | :25:22. | |
:25:22. | :25:58. | ||
that one was the black has gone Yeah, the fact that the Greene is | :25:58. | :26:04. | |
on the side cushion, the black and the other cushion, OK, the red are | :26:04. | :26:10. | |
nicely placed, it is an awkward frame, and we might see quite a bit | :26:10. | :26:20. | |
:26:20. | :26:20. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :26:20. | :27:08. | |
of tactical play here just to sort If either player leaves an attempt | :27:08. | :27:13. | |
at a long red, there is still no colour available. I mean, a couple | :27:13. | :27:17. | |
of reds will go to this left corner pocket, but where would the colour | :27:17. | :27:27. | |
they? -- Be? He is looking at the one past the black, but he will be | :27:27. | :27:30. | |
attempting to screw back to the safety zone also. That is what he | :27:30. | :27:40. | |
:27:40. | :27:40. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :27:40. | :29:14. | |
was thinking of, but I think he has Where is this red going? Where is | :29:14. | :29:24. | |
:29:24. | :29:39. | ||
It is not straightforward to pot that red. Over the corner pocket. | :29:39. | :29:49. | |
:29:49. | :30:20. | ||
He does have the red into the That was staff. It might have | :30:20. | :30:27. | |
looked easy, but when you have that distance between the two balls... | :30:27. | :30:33. | |
He wasn't far away. He may have covered the one to the left but | :30:33. | :30:43. | |
:30:43. | :30:53. | ||
It might be easier to get the one to the right. The colours are all | :30:53. | :31:03. | |
awkward on this table. And there's no guarantee that an attempt at the | :31:03. | :31:12. | |
red to the right-hand pocket would mean he can get back up the table. | :31:12. | :31:18. | |
He might be able to avoid the reds closest to the pink spot. Hopefully | :31:18. | :31:28. | |
:31:28. | :31:33. | ||
he would land on the yellow or He hasn't and he needs the cue ball | :31:33. | :31:43. | |
:31:43. | :31:45. | ||
to slow up. What a situation. That was a tough pot to take on for the | :31:45. | :31:55. | |
:31:55. | :32:02. | ||
Not a great deal to think about here. You either take the pot on or | :32:02. | :32:12. | |
:32:12. | :32:31. | ||
A problem now for the Australian. He might have to think for a while | :32:31. | :32:38. | |
about this shot. If he plays off the side cushion, he will do well | :32:38. | :32:48. | |
:32:48. | :33:07. | ||
to hit that red there between the REFEREE: A foul and a miss. | :33:07. | :33:15. | |
That can always happen. The new tip has been so good for Neil. But you | :33:15. | :33:21. | |
can always miscue. Have three, he hasn't done any damage to his new | :33:21. | :33:31. | |
:33:31. | :33:45. | ||
In the final against Mark Williams, he took the same shot and took a | :33:45. | :33:55. | |
:33:55. | :34:03. | ||
He was in a top spot to try and get close to that. Not quite sure why | :34:03. | :34:13. | |
:34:13. | :34:45. | ||
he didn't take the red out of baulk That was the position, but look on | :34:45. | :34:51. | |
where the cue ball was. He could easily have potted that. Very | :34:51. | :35:01. | |
:35:01. | :35:07. | ||
The only problem with taking the pink here, it could tie it up. | :35:07. | :35:14. | |
Maybe not. The pink could still be available in to the right-hand | :35:14. | :35:24. | |
:35:24. | :35:35. | ||
corner. But does he have that angle He should have been able to but not | :35:35. | :35:45. | |
:35:45. | :36:07. | ||
A terrific recovery and it is amazing - he can and that shot over | :36:07. | :36:11. | |
the middle pocket and it did not matter where poppy finished with | :36:11. | :36:17. | |
the cue ball. He would have that back. Mind you, a good pot on the | :36:17. | :36:27. | |
:36:27. | :36:29. | ||
red. So he probably deserves to Oh! Can you get your breath? Look | :36:29. | :36:39. | |
:36:39. | :36:51. | ||
of where that has finished. A tough I don't think the one next to the | :36:52. | :37:01. | |
:37:02. | :37:17. | ||
