Browse content similar to Day 7, Part 1. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
Line | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Good afternoon. If you are up to your ears in snow and you have done | :01:18. | :01:23. | |
your sledging and Snowman making, you are probably ready for an | :01:23. | :01:26. | |
afternoon indoors in Alexandra Palace with us at the Betfair | :01:26. | :01:31. | |
Masters. What a week we've had. Some fantastic fight backs, no | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
fewer than six of the 12 matches that have gone the distance to | :01:36. | :01:43. | |
final frame deciders and now we are at the semi-final stages of this | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
exclusive Invitational event. All four participants in the semi- | :01:47. | :01:51. | |
finals have won at least one of snookers big major titles, the | :01:51. | :01:56. | |
world, the UK of this Masters event. This evening we've got Mark Selby | :01:56. | :02:00. | |
against Graeme Dott, but this afternoon in a packed arena we got | :02:00. | :02:05. | |
a repeat of last year's final. 12 months ago it was Shaun Murphy who | :02:05. | :02:12. | |
came off second best against Neil Robertson. By gum, the Aussie would | :02:12. | :02:19. | |
love an action replay today. atmosphere last year was just | :02:19. | :02:24. | |
breathtaking. I can still remember the hairs on the back of my neck | :02:24. | :02:28. | |
standing up, my nerves were jangling. That is what we are live | :02:28. | :02:32. | |
for as snooker players. atmosphere was absolutely | :02:32. | :02:35. | |
incredible for the final. It matched what it was like in the | :02:35. | :02:42. | |
He took I think I've done it -- definitely learned things in the | :02:43. | :02:47. | |
last year. I've learned where my strengths lie and I've tried to | :02:47. | :02:51. | |
rely more on my strengths rather than trying to go toe-to-toe with | :02:51. | :02:59. | |
people better at things than I am. I dominated the tactical exchanges. | :02:59. | :03:05. | |
I had to capitalise on the second session when Shaun was a little bit | :03:05. | :03:10. | |
unfortunate, he was on 30 or 40 twice in a row and I made 70 or 80 | :03:10. | :03:14. | |
after he made a mistake. It gave me a cushion that I needed and I could | :03:14. | :03:23. | |
I think a little bit wasn't the allowing the game to be played | :03:23. | :03:30. | |
under his terms -- a wasn't me allowing. I'm a year older and a | :03:30. | :03:36. | |
bit more experienced. If I sense the matches going that way again, | :03:36. | :03:40. | |
perhaps I won't go down on a sinking ship. It is easy to get | :03:40. | :03:46. | |
sucked into playing proper snooker. Unfortunately last year I fell for | :03:46. | :03:55. | |
it. He is perhaps having a more consistent season this year. He has | :03:55. | :04:00. | |
made quite a few semi-finals, he got to the final of the UK. He will | :04:00. | :04:05. | |
be hungry to get another trophy, particularly this one, the last of | :04:06. | :04:11. | |
the three that he needs. Revenge is a strong word. It was tough to lose | :04:11. | :04:16. | |
this final last year. It would have been tough to lose it to anybody. | :04:16. | :04:22. | |
But Neil is a great champion. don't get that many chances to win | :04:23. | :04:28. | |
tournaments, let alone defend them. Defending his title would be | :04:28. | :04:31. | |
absolutely amazing. -- this title. absolutely amazing. -- this title. | :04:31. | :04:35. | |
Last year's final is the most significant occasion on which these | :04:35. | :04:44. | |
two have met. The Aussie left- hander has shaded the last 14 | :04:44. | :04:50. | |
meetings. It has been over two years since Murphy last got the | :04:50. | :04:56. | |
years since Murphy last got the better of Robertson. Neil Robertson, | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
defending champion, one of the best break-builders in the game and now | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
one of the best match players. He has got all that bottle. He has won | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
the championship before and he will not let go easily. What has Shaun | :05:09. | :05:13. | |
Murphy got to do? He has to rely on that laser-like cue action, he has | :05:13. | :05:18. | |
to score heavily, but more importantly, he has to match up | :05:18. | :05:21. | |
begins the Aussie tactically. If he can do that, he can reach his | :05:21. | :05:25. | |
can do that, he can reach his second final in a row. This is how | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
they have played so far this week. Attacking and exciting players, | :05:30. | :05:38. | |
Robertson has been in great scoring form. His trademark long potting | :05:38. | :05:43. | |
has been impressive. Don't expect too many long safety battles, but | :05:43. | :05:51. | |
Shaun has proved himself pretty adept in that department. Both men | :05:51. | :05:55. | |
have come through final frame have come through final frame | :05:55. | :05:57. | |
deciders this week. Robinson has had two, against Ding Junhui and | :05:57. | :06:01. | |
Mark Allen. The tour at up to it something | :06:01. | :06:05. | |
special this afternoon. Stephen Hendry and Dennis Taylor are up for | :06:05. | :06:11. | |
it. Dennis Taylor's birthday. We use still need me? Will you still | :06:11. | :06:15. | |
feed me? Happy birthday. What's your take on this? Pit might be the | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
best match of this year's Masters. It will be fascinating. Shaun | :06:21. | :06:25. | |
Murphy want this on his CV. This is the big one he's been after and | :06:25. | :06:29. | |
he's up against a player in tremendous form. We will have the | :06:29. | :06:33. | |
best seat in the house. What better to do on a Saturday afternoon with | :06:33. | :06:38. | |
the weather the way it is. Totally agree and it will get very warm in | :06:38. | :06:43. | |
here. You had plenty to say about the way Shaun Murphy tackled John | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
Higgins the other night in the tactical department. How does he | :06:46. | :06:51. | |
have to tweak that to face Neil Robertson? The first half of that | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
match, he seemed to out think himself, he was trying to be too | :06:55. | :07:01. | |
clever, he refused a lot of pots. You don't change your game to other | :07:01. | :07:06. | |
players, you played your advantages. Play his natural game, attack. | :07:06. | :07:10. | |
Particular strengths of Neil Robertson? Both these guys are | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
probably the most consistent long potters on the tour. It could be | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
who get the most long pots that will win. There's a lot riding on | :07:19. | :07:25. | |
this. Shaun Murphy needs this one for the Triple Crown. To complete | :07:25. | :07:30. | |
that fabled s three major titles in the game. As for Neil Robertson, he | :07:30. | :07:36. | |
could be only the fourth man in history to defend his title. He has | :07:36. | :07:43. | |
a remarkable record, Stephen! The way Neil won his match against Mark | :07:43. | :07:48. | |
Allen, that red. He made three centuries in that match. He will | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
take some beating. If anybody can beat him, it is Shaun Murphy. If | :07:52. | :07:57. | |
Shaun goes for his shots, he could make it very, very difficult for | :07:57. | :08:03. | |
Neil Robertson. Enjoy it. I know that a coiled spring in the arena | :08:03. | :08:09. | |
is our MC, Mr Rob Walker. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. | :08:09. | :08:15. | |
What a way to kick-start semi-final Saturday. Co the air fare Masters. | :08:15. | :08:21. | |
What an atmosphere we've got. 12 months ago, these players went toe- | :08:21. | :08:25. | |
to-toe in the final, today they meet one round earlier. Both very | :08:25. | :08:31. | |
much on top of their game. Please welcome the man who 10 years ago | :08:31. | :08:35. | |
arrived from Australia with barely a penny in his pocket. Fast forward | :08:35. | :08:40. | |
a decade and he is one of the do very best players on the circuit. A | :08:40. | :08:44. | |
thrilling 6-5 win over Mark Allen in the quarter-finals, for world | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
champion in 2010, the defending Masters champion, can you hear the | :08:50. | :09:00. | |
:09:00. | :09:19. | ||
thunder from down under? Neil A brilliant reception and | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
deservedly so. You're getting used to these big occasions at the | :09:22. | :09:28. | |
Masters. Yes, I am. Last year's run was great. I am well on my way this | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
year. It doesn't get any easier against Shaun, he is a fantastic | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
player, one of the best in the world. I'm sure of the crowd are in | :09:37. | :09:47. | |
:09:47. | :09:49. | ||
for a treat. Very best of luck, His opponent, a player bidding for | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
a second successive Masters final. Here after a brilliant win over | :09:53. | :10:00. | |
John Higgins in the quarter-finals, winner of four ranking event titles, | :10:00. | :10:02. | |
including the 2005 World Championship. He is a class act on | :10:03. | :10:12. | |
:10:13. | :10:35. | ||
and off the baize, he is Shaun How much confidence do you bring | :10:35. | :10:39. | |
from that epic quarter-final? Enough to wear a pink shirt! | :10:39. | :10:44. | |
this the lucky omen? We will find out. Ladies and gentlemen, Shaun | :10:44. | :10:54. | |
:10:54. | :10:59. | ||
What a fabulous atmosphere for the semi-final. A packed house at the | :10:59. | :11:08. | |
Alexandra Palace. Shaun at sporting that pink shirt. Looks as if shaun | :11:08. | :11:18. | |
:11:18. | :11:32. | ||
Off we go. It should be a When you hear that reception to | :11:32. | :11:35. | |
players get, Stephen, do you not miss it a little bit having | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
retired? Yes, this is what you play snooker for. The semi-finals of | :11:41. | :11:51. | |
:11:51. | :11:55. | ||
major events like the Masters. You All the hours and hours of practice | :11:55. | :12:05. | |
And all the hours and hours of practice going -- go into being | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
able to knock something like this in. What a fantastic start and | :12:09. | :12:16. | |
perfectly on the black. It shows you the importance of the break off | :12:16. | :12:26. | |
:12:26. | :12:36. | ||
This was that break off shot. It looked to be OK, but then it | :12:36. | :12:45. | |
bounced off the baulk cushion and it was still a fabulous opening red. | :12:45. | :12:50. | |
But he is one of the best pot as we've ever had in the game. -- | :12:50. | :13:00. | |
:13:00. | :13:04. | ||
A lot of people talk about single ball potting. I've never understood | :13:04. | :13:11. | |
that saying. I believe it is who consistently get them for most an | :13:11. | :13:20. | |
these two men are right up there. I believe the winner today will Beith | :13:20. | :13:30. | |
:13:30. | :13:34. | ||
the guy who gets the most long pots. It is what creates opportunities | :13:34. | :13:39. | |
like this. Obviously the safety has to be excellent to prevent the | :13:39. | :13:45. | |
other guy potting the long balls. Absolutely. He got himself into a | :13:45. | :13:55. | |
:13:55. | :14:03. | ||
good position, it was not easy to That was about the best positional | :14:03. | :14:09. | |
shot he could play. The way he finished on the black, he could | :14:09. | :14:19. | |
:14:19. | :14:20. | ||
If he tries to get the snooker behind the yellow and brown, the | :14:21. | :14:30. | |
:14:31. | :14:38. | ||
red will go near the left corner I'm sure he was trying to cover | :14:38. | :14:44. | |
that red with the yellow, green or brown. But it is still OK. If he | :14:44. | :14:48. | |
sends this red around the angles, he could cannon into the green. | :14:48. | :14:58. | |
:14:58. | :15:27. | ||
Has he left a tempter? Will he take this on? There's your answer. He | :15:27. | :15:31. | |
has put himself in a little bit of trouble. He has given me all the | :15:31. | :15:36. | |
advantage. But at least with this red coming back up the table, the | :15:37. | :15:46. | |
:15:47. | :15:53. | ||
But he did give the advantage to Neil with the last shot he played, | :15:53. | :15:59. | |
sure Murphy. There's no way back down the table here. He will have | :15:59. | :16:09. | |
:16:09. | :16:11. | ||
That is what he is faced with. He can only go between blue and pink | :16:11. | :16:21. | |
:16:21. | :16:28. | ||
to hit the reds, but not a lot of He is a bit frightened of playing | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
for one cushion escape. You would think that would be his best bet. | :16:32. | :16:41. | |
He is worried about leaving one on. That is the one-shot available to | :16:41. | :16:51. | |
:16:51. | :16:53. | ||
him, but I don't think he is taking Well played. I don't think he can | :16:53. | :16:59. | |
see enough of this red. Always the possibility of leaving a pot, but | :16:59. | :17:09. | |
:17:09. | :17:24. | ||
He is well short this time with the cue ball. There's a red at the top | :17:24. | :17:30. | |
