Quarter-Final: Ronnie O'Sullivan v Neil Robertson

:00:32. > :00:41.Good afternoon. The new Alexandra Palace, the people's palace, as it

:00:42. > :00:47.was called in 1875, when it opened, and for the last 140 years, it's

:00:48. > :00:50.been open to the public, the sort of fantastic entertainment for nearly

:00:51. > :00:57.one and a half centuries. This is one of the main arenas. It's the

:00:58. > :01:00.Masters. This week, we are going to be sharing Alexandra Palace, in

:01:01. > :01:06.another part of the arena, with the model engineering exhibition. It's a

:01:07. > :01:10.big event, and it takes all sorts, and there will be plenty of flasks

:01:11. > :01:15.in evidence. It is called the finals day here in this fantastic arena,

:01:16. > :01:19.which is filling up. We are going to have a full house of 2000 at the

:01:20. > :01:22.start of the quarterfinals. The people's palace, and one of the

:01:23. > :01:27.peoples champions, Ronnie O'Sullivan, is one of the star

:01:28. > :01:30.attractions today. Many feel the defending champion was a touch lucky

:01:31. > :01:37.to get through the opening round after a cracking match a final frame

:01:38. > :01:40.finale against Liang Wenbo. He had a cold at the time and he will be

:01:41. > :01:47.hoping that the remedies have kicked in. He words -- he will need a clear

:01:48. > :01:51.head today to face the challenge of Neil Robertson, the 2012 Masters

:01:52. > :01:52.champion from Australia. On paper, this quarterfinal is the pick of the

:01:53. > :02:34.bunch. So it's The Rocket against the

:02:35. > :02:40.Thunder. It could get pretty noisy in here. Marco Fu and Mark Allen

:02:41. > :02:45.haven't met in almost four years. Joe Perry, meeting Ding Junhui. And

:02:46. > :02:49.three-time Masters winner Mark Selby survived to play last year's

:02:50. > :02:54.runner-up, Barry Hawkins. Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty are admiring

:02:55. > :02:59.the newly renamed Paul hunter trophy. For you, Stephen, after the

:03:00. > :03:03.opening round, who is favourite come Sunday night to lift this? It's hard

:03:04. > :03:08.to pick a winner for the event. Talking about today, if both players

:03:09. > :03:11.play the way they did in the first round, Neil Robertson wins, but I

:03:12. > :03:16.think today will be a different kettle of fish. I think Ronnie will

:03:17. > :03:21.be up for it. We have had quite a few deciders in the afternoon. 17

:03:22. > :03:26.centuries so far, and the record without a wild card round is 28.

:03:27. > :03:32.What do you make of it so far? Incredible stamina and matchups. 17

:03:33. > :03:37.centuries so far, it's unprecedented in round one, but I think there will

:03:38. > :03:41.be more to come. The table looks superb, lovely and fast. There

:03:42. > :03:45.haven't been many kicks and bounces. That helps, so the players have more

:03:46. > :03:50.confidence playing on the wonderful table. I think we have got some

:03:51. > :03:56.mouthwatering clashes coming up, and this match has to be the tie of the

:03:57. > :04:01.round. Mark Selby, world number one, still in this, after another decider

:04:02. > :04:04.yesterday. It's been a costly few days for the top seeds. We have had

:04:05. > :04:14.a lot of numbers two, three, four and five. This is only a 16 man

:04:15. > :04:17.event. -- we have had the loss of. Does it surprise you? You could make

:04:18. > :04:21.a case for anybody winning this tournament at the beginning. Almost

:04:22. > :04:27.anyone, in my opinion. The standard of play has been phenomenal. It's no

:04:28. > :04:32.surprise to me that these players have done it. It's been great

:04:33. > :04:39.watching. If this isn't a January blues Buster, then nothing else is.

:04:40. > :04:47.There is no bigger occasion than playing Ronnie in the Masters in

:04:48. > :04:52.London. I will have to be on my game and I know what to expect. Most of

:04:53. > :04:56.the crowd will be on his side. I don't really have a strategy. You go

:04:57. > :05:01.out there and play the balls as they live. You've got to concentrate on

:05:02. > :05:06.your own game. He is a wonderful player and he has won everything in

:05:07. > :05:12.the game multiple times. This tournament is tough but Niall has

:05:13. > :05:17.probably had a lean spell. People appreciate good snooker and will

:05:18. > :05:22.applaud your shots. The standard is so good that if you are not on your

:05:23. > :05:28.game are a passenger. I'm trying to stab my mark on the game and win

:05:29. > :05:33.these sort of titles. I'm sure it's a matter of time. I've got to go out

:05:34. > :05:41.there and play my game. He's a dangerous opponent. Ronnie has

:05:42. > :05:44.beaten Neil the last toys they met, including the Welsh Open final last

:05:45. > :05:49.February, the last piece of silverware that O'Sullivan won. He

:05:50. > :05:53.also whitewashed Robertson in Romania last October, but Robertson

:05:54. > :05:58.remembers his dismantling of The Rocket two years ago. I know which

:05:59. > :06:04.way you have plugged, Stephen, you say that Robertson should win. On

:06:05. > :06:10.first round form. How much does first round form count? I don't

:06:11. > :06:16.think that players will look at previous form. They will both be at

:06:17. > :06:21.forest. Ronnie in front of his home crowd is always difficult. -- will

:06:22. > :06:25.both be up for this. Neil may look back at the 6-1 demolition that he

:06:26. > :06:29.had, but any time that these guys meet will be fantastic. There will

:06:30. > :06:34.be great breaks, great safety play and it will be very close. Neil

:06:35. > :06:38.Robertson was keen to stress how hard he worked over Christmas. He

:06:39. > :06:43.still considers himself a top player, and he is, but his world

:06:44. > :06:47.ranking has slipped to seventh, as low as for five years. I couldn't

:06:48. > :06:51.believe when I heard that. He believes he should be competing

:06:52. > :06:55.these big events. There isn't a lot of difference between number two and

:06:56. > :07:00.number seven points wise, but he belongs in the top one, two or three

:07:01. > :07:07.players in the world. Robber what her, all yours. Good afternoon,

:07:08. > :07:12.ladies and gentlemen. These are the matches that makes snooker great.

:07:13. > :07:16.Welcome to the first quarterfinal of this year's Masters. This could be

:07:17. > :07:34.absolutely epic. APPLAUSE

:07:35. > :07:41.Please welcome, a player who has taken the game by storm since his

:07:42. > :07:47.arrival from Australia over ten years ago. Three times a Masters

:07:48. > :07:51.finalist, winner here in 2012, twice the UK champion, he is also a world

:07:52. > :08:24.champion. He is the Thunder from Down Under, Neil Robertson!

:08:25. > :08:33.And his opponent, a player who won the first of his six masters title

:08:34. > :08:37.as a teenager in 1995. He has been entertaining snooker crowds here and

:08:38. > :08:42.around the world for more than two decades. Five times a world

:08:43. > :08:43.champion, the defending masters champion, The Rocket, Ronnie

:08:44. > :09:13.O'Sullivan! Practically a guard of honour for

:09:14. > :09:19.Ronnie at the top of those stairs. In the commentary box this

:09:20. > :09:22.afternoon, joining John Parrott is the 1987 masters champion, Dennis

:09:23. > :09:27.Taylor, who is celebrating his birthday. Many happy returns,

:09:28. > :09:30.Dennis. Thank you, diesel. We always say

:09:31. > :09:36.what an atmosphere, but that introduction was something special.

:09:37. > :09:46.-- thank you, Hazel. Ronnie looks relaxed. He doesn't usually smile

:09:47. > :09:48.like that. Ronnie won the toss, and he will get this quarterfinal match

:09:49. > :10:03.underway. Very difficult to predict the winner

:10:04. > :10:07.of this one. Yes, we were talking at the top of the show about their

:10:08. > :10:12.records coming into this. In the Welsh Open, Robertson was 5-2 ahead

:10:13. > :10:19.before Ronnie put the afterburners on to win seven frames on the trot.

:10:20. > :10:22.I don't think anybody in the game would win seven frames on the trot

:10:23. > :10:25.against Robertson, but since then there has been the semifinal in the

:10:26. > :10:37.European masters, where Ronnie beat him 6-0.