pink goes to the right corner. If you hit the pink and the red at | :37:17. | :37:23. | |
the same time, it is a foul ball. But there did not look to be much | :37:23. | :37:33. | |
:37:33. | :37:35. | ||
in that. Just the red first. Good replay. And good from the referee. | :37:35. | :37:45. | |
:37:45. | :38:00. | ||
We have had the two century breaks but also tension creeping in. This | :38:00. | :38:06. | |
is a big day for these two boys. One will be crowned champion at the | :38:06. | :38:12. | |
end of the day's play. It is just a matter of, who will grab hold of | :38:12. | :38:22. | |
:38:22. | :38:53. | ||
this match by the scruff of the A big frame for Shaun Murphy here. | :38:53. | :39:03. | |
:39:03. | :39:32. | ||
Eight frames to be played in this session. And then a possible 10 | :39:32. | :39:42. | |
:39:42. | :40:02. | ||
Yes, I think both players will feel coming into these eight frames, any | :40:02. | :40:10. | |
advantage going into the session, either would be happy with. | :40:10. | :40:20. | |
:40:20. | :40:32. | ||
Anything above would have been a We have got a packed house here at | :40:32. | :40:39. | |
Ally pally. The crowds have been fantastic for the last week. And a | :40:39. | :40:43. | |
greater amount of snooker to be played in this final. Still can't | :40:43. | :40:53. | |
:40:53. | :41:06. | ||
Maybe Neil Robertson could have opened up a two-frame advantage | :41:06. | :41:16. | |
:41:16. | :41:42. | ||
He only needed that red. And a quick glance at the scoreboard, so | :41:42. | :41:52. | |
:41:52. | :42:27. | ||
the brown to make absolutely Neil nods to the referee and | :42:27. | :42:33. | |
concedes, so nothing to pick between these two players. Shaun | :42:33. | :42:40. | |
Murphy is level at 3-3. HAZEL IRVINE: And this is becoming | :42:40. | :42:43. | |
increasingly hard fought, particularly in the frames where | :42:44. | :42:48. | |
the black, blue and pink were safe and there was a pink from Shaun | :42:48. | :42:53. | |
Murphy which was a key shot? Yes. And we see the player that makes | :42:53. | :42:59. | |
the last error is the one that goes on to lose the frame. And it was a | :42:59. | :43:03. | |
frame of errors. But from Shaun Murphy's perspective, that frame | :43:03. | :43:08. | |
was just as important and valuable as the 100 and to break he made. | :43:08. | :43:18. | |
:43:18. | :43:18. | ||
And that is the way to look at it. -- 100 and to break. You just have | :43:18. | :43:25. | |
to graft away sometimes when the balls don't go right. And it is | :43:25. | :43:27. | |
something that Neil Robertson in particular has learned over the | :43:27. | :43:33. | |
last couple of seasons, because he was very much all-out in his | :43:34. | :43:41. | |
attack? Yes. We saw a couple of typical Mark Williams frames and | :43:41. | :43:46. | |
his game was one of the best I have seen, and Robertson outdid him, so | :43:46. | :43:55. | |
he has really applied himself very well all week. If you stick another | :43:55. | :44:01. | |
one on the ball to your name, your fine. Sometimes the players that | :44:01. | :44:05. | |
making look very easy win a number of frames in a relaxed, comfortable | :44:05. | :44:09. | |
manner, and they don't have much practice at winning a scrappy | :44:09. | :44:14. | |
frames, so sometimes it takes them a while to have get to enjoy in | :44:14. | :44:17. | |
that type of snooker. But as players get older, they usually | :44:18. | :44:23. | |
start to understand that there is a sort of beauty in a scrappy frame | :44:23. | :44:29. | |
as well. Not necessarily for the fans! For the general public. But | :44:29. | :44:32. | |
for the snooker fans, when we have had opinion polls on the snooker | :44:32. | :44:37. | |
they like, it is surprising the number of people that like the | :44:37. | :44:41. | |
tactical battle as opposed to the century break after century brick | :44:41. | :44:46. | |
type of snooker. So you have to play all types of snooker to win. | :44:47. | :44:56. | |