of the pack that will pot into the left corner. He will be cannoning | :17:30. | :17:40. | |
:17:40. | :17:42. | ||
into other reds so he needs to get Just didn't get enough action on | :17:42. | :17:50. | |
the cue ball to make this pink easier to the middle. I still | :17:50. | :18:00. | |
:18:00. | :18:10. | ||
expect him to get it. It is never He may have a natural angle to | :18:10. | :18:14. | |
bring the cue ball off for two Group or three cushions behind the | :18:14. | :18:24. | |
:18:24. | :18:25. | ||
black for a red into the right As you mentioned, Stephen, because | :18:25. | :18:30. | |
he was so close to the pink, it is difficult to pick that angle out. | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
He got the positional side of the shot as he intended, but when | :18:34. | :18:40. | |
you're that close, it is difficult to judge the angle. A second chance | :18:40. | :18:50. | |
:18:50. | :19:07. | ||
Both players had a look at a red at the back of the bunch. He has got | :19:07. | :19:13. | |
one to the right here. Neil had a quick look at that just to see if | :19:13. | :19:19. | |
it was available into the right corner pocket. Red, black and | :19:19. | :19:22. | |
hopefully on to that red at the back of the bunch. It looks a | :19:22. | :19:32. | |
:19:32. | :19:40. | ||
It will have to go because he can't really stun straight into the reds. | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
The only possibility would be to come off two cushions and into the | :19:44. | :19:54. | |
:19:54. | :19:58. | ||
There's your answer. It does pot. One of them will definitely go. | :19:58. | :20:01. | |
Sometimes when they are close together, you have to pick out | :20:02. | :20:11. | |
:20:12. | :20:17. | ||
The table would have been recovered, as it always is between the semi- | :20:17. | :20:22. | |
final and final. It will take a few shots to get used to the pace. But | :20:22. | :20:32. | |
:20:32. | :20:42. | ||
Yes, he played fantastic against Mark Allen, as I mentioned to Hazel. | :20:42. | :20:48. | |
Three centuries he made. He got a bad contact there. It now means the | :20:48. | :20:58. | |
He wanted to leave an angle to be able to split the reds. He wanted | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
to be a bit further across the table. A key shot coming up, 37 | :21:02. | :21:12. | |
:21:12. | :21:22. | ||
shots in front if this works out. A Up the blue almost went into the | :21:22. | :21:32. | |
:21:32. | :21:37. | ||
But he is OK. A thin cut on the black, but he has a red at the | :21:37. | :21:47. | |
:21:47. | :21:52. | ||
He looks super focused. I did the match yesterday with Judd Trump and | :21:52. | :21:57. | |
he was the exact opposite, he did not look focused. Neil looks bang | :21:57. | :22:07. | |
:22:07. | :22:32. | ||
on it right from the beginning of He was made favourite for this | :22:32. | :22:36. | |
semi-final, Neil Robertson, although he is number five in the | :22:36. | :22:41. | |
world. Shaun Murphy is number four. But on the basis of form, they made | :22:41. | :22:51. | |
:22:51. | :22:53. | ||
him the favourite. 4-6 means you get �6 to win �4. -- Beth �6. | :22:53. | :22:55. | |
when you are defending champion, you don't want to give up your | :22:55. | :23:01. | |
title. It makes you try that little bit extra. Can you feel it is | :23:01. | :23:04. | |
something that belongs to you and you don't want anybody else taking | :23:04. | :23:14. | |
:23:14. | :23:36. | ||
He does play that type of shot so well. You can hear the ball | :23:36. | :23:42. | |
thundering into the pocket. He is introduced as the thunder from Down | :23:42. | :23:52. | |
:23:52. | :24:08. | ||
He needs a couple more pots. A quick glance at the scoreboard to | :24:08. | :24:15. | |
see how many he needs. Cred and black would be enough. Dashed red | :24:15. | :24:21. | |
and black. If he pots this red, a possible 67 on the table. If he | :24:21. | :24:31. | |
:24:31. | :24:40. | ||
pots red and black, he would be 68 If he rolls this red in, being a | :24:40. | :24:50. | |
:24:50. | :24:59. | ||
left-hander, it is a bit more He will be playing this black in | :24:59. | :25:03. | |
such a way that if he misses it, he will leave the black over the | :25:03. | :25:07. | |
pocket. The red he is playing for at the bottom of the four will not | :25:07. | :25:17. | |
:25:17. | :25:32. | ||
Just looking at the balls that Neil is potting, they seem to be going | :25:32. | :25:37. | |
right in the centre of the pocket. That is always an indication that | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
the player is cueing well. Sometimes they go in-off the jaw. | :25:41. | :25:51. | |
:25:51. | :26:21. | ||
Everything going into the heart of It will be difficult to make a | :26:21. | :26:25. | |
century with the red near the cushion, but he is a left-hander | :26:25. | :26:31. | |
and he has also made five centuries this year in the Masters. He has | :26:31. | :26:41. | |
:26:41. | :26:56. | ||
He can cannon to read out now if he Does it go past the black? That is | :26:56. | :27:01. | |
very tight. He has just got the right side of the pocket. If you | :27:01. | :27:11. | |
:27:11. | :27:19. | ||
were directly behind the red, it Not quite. No century, but what a | :27:19. | :27:29. | |
:27:29. | :27:29. | ||
start for the Australian. He opens STUDIO: Earned interesting start to | :27:29. | :27:33. | |
the semi-final. If you want to get in touch with Ken and John you are | :27:33. | :27:43. | |
:27:43. | :27:48. | ||
There were some cracking responses yesterday when you were bunking off | :27:48. | :27:54. | |
work and had a day off because of the snow! An interesting insight | :27:54. | :27:58. | |
into the mind set, the tactical thinking early on of Shaun Murphy | :27:58. | :28:04. | |
in that frame. He has to play his own game and we know he is a great | :28:04. | :28:08. | |
scorer. I said he had to match him up. I don't think he has to turn | :28:08. | :28:10. | |
into the world's greatest safety into the world's greatest safety | :28:11. | :28:14. | |
player, but if somebody plays a good shot, you have to reply. He | :28:14. | :28:19. | |
can flick off the top red of the back red. He chose to go off three | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
cushions. He got a chance of that because Robertson played it poor | :28:24. | :28:29. | |
safety shot. But then he missed his chance. A bar Robertson dutifully | :28:29. | :28:34. | |
took his chance and it shows you the kind of form he has been an. | :28:34. | :28:41. | |
made three centuries in the Mark Allen match. It is all about those | :28:41. | :28:46. | |
pots, they are going into the centre of the pocket. He is cueing | :28:46. | :28:50. | |
beautifully. When he gets in around the balls, he scores very, very | :28:50. | :28:55. | |
heavily and very, very quickly. Robertson made that break from | :28:56. | :29:05. | |
:29:06. | :29:13. | ||
He can't take on the pot because he A little bit too much pace. His | :29:13. | :29:18. | |
safety will have to be a bit better than this. He was looking for the | :29:18. | :29:24. | |
baulk cushion. OK, he hasn't left one this time, I don't think, but | :29:24. | :29:27. | |
against Neil Robertson, his safety has to be a little bit better, | :29:27. | :29:34. | |
Stephen. It has got to be as good as it can be, basically. If Neil is | :29:34. | :29:40. | |
playing like this, he doesn't miss many long balls. As we've seen | :29:40. | :29:45. | |
already in the first frame, when he gets in, the frame is going to be | :29:45. | :29:55. | |
:29:55. | :29:58. | ||
over. Very impressed with that It is so important in these by | :29:58. | :30:02. | |
eight matches to stand or authority as quickly as possible. -- these | :30:02. | :30:12. | |
:30:12. | :30:36. | ||
You cannot pot many balls if you are in that position. Good safety. | :30:36. | :30:41. | |
With the reds slightly open, you have got to be careful. Not a | :30:41. | :30:51. | |
:30:51. | :30:55. | ||
straightforward escape. That is what he has faced with. There is no | :30:55. | :31:00. | |
easy shot to just come off the side cushion nestled next to the bunch. | :31:00. | :31:09. | |
If he landed on one beside the pinky will be OK. -- beside the | :31:10. | :31:19. | |
:31:20. | :31:48. | ||
pink, he would be OK. Oh, what a No touching ball, but he can play | :31:48. | :31:58. | |
:31:58. | :32:13. | ||
off this one, get twice across the This is a turnaround in the space | :32:13. | :32:23. | |
:32:23. | :32:23. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :32:23. | :33:04. | |
of two shots. Now Shaun Murphy is This is a similar type of shot for | :33:04. | :33:12. | |
Murphy. You can see enough ready to take the pot on. He looked to see | :33:12. | :33:19. | |
if there was a gap. It would be risky but that is the one he can | :33:19. | :33:28. | |
play safe off. He can swing is around the ankles if he wants. He | :33:28. | :33:33. | |
needs more pace on it. He has purged one over the corner pocket. | :33:33. | :33:38. | |
If he does pop this, Key Ben Knight on the cue ball, because it is | :33:38. | :33:45. | |
going to go towards the reds. -- keep an eye on the cue ball. He | :33:45. | :33:51. | |
would not have a great deal of idea where the cue ball is going to | :33:51. | :34:01. | |
:34:01. | :34:10. | ||
He had to trust a little bit to lock their of with be cue ball. -- | :34:10. | :34:20. | |
:34:20. | :34:59. | ||
plus a little bit to luck with the He is sitting upright in his seat. | :34:59. | :35:07. | |
That is an indication of a confident person. He looks very | :35:07. | :35:17. | |
:35:17. | :35:30. | ||
focused and he is certainly up for That is not the best safety shot. | :35:30. | :35:34. | |
There is one available to the corner, but can he find the space | :35:34. | :35:38. | |
to get himself on the black for the same pocket? There is not much of a | :35:38. | :35:48. | |
:35:48. | :35:48. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :35:48. | :36:56. | |
He is playing the safety shot. Very Certainly, Robertson definitely has | :36:56. | :37:06. | |
:37:06. | :37:22. | ||
the upper hand in the tactical I think he felt the YT drifted as | :37:22. | :37:32. | |
:37:32. | :37:32. | ||
soon as he played it. -- the white. Did it drift a little bit? You can | :37:32. | :37:42. | |
:37:42. | :37:46. | ||
see clearly, it went off to the right. There has been a few of | :37:46. | :37:56. | |
:37:56. | :38:02. | ||
I do not know whether the floor is not level here at the Ally Pally? | :38:02. | :38:12. | |
:38:12. | :38:14. | ||
They should make -- not have any problems getting the tables level. | :38:14. | :38:19. | |
They use spirit levels and there are five slates on a snooker table. | :38:19. | :38:28. | |
They are usually top class, but that one did seem to drift a little. | :38:28. | :38:33. | |
Very frustrating for Robertson. He is in such a positive state of mind, | :38:33. | :38:39. | |
he would have been thinking it was a chance to win the frame. For that | :38:39. | :38:49. | |
:38:49. | :38:50. | ||
to happen when it is not his fault Yes, but I usually put a little bit | :38:50. | :38:59. | |
of packing underneath the frame to leaven it up. -- they usually put. | :38:59. | :39:09. | |
:39:09. | :39:14. | ||
It was usually beer mats that they What a chance for Shaun Murphy, a | :39:14. | :39:24. | |
:39:24. | :39:26. | ||
It also put you off the rest of the match. You do not want to play any | :39:26. | :39:31. | |
slow shots if that is what is going to happen. You have to change your | :39:31. | :39:41. | |
:39:41. | :39:41. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :39:41. | :40:34. | |
You do not want to get to his stage where it is like golf and you have | :40:34. | :40:40. | |
got to start reading the table! have been informed that the table | :40:40. | :40:44. | |
fitter has had to put packing under one side, so maybe the floor is not | :40:45. | :40:54. | |
:40:55. | :40:58. | ||
Do you remember when used to do the exhibitions? The club floors were | :40:58. | :41:05. | |
certainly not level. I used to like a table that was not very high. You | :41:05. | :41:11. | |
could end up with the black around your chest. You needed a rest to | :41:11. | :41:21. | |
:41:21. | :41:32. | ||
He is taking these well, Shaun Murphy. He has kept his progress. | :41:32. | :41:39. | |
He did not have much chance in the first frame. He has over screed | :41:40. | :41:48. | |
that, played a cannon on the pink, I think. -- overscrewed. He is | :41:48. | :41:52. | |
probably one of the best players in the world, so I do not expect him | :41:52. | :42:02. | |
:42:02. | :42:15. | ||
That is amazing, as soon as you said it! But you are absolutely | :42:15. | :42:25. | |
:42:25. | :42:46. | ||
right, he very rarely misses. On Ever since I started commentating, | :42:46. | :42:50. | |
and commentating on Shaun Murphy's matters, how many times he plays it | :42:51. | :42:58. | |
careless shot and ends on the break? It is definitely a weakness | :42:58. | :43:06. | |
of his, not finishing enough frames on one visit. That is a very good | :43:06. | :43:14. | |
point. It is perhaps something he could work on. It is probably | :43:14. | :43:22. | |
concentration. It does make a difference. You and Steve Davis | :43:22. | :43:32. | |
:43:32. | :43:33. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :43:33. | :44:13. | |
were masters at finishing the frame That is a long time to think over a | :44:13. | :44:17. | |