:10:38. > :10:46.. That was interesting, because the table has been flying. This is a new

:10:47. > :10:50.cloth on. Even if it is off the same role of cloth, it will be

:10:51. > :10:54.interesting to see if this table plays as quick. It is the same table

:10:55. > :10:58.but, if the cloth laid as fast as the previous one, we will find out

:10:59. > :11:17.in a couple' time. Good safety from Neil. Might be able

:11:18. > :11:24.to get past the yellow and blue for that red. Looking at that angle, no

:11:25. > :11:28.value in taking that on, because he would be careering into the reds. If

:11:29. > :11:33.it was straight, he could have a go at it and get the black. -- get onto

:11:34. > :11:47.the black. Just the crucial plots have been

:11:48. > :11:56.changed, so the bed of the table will play the way it has been. --

:11:57. > :12:03.just the cushion cloths. Strange, why would you do that? They are not

:12:04. > :12:07.ready bouncing at all. Probably the jaws of the pockets. Safety from

:12:08. > :12:53.Ronnie, a bump on the middle pocket. I didn't see much of Neil's match

:12:54. > :13:03.with Ali Carter, but apparently he played very well. I was chatting

:13:04. > :13:06.with Neil the other day before he played and he was saying, scoring

:13:07. > :13:12.wise, he felt he was back to his best. He made 13 century breaks in

:13:13. > :13:18.the little mini league think he was playing in. But one of the things

:13:19. > :13:22.you really need to do if you are playing Ronnie O'Sullivan in what

:13:23. > :13:26.could be deemed his backyard is you need to have plenty of character to

:13:27. > :13:34.stand up to it. That is where the Aussie grit comes into it.

:13:35. > :13:42.Two fabulous players. An abundance of natural talent in O'Sullivan, the

:13:43. > :13:48.best player I have ever seen with AQ in his hand, and then you have got

:13:49. > :13:52.the Australian with a laser-like cue action, tremendous break-builder and

:13:53. > :14:00.all-round match player with that Aussie grit. A great matchup.

:14:01. > :14:09.I mean, what this player achieved in the 2013-14 season might never be

:14:10. > :14:14.done again, to make 100 centuries in one season.

:14:15. > :14:23.Extraordinary. Still got a red in the middle before he has to play any

:14:24. > :14:31.cannons. So he can stun this in. He is coming up a little bit short.

:14:32. > :14:47.Might just be OK. Having to go away from the black

:14:48. > :14:57.here. But he needs to pull up a little bit. That's OK. And he could

:14:58. > :15:07.play a little cannon into the five reds here. Quite thin on the blue.

:15:08. > :15:27.This could really open things up. He went delicately into the reds.

:15:28. > :15:48.Got to avoid the cannon on the reds near the site cushion when you what

:15:49. > :15:53.that one. -- the side cushion. Robertson knows the importance of a

:15:54. > :15:59.good start in this match. He looks tuned up and ready to go right from

:16:00. > :16:05.the off. He started the season of pretty well, he had a semifinal

:16:06. > :16:09.early on, a couple of disappointing results by his own standards since

:16:10. > :16:14.then, but then starting to make all of those centuries in the last

:16:15. > :16:17.couple of weeks and the hard graft he put in over Christmas... If he

:16:18. > :16:32.gets back to his best, he will take some stopping.

:16:33. > :16:38.Yeah, I was surprised he had dropped to number seven in the world. As

:16:39. > :16:48.Stephen Hendry said, he should be in the top three, you would think.

:16:49. > :16:54.But that is how tough the game is these days. You can easily slip down

:16:55. > :16:59.the rankings if you have a lean spell. He is taking his time here.

:17:00. > :17:06.He's got to try and get the next positional shot. If he can get

:17:07. > :17:11.straight on this, it will be perfect. Doesn't really want to be

:17:12. > :17:19.playing any cannons. That isn't straight.

:17:20. > :17:35.Not surprised he came up off the shot.

:17:36. > :17:42.He didn't want to risk the delicate little cannon to hold on the black.

:17:43. > :17:48.Just forced it in. Hoping to drop nicely on pink or blue. But it's not

:17:49. > :17:58.absolutely perfect. He's got to avoid the Borg colours and get back

:17:59. > :18:06.up to be scoring end of the table. -- the baulk colours.

:18:07. > :18:14.In and out of the baulk area. I think those two reds definitely pot.

:18:15. > :18:18.He couldn't have it that much better. That was a lovely shot,

:18:19. > :18:33.beautifully controlled. He got round on those two reds with

:18:34. > :18:39.the aid of a little flick on the brown, as you can see. You can

:18:40. > :18:44.expect this from these two players, I think. If the other makes a

:18:45. > :18:51.mistake, the way they are playing, every chance they will finish the

:18:52. > :18:55.frame of. It is so important to stick your marker down in a match.

:18:56. > :18:58.Many times in commentary, we would say that Steve Davis used to be

:18:59. > :19:04.brilliant at winning the opening frame. Very important to let your

:19:05. > :19:07.opponent know that you are here to play your best. That is what Neil

:19:08. > :19:21.Robertson is doing. Hugely impressive.

:19:22. > :19:27.Very difficult to start with a century break, but he is almost over

:19:28. > :19:37.the winning line already in this opening frame.

:19:38. > :19:47.He will have to wait for the next frame now. Ronnie needs a smoker,

:19:48. > :19:55.regardless of what happens. -- a snooker.

:19:56. > :20:02.He'll have to play a double if he is going to have a chance of a century.

:20:03. > :20:08.But the frame is well and truly in the bag. Just checking that, looking

:20:09. > :20:18.at the scoreboard. He may as well have a go at the double.

:20:19. > :20:26.Well, no century break, but what a start from the Australian. He got

:20:27. > :20:29.one chance and that was all he needed. And that lovely break has

:20:30. > :20:41.given him the opening frame. Well, you can't do better than

:20:42. > :20:45.getting a chance and making enough to get a frame. Very impressive. He

:20:46. > :20:50.is the consummate match player. Slightly surprising where he has

:20:51. > :20:58.been for a futile and is, because I rate him as highly as the boys were

:20:59. > :21:04.saying. -- for a few tournaments. Look at the focus on his face. He is

:21:05. > :21:13.really tuned in. Ronnie made a slight error and that was all it

:21:14. > :21:19.took. This was the one. Just doubled the rate. A bit unlucky to catch the

:21:20. > :21:27.jaw and leave that over the corner. But it was a good opening pot. A lot

:21:28. > :21:29.more difficult than it looks on the screen, but beautifully struck. As

:21:30. > :21:52.you say, the rest is history. It's a pity the break-off shot has

:21:53. > :21:58.put a red next to the black and put it out of commission.

:21:59. > :22:06.Neither player will have liked to have seen that. It means that Ronnie

:22:07. > :22:07.can't take this reds on the left corner because there is no colour

:22:08. > :22:45.available. Can you believe it, John? 25 years

:22:46. > :22:53.since Jan Verhaas came on the scene as a referee. One of the very best,

:22:54. > :23:02.and a lovely man. We have all got older together.

:23:03. > :23:23.Touching ball again. Ronnie might as well just stay where he is.

:23:24. > :23:27.This time, Ronnie can't play back down the table. He can see the edge

:23:28. > :24:05.of the pack. Ronnie's good friend, Damian Hirst,

:24:06. > :24:12.the artist. He didn't think he would be back today, because it look like

:24:13. > :24:20.Liang Wenbo would pot black and Ronnie would be out.

:24:21. > :24:29.Doesn't want to leave a free ball here. And he hasn't, but he has left

:24:30. > :24:37.a long pot on. I wonder how Neil will take this. Will he go round the

:24:38. > :24:41.back? He just caught the blue. But Neil could play around on the blue

:24:42. > :24:57.or he could play too much the red away from the black. -- he could

:24:58. > :25:08.play in to nudge. Usually, Neil's cue action goes straight through.

:25:09. > :25:13.Not a great chance, obviously, but he usually manages to find a way

:25:14. > :25:35.round these things. This could develop the pink and

:25:36. > :25:41.reds, because the black is tied up at the moment.

:25:42. > :25:53.Might just be able to get through. It's tight though. It's very tight.

:25:54. > :26:00.In fact, I don't think he can get through to it. A bit unlucky with

:26:01. > :26:02.the split. It wasn't totally ideal on the blue. He couldn't get loads

:26:03. > :26:13.of power onto that. But he'll be very disappointed if he

:26:14. > :26:24.doesn't cover it. He wouldn't be playing to leave the red there.

:26:25. > :26:31.Just caught the pink half ball. Full-ball contact would have been

:26:32. > :26:50.better, but he was still a bit unlucky.

:26:51. > :26:56.The difficult thing for Neil is he is playing off the site of the pack.

:26:57. > :27:02.The red on the left is the one he's got to get covered. Cue ball

:27:03. > :27:14.virtually in the same place he played from. Should be ideal. Well,

:27:15. > :27:18.he hasn't done that. And, if Ronnie can pot this red and managed to get

:27:19. > :27:36.the cue ball out, then it's a chance.