:44:57. | :45:00. | ||
And your chances are a lot less if you don't have age B again. -- 8 B | :45:00. | :45:10. | |
:45:10. | :45:14. | ||
game. There was a purpose there every time in those scrappy frames. | :45:14. | :45:18. | |
An Mullins that it is of more interest to see how players cope | :45:18. | :45:22. | |
with it than the others. That is where you can judge what is going | :45:22. | :45:29. | |
on. It is turning into a very hard fought final, as we have been | :45:29. | :45:39. | |
:45:39. | :45:46. | ||
saying. This is the penultimate DENNIS TAYLOR: Not a bad pace with | :45:46. | :45:55. | |
the break-up shot. A possible red, which is the one he is looking at. | :45:55. | :46:05. | |
:46:05. | :46:11. | ||
If it goes in, he could get himself Pretty good effort. A little smile | :46:11. | :46:21. | |
:46:21. | :46:21. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :46:21. | :47:16. | |
there. He knows he cued that very I am surprised he played that | :47:16. | :47:20. | |
because it has knocked the blacks safe. He could have taken the | :47:20. | :47:30. | |
:47:30. | :47:42. | ||
chance of opening up the reds. Now That is bringing the red up as well, | :47:42. | :47:49. | |
but even if poppy can get through to it, there is no black to play on. | :47:49. | :47:59. | |
:47:59. | :48:22. | ||
He has now knocked the blue safe. It hasn't worked out too bad. He | :48:22. | :48:28. | |
can pot the green and those three reds to the left of the pink do | :48:28. | :48:38. | |
:48:38. | :48:50. | ||
popped into the bottom left-hand The pink spot looks occupied so | :48:50. | :48:54. | |
that is the only chance he will have, with the pink going on to the | :48:54. | :49:04. | |
:49:04. | :49:10. | ||
But, hey, there is nothing wrong with winning a frame with reds and | :49:10. | :49:20. | |
:49:20. | :49:27. | ||
One thing about his position is that he will try to keep the pink | :49:27. | :49:37. | |
:49:37. | :49:41. | ||
on the black spot as long as I can see another possible four, | :49:41. | :49:51. | |
:49:51. | :50:07. | ||
With the two at the back of the bunch, when he clears one, it will | :50:07. | :50:17. | |
:50:17. | :50:34. | ||
He left back a little bit short on the position side. Now it is a | :50:34. | :50:44. | |
change of plan. If teapots this and screws back, he will probably freed | :50:44. | :50:54. | |
:50:54. | :51:04. | ||
The fact that he's a left-hander will make its right meet you -- | :51:04. | :51:14. | |
:51:14. | :51:25. | ||
slightly easier, but he will That is a beauty. Excellent shot. | :51:25. | :51:35. | |
:51:35. | :52:08. | ||
A couple of these reds go into the The pink spot is still held sober | :52:08. | :52:18. | |
:52:18. | :52:18. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :52:18. | :53:20. | |
pink will go back on the black spot. He has got to be careful again. He | :53:20. | :53:25. | |
has run into reds and that could open up the pink spot again. That | :53:25. | :53:35. | |
:53:35. | :53:40. | ||
is just what he is contemplating He has overscrewed that. He needs | :53:40. | :53:46. | |
to finish lightly on the green. He hasn't, so he will probably tuck in | :53:46. | :53:53. | |
tight behind the green. And this is the angle he is faced with. Plenty | :53:53. | :54:03. | |
:54:03. | :54:09. | ||
of cue power to pot miss and screw What about that for a bit of cue | :54:09. | :54:19. | |
:54:19. | :54:29. | ||
I thought this would be a scrappy frame with the blue and black safe. | :54:29. | :54:36. | |
He has have two greens and six pinks. He is not far from clinching | :54:36. | :54:46. | |
:54:46. | :55:03. | ||
Probably because he was on the cushion most of the time when he | :55:03. | :55:13. | |
:55:13. | :55:27. | ||
This has been an excellent break A terrific effort from the | :55:27. | :55:37. | |
:55:37. | :55:49. | ||
Australian. Every credit to him for It is not often that you see this. | :55:49. | :55:56. | |
He decided to develop the black but the frame is safe. Why not try and | :55:56. | :56:06. | |