black off the spot, but he wants to make absolutely sure he gets on to | :44:17. | :44:27. | |
:44:27. | :44:32. | ||
It has just finished in the worst possible position, not a good angle | :44:32. | :44:36. | |
on the pink or the black. You would think he could manufacture | :44:36. | :44:41. | |
something. In the end, he just rolled it in to leave this one to | :44:41. | :44:48. | |
the left corner. You would think he would still finish on the black, | :44:48. | :44:58. | |
:44:58. | :45:11. | ||
Now, a cannon on the triangle of reds. If he could cannon the right | :45:11. | :45:17. | |
hand when it would open them up perfectly. -- the right hand one, | :45:17. | :45:27. | |
:45:27. | :45:31. | ||
And after all of that, he has missed a straightforward pink. He | :45:31. | :45:41. | |
:45:41. | :45:50. | ||
has not missed many of those in the Maybe that shot where it seemed to | :45:50. | :46:00. | |
:46:00. | :46:06. | ||
It is amazing, when you're 100% in June, some little thing Ken just | :46:06. | :46:13. | |
brigade and it takes you a while to get it back. -- some little thing | :46:13. | :46:23. | |
:46:23. | :46:28. | ||
Karen just break it. He needs the If he rolls the black, I do not | :46:28. | :46:33. | |
think he will go into the right pocket. He is playing it with a | :46:33. | :46:43. | |
:46:43. | :46:43. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :46:43. | :47:32. | |
little bit of stun to avoid that. Shaun Murphy has settled down and | :47:32. | :47:42. | |
:47:42. | :47:48. | ||
An interesting point in that frame, the roll-off. It cost points | :47:48. | :47:55. | |
against Ding Junhui. I do not think the floor is level out there. | :47:55. | :48:05. | |
:48:05. | :48:10. | ||
Gulbis. Obviously, the table at his off -- is off. Tables -- players | :48:10. | :48:16. | |
should be able to go out and play a few shots so they know how the | :48:16. | :48:20. | |
table is, it should not cost them frames. That is a good point. In | :48:20. | :48:24. | |
every other sport, tennis, you are allowed to play beforehand, golf as | :48:24. | :48:28. | |
many practice rounds is you can muster, and many other sports. At | :48:29. | :48:34. | |
Wembley, you inspect the pitch. Should there be a chance for | :48:34. | :48:39. | |
players, maybe even 20 minutes before, to have a look. Steadily, | :48:39. | :48:49. | |
:48:49. | :48:49. | ||
five or 10 minutes each. It would not take a lot to just have a look | :48:49. | :48:52. | |
and scene where the rolls are. You cannot blame the table when | :48:52. | :48:57. | |
sometimes the floor is not level. Is it something snooker should be | :48:57. | :49:07. | |
looking at going ahead? Absolutely, yes. | :49:07. | :49:12. | |
One of the tournament directors and a former top 16 player, I have seen | :49:12. | :49:16. | |
him in that the arena will link the balls up and down the table. They | :49:16. | :49:21. | |
do check it. It is a good point, whether it should be checked before | :49:21. | :49:27. | |
every session. I agree. There is nothing against it as long as both | :49:27. | :49:30. | |
players are allowed to have 10 minutes from the table and the | :49:30. | :49:40. | |
:49:40. | :49:44. | ||
wording. -- on the table in the Many years ago, there was no | :49:44. | :49:54. | |
:49:54. | :49:55. | ||
practice table. The only practice table was the match table, so you | :49:55. | :50:05. | |
:50:05. | :50:12. | ||
were allowed 20 minutes, half an All you would need to do would be | :50:12. | :50:21. | |
to play some slow rolls with the cue ball. You would just need to | :50:21. | :50:31. | |
:50:31. | :50:37. | ||
roll dead weight shot to see what Let's have a look at what happened. | :50:37. | :50:44. | |
You can see the white leaving the line slightly. It is only a | :50:44. | :50:54. | |
:50:54. | :50:58. | ||
fraction, but it is amazing the Both players will be reluctant to | :50:58. | :51:08. | |
:51:08. | :51:24. | ||
He has decided against going into the pink because there is a red | :51:24. | :51:34. | |
:51:34. | :51:36. | ||
clearly available. There are three pottable reds also. He is such an | :51:36. | :51:41. | |
experienced player. He will have forgotten that incident. It might | :51:41. | :51:51. | |
:51:51. | :52:06. | ||
have cost him the second frame, but If anything, the pink in the middle | :52:06. | :52:09. | |
would have annoyed him more than the one that rolled off, because | :52:09. | :52:19. | |
:52:19. | :52:41. | ||
Normal snooker has resumed for the Australian. He is purposely leaving | :52:41. | :52:45. | |
himself almost read in such a way that he can break a few more reds | :52:45. | :52:55. | |
:52:55. | :53:00. | ||
out. You would think he might Freda Payne, but he should finish under - | :53:00. | :53:10. | |
:53:10. | :53:15. | ||
Dead straight on the blue would have been ideal. He is running away | :53:15. | :53:21. | |
from the reds from that angle. awkward angle on the pink, taking | :53:21. | :53:25. | |
the cue ball away from the Ritz. He could just play it into gooey | :53:25. | :53:35. | |
:53:35. | :53:57. | ||
yellow pocket, but a more difficult Well, that looked quite easy but it | :53:57. | :54:02. | |
was a delicate shot, bridging over the red and playing a delicate shot | :54:02. | :54:12. | |
:54:12. | :54:45. | ||
He would have rather been the other side of the pink with this angle. | :54:45. | :54:55. | |
:54:55. | :55:08. | ||
Screwing back, the cue ball is I wonder if he has the angle to | :55:08. | :55:13. | |
play a delicate little screw between the reds? I am not sure if | :55:13. | :55:20. | |
that is on. It would be nice if it was, but it might be too thin to do | :55:20. | :55:30. | |
:55:30. | :55:38. | ||
He wasn't able to, but he got the same result by getting through the | :55:38. | :55:48. | |
:55:48. | :55:50. | ||
gap in the raids. -- in the reds. The red closest to the pink is his | :55:50. | :55:57. | |
problem, it is stopping him playing be easy shots. You are never 100% | :55:57. | :56:01. | |
sure what is going to happen when you can and other red, but is why | :56:01. | :56:05. | |
he is taking the blue in between the yellow under Brian on to | :56:05. | :56:15. | |
:56:15. | :56:22. | ||
cushions. -- the yellow card for There at the action, he just played | :56:22. | :56:26. | |
with a little bit of left hand side to swing at the white off to mic | :56:26. | :56:36. | |
:56:36. | :56:37. | ||
cushions. He played it to He only needed one chance in the | :56:37. | :56:45. | |
opening frame. He had been -- and opening break of 84. Looks like he | :56:45. | :56:50. | |
is only going to need the one chance in this frame. He is cueing | :56:50. | :56:54. | |
beautifully, Robertson. Just that one incident where he missed the | :56:54. | :57:04. | |
:57:04. | :57:37. | ||
One of the reasons I like watching Neil Robertson, he wants to clear | :57:37. | :57:47. | |
:57:47. | :57:50. | ||
the table. The other player relaxes, and a concentration slips, so he | :57:50. | :57:55. | |
wants to clear up every time. has got one difficult red that | :57:55. | :58:00. | |
might prevent that. He made 54 centuries last season. He has | :58:00. | :58:10. | |
:58:10. | :58:18. | ||
Both of these players turned professional in 1998. Shaun Murphy | :58:18. | :58:24. | |
has made 250 earned the Robertson has made 246, so they are pretty | :58:24. | :58:34. | |
:58:34. | :58:43. | ||
Being a left-hander, if he cannot cannon the red out if he can get a | :58:43. | :58:53. | |
:58:53. | :58:55. | ||
white in position, he can get a chance. And that is the 16th | :58:55. | :59:05. | |
:59:05. | :59:09. | ||
century in this year's Masters. That is number 247 in his career. | :59:09. | :59:19. | |
:59:19. | :59:30. | ||
In fact, that was his 17th century Mark Allen still holds the highest | :59:30. | :59:40. | |
break, 138, against Neil Robertson. �8,000 for the highest break up | :59:40. | :59:50. | |
:59:50. | :59:54. | ||
He has potted all sorts. Yellows, greens, browns, blues. He has been | :59:54. | :00:04. | |
:00:04. | :00:11. | ||
that all over the table four That is absolutely superb from the | :00:11. | :00:16. | |
Australian. He only needed one chance. What a magnificent break of | :00:16. | :00:26. | |
:00:26. | :00:28. | ||
Quite brilliant, especially the way he went about that. And you've been | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
tweeting about the situation with the table. World Snooker have | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
assured us that they don't just come in and plonk the table down | :00:36. | :00:41. | |
and let it stay there, there's a lot of work that goes on. Martin | :00:41. | :00:46. | |
Clark was out there until 3am with a spirit level. He is a former | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
player, he's been in the top 16, he works for World Snooker. He tests | :00:52. | :00:57. | |
the table. Co t rolls the balls around the table to make sure they | :00:57. | :01:05. | |
are not rolling off. But this floor is not unstable, but uneven. It is | :01:05. | :01:10. | |
very, very difficult, no matter how much the table has been worked on, | :01:10. | :01:15. | |
it is difficult. I've never played on a straight table. Any table we | :01:16. | :01:20. | |
play on, you'll always find it... It is a tonne and-a-half and it has | :01:20. | :01:26. | |
to settle. There's a spring floor at the Crucible. I had a match and | :01:26. | :01:31. | |
I got Dr frame for missing a red three times. It was missing a for | :01:31. | :01:37. | |
to it -- that and a half each time. It was like somebody had put a | :01:37. | :01:43. | |
brick under the table. Peter put in an hour overnight. He was rolling | :01:43. | :01:47. | |
balls everywhere. They've done as balls everywhere. They've done as | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
much as humanly possible. They know where the potential trouble spots | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
are on this table. They will have to compensate for the rest of this | :01:56. | :02:06. | |
I suppose the angle... It is not the sort of place where you would | :02:06. | :02:10. | |
roll the ball to see if it was drifting. They all settle in. | :02:10. | :02:20. | |
:02:20. | :02:23. | ||
Especially when you get the crowd In the Crucible, you get the crowd | :02:23. | :02:27. | |
in on a sprung floor and everybody would be level. If there were more | :02:27. | :02:31. | |
people sitting on one side of the arena, it is amazing. It is only | :02:31. | :02:36. | |
fractions. But it doesn't affect it that much. There's only certain | :02:36. | :02:46. | |
:02:46. | :03:13. | ||
It is always a surprise to see Neil miss one of those. There's a chance, | :03:13. | :03:19. | |
the first chance in this frame to Shaun Murphy. He has to try to win | :03:19. | :03:29. | |
:03:29. | :03:30. | ||
He was a long way away. Surprising. The reason I say he has to try to | :03:30. | :03:34. | |
win it in one visit, if your opponent doesn't believe you can | :03:34. | :03:41. | |
win when he makes mistakes, it gives him warmth confidence as well. | :03:41. | :03:48. | |
-- more confidence. In a couple of shots time, you will see Shaun | :03:48. | :03:58. | |
:03:58. | :04:06. | ||
trying to get on the red next to He might have to come up for the | :04:06. | :04:16. | |
:04:16. | :04:18. | ||
black on this occasion and then He shouldn't be a problem to stun | :04:18. | :04:27. | |
off the cushion and leave that red. -- it shouldn't. In fact, he is | :04:27. | :04:37. | |
:04:37. | :04:38. | ||
If he gets on the black in such a way, it is a good pack to go into. | :04:38. | :04:42. | |
Look at the gap between the two reds. If he gets a good angle on | :04:42. | :04:52. | |
:04:52. | :04:53. | ||
the black, he has a lovely gap to Might have got a heavy contact, but | :04:53. | :04:59. | |
it doesn't matter, he still has the angle to cannon into the bunch. | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
That is what he wants, with plenty of pace. He is guaranteed to be on | :05:04. | :05:11. | |
He didn't quite get the cannon as he intended and it has finished a | :05:11. | :05:17. | |
little awkward for him. He hit the red on the right, he wanted to | :05:17. | :05:27. | |
:05:27. | :05:55. | ||
We said we thought this would be a great semi-final, it is building up | :05:55. | :06:03. | |
nicely, isn't it? Neil Robertson has already had breaks of 84 and | :06:03. | :06:07. | |
that magnificent 132. Shaun had a 48 in the second frame and he is on | :06:07. | :06:17. | |
:06:17. | :06:18. | ||
But he has to do what Stephen Hendry was saying. He has to finish | :06:18. | :06:24. | |
it off in one visit. Stephen mentioned at the number of times | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
Shaun has got to 40 and 50 and then suddenly missed one you would not | :06:28. | :06:38. | |
:06:38. | :07:05. | ||
He may choose to go up for the blue because he is dead straight on this | :07:05. | :07:09. | |
red. If he stands for the black, the cue ball will be fairly close | :07:09. | :07:15. | |
to the cushion. -- stuns. I don't know if he can force an angle off | :07:15. | :07:25. | |
:07:25. | :07:40. | ||
Amazing, that is two he has missed with the rest. He hit that all | :07:40. | :07:44. | |
wrong. It was the previous shot when he played the cannon that left | :07:44. | :07:49. | |
him having to use the long rest. Not often you see that happen. | :07:49. | :07:57. | |
Amazing. He hasn't killed for frame off in one visit. A little wry | :07:57. | :08:02. | |