:27:37. > :27:43.Quick glance at the pink, cot get through to that, but the main part

:27:44. > :27:47.of the shot was plotting the red and so a medium length blue, normally

:27:48. > :28:06.very reliable with this type of shot. He hasn't had much table time.

:28:07. > :28:24.Right the way through, beautifully struck.

:28:25. > :28:30.Not a brilliant chance, this, the way the balls are commissioned. The

:28:31. > :28:32.black is out of commission and the pink will get tied up back on its

:28:33. > :28:44.spot, it looks like. Is there enough room? That is the

:28:45. > :28:49.ball marker that will tell the referee whether it spots. The pink

:28:50. > :28:53.is now tied up. He will have to play up for the blue. He had a look to

:28:54. > :28:59.see whether the pink would go into the left corner, but we will find

:29:00. > :29:04.out, the way he plays the positional side of this shot, whether it pots

:29:05. > :29:06.or not. Well, it does. The pink does pass that read, by the looks of

:29:07. > :29:20.things. Well, maybe not. Otherwise he would have played it.

:29:21. > :29:21.He did look at it, so Ronnie would have known whether the pink would

:29:22. > :29:40.go. Just can't quite get position he

:29:41. > :29:46.likes at the moment. Slightly off with each shot, and the bump doesn't

:29:47. > :29:48.help, putting him straight on the blue. He would have liked to have

:29:49. > :29:57.been topside. Another good medium-range pot. To

:29:58. > :30:02.screw back and back for the blue again. Might get close to the left

:30:03. > :30:11.middle pocket. He'll have to be careful.

:30:12. > :30:21.Really well struck. The best thing there is, in that position, three

:30:22. > :30:26.reds below the pink and two of the bottom one is definitely pot now. So

:30:27. > :30:46.there is an area to play in. Straightaway, that's where he is.

:30:47. > :31:01.He is making a terrific job of this. When you see them having to work

:31:02. > :31:05.hard like this, very skilful indeed. He has got a slight angle. So he can

:31:06. > :31:19.force this in. Both the reds might pot. Isn't he

:31:20. > :31:23.taking these well? The table, when he first came to it, wasn't

:31:24. > :31:27.brilliant, but so far this has been superb.

:31:28. > :31:36.Both players in good nick. That is what everybody wanted at this packed

:31:37. > :31:41.house at the Alexandra Palace. And everyone watching at home. They

:31:42. > :31:50.wanted to see both these players playing well and it looks as if we

:31:51. > :31:54.are going to see that. There is always something a bit special about

:31:55. > :32:15.Britain playing Australia at any sport. -- England playing Australia.

:32:16. > :32:26.59 on, and the lead is 60, so he needs to make sure of this red. Not

:32:27. > :32:30.many players would have come to the table and a won the frame from this

:32:31. > :32:43.visit, but O'Sullivan has, absolutely brilliant.

:32:44. > :32:49.Robertson has signalled to the referee that that is enough, so

:32:50. > :32:54.Ronnie O'Sullivan has returned. One chance was enough to win the frame.

:32:55. > :33:00.Great stuff. STUDIO: Fast start, great start. We were talking about

:33:01. > :33:12.Neil Robertson's victory in the first frame, that was his first

:33:13. > :33:20.frame he has taken off Ronnie in 14, he had lost the last 13 in a row.

:33:21. > :33:23.Noticeable difference with Ronnie from the first run, he knows he's

:33:24. > :33:28.playing one of the best in the world today. Against Liang Wenbo, he

:33:29. > :33:31.looked like he did not want to be there. But this is the quality you

:33:32. > :33:37.would expect from two of the best players in the world. They both look

:33:38. > :33:40.up for this. That was a great break from Ronnie, when he came to the

:33:41. > :33:45.table it did not look like he would win the frame from that visit, but

:33:46. > :33:50.he brought the pink interplay, in and out of baulk, a great example of

:33:51. > :34:02.potting and break-building, and keeping the cue ball straight. It is

:34:03. > :34:09.brisk and a lot of fun. COMMENTATOR: I like that, Hazel, it is brisk, and

:34:10. > :34:24.also brilliant. I suppose Ronnie has got away with that break a little

:34:25. > :34:51.bit. He hit that far too thin, and you don't see that very often.

:34:52. > :35:04.Excellent. Off the side of the pack and opened a few balls out.

:35:05. > :35:26.Attacking safety, that was. What a terrific return from the

:35:27. > :35:31.Australian. I think this is going to play a key part in this match, the

:35:32. > :35:34.safety, the tactical side of the game, who puts in the better safety

:35:35. > :35:47.shot that creates the better chances? If he can sneak past the

:35:48. > :35:53.yellow, for the Boston bottom red. He's double-checking on that, and

:35:54. > :35:58.maybe it also rather tight. Maybe he can leave the cue ball up this end.

:35:59. > :36:12.If he is taking this amount of time about it, it is clearly difficult.

:36:13. > :36:37.Some very good safety shots from both players. Absolutely top-class.

:36:38. > :36:48.That path is blocked off now, the one can't clip of the one at the

:36:49. > :36:52.side of the pink. In a perfect world, he would dump the cue ball on

:36:53. > :37:07.the top rail, but he can't do that either because he can't see the

:37:08. > :37:13.right side of it. This is a problem. He will try to find the safety shot.

:37:14. > :37:18.There is a possible red, but he could miss that. Can he find the

:37:19. > :37:36.correct spot at this end of the table? That is pretty good.

:37:37. > :37:42.Sometimes you are in that much trouble you have got to play what

:37:43. > :37:55.you call a containing shot. He did well and got himself out of trouble.

:37:56. > :38:06.He needs to get this right. He wants wrote to cover the one on the corner

:38:07. > :38:12.pocket and he has judged that to perfection -- he wants to cover the

:38:13. > :38:17.one. He needed a good length of the cue ball. He needed a good length,

:38:18. > :38:30.otherwise Neil Robertson would have taken it on, but you can't pot them

:38:31. > :38:35.if you can't see them. Yes, 4-5 shots have been top-class, all

:38:36. > :38:52.putting their opponent in the maximum amount of trouble.

:38:53. > :39:01.snooker like to see this type of game, -- a lot of people who watch

:39:02. > :39:05.snooker like to see this type of game, as well as the frame-winning

:39:06. > :39:11.breaks going on. He's trying to drop dead weight on the cushion at the

:39:12. > :39:13.top, Izzy? He hasn't judged that as he wanted it and that is a big

:39:14. > :39:23.mistake -- is a? Hmmm. Not close at all to what he

:39:24. > :39:51.was doing. Good opening red but pink and black

:39:52. > :39:55.tied up, but after the break we saw on the previous frame, that break of

:39:56. > :40:06.63 from nowhere, absolutely nothing on. In a few shots time he might

:40:07. > :40:12.have the pink and black in the play. -- in play.

:40:13. > :40:22.Funnily enough, he did not hit that one very well at all. Just about

:40:23. > :40:28.sneaked in-off the right-hand jaw. A bit too close for comfort, missing

:40:29. > :40:36.that one. So, change of plan with his positional play. He has got to

:40:37. > :40:42.find the gap, to get round for the blue here.

:40:43. > :40:53.He's not mind his mind up yet, as to what shot he's playing.

:40:54. > :41:04.He will be very disappointed at this contribution. He had the table at

:41:05. > :41:10.his mercy after the first red he knocked in. It is a bonus, that he

:41:11. > :41:40.can just get through to the blue otherwise he was in a bit of a hole.

:41:41. > :41:53.That's brilliant. Once again, he cued beautifully, and where the cue

:41:54. > :41:58.ball has finished Mike the ideal. -- might be ideal. Far from easy from

:41:59. > :42:06.the top cushion, but the fact he has an angle. The long pot straight in

:42:07. > :42:13.the middle of the pocket. Can he falls an angle out from the green up

:42:14. > :42:25.the table? Then the scoring opportunity is his. -- can he force

:42:26. > :42:31.an angle. Anywhere near the circle and then he can force the angle. He

:42:32. > :42:37.is OK. Coming on past. Another couple of red is available, I think.

:42:38. > :42:42.I thought he would have to force it, but that was a perfect angle where

:42:43. > :42:50.he finished. No problem getting back down the table. Ronnie had a first

:42:51. > :43:09.look at these reds and colours. What can Neil Robertson make from them?

:43:10. > :43:19.If he screws back of this one, almost wrecked he could catch the

:43:20. > :43:26.other red and go completely out of position. Funny situation, not ideal

:43:27. > :43:30.for either of them, and when he came down the table he must've he would

:43:31. > :43:36.be on something, and he is, but it requires more positional play. -- he

:43:37. > :43:41.must've thought he would be on something. It is his turn to make a

:43:42. > :43:52.mess of it, I don't know what that shot was, and so both players making

:43:53. > :44:00.a positional howler. He needs a thin one here to avoid the middle pocket.