:56:06. | :56:14. | ||
Paint is his favourite colour! What an effort from the Australia. -- | :56:14. | :56:19. | |
pink it is his favourite. HAZEL IRVINE: Does one more frame | :56:19. | :56:24. | |
to be played this afternoon in the session. If you are waiting for Ski | :56:24. | :56:32. | |
Sunday, it will be after this session. It will be along very | :56:32. | :56:40. | |
surely with Graham and Ed. Always worth waiting for. That was tough, | :56:40. | :56:44. | |
particularly without that -- with the black out of commission? | :56:44. | :56:48. | |
Exceptionally difficult. When you look at the table, you thought it | :56:48. | :56:53. | |
would be a scrappy frames. To make a break from there was superb. | :56:53. | :56:58. | |
Mostly pinks and Greens? A bit of everything and seriously good | :56:58. | :57:05. | |
cueing. Brilliant to make that break like that. Impressions, | :57:05. | :57:10. | |
Steve? Yes, Neil Robertson has every part of his game in good nick, | :57:10. | :57:15. | |
really. And it is the nice thing about her player with a good, | :57:15. | :57:18. | |
balanced game. They can play tactically and then break out of | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
that and get into way frame and a rhythm very quickly. And some | :57:23. | :57:29. | |
players struggle to do that. That is one thing... He has had | :57:29. | :57:34. | |
criticism for being slow, quite wrongly, in my opinion. I don't | :57:34. | :57:40. | |
think he is a slow player. But he can mix it when he wants to. | :57:40. | :57:45. | |
momentum of this match has swung to and fro. Murphy started more | :57:45. | :57:50. | |
strongly in early part of the match but Neil Robertson has hung on and | :57:50. | :57:58. | |
clung on. If you wins this frame, he will be very happy with his | :57:58. | :58:08. | |
:58:08. | :58:10. | ||
DENNIS TAYLOR: Will we be all square going into this evening's | :58:10. | :58:20. | |
:58:20. | :58:31. | ||
Does that red pot, the one he missed? It looks to be very close | :58:31. | :58:41. | |
:58:41. | :58:46. | ||
Both have played well through the week here but probably Shaun Murphy, | :58:46. | :58:51. | |
the standard he has produced has been quite remarkable. Some of the | :58:51. | :59:01. | |
:59:01. | :59:02. | ||
best snooker I have seen him play But can he convert that in the | :59:02. | :59:07. | |
final? He is up against a very gritty Australian who wants this on | :59:07. | :59:16. | |
his CV very much. He has been world champion. He has been in six finals | :59:16. | :59:24. | |
and has won every one. Quite a record. We saw what his match | :59:24. | :59:34. | |
:59:34. | :59:40. | ||
against Judd Trump meant to him. Years, nothing wrong with showing | :59:40. | :59:46. | |
your emotions are urn, the first man to do that was the man with the | :59:46. | :59:51. | |
pony tail, Peter Ebdon, he used to shout around the table, so that | :59:51. | :00:01. | |
:00:01. | :00:18. | ||
celebration was a mini Peter Gordon While we are watching this little | :00:18. | :00:21. | |
tactical battle, we can show you what it meant to Neil Robertson | :00:21. | :00:28. | |
when he beat Judd Trump. And he was looking at the crowd, nothing wrong | :00:28. | :00:38. | |
:00:38. | :01:11. | ||
with showing your emotions like He has got a bit of a chance, Shaun | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
Murphy, although the pink is awkward, the black is near the | :01:15. | :01:25. | |
:01:25. | :01:39. | ||
cushion. I'm not sure if he can Good cueing there. OK, it is still | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
a little bit awkward, he asked to play it with a little bit of pace | :01:44. | :01:54. | |
:01:54. | :02:01. | ||
That was a better shot than it looked, very, very tricky on the | :02:01. | :02:11. | |
:02:11. | :02:41. | ||
Just coming around to see whether that red at the extreme right of | :02:41. | :02:51. | |
:02:51. | :02:54. | ||