smile, he can't believe what he has just played. It is a big pocket | :08:02. | :08:09. | |
here, that is what Neil is looking at. This red, if he gets anywhere | :08:09. | :08:13. | |
near it, you think it would go in- off that red if he doesn't go | :08:13. | :08:23. | |
:08:23. | :08:36. | ||
I don't think there's enough room to wobble the red and had it not | :08:36. | :08:42. | |
going off the other red. If he'd just missed that red on the right | :08:42. | :08:49. | |
as we look at it, he might wobble it in the jaws. Much better if he | :08:49. | :08:59. | |
:08:59. | :08:59. | ||
hits the cushion first and then the He has got the one into the left | :08:59. | :09:09. | |
:09:09. | :09:12. | ||
I wonder if he will be tempted to try this down the cushion and hold | :09:12. | :09:22. | |
:09:22. | :09:29. | ||
for the black. Or will he play it The percentages with this shot, I | :09:29. | :09:34. | |
would say, is that he would go in- off the other red maybe six or | :09:34. | :09:44. | |
:09:44. | :09:49. | ||
seven out of 10. Let's see what Team minutes' thinking about this. | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
-- two minute. Tony Drago finished a game of snooker in just over | :09:53. | :10:03. | |
:10:03. | :10:07. | ||
Now he is going to cut the red in I just think he took so long over | :10:07. | :10:12. | |
that, he confused himself. REFEREE: Foul, and a miss., Shaun | :10:12. | :10:18. | |
Murphy four. He just couldn't make his mind up and in the end he | :10:18. | :10:26. | |
missed it completely. I think the shot you were saying, down the | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
cushion, he easily had enough cue power to play it as a safety shot | :10:29. | :10:39. | |
:10:39. | :10:44. | ||
and screw the cue ball back to Obviously this is made slightly | :10:44. | :10:50. | |
easier for Shaun because he at more angle. He missed it completely and | :10:50. | :10:54. | |
he calls a miss, where do you put the white if you ask for it to be | :10:54. | :11:02. | |
replaced? A good question. We will leave that to John and Ken. I've | :11:02. | :11:11. | |
never thought about that before. It's the first time it has arisen. | :11:11. | :11:21. | |
:11:21. | :11:29. | ||
Where would you replace it? We will That's OK, he's left an angle on | :11:29. | :11:34. | |
this red so a great chance for Shaun Murphy to go on and get | :11:34. | :11:41. | |
himself all square. He will be pleasantly pleased with 2-2 at the | :11:41. | :11:51. | |
:11:51. | :11:55. | ||
If that red to the right of the bunch is available, not a problem. | :11:55. | :12:00. | |
He has got an easy red available and that goes. It shouldn't be a | :12:00. | :12:10. | |
:12:10. | :12:11. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :12:11. | :12:58. | |
He chose to play the cannon and he is just about on this red to the | :12:58. | :13:04. | |
left corner. Although he is close to the red. There was a shot that | :13:04. | :13:11. | |
Neil had earlier. He played to the right of the pink that time. When | :13:11. | :13:15. | |
they are close together, it is difficult to judge. But he will put | :13:15. | :13:25. | |
:13:25. | :13:32. | ||
everything into this pot. He has He needed that red and at least the | :13:32. | :13:42. | |
:13:42. | :14:19. | ||
brown to leave Neil needing a Well, it looks as if he has got | :14:19. | :14:29. | |
:14:29. | :14:33. | ||
away with that. He hit it far too Not that easy to play a good safety | :14:33. | :14:43. | |
:14:43. | :14:55. | ||
That last shot was a good bad one, Yes, he was able to take the red he | :14:55. | :14:58. | |
played off the shares went -- cushion and then took the other one | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
off the cushion. Now the balls are in the open. This is not easy to | :15:02. | :15:12. | |
:15:12. | :15:16. | ||
get safe with the cue ball close to Co that is a super pot! It really | :15:16. | :15:26. | |
:15:26. | :15:26. | ||
Under the circumstances. He couldn't see any easy safety shot, | :15:26. | :15:34. | |
but what a pot he has pulled out to more or less clinch this for frame. | :15:34. | :15:38. | |
-- 4 frame. He needs the brown, that is why he is not taking the | :15:38. | :15:48. | |
:15:48. | :16:15. | ||
Not quite safe just yet. Only one Had the red gone in, we would have | :16:15. | :16:25. | |
:16:25. | :16:43. | ||
been off to the mid-session I think he might be able to see | :16:43. | :16:48. | |
enough of this red to take on the pot. He would go round the back of | :16:48. | :16:58. | |
:16:58. | :17:05. | ||
It is all OK at the moment, but Neil is looking at the two reds as | :17:05. | :17:14. | |
if he can make a plant can somehow stay on the pink or black. He has | :17:14. | :17:20. | |
to hit the first red as if he were just trying to pot the first red | :17:20. | :17:24. | |
and coveted into the pocket. He is not even playing that, he can see | :17:25. | :17:32. | |
the one to the left of the pink. All of a sudden, he could be right | :17:32. | :17:37. | |
back in this fourth frame. We know the plant is on. The other two reds | :17:37. | :17:43. | |
are on. This is far from over, Stephen. Shaun will be very annoyed | :17:43. | :17:53. | |
with himself. A carelessness on that red. -- a careless miss. Not | :17:53. | :17:58. | |
been easy shot, but he should still have potted that. Now he has given | :17:58. | :18:03. | |
himself stressed that he didn't need! He should be having a cup of | :18:03. | :18:13. | |
:18:13. | :18:19. | ||
A slip up from Neil, though. Not He doesn't have to stay on the | :18:19. | :18:27. | |
black. With pinks, he would still only need one snooker. If the pink | :18:27. | :18:32. | |
was on its spot, he would have a red in a terrific position to get | :18:32. | :18:42. | |
:18:42. | :18:45. | ||
If he can pot the pink and take the red to the right, high-value colour, | :18:45. | :18:52. | |
he can put Shaun in all sorts of trouble. If he pots this pink, | :18:52. | :19:02. | |
:19:02. | :19:24. | ||
either of these reds are good for The chance is going to be there. If | :19:24. | :19:28. | |
he can get the white tight behind that pink off that last red, it | :19:28. | :19:33. | |
could be a very difficult snooker to escape from. Just make sure you | :19:33. | :19:39. | |
get the cue ball where you want it. Anywhere in between the black and | :19:39. | :19:47. | |
the cue ball at the moment would be He could have played that a lot | :19:48. | :19:54. | |
better. He should have had the white further up the table and he | :19:54. | :19:57. | |
could have sent the red up towards the baulk colours and got tight in | :19:57. | :20:03. | |
behind the pink. That was a slip up. I don't understand why he chose to | :20:03. | :20:09. | |
screw the cue ball off the cushion. He could have been perfect if he'd | :20:09. | :20:19. | |
:20:19. | :20:31. | ||
screwed it back a for two-and-a- He has still got the snooker, but | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
if he had had the red up the other end of the table, behind the blue | :20:35. | :20:39. | |
and brown, what a tough escape it would have been. You would think | :20:39. | :20:44. | |
Shaun would be able to hit this That's all from the News at One | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
this lunchtime. On BBC One we now join the BBC's news team where you | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
are cushion, but when the red is in the middle of the table, it is so | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
easy to slip by it on two occasions. A few have to use side on the white | :20:55. | :21:01. | |
ball, if it is not a natural angle, it can go wrong. He has slipped by | :21:01. | :21:10. | |
it. If this red passes the pink, all of a sudden, Neil Robertson | :21:10. | :21:19. | |
might have gone favourite. Looks to be just enough room. Yes, it will | :21:19. | :21:29. | |
:21:29. | :21:37. | ||
What a steal this would be. I think he has an angle to get onto the | :21:37. | :21:46. | |
yellow. He could screw back off the cushion. Screw back with left-hand | :21:46. | :21:56. | |
:21:56. | :22:03. | ||
side. That is the angle he should What a terrible frame for Shaun | :22:03. | :22:13. | |
:22:13. | :22:19. | ||
Murphy to lose. He has had three or Did he get a bad contact or did he | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
mishit that? He is having the cue ball cleaned so we will give him | :22:24. | :22:28. | |
the benefit of the doubt. He seemed to stun that. He was just rolling | :22:28. | :22:38. | |
:22:38. | :23:15. | ||
it through and it did kick. It gave Neil looked at the potting angle. I | :23:15. | :23:19. | |
don't know if he is playing for pot into the centre and coming across | :23:19. | :23:28. | |
for the brown into the same pocket. It is a tough shot to take on. | :23:28. | :23:38. | |
:23:38. | :23:47. | ||
A good shot in the end. He gave it plenty of thought. It was worth it. | :23:47. | :23:57. | |
:23:57. | :24:05. | ||
A clever shot. Using the blue to He's got to be careful here, Shaun. | :24:05. | :24:09. | |
Got to get to a little touch of side on it and go close to the | :24:09. | :24:19. | |
:24:19. | :24:21. | ||
But this will go nearer the black, the way he is playing it. | :24:21. | :24:25. | |
REFEREE: Foul, and a miss.. surprised he didn't go the other | :24:25. | :24:35. | |
:24:35. | :24:36. | ||
side of the middle pocket with a little bit of right hand side. Jan | :24:36. | :24:39. | |
Verhaas will maybe need the assistance of the monitor. But he | :24:39. | :24:44. | |
is usually pretty good. He doesn't miss many tricks. The one of the | :24:44. | :24:52. | |
top referees for a lot of years now. I was never the best at getting out | :24:52. | :24:56. | |
of snookers, but I agree with you, that angle didn't look on. | :24:56. | :25:03. | |
Sometimes you can hit it hard and square up the angle. Maybe he is | :25:03. | :25:13. | |
:25:13. | :25:15. | ||
He first thought about going the other side of the middle pocket | :25:15. | :25:19. | |
with a little bit of side to try to hit the green, which would be | :25:19. | :25:23. | |
slightly easier. The way he was trying to do it was get around the | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
back of the black to hit the green and send it up the table, but the | :25:27. | :25:32. | |
angle didn't look right. The angle that he played, sometimes if you | :25:32. | :25:42. | |
:25:42. | :25:48. | ||
play bottom of the cue ball, you Two or three cushions if he is | :25:48. | :25:57. | |
going that way. That is probably even more difficult. Can he hit it? | :25:57. | :26:07. | |
:26:07. | :26:14. | ||
Good shot! He is a little unlucky. But it's amazing, this frame should | :26:14. | :26:20. | |
have been over seven or eight minutes ago. Now he has to sit and | :26:20. | :26:30. | |
:26:30. | :26:50. | ||
It's best of 11, first to six. The mid-session interval is coming up. | :26:50. | :27:00. | |
:27:00. | :27:00. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :27:00. | :27:40. | |
3-1 behind, Shaun Murphy would be It didn't seem to jump, but it | :27:40. | :27:45. | |
certainly has pulled up the cue ball. I wonder if we will see Neil | :27:45. | :27:52. | |
show a bit of emotion after stealing this frame. He knows what | :27:52. | :28:02. | |
:28:02. | :28:05. | ||
Shaun Murphy had an earlier break of 45 and he should have held on, | :28:05. | :28:15. | |
:28:15. | :28:18. | ||
but in the end Neil Robertson kept Neil just checking the roll of the | :28:18. | :28:25. | |
bed down the left-hand side. That was an issue for him. But overall, | :28:25. | :28:30. | |
he has to be absolutely delighted with that last frame. A bad blow | :28:30. | :28:37. | |
for Murphy. If you were analysing players, the reason why Shaun | :28:37. | :28:42. | |
Murphy hasn't had more trophies was encapsulated in that frame. He was | :28:42. | :28:47. | |
so careless, beyond belief. The frame should have been done and | :28:47. | :28:55. | |
dusted. What he has done in this frame is incredible. The red he | :28:55. | :28:59. | |
missed at the back of the black, when he has played and he thinks he | :28:59. | :29:03. | |
is already over the line. It doesn't matter about position, | :29:03. | :29:13. | |
knock it in. That is unforgivable. Stephen Hendry mentioned he's had a | :29:13. | :29:21. | |
48 break, 45 in that one, but is it a positional looseness in the | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
middle of the break? A momentary aberration? A moment of aberration, | :29:26. | :29:31. | |
a lack of concentration. Sometimes he gets carried away with a break | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
and he doesn't concentrate on the initial pot. That is what happened. | :29:35. | :29:40. | |
He loses position sometimes when he looks so good in the balls and all | :29:40. | :29:45. | |
of a sudden he plays a loose shot. Kit is a cardinal sin. We've all | :29:45. | :29:51. | |
done it, you think you have reached the winning line. A little lack of | :29:51. | :29:54. | |
concentration, you take your eye off the ball and it comes back to | :29:54. | :29:59. | |
haunt you. Can we always say the snooker gods never forgive you. | :29:59. | :30:09. | |
:30:09. | :30:12. | ||
When you make a cardinal sin like 90 pay for it with Roberts and | :30:12. | :30:17. | |
around. Every time you play him he is never worse, and sometimes he is | :30:17. | :30:20. | |