:44:01. > :44:05.That has opened up the game substantially now that the pink and

:44:06. > :44:15.black are in play. One mistake now could be very costly. If you had

:44:16. > :44:22.told me it would be 6-5 after those two chances they were given, I would

:44:23. > :44:27.never have believed it. Very rare occurrence for these players to make

:44:28. > :44:50.mistakes position me. -- positionally.

:44:51. > :45:01.Looking at this table, whoever makes the next mistake, they won't be

:45:02. > :45:06.making too much position on these balls the way they are now because

:45:07. > :45:12.they are spread rigidly. -- they are spread beautifully. So, a big break

:45:13. > :45:28.will be in the offing if you get the chance.

:45:29. > :45:35.There's a couple of roots back down the table for Ronnie, if he

:45:36. > :45:38.conceived the one on the right hand side of the table, but I prefer the

:45:39. > :45:43.one on the left-hand side, two double back towards the black and

:45:44. > :45:51.then the white will head back towards the yellow and blue. It

:45:52. > :46:01.depends how he feels. He is going for the thin one on the right side

:46:02. > :46:14.of the table. Oh! This could be a nice flick. Yes, he's extremely

:46:15. > :46:19.adapted that shot, the thin clip, there is a routine where he

:46:20. > :46:32.practices and place those shots. -- plays. Hmmm

:46:33. > :47:08.hit be read, but no great pace on the cue ball. -- hit the red.

:47:09. > :47:22.Don't think he will play the pot on this. No. It was a very thin clip

:47:23. > :47:25.and he didn't fancy playing the pot. He is looking for the focus today, I

:47:26. > :47:30.agree with Stephen Hendry in the studio. -- he's looking fully

:47:31. > :47:37.focused today. He did not take any liberties with that shot. The first

:47:38. > :47:41.time lasted just over ten minutes, the second just over 11 minutes, we

:47:42. > :47:44.are coming up to nearly 14 minutes and there are still plenty of reds

:47:45. > :47:51.left on the table, that is just the nature of how this frame has panned

:47:52. > :47:55.out. Still very entertaining to watch, to see who is going to make

:47:56. > :48:07.the first mistake in this safety exchange.

:48:08. > :48:17.Oh! That's the first mistake. Even though you are as good as

:48:18. > :48:26.O'Sullivan, that is your reward for the last shot. He could have played

:48:27. > :48:30.a thin clip, but he refused it and made a safety, and this is his

:48:31. > :48:35.reward for it. That shot was always looking like trouble. He nearly

:48:36. > :48:39.flipped the red in the middle. -- flute. Still, he is tight on the

:48:40. > :48:52.cushion. The only thing with potting the

:48:53. > :49:09.black, it looks like the pink is in the open.

:49:10. > :49:15.He could win this frame with just potting reds and pinks because the

:49:16. > :49:19.black is out of commission. Five reds nicely placed. If he keeps

:49:20. > :49:47.staying on the pink. It is lovely to watch, when you play

:49:48. > :50:25.these little screw shots, it is the secret of break-building.

:50:26. > :50:31.Going back to the situation of how he got the opportunity, that is how

:50:32. > :50:34.good Ronnie is amongst the balls and his break-building, but the safety

:50:35. > :50:39.exchange from both players, it was Roddy who forced the mistake from

:50:40. > :50:47.Neil with a safety of the highest quality -- Ronnie. I love to see him

:50:48. > :50:50.play when he's fully focused. It is not great to play against, but when

:50:51. > :50:53.you are watching and he is fully focused on what he's doing, the

:50:54. > :50:56.concentration levels are there, and he wants to win the match, he is

:50:57. > :51:34.very special to watch. What he's done well here, he's

:51:35. > :51:38.hand-4-macro -- he's had four pinks and this is the fifth coming up, it

:51:39. > :51:45.is getting more difficult now. Playing into a gap, and that is

:51:46. > :51:50.judged to perfection. He's going to need one more the difficult reds and

:51:51. > :52:00.he's got a nice angle on the pink and he might be able to get on one.

:52:01. > :52:04.Just the one more that's available and that is all he'll need. 51

:52:05. > :52:20.ahead. That's 52, with 51 remaining.

:52:21. > :52:26.Fascinating frame. Some good tactical play from both players.

:52:27. > :52:33.Once again, a wonderful break. The second phone, 63, wonderfully

:52:34. > :52:46.constructed. Mrs the pink. -- the second frame. That has opened up the

:52:47. > :52:49.reds, so Neil will be carrying on. That's in concentration, he thought

:52:50. > :52:58.he was over the finishing line. If he had parted that read -- putted

:52:59. > :53:05.that red, Niall would have stayed in his seat. So easy to do that. You

:53:06. > :53:25.think you have won the frame, and a little lapse in concentration.

:53:26. > :53:35.That is the shot Ronnie play, he misses the pink. Fix the black out

:53:36. > :53:45.of the way and that puts the two reds in play. -- flicks. Hmmm.

:53:46. > :53:55.Because of that he might have given himself a headache for the rest of

:53:56. > :53:58.this frame. You can see where he wants to put the cue ball so he can

:53:59. > :54:05.send the red around the angles towards the green and leave the

:54:06. > :54:18.snooker. This frame is far from over.

:54:19. > :54:24.I know it's the best of 11 and we are only in the third frame, but

:54:25. > :54:30.this could prove to be a turning point, this frame. It is not always

:54:31. > :54:35.winning the frames you should win, it is nicking the frames you

:54:36. > :54:39.shouldn't. If Neil Robertson can win this after a brilliant 51 from

:54:40. > :54:44.O'Sullivan, if he can win this and nick it, that will be a boost to his

:54:45. > :54:51.confidence. Neil, that is a shocker. I can't believe that. That is not

:54:52. > :54:57.like him at all. It is what you call quitting on the shot, you never

:54:58. > :55:02.delivered the cue. He was hoping to be behind the black and then sent

:55:03. > :55:14.the red up towards the green, but he walked away in disgust. There is

:55:15. > :55:19.another nice little flick. APPLAUSE Getting a round of applause, he

:55:20. > :55:32.missed the pot by a mile. Trick shot, but the swerve never took.

:55:33. > :55:43.Still only two snookers needed. Quite fortunate, Ronnie, to miss

:55:44. > :55:47.that. It always seems the way, when you are given an opportunity like

:55:48. > :55:51.Neil was, the balls don't tend to forgive you for missing a chance

:55:52. > :55:57.like that. It was a very good chance for getting a snooker. There's

:55:58. > :56:16.another one. Neil feels he can just sneak this

:56:17. > :56:44.one. Yes, excellent shot, Ronnie has got

:56:45. > :57:00.to play a little swerve. Just be careful.

:57:01. > :57:10.Make sure you get the swerve on, coming on like, just as it got past

:57:11. > :57:18.the pink. -- coming on late. He's decided he's going to knock the red

:57:19. > :57:21.in and take his chances, adjust the colours on the table. The brown is

:57:22. > :57:52.not very good, is it? Looking at the scoreboard, he will

:57:53. > :57:56.still need a couple of snookers. Sometimes if you get to the blue,

:57:57. > :58:02.you only need D1 but that is not the case here. -- you only need the one

:58:03. > :58:07.snooker, but that is not the case here. He needs to start looking for

:58:08. > :58:18.a snooker now. It can go up behind the black. Has he hit that hard

:58:19. > :58:25.enough? He has hit that one again. Yeah, once again, not like him. He's

:58:26. > :58:27.not just a little bit out with that one, as well. He's quite a way. That

:58:28. > :59:10.was a jobs. -- that was a chance. If he could get a chance to pot the

:59:11. > :59:16.brown and blue, he might take it, because then he could tie with one

:59:17. > :59:21.snooker. He had a glance at the scoreboard and he worked that one

:59:22. > :59:24.out. Yes, but if you didn't do it the first time when he had the

:59:25. > :59:48.chance with the brown before, Ronnie is going to do it now.

:59:49. > :00:24.One good long pot and that should be the end of this frame.

:00:25. > :00:30.He's probably thinking to himself, what am I doing here? This frame

:00:31. > :00:43.should have been over about seven minutes ago.

:00:44. > :00:57.That's a snooker. But I think he can get enough side to miss the black

:00:58. > :01:15.and swing it and it brown. -- and hit the brown. Oh, only just.

:01:16. > :01:26.Yeah, I mean, Ronnie thought he'd won the frame. Normally wouldn't

:01:27. > :01:34.miss this type of shot. Neil would have stayed in his seat, had that

:01:35. > :01:39.pink bombing. This brown was close. Now, we'll Neil think about potting

:01:40. > :01:48.the brown and blue? Can he see the brown to pot it? He can.