the pack will go into the bottom I will tell you what, Ken, it has | :02:54. | :02:58. | |
been a good standard, this final, both players making century breaks, | :02:59. | :03:08. | |
:03:09. | :03:17. | ||
good tactical play, not that many He did not come high enough for | :03:17. | :03:21. | |
this red into the corner, but the red of the right of the pack will | :03:21. | :03:27. | |
go into the right send-up. He would have loved to be a little bit | :03:27. | :03:31. | |
straighter on that to screw back for the black. He may have to go up | :03:31. | :03:41. | |
:03:41. | :03:48. | ||
Well, he has held for the pink into the Left Centre, but I'm not sure | :03:48. | :03:54. | |
whether he has an angle to bring more red into play here. Oh, that | :03:54. | :04:04. | |
:04:04. | :04:04. | ||
is an excellent shot, Suva shut! He had to force the end of the pink. - | :04:04. | :04:14. | |
:04:14. | :04:24. | ||
Still on the pink, trying to maybe hold for the black also there. | :04:24. | :04:33. | |
Shaun in fact did hold the highest break for a while, 139, until Judd | :04:33. | :04:42. | |
Trump made a break of 140, to be superseded by Ronnie's I break of | :04:42. | :04:50. | |
141, �15,000 for the Highbury. -- high break. Absolutely nothing for | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
a maximum if you make it here at the Masters, I think they use the | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
maximum break now, it is a roll over, �5,000 in a ranking event. If | :05:00. | :05:10. | |
:05:10. | :05:16. | ||
it is not won, it carries on and I will not mention it again, Ken, | :05:17. | :05:21. | |
the days of the beautiful sports car for the maximum break when you | :05:21. | :05:26. | |
missed the black off the spot. cannot remember it, Dennis! I did | :05:26. | :05:36. | |
:05:36. | :05:38. | ||
not like that car anyway. It was Now, does this red go into the | :05:38. | :05:48. | |
:05:48. | :05:55. | ||
right centre? He has gone slightly Shaun marches around the table, | :05:55. | :06:05. | |
:06:05. | :06:10. | ||
He has thought hard about this one, he knows the importance of it, 46 | :06:10. | :06:20. | |
:06:20. | :06:24. | ||
points in front, over one minute's He finished up playing it because | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
of the position on the pink, and he was only going to leave the red | :06:28. | :06:38. | |
:06:38. | :06:51. | ||
Well, if Neil can leave the cue ball exactly where the red is now, | :06:51. | :07:01. | |
:07:01. | :07:17. | ||
Yeah, he did not quite hold it as he intended. There is a path back | :07:17. | :07:27. | |
:07:27. | :07:31. | ||
down the table as long as Shaun Well, he got almost a half or | :07:31. | :07:41. | |
:07:41. | :07:48. | ||
contact, so that is a mistake. -- Let's have a look, he hit it a bit | :07:48. | :07:58. | |
:07:58. | :08:02. | ||
thick, but he has been fortunate to He is just looking to see if he | :08:03. | :08:06. | |
could possibly avoid the black, but it looks a natural cannon onto the | :08:06. | :08:13. | |
black. Maybe, if he does take this one into the right corner, he was | :08:13. | :08:16. | |
looking at the possibility of cannoning into the black. Change of | :08:16. | :08:26. | |
:08:26. | :09:03. | ||
Is OK. -- he is OK. The blue will Well, what a chance. Shaun Murphy, | :09:03. | :09:08. | |
had he not that long red in, would definitely have levelled at 4-4. -- | :09:08. | :09:18. | |
:09:18. | :09:22. | ||
Yeah, he will be fearing the worst, sitting in his chair there. A great | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
opportunity for a counter attack from Neil Robertson. He knows he | :09:27. | :09:37. | |
:09:37. | :09:43. | ||
should have won the frame at that Once again, he has just got to be a | :09:43. | :09:45. | |
little bit careful when he plays the cannon that he does not slip | :09:45. | :09:55. | |
:09:55. | :10:08. | ||
out of position. That is why he is He may elect to get the black back | :10:08. | :10:18. | |