better. You have always got to match him for safety and take your | :30:20. | :30:26. | |
chances and you must not be careless. That is why the scoreline | :30:26. | :30:30. | |
is 3-1, because Shaun Murphy has been. Neil Robertson played a | :30:30. | :30:36. | |
terrible shock. Even then, it was not a difficult snookered hit. I | :30:36. | :30:41. | |
said to John, if he hits this hard, the white always straightened up. | :30:41. | :30:49. | |
When you hit it hard off straight, it always straightened up. You | :30:49. | :30:54. | |
should never have missed that red off one cushion. It is another | :30:54. | :31:00. | |
point of Cairness this form Shaun Murphy. -- point of carelessness | :31:00. | :31:03. | |
from Shaun Murphy. It is the difference between winning and | :31:03. | :31:06. | |
losing, it is the little things that make up the overall picture. | :31:06. | :31:11. | |
It is why he has not won as much as he should. He strikes the ball as | :31:11. | :31:15. | |
good as anyone, but he gets beaten in a tactical department time and | :31:15. | :31:24. | |
again by people better than him. am feeling of frustration! If he | :31:24. | :31:32. | |
just tidy it up he would be there. His cue action is so good when he | :31:32. | :31:36. | |
is in a four-month the boss. Peace breaks it so well. Sometimes he | :31:36. | :31:45. | |
gets into the cue ball so much, that is why he runs out of position. | :31:45. | :31:53. | |
You get such a reaction of these cloths. It is the little things we | :31:53. | :31:57. | |
are measured on at this level. is not over yet. There is a long | :31:57. | :32:03. | |
way to go. A long way to go. Apart from that, he has a great | :32:03. | :32:12. | |
temperament to go -- as well. talk about Neil Robertson. All this | :32:12. | :32:16. | |
week, our experts have been doing their Paxman impressions, or it | :32:16. | :32:26. | |
:32:26. | :32:40. | ||
should be Frost a mess when! -- in What does this tournament, the | :32:40. | :32:46. | |
Masters, mean to you? It was the first tournament I ever watched on | :32:46. | :32:51. | |
television. My dad's partner in snooker was sparred it -- Scottish. | :32:51. | :32:56. | |
He used to always play beat Stephen Hendry and McManus final. I must | :32:57. | :33:03. | |
have watched it about 50 times. It increased my interest in the game, | :33:03. | :33:10. | |
watching that much. What is your most special memory of watching the | :33:10. | :33:20. | |
Masters? Which much to do think it was superb? -- which much did you | :33:20. | :33:30. | |
:33:30. | :33:32. | ||
think was sued her? When O'Sullivan and Higgins played. It was close to | :33:33. | :33:36. | |
perfection. Ronnie in that final was about as perfect as any | :33:36. | :33:41. | |
sportsman in the world could get. He was up there with Roger | :33:41. | :33:45. | |
Federer's performances and things like that. It was not easy for you | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
to start off here, were you homesick? Being 16 in the UK are my | :33:51. | :33:55. | |
own, there was no place for overseas players. I would fly over | :33:55. | :34:00. | |
to qualify for the UK Championship and I would fly over the day before | :34:00. | :34:04. | |
it the day I was going to play. I would fly to Heathrow, work out the | :34:04. | :34:10. | |
best way, get to the train station, ask the taxi driver to take me to a | :34:10. | :34:14. | |
B&B and gets settled in and pay may match the next day. Looking back, I | :34:14. | :34:20. | |
had no chance. I fell off that the tour and it was not until a couple | :34:20. | :34:25. | |
of years after that I made progress. You had a wide part in 2004 and it | :34:25. | :34:33. | |
was a nice baptism. You got Jimmy White in London to! Yes, that was | :34:33. | :34:38. | |
the first time I had played on TV and in the top 16 and I played one | :34:38. | :34:45. | |
of the legends of the game. It is something I will always remember. | :34:45. | :34:54. | |
Was the crowd difficult to get used to? Yes, the crowd was amazing. It | :34:54. | :34:58. | |
was the most overwhelming thing I ever experienced in my life. I will | :34:58. | :35:03. | |
always remember it. We are going to move to 2010 and a very special | :35:03. | :35:13. | |
:35:13. | :35:14. | ||
year for Neil Robertson, why? couple of things! Winning the World | :35:14. | :35:16. | |
Championship when my partner was due a couple of days after the | :35:16. | :35:24. | |
final, due to give birth to our son, Alexander. It was an amazing year | :35:25. | :35:29. | |
for me. Chelsea won the Premier League, I won the World | :35:29. | :35:35. | |
Championship. World No. 1 by any chance? Yes, I won the BBC event, | :35:35. | :35:40. | |
the World Open. It was the most perfect year. I was very privileged | :35:40. | :35:44. | |
to be a player and achieve those things in such a short space of | :35:44. | :35:49. | |
time. You have mentioned you have got a young son. It is hard to be | :35:49. | :35:57. | |
away from home. How do you balance it? Is the dog would? Yes, it is. | :35:57. | :36:01. | |
Meir Alexander was born was a fantastic year for more that -- for | :36:01. | :36:08. | |
be. The second half of 2010 was rough. Alexander was just a few | :36:08. | :36:14. | |
months old. I was world No. 1, so I was not overly keen on going away | :36:14. | :36:23. | |
and playing. The hardest part is juggling the PTCs. Maintaining a | :36:23. | :36:30. | |
focus during the PTC tournaments is important and it is pretty hard. | :36:30. | :36:40. | |
:36:40. | :36:41. | ||
You cannot think during a match. Up on her last season I had a terrible | :36:41. | :36:45. | |
record in China because I thought, at least if I get beaten I can see | :36:45. | :36:51. | |
my son. Going away has been tough but I think I have got it now. I | :36:51. | :36:56. | |
have not ended everything this season and I think I have benefited. | :36:56. | :36:59. | |
I read something about Stephen Hendry helping you. What has he | :36:59. | :37:07. | |
said? I have had a few drinks with Matt sell than he is friends with | :37:07. | :37:14. | |
Hendry. I thought, stuff it, I will ask him questions about snooker. I | :37:15. | :37:20. | |
said, can I ask you as knitter question? He said, go ahead. I | :37:20. | :37:27. | |
thought, I will not pull him down. I was talking to him about break- | :37:27. | :37:31. | |
building and has sometimes I do not play position but just how to land | :37:31. | :37:36. | |
on the next ball. I was talking to him about different practice | :37:36. | :37:44. | |
routines. It was a difference. Protect -- process about break- | :37:44. | :37:53. | |
building. There were a different teashops where I was getting lazy. | :37:53. | :37:57. | |
Overall it was about position. When I explain my thought process he | :37:57. | :38:06. | |
said, you sound amateurish. To hear that from him... Was that easy to | :38:06. | :38:12. | |
take? As good a player eyes you are, if you are taught you are | :38:12. | :38:18. | |
amateurish, were you are right with that? -- were you all right with | :38:18. | :38:24. | |
that? He was such a great positional player, I will never be | :38:24. | :38:29. | |
as good as that, but I can definitely improve. It is going to | :38:29. | :38:33. | |
take time before it will become natural. The signs Senedd that it | :38:33. | :38:39. | |
is happening. The defending champion this year, but what was | :38:39. | :38:43. | |
last year like? Last year was amazing. I have played well in the | :38:43. | :38:50. | |
Masters for a lot of years but not really progressed. This was the | :38:50. | :38:54. | |
first time I had reached the semi- final. I had a fantastic match with | :38:54. | :38:59. | |
Ronnie O'Sullivan a couple of years ago, and Maguire. If I will always | :38:59. | :39:02. | |
run into somebody playing great snooker and that is what you get in | :39:02. | :39:05. | |
this tournament and why it is so hard to win. Last year I played | :39:05. | :39:09. | |
Mark Allen, who had just reached the final of the UK Championships | :39:10. | :39:17. | |
and was one of covenants. I played Mark Williams and Judd Trump. The | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
final was Shaun Murphy, trying to win all three. An amazing | :39:23. | :39:27. | |
atmosphere every week, every match. Probably the best I've played from | :39:27. | :39:34. | |
start to finish, I think. Thank you. John and the boys have been getting | :39:34. | :39:39. | |
great stuff out of these players. There was a lot of interesting | :39:39. | :39:43. | |
stuff about his thinking with regard to break-building and the | :39:43. | :39:50. | |
tactical situations he finds himself in, Neil Robertson. Ken is | :39:50. | :39:54. | |
down at the practice table. There was one shot in that last frame we | :39:55. | :39:58. | |
were interested in with regard to potentially missing a trick by Neil | :39:58. | :40:08. | |
:40:08. | :40:11. | ||
What was wrong with his thinking here? He had the red over the whole | :40:11. | :40:17. | |
but also he had a red here, down the middle of the table. This is | :40:17. | :40:22. | |
our big pocket. You do not have to head the ball directly because even | :40:22. | :40:27. | |
if you hit because it should still going. He did have the ball-in-hand. | :40:27. | :40:33. | |
Have a look at this. Hopefully we won't get this in one. This is | :40:33. | :40:38. | |
called a big pocket. Try and grab the red in Office of the First | :40:38. | :40:48. | |
:40:48. | :40:56. | ||
-- off the other red and pot the We have had plenty of e-mails and | :40:56. | :41:01. | |
tweets. We have one, are there any routines that have tuning in a | :41:01. | :41:11. | |
:41:11. | :41:20. | ||
pop the white straight after it. Also, players and may play a shot | :41:20. | :41:26. | |
from here, particularly professionals. They went stun it or | :41:26. | :41:31. | |
follow-through. You can start off by stunning it, something like that, | :41:31. | :41:41. | |
:41:41. | :41:50. | ||
Another good routine, take your cue on the Brian and make sure -- on | :41:50. | :41:54. | |
the brown and make sure it is covering the baulk line and if it | :41:54. | :42:01. | |
is covering the blog line it is on a straight line. Another one, why | :42:01. | :42:05. | |
do the majority of players have their middle finger when setting up | :42:05. | :42:15. | |
:42:15. | :42:19. | ||
and after playing a shot by? It is they do it. We all have our own | :42:19. | :42:25. | |
idiosyncracies. It is a nervous twitch. The Ding Junhui had his own | :42:26. | :42:35. | |
at secrecy, he blinks. -- idiosyncrasy. Mark Selby moves like | :42:35. | :42:45. | |
:42:45. | :42:52. | ||
We have had another interesting question from Anthony Ward. I would | :42:52. | :42:56. | |
like to ask, has anyone ever held off three BBC Triple Crown events | :42:56. | :43:02. | |
at once and if so, he was the first? I have the details. There | :43:02. | :43:08. | |
are seven guys in Toll Bar who have done it. -- in total who have done | :43:08. | :43:12. | |
it. Four of them have done it at the same time. The first was Steve | :43:12. | :43:18. | |
Davis, 87 and a beard, Stephen Hendry did it, John Higgins Tibet | :43:18. | :43:28. | |
and Mark Williams did it in 2002/three. Let's underwrite the | :43:28. | :43:37. | |
pedigree of our semi-finalists. They have all won at least one of | :43:37. | :43:47. | |
:43:47. | :43:55. | ||
them. Dott has reached three World | :43:55. | :43:59. | |
Championship finals. They are all very well decorated men. The | :43:59. | :44:04. | |
quality of what we are seeing is so high. But quality of the refereeing, | :44:04. | :44:14. | |
always very high. Their man in the middle is Jan Verhaas. He is the | :44:14. | :44:20. | |
first man from outside the UK to be in charge of a Crucible final. He | :44:20. | :44:24. | |
has been a man in the middle for all three of the late Paul Hunter? | :44:24. | :44:28. | |
Triumphs. This is the first time for over six months we have seen | :44:28. | :44:38. | |
:44:38. | :44:38. | ||
him at a major event after a scary experience. | :44:38. | :44:44. | |
I have had a bad last six months. During one of the qualifiers in | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
June in Sheffield I slipped in the bathroom in the morning and had a | :44:48. | :44:53. | |
scan done and it turned out that a piece of bone had broken off and | :44:53. | :44:59. | |
started blocking my nerve system in my left leg. I had an operation in | :44:59. | :45:04. | |
July and recently I flew out to Chengdu for the International. | :45:04. | :45:12. | |
Coming off the plane, my right leg was just going. After advice from | :45:12. | :45:17. | |
my colleague who is a nurse in Germany, he advised me to go to | :45:17. | :45:21. | |
hospital and have it checked. Turned out it was the brain | :45:21. | :45:31. | |
:45:31. | :45:32. | ||
thrombosis. -- DP being -- the bane of thrombosis. I had to have blood | :45:32. | :45:37. | |
tests three times a week and had to invest -- inject myself with | :45:37. | :45:43. | |
thinners. The language barrier was immense. Nobody really spoke any | :45:43. | :45:47. | |
English, not in the hospital or anything. It is a beautiful city | :45:47. | :45:50. | |
but when you are alone and something is wrong with you, you | :45:50. | :45:59. | |
just want to go home. When I was young and watched | :45:59. | :46:04. | |
snooker on TV I always looked up to Steve Davis, the ambassador for the | :46:04. | :46:10. | |