:01:49. > :01:55.It's a possibility, but you know what it's like, Dennis. You can

:01:56. > :02:00.virtually guarantee you're going to get the snooker of pink and black.

:02:01. > :02:04.You generally get one shot at it. If you don't get it the first time,

:02:05. > :02:13.most players are pretty adept at keeping them away from each other.

:02:14. > :02:19.He played to pot the blue and he missed it. I think he was thinking

:02:20. > :02:24.about where he was going to leave the cue ball to give himself the

:02:25. > :02:37.chance of a snooker. Can Ronnie finished the frame off?

:02:38. > :02:45.Doesn't matter about the pink. We won't see many frames lasting as

:02:46. > :02:51.long as that one, am up for 29 minutes. Some brilliant tactical

:02:52. > :02:56.play at the beginning of that frame, but Ronnie made a superb break of

:02:57. > :03:00.51, paving the way for him to lead 2-1.

:03:01. > :03:05.Nearly 20 minute minutes, that. A real contrast to the start of the

:03:06. > :03:09.match was a very interesting safety exchange in the battle to gain

:03:10. > :03:13.control. One shot in particular showed a lot of patience from

:03:14. > :03:19.Ronnie. Ronnie had a pot on to the left corner, but refused it. He

:03:20. > :03:22.played an excellent safety shot, which consequently let him in the

:03:23. > :03:29.51. The safety exchange is almost show more than the breaks on how

:03:30. > :03:33.someone's appetite for winning is, because you are determined to keep

:03:34. > :03:37.the upper hand. Ronnie O'Sullivan is always going to make breaks, doesn't

:03:38. > :03:41.matter how bad he is playing, because it's his bread and butter.

:03:42. > :03:49.But the determination to win the safety exchange shows he is up for

:03:50. > :03:54.it. Do you sense how focused he is? Absolutely. He is underestimated for

:03:55. > :04:00.how a safety player he is, Neil. There were some great exchanges in

:04:01. > :04:04.that frame. It was cat and mouse. So clever about that shot, not only

:04:05. > :04:09.refusing a red, but the position of the cue ball, over the left-hand

:04:10. > :04:14.side of the table, which made it even more difficult to get back.

:04:15. > :04:18.Never plays a safety shot claim ball, Ronnie. He is always

:04:19. > :04:22.manoeuvring the cue ball, putting some side on the cue ball to get it

:04:23. > :04:27.to the position that the most difficult. Sometimes you look and

:04:28. > :04:31.say, where do I not want to play the shot from, and that is where he will

:04:32. > :04:37.put it. There were a couple of shots that he played left-handed. They are

:04:38. > :04:44.almost interchangeable. You hardly notice he is doing it. I don't know

:04:45. > :04:48.how he does it. We both tried to play left-handed and look like full

:04:49. > :04:51.is doing it! But he does it so naturally. There is no ripple of

:04:52. > :05:00.applause any more. They think, oh well, it's just Ronnie O'Sullivan.

:05:01. > :05:08.Pretty good length with the break-up shot, but Ronnie may attempt a long

:05:09. > :05:14.red into the left corner. It's the only one he would leave and he'd be

:05:15. > :05:21.on the back. We saw Barry Hawkins knocking two or three of these in at

:05:22. > :05:29.the start of his match when he beat Shaun Murphy last evening. 6-1.

:05:30. > :05:36.That was a surprise to everyone. Not a surprise to Barry, though,

:05:37. > :05:49.although Shaun had beaten him eight out of the nine times they'd played.

:05:50. > :05:56.The red was dead straight. Yeah, very difficult shot, those. The one

:05:57. > :06:11.thing you are hoping you don't do is get the double case. -- double kiss.

:06:12. > :06:15.In some ways, it's a bit easier to judge when you are just plain claim

:06:16. > :06:20.ball. Plain claim ball and taking the cue ball up and down the table,

:06:21. > :06:25.it's just difficult to get the pace right. Playing around angles and

:06:26. > :06:28.using a bit of side, you are almost guaranteed to get close to the

:06:29. > :06:32.question. You have to practice quite a bit. Trust me, he puts plenty of

:06:33. > :06:52.time in on the safety play as well. He's got away with that. He made a

:06:53. > :06:56.complete mess. You see him egging himself on, going, come on! He hit

:06:57. > :07:04.that far too thick. But this will cut back.

:07:05. > :07:17.Given himself a bit of a telling off.

:07:18. > :07:24.The funny thing is, we were talking about him using the side, and that's

:07:25. > :07:31.the one downside. Sometimes you push the cue ball in a bit thick and

:07:32. > :07:35.that's what happens. Not like him. A big, big frame for Neil Robertson to

:07:36. > :07:42.try and level, going into the interval. He might play for the blue

:07:43. > :07:47.hair, get it back on its spot. The pink is tied up, the black is off

:07:48. > :07:51.its spot. He could pot this red into the left corner and finish nicely on

:07:52. > :07:52.the blue and get it back on its spot. That would certainly help

:07:53. > :08:06.things. If he's got a good enough angle, he

:08:07. > :08:11.could even play into the pink and reds, but having said that it would

:08:12. > :08:15.be a bad idea to play for the red that's near the black spot. He seems

:08:16. > :08:21.to have enough angle to do what he wants with this.

:08:22. > :08:30.So into the pink and reds, and it is misjudged. That a wide target.

:08:31. > :08:46.I thought he would play on the loose red, Dennis. But there you go.

:08:47. > :08:49.He'll be disappointed, from where he was on the blue, not to have scored

:08:50. > :09:03.more points. I showed you when Ronnie went back

:09:04. > :09:05.to his seat how annoyed he was. He was expecting Neil to make a few

:09:06. > :09:17.more, so he hasn't been punished. I like that safety shot. That

:09:18. > :09:21.brought the pink into play for is that OK, he didn't want to can the

:09:22. > :09:27.green, but that's opened the game up. But he might be in a bit of

:09:28. > :09:33.trouble here, if Neil Robertson can get behind the green.

:09:34. > :09:41.That's what he tried for, but his safety has been a little bit off

:09:42. > :09:47.today. When he has been laying snooker is today, he's been a little

:09:48. > :09:49.bit off with his pace. Not massively so, but enough to be magnified in

:09:50. > :10:09.this company. Another beauty. 92% safety success,

:10:10. > :10:44.Ronnie O'Sullivan. He had to get that right, and he

:10:45. > :10:50.has. Pinpoint accuracy there, because he could have left one for

:10:51. > :10:53.the left corner, one for the middle. And it's not touching ball, so

:10:54. > :10:59.awkward to get back down to the baulk area. A bit of tapping going

:11:00. > :11:07.on here, trying to see what else he can do here.

:11:08. > :11:27.Was that a cap or a tip? I'm not sure which it was. -- a tap.

:11:28. > :11:39.Touching ball has resolved the situation, thankfully. No more

:11:40. > :12:32.tapping. That is usually his forte, but

:12:33. > :12:34.goodness me, a long way off. I don't think I've seen him miss one by that

:12:35. > :12:57.far before. Well, it's not an easy starter for

:12:58. > :13:05.Ronnie. The pot isn't so difficult, but the position is more difficult.

:13:06. > :13:11.That was a better shot and it looked, to have to screw that check

:13:12. > :13:15.side. It needs another good positional shot. Straighten up, keep

:13:16. > :13:26.it away from the reds. He made sure of the pot. But didn't

:13:27. > :13:54.avoid the yellow. He almost parted the yellow. --

:13:55. > :13:59.potted. Well, not an easy chance, but Neil Robertson will be delighted

:14:00. > :14:03.he only got six points off it. He must have thought, when he missed

:14:04. > :14:15.that one pot why a mile, he was in big trouble.

:14:16. > :14:23.Is still little awkward. He's looking at the brown, but I don't

:14:24. > :14:28.think he's got enough angle to get up off the brown and yellow. He

:14:29. > :14:33.needs plenty of side tonic to get up, at least passed the blues spot

:14:34. > :14:42.area. He'd like to get closer to the reds. He's got to get -- he's got to

:14:43. > :14:55.avoid the pockets. A big shot, just get position. He is an one, but can

:14:56. > :14:57.he get any position off this red that he's landed on? Very tight on

:14:58. > :15:15.the cushion. No good, that one. Have to play something a bit special

:15:16. > :15:31.to get on the pink from that red. Very awkward.

:15:32. > :15:41.I'll tell you what, what an effort that is! I mean, that is as good a

:15:42. > :15:47.positional shot as you'll ever see. Loads of top spin. That was bit

:15:48. > :15:57.special. We won't see a better shot than that one. Fabulous.