:10:18. | :10:49. | ||
That would certainly make things a Neil has been travelling back to | :10:49. | :10:59. | |
:10:59. | :11:09. | ||
His lovely wife and their son Alexander Park coming this evening. | :11:09. | :11:14. | |
His wife is a Norwegian, I think he spent a little bit of time there | :11:14. | :11:24. | |
:11:24. | :11:27. | ||
Now, can he get that two-frame advantage? They are there for the | :11:27. | :11:37. | |
:11:37. | :11:37. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds | :11:37. | :12:22. | |
taking, can he held himself The shot that Shaun played in the | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
end, he thought about for over a minute, he thought it was the safer | :12:27. | :12:33. | |
option, but he has got to sit there, and he knows that Neil is quite | :12:33. | :12:43. | |
:12:43. | :12:50. | ||
The back red parts, and that clears the path for the other one. He is | :12:50. | :12:55. | |
OK if he drops this in. What a massive frame this could turn out | :12:55. | :13:05. | |
:13:05. | :13:08. | ||
to be Paul Neil Robertson if he These are the type of frames that | :13:08. | :13:12. | |
really hurt your opponent. Shaun, for all the world, looked like he | :13:12. | :13:22. | |
:13:22. | :13:27. | ||
was going to win that frame at that And this is the long red he missed | :13:27. | :13:37. | |
:13:37. | :13:49. | ||
He is just sitting there thinking. Now, this is not quite as easy as | :13:49. | :13:59. | |
:13:59. | :14:13. | ||
it could have been. No problem with Well, he has just come up a little | :14:13. | :14:18. | |
bit short. He played to leave a nice, easy polluted justice done it | :14:18. | :14:28. | |
:14:28. | :14:29. | ||
in and leave a straightforward Can you believe it? He took his | :14:29. | :14:33. | |
high off the easy pot of the blue because he did not get on it as he | :14:33. | :14:38. | |
intended, so can you believe it? Shaun Murphy was thinking, I am | :14:38. | :14:42. | |
definitely going to be two frames behind, the concentrated on what he | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
was doing with the cue ball and forgot about the pot. It is amazing, | :14:46. | :14:51. | |
the number of times it happens. The only consolation is that the blue | :14:51. | :15:01. | |
:15:01. | :15:02. | ||
He gets right across the table. He played to miss the blow and leave | :15:02. | :15:10. | |
the green for the other corner. It is getting tense out there. Yes, | :15:10. | :15:16. | |
and can he pot this green, cannoned into the blade -- blue and hold the | :15:16. | :15:24. | |
cue ball for the brown? It is very He may be able to use the ball to | :15:24. | :15:34. | |
stop the cue ball going up the Well, this is just pure tension now | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
from both players. They know the importance of this final frame of | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
the session. Shaun was handed a lifeline. He played to leave the | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
green for the other corner and cannoned into the blue. But the | :15:47. | :15:57. | |
:15:57. | :16:06. | ||
Neil is 12 points in front, so if he could pot the green and brown, | :16:06. | :16:13. | |
Shaun would need a snooker, so it could play a key role. It looks as | :16:13. | :16:18. | |
if you've got right in behind it, you could drop it in, but that is | :16:18. | :16:24. | |
what Shaun is faced with before he gets a chance to do that. Well, the | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
green is far away from the cushion, maybe Shaun can get in behind it | :16:28. | :16:38. | |
:16:38. | :16:43. | ||
Well, there is a possible pot, he can avoid the pink and black. It is | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
a big shot to take on, but it could give in this frame. I'm not sure | :16:49. | :16:52. | |
whether he would cannon the pink if he attended the pot. He might | :16:52. | :17:02. | |
:17:02. | :17:10. | ||