game. Then came Hendry and his battles with Jimmy White. She I | :46:10. | :46:16. | |
love snooker so much as a reviewer of the game. My favourite memories | :46:16. | :46:26. | |
:46:26. | :46:26. | ||
go West the Paul Hunter finals at Wembley. He is not with us any more, | :46:26. | :46:31. | |
so they are the memories I treasure the most. This is the first | :46:31. | :46:35. | |
television tournament since the Crucible for me. I have had a lot | :46:35. | :46:40. | |
of support from players and colleagues. It is a good feeling to | :46:40. | :46:46. | |
see them again after such a long time. | :46:46. | :46:56. | |
:46:56. | :46:58. | ||
Good to have him back. I was looking up his record, he has | :46:58. | :47:01. | |
appeared in four Crucible finals, three UKs and eight Masters and he | :47:01. | :47:07. | |
would not what you to remember he has been there at all. That is the | :47:07. | :47:10. | |
beauty of a good referee. Thoroughly respected by other | :47:10. | :47:18. | |
players. He is absolutely top-class in the game. He is just going into | :47:18. | :47:28. | |
:47:28. | :47:28. | ||
the shadows. He will be calling the shots. This is the first a six -- | :47:28. | :47:38. | |
:47:38. | :47:52. | ||
the first of six will be going Shaun Murphy hoping to put in the | :47:52. | :47:56. | |
back of his mind the frame from before the midsession interval. He | :47:56. | :48:01. | |
is an experienced player, he will forget about that. Just an | :48:01. | :48:11. | |
:48:11. | :48:24. | ||
interesting point about Jan Verhaas, earlier when there was a question | :48:24. | :48:29. | |
about a whether he should have called a fire might, he could not | :48:29. | :48:32. | |
have replaced the more, so be cleared up immediately. -- he | :48:32. | :48:42. | |
:48:42. | :48:42. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :48:42. | :49:44. | |
There is not a lot of value if he rolls that red in. The other red | :49:44. | :49:52. | |
was possible, but he was just running into a bunch. He has only | :49:52. | :49:59. | |
made six from that opening pot. It was just a shot that he played on | :49:59. | :50:03. | |
the blue, he didn't hit it hard enough to get the wider way from | :50:03. | :50:13. | |
:50:13. | :50:29. | ||
the cushion. -- to get the white Good lying if it needed on his | :50:29. | :50:37. | |
safety shot. Is he playing missing a red? Yes, looks as if he is. -- | :50:37. | :50:47. | |
:50:47. | :50:54. | ||
the single red. I thought he would He might have avoided the cannon on | :50:54. | :51:04. | |
:51:04. | :51:04. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :51:04. | :51:53. | |
When the cue ball is on the cushion Not a great angle on the blue but | :51:53. | :52:03. | |
:52:03. | :52:11. | ||
enough to play a cannon into the The harder you hit that type of | :52:11. | :52:18. | |
shot the more angled you make and he just made a bit too much. It has | :52:18. | :52:25. | |
turned into a good safety, hasn't it? The pack is intact so there is | :52:26. | :52:35. | |
:52:36. | :52:36. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :52:36. | :53:17. | |
He could not get over behind the green so he had to concentrate on | :53:17. | :53:24. | |
getting the cue ball close behind a cushion. You can tell that that is | :53:24. | :53:34. | |
:53:34. | :53:35. | ||
his brother. He is not a bad player himself. Not quite as good, but not | :53:35. | :53:45. | |
:53:45. | :54:10. | ||
That is very uncharacteristic from Robertson. He never got anywhere | :54:10. | :54:19. | |
near that. He was hoping to be right on the blue or black. They | :54:19. | :54:27. | |
must have been some unintentional side on the cable. -- on the cue | :54:27. | :54:37. | |
:54:37. | :54:58. | ||
That miss that Robertson made, it will give Murphy a little bit of a | :54:58. | :55:08. | |
:55:08. | :55:30. | ||
bruised. But he will have to play He has to find the gap. The one to | :55:30. | :55:39. | |
the left of the three is not possible. In fact, that one does | :55:39. | :55:49. | |
:55:49. | :55:49. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :55:49. | :57:31. | |
There are still a few more reds Once again, we get to the 40 mark | :57:31. | :57:36. | |
on the break and Murphy has played a careless positional shot. He | :57:36. | :57:46. | |
:57:46. | :57:53. | ||
should not have been anywhere near If he is going to play for the red | :57:53. | :57:57. | |
back he is looking at it is nothing to do with the cue ball, just | :57:57. | :58:00. | |
concentrate on the pot. The cue ball will automatically go on the | :58:01. | :58:10. | |
:58:11. | :58:14. | ||
Amazing, isn't it? Breaking down in the middle of the frame, really. | :58:14. | :58:21. | |
really is extraordinary. It can only be concentration, he has not | :58:21. | :58:27. | |
been able to keep his concentration 100% throughout the break. It is | :58:27. | :58:33. | |
one of those little lapses. In the UK, he did it so many times, got to | :58:33. | :58:39. | |
40 or 50, did a careless positional shot and broke down. This standard | :58:39. | :58:49. | |
:58:49. | :58:55. | ||
of snooker you have to win frames Maybe he will have to have a chat | :58:55. | :59:05. | |
:59:05. | :59:06. | ||
with you. I believe Robertson was talking to you about break-building, | :59:06. | :59:12. | |
is that correct? Yes, after he lost in the UK. That was a surprising | :59:12. | :59:19. | |
miss, the blue. Yes, he was chatting to me after he lost to | :59:19. | :59:25. | |
Mark Selby. He described the way his thought processes were during a | :59:25. | :59:29. | |
break. I said that I find it amateurish. He said a lot of that | :59:29. | :59:34. | |
time, he does not plan, he would just make sure they pot and hope to | :59:34. | :59:39. | |
plant a bomb and nice angle. Strange, considering how well he | :59:39. | :59:49. | |
:59:49. | :59:49. | ||
He certainly played well against Mark Allen, three century breaks. | :59:49. | :59:59. | |
:59:59. | :00:03. | ||
Iping he got a bit of kick on the That is a bit unlucky. That is a | :00:03. | :00:08. | |
very unlucky, he is almost over the winning line in this frame and get | :00:08. | :00:18. | |
:00:18. | :00:22. | ||
He only needed a red and a colour, he played the cannon nicely. A bit | :00:22. | :00:32. | |
:00:32. | :00:34. | ||
I it just what to clarify, in no way it would think he plays like an | :00:34. | :00:40. | |
amateur, he is one of the best players in the world! Yes, the | :00:40. | :00:46. | |
Australian has one six ranking titles, the greatest player to ever | :00:46. | :00:56. | |
:00:56. | :01:10. | ||
Eddie Charlton held that mantle for This is a totally different player | :01:10. | :01:20. | |
:01:20. | :01:47. | ||
He holds his hand up, just to He doesn't have to pot a colour, | :01:47. | :01:52. | |
still would be enough points on the board, he is 54 behind. Still a | :01:52. | :02:02. | |
:02:02. | :02:07. | ||
I was wondering if he had a chance to play the yellow on to the blue | :02:07. | :02:13. | |
and red, to open them up, leave the cue ball somewhere near the brown. | :02:13. | :02:23. | |
:02:23. | :02:23. | ||
It looks as if the way he is lining it up, he can get past the green to | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
hit that red. It is a red he wouldn't have wanted to bring into | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
play, he would have liked to have left it safe as a bit of insurance, | :02:33. | :02:40. | |
but it is the only one he can see. When he removes that come he will | :02:40. | :02:50. | |
:02:50. | :03:02. | ||
put them all in pottable position, He doesn't have to play that red. | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
He could leave it there as a little bit of insurance, but it is a bit | :03:06. | :03:16. | |
:03:16. | :03:41. | ||
risky to play off the cushion to Well, in the end it has cost him | :03:41. | :03:51. | |
:03:51. | :03:54. | ||
five points. Jan Verhaas we just He's usually pretty good, even | :03:54. | :04:00. | |
without a monitor, he seemed to know exactly where they are off. | :04:00. | :04:10. | |
:04:10. | :04:12. | ||
I am not sure how much you could see of that. He's just saying, he's | :04:12. | :04:17. | |
not sure how much Shaun could see. But the players are pretty fair. | :04:17. | :04:23. | |
They will assist the referee as they can do. You can hold the | :04:23. | :04:33. | |
:04:33. | :04:37. | ||
referee but you cannot touch the Deeper in the table, yes? He could | :04:37. | :04:45. | |
see a little bit more of it than that, I feel. Was it not a bit | :04:45. | :04:53. | |
higher up? Is the blue right, or should be higher? That is the way | :04:53. | :04:59. | |
it was. It is only a fraction, I think he could see a little bit | :04:59. | :05:09. | |
:05:09. | :05:15. | ||
It is only fractions, but in this case, it makes a bit of a | :05:15. | :05:19. | |
difference. He is reluctant to move the red too far. He could play it | :05:19. | :05:22. | |
off two cushions and back down the table but doesn't want to bring | :05:22. | :05:32. | |
:05:32. | :05:36. | ||
Are you happy with that? I think everybody is happy. They will just | :05:36. | :05:46. | |
:05:46. | :05:55. | ||
He is making it more awkward for himself, saying that the white was | :05:55. | :06:00. | |
nearer the green. I think that is right. I thought he was going to | :06:00. | :06:04. | |
play thin off it and back down the table, he didn't want to move the | :06:04. | :06:14. | |
:06:14. | :06:41. | ||
red very much. Let's see what He is looking at the angle, but | :06:41. | :06:51. | |
:06:51. | :06:54. | ||
surely that red doesn't pass the If you were in behind the red you | :06:54. | :07:04. | |
:07:04. | :07:23. | ||
might be able to drop it in past There are a few shots available. He | :07:23. | :07:26. | |
could play of the one to the right off the blue and try and get the | :07:26. | :07:36. | |
:07:36. | :07:36. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :07:36. | :09:26. | |
There is this red to the left centre. He can play a safety to put | :09:26. | :09:36. | |
:09:36. | :10:03. | ||
the cue ball in behind the brown Now he has the chance to steal this | :10:03. | :10:13. | |
:10:13. | :10:15. | ||
He certainly giving some of the shots could from -- thinking time | :10:15. | :10:21. | |
come he's putting everything into this effort. He pinched the | :10:21. | :10:31. | |
:10:31. | :11:08. | ||
previous frame and he has got his He's back looking at that red to | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
see big well past the blue and he is also looking at the blue to see | :11:11. | :11:15. | |
if he can pot it and get out of the way. He can get easily on to the | :11:15. | :11:25. | |
Get the black, the other red and then get a little bit closer to the | :11:25. | :11:35. | |
:11:35. | :11:40. | ||
blue, you can just drop the blue in He is now looking at the red that | :11:40. | :11:43. | |
is near the blue, I thought he would have played for the one near | :11:43. | :11:48. | |
the pink spot. Because we know that that red will pass the blue but | :11:48. | :11:58. | |
:11:58. | :12:09. | ||
there is only half a pocket there. Now Neil Robertson has definitely | :12:09. | :12:14. | |
become favourite for this frame. You think brown blue is going to be | :12:14. | :12:24. | |
:12:24. | :12:40. | ||
I don't think he has got the angle He kept looking up at the | :12:40. | :12:43. | |
scoreboard, and he is still looking at it, sometimes it is difficult | :12:43. | :12:53. | |
:12:53. | :12:55. | ||
work out the score when you're an Easy to get on to the black or pink | :12:55. | :12:59. | |
here, but he was looking at the blue to see if he could get on that, | :12:59. | :13:03. | |
it would be much more difficult than to get onto the yellow from | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
the blue, that is the only downside to that. He is well ahead of | :13:08. | :13:16. | |
himself. He has surveyed the whole of the table and he is certainly | :13:16. | :13:26. | |
:13:26. | :13:30. | ||
looking a bit of leather on the old He has not come far enough to play | :13:30. | :13:34. | |
that shot, he will have to play this blue with a bit of pace. It is | :13:34. | :13:44. | |
:13:44. | :13:45. | ||
He will have to play with a touch of right hand side. If he hits the | :13:45. | :13:48. | |
cushion and then out somewhere along the line anywhere, it doesn't | :13:48. | :13:54. | |
have to be right down the line, but somewhere with a bit of right-hand | :13:54. | :14:04. | |
:14:04. | :14:08. | ||
side will get and there. He hasn't A delicate little one needed now. | :14:08. | :14:12. | |
That is if he's going to take the pot on and try and hold for the | :14:12. | :14:22. | |
:14:22. | :14:23. | ||
For right handed player, this would be comfortable, but with the rest | :14:23. | :14:33. | |
:14:33. | :14:48. | ||
come of this is much more difficult. I would suggest there will be a | :14:48. | :14:53. | |
safety shot now. No way he can pot this green and holed for the brown. | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
The only way you can do that will be to pot the green to the left | :14:57. | :15:02. | |
hand corner and come all the way around the table and back up again. | :15:02. | :15:05. | |
And there are three colours to contend with. Maybe he will not | :15:05. | :15:15. | |
:15:15. | :15:19. | ||
even bother with the pot here, as Is he going to try and go round the | :15:19. | :15:29. | |