:15:58. > :16:03.Played that just to try and clear the black spot. The red is still

:16:04. > :16:25.covering it. Truly brilliant shot, that was. He

:16:26. > :16:31.might need another one here, looking at this. He has a slight angle to

:16:32. > :16:37.work with. In a perfect world, he'd like to get half ball off that blue

:16:38. > :16:38.and come down and split the pack with the black, but he's just the

:16:39. > :17:00.wrong side. Just look at the cue power of the

:17:01. > :17:05.Australian. Loads of top spin and left-hand side, but he's got to

:17:06. > :17:10.finish a bit close to the cushion. That could be end of break.

:17:11. > :17:19.And you can see, all covering each other.

:17:20. > :17:23.In fact, the way they've finished, it is very awkward to get good

:17:24. > :17:59.safety shot in. The last two frames, the balls have

:18:00. > :18:04.gone a little bit awkward. That's why the previous frame lasted 29

:18:05. > :18:09.minutes. The first frame was ten minutes, the second 11, but

:18:10. > :18:19.sometimes the balls dictate what happens, and we are back to tipping

:18:20. > :18:22.and tapping again. I tell you what, that was nearly a bit too hard. His

:18:23. > :18:37.heart was in his mouth for a second. They are going to keep playing until

:18:38. > :19:03.an opportunity arises to do so. He thinks he could screw down off

:19:04. > :19:05.this with some side and get it back to the baulk area. Got to be careful

:19:06. > :19:28.though. Could play a push shot. Yeah, a push shot is where the tip

:19:29. > :19:33.of the cue ball and object ball and the cue are in contact at the same

:19:34. > :19:38.time. Tough for the referee to decide what is a push shot, but the

:19:39. > :19:43.player normally would walk away from the table and declare it themselves,

:19:44. > :19:52.if they push it. But look at this for a safety. Yeah, great shot.

:19:53. > :20:08.All covered up. Nothing too appetising down either side. Ronnie

:20:09. > :20:09.was looking to see if he could drop on the red that is nearest top

:20:10. > :20:29.cushion. He'd tried something a bit special

:20:30. > :20:34.to try and hit the cushion first and swing the ball around the angles,

:20:35. > :20:38.but it was very difficult. Just looking to see if the black goes

:20:39. > :20:43.into the pocket, but he's going to take the red here. Not sure if it is

:20:44. > :20:49.available. It would be a big advantage if the black goes.

:20:50. > :20:55.He's the wrong side of the blue. Maybe the black is just that little

:20:56. > :21:12.bit too tight. If you were in behind the black, it

:21:13. > :21:20.looks as if you would be able to pot it.

:21:21. > :21:27.We might have to see a Neil Robertson special. We talk about cue

:21:28. > :21:36.power, if he takes his red to the right corner, he's got to get a lot

:21:37. > :21:42.of action on this. Oh, he had an angle, so he didn't have to screw it

:21:43. > :21:47.back. He's just scrapping for position at the moment. He can't

:21:48. > :21:57.quite get them how you want them. Slightly wrong all the time. -- how

:21:58. > :22:08.he wants them. It's a hard work break at the moment.

:22:09. > :22:16.Mid-session interval coming up after this frame. I mean, the first two

:22:17. > :22:21.frames, both players got one chance and made enough to win the frame,

:22:22. > :22:34.but the last two frames, the balls have gone so awkward.

:22:35. > :22:41.And this is the key shot for the frame. Plot the black, should play a

:22:42. > :22:45.little cannon onto the red when he runs through. Should leave the other

:22:46. > :22:58.red available. A big chance. No real reason now from this

:22:59. > :23:03.position, other than bad fortune or a kick or something, why he

:23:04. > :23:07.shouldn't win this frame. Really good for Neil Robertson, and a good

:23:08. > :23:11.effort, because he missed one or two shots in this frame and lost the cue

:23:12. > :23:17.ball a couple of times. One attempt at a long pot was a long way away.

:23:18. > :23:43.If he will go into the interval 2-2, he will be delighted.

:23:44. > :23:52.He won't be coming back to the table here.

:23:53. > :23:56.Sometimes the interval can change things around. As I said, the last

:23:57. > :24:11.two frames have been very awkward. And I suppose 2-2 is a pretty fair

:24:12. > :24:16.reflection, JP? Yeah, I would think so. As I say, just because they are

:24:17. > :24:27.awkward frames it doesn't mean they are not important. They all count.

:24:28. > :24:37.Doesn't matter about that. Ronnie's on his way out of the arena. A

:24:38. > :24:41.couple of awkward frames, two very good opening frames, and they go to

:24:42. > :24:46.the mid-session interval 2-2. We are enjoying this and I am sure

:24:47. > :24:50.you are, too. Beautifully poised, some great stuff from both of them,

:24:51. > :24:54.and in that last frame Neil Robertson looked like he was getting

:24:55. > :25:01.into his stride. There was a particular positional shot. One red

:25:02. > :25:06.sums up Neil Robertson's cue action. Not many players could play this.

:25:07. > :25:11.Just get right through the cue ball and brings it back into play.

:25:12. > :25:14.Marvellous. He had to hit it perfectly because, if he didn't, he

:25:15. > :25:19.would have cannoned the red. If Ronnie had played it, talking about

:25:20. > :25:27.it for years, but it shows you what a fantastic cue man and player Neil

:25:28. > :25:32.Robertson is. Thoughts on this, enjoying it? Very good. Both players

:25:33. > :25:37.are up for it. It is tense and intriguing. A couple of scrappy

:25:38. > :25:40.frames, a couple of good frames. They are battling against each other

:25:41. > :25:45.to force that opening. The balls have gone scrappy in the last couple

:25:46. > :25:50.of frames but the first couple... You can see both players are up for

:25:51. > :25:54.it and they are cueing well. Should Robertson fans be concerned about

:25:55. > :25:59.his safety percentage? Ronnie seems to be in charge in that department.

:26:00. > :26:03.That could be a deciding factor as the match goes on. If you are

:26:04. > :26:08.creating the most chances, you are going to win the match, so maybe he

:26:09. > :26:13.has to look at that. The last two frames, completely opposite to the

:26:14. > :26:17.first two. I think it comes to who takes their opportunities and wins

:26:18. > :26:21.the frames in one visit. Bring on part two. Before that, let's have a

:26:22. > :26:25.chat with Neil Robertson. One thing I remember from a couple of years

:26:26. > :26:30.back, when I went to his house and we had an interview, what a

:26:31. > :26:34.fantastic room he had with all of his trophies, lots of photographs,

:26:35. > :26:37.very proud of his 12 ranking titles, and the fact he is the first

:26:38. > :26:42.non-British player to achieve the Triple Crown. Also in that room is

:26:43. > :26:46.all his video gaming equipment because, when not practising, he is

:26:47. > :26:53.in a parallel world. He came out of it to speak to John Parrott.

:26:54. > :27:01.The most important thing. Good players, how is the form? If you

:27:02. > :27:05.asked me in October, November, not great but, since then, I mean, I

:27:06. > :27:11.worked very hard over Christmas and, just before Christmas, I lost my

:27:12. > :27:15.last 16 to Marco Fu 4-3 in Scotland and he went on to win the

:27:16. > :27:20.tournament. A fantastic match and I could have easily got to the final.

:27:21. > :27:23.The form is back. I played well in the championship league, a couple of

:27:24. > :27:32.groups, heading into the Masters now. So I feel really good. And you

:27:33. > :27:37.make a lot centuries in that. Yeah. The way I started the season, it's

:27:38. > :27:42.probably not achievable to get 100 this season, but I racked up a view.

:27:43. > :27:46.I think I had 12 or 13 last week. The scoring is back. I feel really

:27:47. > :27:52.good. I have never practised as hard as I did recently. The season

:27:53. > :27:56.started well, a win early on and a couple of semifinals. But generally

:27:57. > :28:01.you have been consistent. Any reason why it hasn't been happening? And I

:28:02. > :28:06.went back home to Australia, I was back home four weeks. A period of

:28:07. > :28:11.time when other players are getting back into things, I was taken that

:28:12. > :28:15.time off. When I came back, I was still not ready to get back into

:28:16. > :28:19.competing at the highest level, so I went to China, had a bit of a

:28:20. > :28:24.nightmare out there. I didn't want to play the game. I had some bad

:28:25. > :28:28.results, and that sort of form continued for another couple of

:28:29. > :28:33.events. You couldn't practice properly. You get back from prying

:28:34. > :28:35.-- China and then you are up to Preston for qualifying, going there

:28:36. > :28:41.or wherever. It's hard to get momentum. It's good to have a period

:28:42. > :28:51.of to focus on practice on the practice table. Playing as well as

:28:52. > :28:54.ever. The UK must have been a bit of a second, getting first round. I

:28:55. > :29:01.thought you would be one of the favourites. -- must have been a

:29:02. > :29:06.sicken her. Definitely, but it wasn't a reflection on bad form. I

:29:07. > :29:14.can't really put that match down as bad form. I was outplayed. Which was

:29:15. > :29:19.fine. And then the match against Marco Fu could have easily gone

:29:20. > :29:23.either way. So the form has been there, but obviously people won't

:29:24. > :29:28.stop talking until I start picking up trophies. This tournament has

:29:29. > :29:33.been good, certainly this venue. Three final say. What do you like

:29:34. > :29:37.about it? The tournament in particular, the top players love

:29:38. > :29:42.playing here. It's been positive to move here. Great crowds every game,

:29:43. > :29:48.one-table set-up. That is what the top players really want to play in.