Yeah, looking at the angle, if he did play it with any pace, it would | :17:10. | :17:20. | |
:17:20. | :17:20. | ||
If he fails, the blue is safe, Dennis. It would be worth having a | :17:20. | :17:30. | |
:17:30. | :17:36. | ||
No. That is apt, he has played a cracking shot here, he really has. | :17:36. | :17:43. | |
-- that is a beauty. An excellent attempt, not quite a snooker. Shaun | :17:43. | :17:53. | |
:17:53. | :17:53. | ||
can see the screen. -- this green. An excellent attempt, but this is a | :17:53. | :18:03. | |
:18:03. | :18:11. | ||
Very difficult, as you say, Ken, to get a snooker behind the black. You | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
would automatically double it up towards the right corner pocket. | :18:15. | :18:25. | |
:18:25. | :18:31. | ||
How is your judgment? Quite good! The pink may be the snooker. Very | :18:31. | :18:38. | |
well played. As you said, the green was going towards the corner pocket. | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
Look at how well he held the cue ball. He took a chance, but it has | :18:42. | :18:52. | |
:18:52. | :19:01. | ||
Well, believe it or not, it is a similar shot the other side of the | :19:01. | :19:04. | |
table for Shaun Murphy. He is looking to see if he can get the | :19:04. | :19:13. | |
gap. It is slightly easier to get What they shot this could prove to | :19:13. | :19:21. | |
be. Oh, a long way off! Where is the green going? Well, the blue is | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
into play, and that is not bad, because it will block the pocket | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
for the green. There you can see it, well, everything is happening here | :19:30. | :19:39. | |
It is as if it is a little bit embarrassed after that attempt, but | :19:39. | :19:49. | |
:19:49. | :20:03. | ||
Well, he could try and ship the green. I'm not sure whether Shaun | :20:03. | :20:09. | |
has a problem with his tip there. He could possibly check the green | :20:09. | :20:13. | |
and get the cue ball back up towards the brown. That is a | :20:13. | :20:18. | |
possibility. The one thing he has got to be very careful of here, | :20:18. | :20:24. | |
just making sure that the green is safe. He does not want to take a | :20:24. | :20:28. | |
chance of knocking it around the table. He has to make sure the | :20:28. | :20:38. | |
:20:38. | :20:55. | ||
That is the shot he has played, and Well, just a little bit sticking | :20:55. | :21:00. | |
out, he is a fraction away of getting a good snooker there. But | :21:00. | :21:05. | |
the only problem is, if he flicks his green, he could leave it on for | :21:05. | :21:15. | |
:21:15. | :21:32. | ||
He would have to knock the green on to the side cushion, because of the | :21:32. | :21:42. | |
:21:42. | :21:52. | ||
Oh, that doesn't look good to Naval Staff -- to me. I do not think he | :21:52. | :21:57. | |
intended to hit it that they. 12 is the difference, just green and | :21:57. | :22:07. | |
:22:07. | :22:39. | ||
Well, Neil Robertson made an earlier break of 60, but Shaun | :22:39. | :22:49. | |
:22:49. | :22:49. | ||
Murphy could quite easily have Blue to make absolutely certain of | :22:49. | :22:59. | |
:22:59. | :23:13. | ||
It does not matter whether it drops on not. It has been a fascinating | :23:13. | :23:18. | |
session, these two players are giving us a great final, but that | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
made century breaks, but in the end Neil Robertson will be delighted to | :23:21. | :23:25. | |
have taken that last frame, and he goes into the evening session | :23:25. | :23:30. | |
leading 5-3. Well, the thunder from Down Under | :23:30. | :23:34. | |
is rumbling, but can the magician make that then they go away? That | :23:34. | :23:40. | |
was a big steel at the end. Certainly was, application was | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
fantastic, great matchplay. A weird for a late-night? Oh I do not know, | :23:44. | :23:49. |