:15:29. | :15:46. | ||
table or is it just a safety? Just Such a key frame, this. They all | :15:46. | :15:56. | |
:15:56. | :15:58. | ||
our key frames but this is, but Ford one instead of three to. It is | :15:58. | :16:08. | |
:16:08. | :16:29. | ||
a huge difference in the first to A first-class shot there from Shaun | :16:29. | :16:34. | |
Murphy. All of a sudden, the advantage is with him again. This | :16:34. | :16:41. | |
is much more difficult for Neil. I don't know if he can hit enough of | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
the cushion from behind and send the green back up the table, keep | :16:45. | :16:48. | |
the white near enough to wear the green is, there might just be | :16:48. | :16:54. | |
enough room to do that. As long as he doesn't hit the pink with the | :16:54. | :17:04. | |
:17:04. | :17:29. | ||
No, just a straightforward run to He just got down and he dad, and he | :17:29. | :17:39. | |
:17:39. | :17:46. | ||
could have given it a bit more There was a natural safety shot | :17:46. | :17:56. | |
:17:56. | :18:33. | ||
around the angles so long as he He's going to have to come off the | :18:33. | :18:36. | |
cushion with right hand side command you can never be guaranteed | :18:36. | :18:42. | |
to knock this stage. -- to knock this stage. And I don't think he | :18:42. | :18:52. | |
:18:52. | :18:56. | ||
If it cuts, he can finish on the brown come he can come back down | :18:56. | :19:06. | |
:19:06. | :19:35. | ||
It is curling! And it is in the pocket! So that is a reprieve for | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
Shaun Murphy. Although I think Neil was trying to get down the right | :19:39. | :19:49. | |
:19:49. | :19:54. | ||
side of the blue it as we look at Just checking the scoreboard, the | :19:55. | :20:04. | |
:20:05. | :20:44. | ||
So a Shaun Murphy special, and we will be setting them up for the | :20:44. | :20:54. | |
:20:54. | :21:03. | ||
Might be worth putting the brown here, because he can win with two | :21:03. | :21:13. | |
:21:13. | :21:48. | ||
Snooker's there. Five points for a I would suggest just to roll this | :21:48. | :21:58. | |
:21:58. | :22:07. | ||
He tried to pot it. Maybe he has But I was with you, I would have | :22:07. | :22:17. | |
:22:17. | :22:55. | ||
rolled the blue in or over, as they Just got to be a little bit careful | :22:56. | :23:01. | |
here, Shaun. I don't think the middle pocket is in the way of the | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
one cushion escape. The two cushion escape, the black is likely in the | :23:05. | :23:15. | |
:23:15. | :23:20. | ||
way. But there is a gap between the Should be OK as long as he just | :23:20. | :23:30. | |
:23:30. | :23:32. | ||
misses the middle pocket. Looks to Just along that line or nearer the | :23:32. | :23:36. | |
middle pocket, if he tries two cushions, he could clip the black. | :23:36. | :23:44. | |
I think he could get it off one. He has found the gap, believe it or | :23:44. | :23:54. | |
:23:54. | :24:00. | ||
We're at the snookers-required stage, and all of a sudden, the | :24:00. | :24:08. | |
frame is not safe. Only one snooker needed, and the black is an acre | :24:08. | :24:14. | |
position, if he can keep the blue safe. -- it in a good position. The | :24:14. | :24:24. | |
:24:24. | :24:29. | ||
pink is not ideally placed above He didn't mean to pot that. He | :24:29. | :24:33. | |
tried to just get a snooker in behind the black there. So it is | :24:33. | :24:40. | |
much more difficult now but the reds a possibility -- there is a | :24:40. | :24:43. | |
possibility, but he would have to be so precise to get in behind the | :24:43. | :24:53. | |
:24:53. | :25:28. | ||
He has got to be so careful here, because as I mentioned the black | :25:28. | :25:34. | |
isn't a perfect position to get the snooker in behind. -- he's in a | :25:34. | :25:38. | |
perfect position. So he is trying to figure out where to put the pink | :25:38. | :25:45. | |
that will make it difficult for Neil to attempt the snooker. | :25:45. | :25:49. | |
these are all problems he didn't need to have. He could have | :25:49. | :25:59. | |
:25:59. | :26:12. | ||
This is a comfortable shot just screw the cue ball in behind the | :26:12. | :26:22. | |
:26:22. | :26:24. | ||
black, and the frame is over. Just I'm just wondering if he can come | :26:24. | :26:27. | |
off the pink and possibly get in behind the black maid would be some | :26:27. | :26:37. | |
:26:37. | :26:47. | ||
shot. He tried that, but he caught This time it is in or over. Ind | :26:47. | :26:54. | |
would be better. Safely in the pocket, so he almost let it slip | :26:54. | :27:04. | |
:27:04. | :27:09. | ||
A 39 minute frame and both men, giving it such care and attention. | :27:09. | :27:13. | |
A very important point in the match. Shaun will be delighted to have one | :27:13. | :27:20. | |
the frame. He is not winning in one visit, so consequently the frames | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
are a bit more drawn out. It takes a bit more out of you, but if you | :27:23. | :27:30. | |
win them, it is fine. That progression we talked about before | :27:30. | :27:37. | |
the interval, breaks of 40 yet come a 45 and 41, it is all easy for us | :27:37. | :27:42. | |
to analyse, but when you're out there, had you result for an issue | :27:42. | :27:48. | |
like that? It is difficult, he knows he should have had that frame | :27:48. | :27:56. | |
in the bag maybe 15 minutes ago. So it does take it out of you, and it | :27:56. | :28:01. | |
does instil you... He will be more relieved than feeling really good | :28:01. | :28:07. | |
about himself winning that frame. But as Stephen says, he has to | :28:07. | :28:11. | |
concentrate harder when he is in amongst the balls, to kill the | :28:11. | :28:16. | |
frame in one visit, because it you don't come made gives your opponent | :28:16. | :28:19. | |
extra confidence and he can relax a bit more because he knows if you're | :28:19. | :28:24. | |
not going to kill the frame in one visit, it will take you more visits. | :28:24. | :28:28. | |
So you're not confident, it looked your opponent relax a bit and play | :28:28. | :28:38. | |
more shot you wouldn't want to play. I make the point that it is worth | :28:38. | :28:44. | |
reiterating, Stephen Hendry used to make 70, 80, 90, so the tactics | :28:44. | :28:48. | |
with one red on the table were all over, he didn't have the 15 minutes | :28:49. | :28:53. | |
of brain damage, if you like, it was already all over. So if you | :28:53. | :28:57. | |
stop your opponent to be back to the table, the score line changes a | :28:57. | :29:01. | |
lot quicker and you don't get the mental anguish. But if he starts to | :29:01. | :29:06. | |
win the frame at one visit, that puts the pressure on your opponent. | :29:06. | :29:11. | |
He's going to be on top of the game, he doesn't want to miss, it puts | :29:11. | :29:14. | |
pressure on the safety shots as well. He has to be on top of his | :29:14. | :29:20. | |
game, that is a double-edged sword. In terms of safety, to wrap this | :29:20. | :29:24. | |
championship, Murphy has had the better of the Exchange's -- thrall | :29:24. | :29:34. | |
:29:34. | :30:02. | ||
A little spring in his step as he knocked back in. He played | :30:02. | :30:10. | |
perfectly. He made sure he finished on one of the baulk colours. With | :30:10. | :30:20. | |
:30:20. | :30:20. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :30:20. | :32:07. | |
four or five reds available, it He purposely left himself short on | :32:07. | :32:17. | |
:32:17. | :32:28. | ||
this Dobbie so that he could open The cannon on the pink worked out | :32:28. | :32:37. | |
perfectly for him. Now, that is so careless, and that is what he has | :32:37. | :32:47. | |
:32:47. | :33:10. | ||
And he looks as if he is up for it now. He means business. Will he | :33:10. | :33:20. | |
:33:20. | :33:29. | ||
This time, can he finished a frame in one visit. I am going to stick | :33:29. | :33:39. | |
:33:39. | :34:03. | ||
my neck out and say he will. Curse He has left himself straight on the | :34:03. | :34:13. | |
:34:13. | :34:13. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :34:13. | :34:57. | |
He is going to start having a few We do not expect him to miss these. | :34:57. | :35:07. | |
:35:07. | :35:07. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :35:07. | :35:56. | |
He might just be able to get through to this one in the middle. | :35:56. | :36:06. | |
:36:06. | :36:45. | ||
There is a gap to screw back for When you are playing the top | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
players, you want to put your stamp on the match as soon as possible. | :36:50. | :37:00. | |
:37:00. | :37:08. | ||
You need to get your opponent on There is only one red that can come | :37:08. | :37:18. | |
:37:18. | :37:18. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :37:18. | :38:33. | |
He went too far into the corner, but he was always going to have | :38:33. | :38:43. | |
:38:43. | :38:43. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :38:43. | :39:24. | |
Just wondering if he will leave an Moving back last red will be | :39:24. | :39:34. | |
:39:34. | :39:34. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :39:34. | :40:37. | |
He has deliberately left himself It will go up past the yellow. He | :40:37. | :40:47. | |
:40:47. | :40:47. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :40:47. | :41:48. | |
was looking at it. This could be He just missed it and he played it | :41:48. | :41:58. | |
:41:58. | :41:58. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :41:58. | :42:44. | |
Shaun Murphy has missed a golden He will have to keep concentrating. | :42:44. | :42:54. | |
:42:54. | :43:11. | ||
He has been making careless He has done it again. Shaun Murphy | :43:11. | :43:17. | |
had a chance to take the frame, but he did not do it. It was a fabulous | :43:17. | :43:27. | |
:43:27. | :43:33. | ||
You have got to salute the instincts of nil Robertson. He has | :43:33. | :43:37. | |
got to pot the balls after the mistakes Shaun Murphy has been | :43:37. | :43:45. | |
making. He is good at that. That was a super clearance. A couple of | :43:45. | :43:55. | |
:43:55. | :44:02. | ||
grape shots. Just look at this blue. Look how well he strikes it. That | :44:02. | :44:09. | |
was a brilliant shot. He also missed the cannon on the green. | :44:09. | :44:15. | |
That was super. Shaun Murphy is suffering from a condition that has | :44:15. | :44:21. | |
just been brought to my condition. Every time he makes a faulty, he | :44:21. | :44:31. | |
:44:31. | :44:39. | ||
leaves himself open. -- makes 40. He started off the break with some | :44:39. | :44:46. | |
great shots. He split the pack a lovely, all the reds were out in | :44:46. | :44:56. | |
:44:56. | :45:00. | ||
the open. He careless the got on to the blue. He had to drop it in, | :45:00. | :45:09. | |
play the shot with the rest and then he misses it. He is brilliant | :45:09. | :45:19. | |
with the rest bow. -- he is brilliant with the rest, but he has | :45:19. | :45:25. | |
missed a couple of great shocks today. He has only got himself to | :45:25. | :45:31. | |
blame for being behind. He is struggling out there and in the | :45:31. | :45:35. | |
overall context of the match, you have got to see Neil Robinson | :45:35. | :45:41. | |
getting stronger and stronger. can say that, but Shaun Murphy is | :45:41. | :45:49. | |
still getting chances. He just needs to take it up a notch or two. | :45:49. | :45:54. | |
He is cueing really well, but there have been some lapses. He needs to | :45:54. | :46:03. | |
raise his game and there is plenty of life left in this match. At what | :46:03. | :46:13. | |
point does this, semi-finals at the Masters, finally start to seek in - | :46:13. | :46:23. | |
:46:23. | :46:24. | ||
- to sink in? It is difficult. This is a huge frame. If it's 5-2 behind, | :46:24. | :46:34. | |
:46:34. | :46:55. | ||
Shaun Murphy could have been in front if he had converted his | :46:55. | :47:05. | |
:47:05. | :47:29. | ||
He can see the edge of the pack, but he would have to find a gap to | :47:30. | :47:39. | |
:47:40. | :47:40. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :47:40. | :49:14. | |
get back down to the other Ken of He might need a touching ball to | :49:14. | :49:24. | |
:49:24. | :49:49. | ||
I think this will resolve this self without it being racked up. -- | :49:49. | :49:59. | |
:49:59. | :50:00. | ||
I can't see a way out of this, unless someone leaves a touching | :50:00. | :50:10. | |
:50:10. | :50:10. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :50:10. | :50:58. | |
Time for the balls to be racked. We have had everything so far. He | :50:58. | :51:08. | |
:51:08. | :51:16. | ||
would have liked to have kept it That is what they are playing for - | :51:16. | :51:23. | |
that beautiful Waterford crystal trophy. Shaun Murphy would dearly | :51:23. | :51:33. | |
:51:33. | :51:33. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :51:33. | :52:37. | |
A good opener. The white is a little further than he would have | :52:37. | :52:47. | |
:52:47. | :52:47. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :52:47. | :54:37. | |
Shaun Murphy knew that was not Last time I looked, he didn't get | :54:37. | :54:47. | |
:54:47. | :54:47. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :54:47. | :56:42. | |
any points for a safety shot, but He has got the right side of the | :56:42. | :56:49. | |