:29:49. > :29:54.It has such a fantastic history. As for those finals, you remember them,

:29:55. > :29:58.but you lost in two of them. One was Shaun Murphy, and that wasn't you at

:29:59. > :30:03.all in the final. Two unbelievable performances to get there. What was

:30:04. > :30:08.your take on that one? When I played Ali in the quarters, that was his

:30:09. > :30:12.first big match since recovering from cancer, so that was a big one

:30:13. > :30:16.to get up for. The match against Ronnie O'Sullivan, semis at the

:30:17. > :30:22.Masters, he's never lost a semi-here before, so I really got myself up

:30:23. > :30:26.for that, played fantastically and beat him 6-1. It's not that I didn't

:30:27. > :30:31.treat Shaun the same and it's impossible to match those kind of

:30:32. > :30:35.highs. I had a slight dip and Shaun took full advantage. Played some

:30:36. > :30:39.fantastic stuff. I a bit below par than where I needed to be, and Shaun

:30:40. > :30:45.can get on top of anyone when he is playing like that. To get beaten

:30:46. > :30:52.last year, I don't think I have seen anybody play that well and lose.

:30:53. > :30:57.What a match! What did you take from that? I was sick to lose. I had won

:30:58. > :31:00.the champion of champions, the UK championship, and this was the third

:31:01. > :31:07.big one and I really fancied winning a third in a row. The pattern that

:31:08. > :31:10.happened after winning the UK last year was people would play their

:31:11. > :31:14.best against me, which tends to happen. Not many other players like

:31:15. > :31:21.seeing one particular player winning all of the trophies. Judd was pretty

:31:22. > :31:28.determined to stop me picking up the third. He played fantastically well.

:31:29. > :31:34.That's what can happen in snooker. What what is your expectation for

:31:35. > :31:38.this week? To play as well as I can. I have prepared as well as I can.

:31:39. > :31:42.Whatever happens on the table, I can't be disappointed because I have

:31:43. > :31:47.put in the work. Just looking for a good performance, like in previous

:31:48. > :31:52.years. Some players, things not going right, they will ease off the

:31:53. > :31:55.gas, but you graft harder. Yeah, especially over the last couple of

:31:56. > :32:00.months, I have been practising so hard. I played in Norway over

:32:01. > :32:05.Christmas and I've never done that before. So I feel as though my game

:32:06. > :32:08.is in really good shape and hopefully it's not going to be too

:32:09. > :32:13.long before I picked up another good one. Thank you, good luck.

:32:14. > :32:20.It's 2-2 in this match. We are discussing more about Neil Robertson

:32:21. > :32:27.and Ronnie O'Sullivan later. What can you say to the kids when

:32:28. > :32:32.they want to start on snooker? Well, I think you have to say start them

:32:33. > :32:39.young and small. What's the deal here, Ken.

:32:40. > :32:42.Welcome all. Chris, the first time I've seen

:32:43. > :32:52.these tables in the Cue Zone, they look fantastic. Tell us about them.

:32:53. > :32:59.Well, this is about cue to the end of school programme. It hopes to

:33:00. > :33:02.bring the children to play in ranking events and eventually to the

:33:03. > :33:08.Masters. Jason, tell me about the

:33:09. > :33:12.anticipation for the young kids and what the WPCA are trying to achieve?

:33:13. > :33:19.This is key to our sports development. The one thing about

:33:20. > :33:24.full sized snooker tables, for the beginner or the junior, it is too

:33:25. > :33:30.difficult to get started on them. So the idea here is we can Trons port

:33:31. > :33:35.these smaller tables into a sports hall, a centre, or a youth centre,

:33:36. > :33:42.and this is the key here. As you can see, it is proving popular.

:33:43. > :33:46.Since the day it's been introduced, they have been cueing up for the

:33:47. > :33:52.tables. It is fantastic to see the lads into it.

:33:53. > :33:59.We are really encouraged. There has been a cue here all week to g have a

:34:00. > :34:03.go on the tables. Here is a full-sized table but here behind us,

:34:04. > :34:10.the young lads are on the smaller table, really enjoying themselves.

:34:11. > :34:15.And for the juniors, it is great for them to play here.

:34:16. > :34:20.Any sport has to make their sport accessible to everyone. This is

:34:21. > :34:24.about introducing this sport to disability centres as well and that

:34:25. > :34:31.take-up has been terrific. Do you fancy a game? You and me,

:34:32. > :34:39.Ken? Just like the old days. My dad made our first snooker table.

:34:40. > :34:43.He made it! He made it quietly, he cushioned it, covered it, clothed

:34:44. > :34:55.it, and we would stick it on our dining table and play when we were

:34:56. > :34:55.kids, my brother and I. But that is ancient history.

:34:56. > :34:58.Now, Barry, this is fantastic, isn't it, how do you rate the quality?

:34:59. > :35:04.This is fantastic. The great players. For me, it has been

:35:05. > :35:10.breathtaking. Especially in the afternoon sessions. And I dare say

:35:11. > :35:14.we are going into another one. Four, to six consecutive results. It is

:35:15. > :35:18.brilliant playing it is the cream of the crop. The top 16 players are

:35:19. > :35:22.here because they are the best 16 in the world. With the number of

:35:23. > :35:26.tournaments that they are playing, there are no excuses.

:35:27. > :35:29.These are the best of the best showing.

:35:30. > :35:36.And there have been more seats added. It is pretty healthy.

:35:37. > :35:41.So far. We can't be too complacent. Next year a few more. As long as we

:35:42. > :35:45.satisfy the demands of the fans and give those watching or buying a

:35:46. > :35:49.ticket value for money, then we're in a good place.

:35:50. > :35:56.You are always trying to promote recognition of the sport around the

:35:57. > :36:03.world. It struck me as looking at the statistics, there is a Qureia

:36:04. > :36:08.layings to be made with other sports, this fellow, Mr Hendry is

:36:09. > :36:13.top of the pile when it comes to majors. In the snooker, the

:36:14. > :36:16.official, Triple Crown, the Masters, the unchampionship and the World

:36:17. > :36:22.Championship. It is extraordinary. Look at that 18, in tenny, Federer.

:36:23. > :36:26.A more direct correlation, it's a head-to-head sport. Should we be

:36:27. > :36:32.referring to the achievements of these man more often in relation to

:36:33. > :36:40.these sports? I think we should. I think there is a loft correlation

:36:41. > :36:47.between snooker and golf. There are 120 events in snooker, as

:36:48. > :36:53.there are in golf, roughly. Maybe the other events to put into

:36:54. > :36:58.that, when the BBC had four events, there was the Grand Prix,

:36:59. > :37:05.equivalent, to, slightly less than in the UK but the three you have

:37:06. > :37:09.now, the tournaments, I think is a fascinating list to look at. Selby

:37:10. > :37:14.is coming up on the bottom but how long before he is five or six more

:37:15. > :37:20.years, he could be challenging the greats of the golf.

:37:21. > :37:26.Or indeed Ronnie. Ronnie O'Sullivan could conceivably win this.

:37:27. > :37:30.Ronnie could go beyond if his career in politic, of course, doesn't

:37:31. > :37:34.progress! We know he is think being being a member of Parliament next,

:37:35. > :37:38.there is no limit to what Ronnie O'Sullivan can achieve on that list

:37:39. > :37:43.or in the world in general. It is seldom that we make direct

:37:44. > :37:49.comparisons with other sports, is it a fair test? We call the three

:37:50. > :37:53.major, those were the three at the start of the season, if I didn't win

:37:54. > :38:00.one, I would have been disappointed with my season. I always prioritised

:38:01. > :38:04.these three events, the World Championship, then the Masters, then

:38:05. > :38:08.the UK. Every other events, maybe it is too black and white to call them

:38:09. > :38:13.practice, as there are huge amounts of money in the events but these

:38:14. > :38:18.three it is right to call them majors in my view.