blue. Just making sure there are no plants. There might be a | :56:50. | :56:59. | |
:57:00. | :57:16. | ||
possibility a red off of the pink He has held his hand up to | :57:16. | :57:26. | |
:57:26. | :57:26. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :57:26. | :58:34. | |
apologise. That is not the way he There might be a road that can | :58:34. | :58:42. | |
flick off the pink, although it is highly unlikely. -- there might be | :58:42. | :58:52. | |
:58:52. | :59:10. | ||
a red. He has done it again. He has It looks as if people clinch the | :59:10. | :59:20. | |
:59:20. | :59:37. | ||
frame with one chance. He is giving He knows everything that is going | :59:37. | :59:47. | |
:59:47. | :59:57. | ||
on. He is doing a real professional And of course, he is the defending | :59:57. | :00:01. | |
champion, that is standing him in good stead. He doesn't want to let | :00:01. | :00:08. | |
go of this title. That is why he's giving everything 100%, as you say. | :00:08. | :00:18. | |
:00:18. | :00:24. | ||
He certainly hasn't played any Just slightly off straight with the | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
black here, he is looking at the pink now, he is back looking at the | :00:28. | :00:38. | |
:00:38. | :00:40. | ||
It is amazing on the superfine cloth this, look at the angle he | :00:40. | :00:48. | |
was able to achieve just buy it pure power. -- has just by pure | :00:49. | :00:58. | |
:00:59. | :00:59. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :00:59. | :01:49. | |
We're at 17 centuries in the Masters so far, and a good chance | :01:49. | :01:59. | |
:01:59. | :02:02. | ||
He has already had five centuries, Neil Robertson. Three of them | :02:02. | :02:08. | |
against Mark Allen in the quarter- final. This is to put stuff from | :02:08. | :02:18. | |
:02:18. | :02:31. | ||
The crowd always love to see a century break. And there is another | :02:31. | :02:41. | |
:02:41. | :02:41. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :02:41. | :03:23. | |
one! Absolutely superb from Neil He has only needed the one chance, | :03:23. | :03:33. | |
:03:33. | :03:38. | ||
and what has he done? He has potted He's just one frame away from a | :03:38. | :03:46. | |
place in this year's final. It has to be said, Shaun was in first, he | :03:46. | :03:52. | |
potted a superb long red, got himself on to the black and he had | :03:52. | :03:57. | |
a cannon onto the edge of the pack come he was concentrating on that, | :03:57. | :04:00. | |
and the number of times you just take your eye off the pot, that is | :04:00. | :04:09. | |
You're potting the black into a blind pocket so you're always are | :04:09. | :04:12. | |
not on the pocket when you're playing the shot. It was a delicate | :04:13. | :04:19. | |
cannon that he played. The difference between the two players | :04:19. | :04:24. | |
is when Shaun has been missing, the frame has been over. When Neil has | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
missed, Shaun has taken three of four chances to win the frame, so | :04:28. | :04:32. | |
it gives Neil more confident if you know your opponent is not punishing | :04:32. | :04:40. | |
you. There is not a great deal of difference if you think about it. | :04:40. | :04:50. | |
:04:50. | :04:58. | ||
Neil has been kidding the frames Shaun was 5-3 down to John Higgins | :04:58. | :05:04. | |
in the last round and came back to win, so the difference I would say | :05:04. | :05:09. | |
it is Jamaicans was not playing as well as Neil Robertson is today -- | :05:09. | :05:19. | |
:05:19. | :05:58. | ||
John Higgins was not playing as You will hear most the players say | :05:58. | :06:06. | |
this the second most difficult tournament to win, Neil Robertson | :06:06. | :06:13. | |
had three quarter-finals, two last 16, got beaten in the wild card | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
round in 2004, then all of a sudden he was the winner here last year | :06:18. | :06:28. | |
:06:28. | :06:33. | ||
and would a defence he is putting Something has always been special | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
about the Masters, it has always been the best 16 players in the | :06:37. | :06:47. | |
:06:47. | :07:08. | ||
world and you always want to prove We cook about the best 16 players | :07:08. | :07:12. | |
in the world, but the world champion is not here -- we talk | :07:12. | :07:18. | |
about. So it does take a little bit away. I think he is on a farm, with | :07:18. | :07:23. | |
a pitchfork, the last I heard a bit! Ronnie O'Sullivan, helping out | :07:23. | :07:33. | |
:07:33. | :07:42. | ||
and relaxing. A bit cold to be down He has hit that much too hard. I'm | :07:42. | :07:46. | |
not sure what he was trying, didn't look as if he could get on the | :07:46. | :07:56. | |
:07:56. | :07:56. | ||
black. I thought he was going to He just stunned it, very unlike | :07:56. | :08:01. | |
Shaun. Maybe the pressure has got to him. He has got a fabulous | :08:01. | :08:06. | |
temperament, Shaun Murphy, that is why he has been a world champion | :08:06. | :08:10. | |
and a UK champion, but maybe he just looks a little rattled by what | :08:10. | :08:20. | |
:08:20. | :08:25. | ||
Well, there is a lifeline for Shaun! What a chance Neil Robertson | :08:25. | :08:35. | |
:08:35. | :08:35. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :08:35. | :09:20. | |
Some of the best snooker that Shaun Murphy is ever played was when he | :09:21. | :09:24. | |
one the world championship back in 2005. I will never forget that | :09:24. | :09:30. | |
performance against Matthew Stevens, he just potted them from everywhere. | :09:30. | :09:34. | |
He could do with that sort of form now to try and get back into the | :09:34. | :09:44. | |
:09:44. | :09:54. | ||
In December, he was 8-4 down against Ali Carter, best of nine, | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
and he won't macro five incredible frames, never missed a ball. - | :10:00. | :10:10. | |
:10:10. | :10:11. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :10:11. | :11:08. | |
Megrahi won 5 incredible frames. So He just finished a bit awkward, | :11:08. | :11:13. | |
sometimes that happens when you are struggling. He went into the pack. | :11:13. | :11:22. | |
When you are playing well, there is always two or three easy shots, at | :11:23. | :11:26. | |
the one to the right middle looks to be dead straight, the one to the | :11:26. | :11:29. | |
left middle, he is hampered. The one to the right corner is the | :11:29. | :11:39. | |
:11:39. | :12:01. | ||
He should be able to hold for the When he cannoned into them, it | :12:01. | :12:07. | |
wasn't a deal for him. He would like to play for the reds to the | :12:07. | :12:17. | |
right corner, but he has too much They would clear up blacks to both | :12:17. | :12:27. | |
:12:27. | :12:40. | ||
It is well played. Used the red to Played for the black this time. And | :12:40. | :12:49. | |
day you go, careless shot again. -- there you go. Absolutely amazing. | :12:49. | :12:55. | |
He didn't missed the pot, it was unmissable, really, but what -- | :12:55. | :13:05. | |
:13:05. | :13:36. | ||
that was another little lapse in If Shaun goes on to lose this match | :13:36. | :13:40. | |
and he will look back on it and be so frustrated. It is fine when your | :13:40. | :13:46. | |
opponent doesn't give you a chance, but he has had chances. That always | :13:46. | :13:56. | |
:13:56. | :13:58. | ||
The plant, you can see, is not on. He has could try and make it by the | :13:58. | :14:08. | |
:14:08. | :14:15. | ||
He couldn't avoid the cannon, but it was a good plant to make. He | :14:15. | :14:21. | |
could never stop himself from cannoning into that red. Needed a | :14:21. | :14:26. | |
bit of good luck, and done this occasion didn't get it. -- on this | :14:26. | :14:36. | |
:14:36. | :14:52. | ||
The easy safety would be off the He would normally like to play off | :14:52. | :14:59. | |
two cushions, behind the green somewhere. That is what Stephen was | :14:59. | :15:02. | |
suggesting, the shot is on, the only thing is the pink would be | :15:02. | :15:10. | |
hitting the red, you would feel. But he needed paid-up -- if he did | :15:10. | :15:20. | |
:15:20. | :15:33. | ||
He is now thinking about that, I feel, because he was looking to see | :15:33. | :15:43. | |
:15:43. | :15:51. | ||
They have been a few shot today when he is thought for almost two | :15:51. | :16:01. | |
:16:01. | :16:12. | ||
He has got the pink nicely in play, he was always going to put Shaun in | :16:12. | :16:22. | |
:16:22. | :16:22. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :16:22. | :17:06. | |
He has got the required side, that A free shot for Shaun, the one near | :17:06. | :17:14. | |
the pink spot, he can take that on and get back down the table. He has | :17:14. | :17:24. | |
:17:24. | :17:34. | ||
Might have a go at it up into the corner, he could get himself on the | :17:34. | :17:44. | |
:17:44. | :17:53. | ||
Good opening pot, but not a lot to go at. Just a couple of shots ago, | :17:53. | :17:58. | |
all those reds were in pottable positions but then a few shots, | :17:58. | :18:08. | |
:18:08. | :18:11. | ||
they were all knocked safe, most of Maybe there's two over the left- | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
hand side of the table on, with Neil been and left hander, | :18:16. | :18:26. | |
:18:26. | :18:41. | ||
shouldn't be a problem. -- being a He didn't want to have to use the | :18:41. | :18:46. | |
rest. Did you know he's going to be in the way for enriching over the | :18:46. | :18:50. | |
table. -- that yellow is going to be in the wake for him reaching | :18:50. | :19:00. | |
:19:00. | :19:09. | ||
He just wasn't comfortable on that He wobbled the brown when he potted | :19:09. | :19:12. | |
it and that stopped him from getting a little bit closer to the | :19:12. | :19:22. | |
:19:22. | :19:22. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :19:22. | :20:02. | |
Just looking at the score board Still a couple of reds available | :20:02. | :20:08. | |
and he has a couple of typical won't close to the cushion. -- | :20:08. | :20:18. | |
:20:18. | :20:34. | ||
If he stays on high-value colours he might be able to get himself | :20:34. | :20:44. | |
:20:44. | :20:54. | ||
That has opened a few more options. I say it has opened few more... | :20:54. | :21:04. | |
:21:04. | :21:08. | ||
Could have worked out a little bit He needs two red Work and Pensions | :21:08. | :21:15. | |
Select Committee colours to make absolutely sure of the frame. -- | :21:15. | :21:25. | |
:21:25. | :21:59. | ||
It should have been over again, he let the cue ball bounce off the | :21:59. | :22:09. | |
:22:09. | :22:29. | ||
cushion too far. He is going to I don't know if it is the red to | :22:29. | :22:37. | |
the right to these two, he's looking to see that pot. He can see | :22:37. | :22:47. | |
:22:47. | :22:59. | ||
it clearly does. Shouldn't have Too thin. So red and any colour | :22:59. | :23:09. | |
:23:09. | :23:13. | ||
will leave Neil and needing a Well, what has he done there?! He | :23:13. | :23:16. | |
didn't have to stun it in. He could have just play it with a touch of | :23:17. | :23:24. | |
side come he wouldn't have cannoned into the red. I think he is | :23:24. | :23:34. | |
:23:34. | :23:53. | ||
comfortable playing that stun shot, One black available, if the red | :23:53. | :24:00. | |
doesn't pot past the other two, he will have to come back across and | :24:01. | :24:04. | |
leave the red for the same pocket as the black. But he has got a bit | :24:04. | :24:09. | |
of angle, I don't know if he could even cannon the two red to made he | :24:09. | :24:13. | |
has the angle to do that, that would open things up. Doesn't have | :24:13. | :24:23. | |
:24:23. | :24:29. | ||
It does pass the two reds, so one good pot, one good positional shot | :24:29. | :24:38. | |
on the black may could have done it does two reds. -- develop those two | :24:38. | :24:48. | |
:24:48. | :24:55. | ||
He is going to have to run through off the cushion now, and he could | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
still move them, but that is not where he intended to be, but there | :24:59. | :25:09. | |
:25:09. | :25:09. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 40 seconds | :25:09. | :25:56. | |
Looks like he got too much time on Neil, making sure he didn't leave | :25:56. | :26:06. | |
:26:06. | :26:08. | ||
those touching there. He would have I don't know if he can hit this | :26:08. | :26:17. | |
been enough. -- thin enough. He has done well, that is about as well as | :26:17. | :26:27. | |
:26:27. | :26:38. | ||
he could do. He has played it He has blot the easiest path to the | :26:38. | :26:45. | |
reds with the blue. -- blocked. That would be the easiest escape to | :26:45. | :26:54. | |
come off the right-hand side As long as he plays the tip -- this | :26:54. | :27:04. | |
:27:04. | :27:10. | ||
dead weight he is not going to He got close to the black as well | :27:11. | :27:18. | |
Well touch, though, but I don't think he was expecting to get as | :27:18. | :27:28. | |
:27:28. | :28:00. | ||
close to the black as he did -- Shaun Murphy, battling away to stay | :28:00. | :28:10. | |
:28:10. | :28:19. | ||
He has put himself bring in trouble here. -- Bank in trouble. That | :28:19. | :28:26. | |
wasn't the best shot he has made. He shouldn't have left that short | :28:26. | :28:36. | |
:28:36. | :28:59. |