:38:19. > :38:23.Exactly. I'm not suggesting that we redesignate them as major but it is

:38:24. > :38:28.helpful for the public to know that these are our majors? For the UK

:38:29. > :38:32.market, without a doubt. But we are a global sport. I dare say that the

:38:33. > :38:38.friends in China are looking to push the prize money. They would

:38:39. > :38:43.definitely want the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh major. But it is

:38:44. > :38:48.good to talk about these things and compare the greats of the past with

:38:49. > :38:52.the current greats. Sports is about promotion and perception, the

:38:53. > :38:56.promotion of the sport by statistics like that and perception of the fact

:38:57. > :39:00.that we are an ongoing growing sport in a much better state than other

:39:01. > :39:03.sports currently. Is there a huge history.

:39:04. > :39:10.The history is longer with every year! It's a plus for u Hazel! True.

:39:11. > :39:14.With the three big events, you notice that the live audiences are

:39:15. > :39:18.in a different league to the other tournaments. People want to come and

:39:19. > :39:25.see these three. Ne that is true. The bigger events

:39:26. > :39:29.get bigger and bigger and bigger. The medium-sized events are bigger

:39:30. > :39:35.than the smaller events, they tick on. But the World Championship, the

:39:36. > :39:40.Masters, those two, from a crowd participation, are light years away

:39:41. > :39:45.from others. The UK coming up third. The other issue I have to speak to

:39:46. > :39:54.you about is ongoing, we touched on it at the UK Championship, a feature

:39:55. > :39:58.of the 128. The fact that there are increasing Muralitharanings and

:39:59. > :40:03.grumblings if it is viable for the people at the bottom end of the 128

:40:04. > :40:08.to make a proper career and sport out of this. Even Ronnie O'Sullivan

:40:09. > :40:13.and Neil Robertson have had something to say. Have you thought

:40:14. > :40:21.about that? I am zoontly value waiting the state of the sport. That

:40:22. > :40:24.is what I do. I disagree completely with any idea

:40:25. > :40:29.about restricting the number of players, I'm in the world of dreams.

:40:30. > :40:33.I'm trying to create opportunities, not to reduce them. At the same time

:40:34. > :40:39.acknowledging that there is a problem for the lower ranked players

:40:40. > :40:44.in term of survival. Sport has to be brutal to be attract I have. That is

:40:45. > :40:48.it in a nutshell. Only a few players get the to top. We have a

:40:49. > :40:52.responsibility to give opportunity first and as the game grows and the

:40:53. > :40:56.prize money has trebled in six years if it trebles in another six years I

:40:57. > :41:01.will not be surprised but what I have to do is edge a little more of

:41:02. > :41:06.the prize money down to the lower levels, to give them something to

:41:07. > :41:10.breathe but I don't want them thinking it is easy. It will is not.

:41:11. > :41:16.I have had criticism, Ronnie said the other day, he change, as he

:41:17. > :41:21.always changes, one minute there should not be 128 but 64, and then

:41:22. > :41:26.the next, more money into the last echelons of the game. You cannot do

:41:27. > :41:32.both. It takes time to develop a proper prize money structure. We on

:41:33. > :41:36.that journey. In the World Championship, I am sure we will talk

:41:37. > :41:40.about how there is a shift towards the lower ranked players, I will say

:41:41. > :41:46.not enough, I will say it is enough to keep you alive and hungry to try

:41:47. > :41:53.to achieve what the greats have achieved. The day of sport where

:41:54. > :41:58.there is no opportunity, you may as well pack up and go home. Always,

:41:59. > :42:05.great to hear and interest to hear what you have to say. Now, what this

:42:06. > :42:12.man is to avail himself of is the seniors. We may see him back at the

:42:13. > :42:17.Crucible? It will be a pleasure. Steve and I have crossed swords a

:42:18. > :42:22.number of times. I always feel, I still feel, that he packed up too

:42:23. > :42:27.early. So I'm pleased to see him back in some shape or form.

:42:28. > :42:31.Barry, we are getting on with this cracking second match. Always lovely

:42:32. > :42:37.to see you. Back we go, then. Frame five.

:42:38. > :42:42.Well, with the mid-session, and we have changed things around. Two very

:42:43. > :42:49.good opening frames. The players waiting while the spectators return

:42:50. > :42:53.to their seats. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,

:42:54. > :43:00.frame five. Ronnie O'Sullivan to break.

:43:01. > :43:05.Two scrapping frames but intriguing. And talking about intriguing it is

:43:06. > :43:10.always that to listen to Barry Hearn talking. And great to see that

:43:11. > :43:15.Stephen Hendry is playing in the seniors, John. We are playing. I

:43:16. > :43:19.would love to see Stephen Hendry back at the Crucible Theatre.

:43:20. > :43:24.Yes, it should be a good tour and a bit of fun, which is what it should

:43:25. > :43:27.be about. We have all been competitive all of our live but

:43:28. > :43:29.nothing wrong with playing with something with a bit of fun

:43:30. > :43:49.involved. I'm sure it will be. Well, the mid-session, and that may

:43:50. > :43:54.change things around. Have a look at that for an opening

:43:55. > :43:59.basmati. John, do you think he could drop on the red next to the black.

:44:00. > :44:03.And he may have an angle up on to the brown to play on to that.

:44:04. > :44:07.It depends on the angle on the brown, as you say. It is a natural

:44:08. > :44:14.angle to split the back. But I'm sure he won't play that.

:44:15. > :44:18.A loose red there. That's pretty good. He is on the

:44:19. > :44:33.red. This opens the black up in play for the blue this time.

:44:34. > :44:40.Still a few reds available but if he wants to, he could go into the pink.

:44:41. > :44:46.The sort of shot that Ronnie would play himself. But other players tend

:44:47. > :44:57.to do it slightly different. It depends on how he feels. The one at

:44:58. > :44:59.the back of the pack, if he gets on that, John, then he can open the

:45:00. > :45:14.reds. . Yes, he may play away from that

:45:15. > :45:18.and leaf the cue ball low. Pots the reds and then the black. Depends on

:45:19. > :45:34.how he goes about it. A lot more pressure on this shot

:45:35. > :45:55.than there should have been. Excellent.

:45:56. > :46:01.He must have read your book, John. That is probably the best play in

:46:02. > :46:07.the game. Potting balls from being take on the cushion.

:46:08. > :46:14.You can only just see the top of the ball.

:46:15. > :46:19.Think being that first session, if I were the two players going into a

:46:20. > :46:23.2-2, I would have been slightly happier had I been Neil Robertson.

:46:24. > :46:30.Obviously 2-1 down in his match, so to level it, it is great. But on the

:46:31. > :46:34.balance of play, Ronnie was better in the opening session but, what you

:46:35. > :46:41.have done with Ronnie O'Sullivan, is to establish yourself in the match,

:46:42. > :46:46.you have not let him runaway and kept the crowd fairly quiet. So 2-2

:46:47. > :46:50.at the interval for Neil, would have been a pretty decent score. And he

:46:51. > :47:01.started this frame like he started the match.

:47:02. > :47:33.Still a couple of more reds available after that one.

:47:34. > :47:40.He might leave himself with the black to cannon into the reds. He is

:47:41. > :47:43.not that many pots away from securing the frame with one visit. A

:47:44. > :47:58.visit that started with a Neil Robertson special.

:47:59. > :48:06.as to whether he will win this frame at this visit.

:48:07. > :48:13.He wants the cannon the red in the middle there. But he wanted to play

:48:14. > :48:17.that with a bit of screw. He's stunned that in there. It

:48:18. > :48:21.needed a bit of screw, so when he canoned that it would come from the

:48:22. > :48:26.left-hand side of the table but he just stunned it in. He must have

:48:27. > :48:32.thought when he played it, he was bound to be on one but if he had

:48:33. > :48:37.played the screw shot, he would have guaranteed being in.

:48:38. > :48:40.Now 59 points. A healthy lead but not with the way that the balls are

:48:41. > :48:49.situated. That is far from being safe.

:48:50. > :48:54.He could do with marking something on to a cushion if he is playing the

:48:55. > :49:01.safety shot here as a little bit of insurance. But it will not be easy

:49:02. > :49:02.to put the reds, to keep them safe, an guarantee a good position for the

:49:03. > :49:21.cue ball. He's going to need a bit of help.

:49:22. > :49:27.We have three types of spider under the table. That's the extended

:49:28. > :49:35.spider. He can play this as a shot to

:49:36. > :49:40.nothing but it's awkward cueing. He will need the extension and not

:49:41. > :49:41.able to see the shot as he is so far away from the shot. He will have to

:49:42. > :50:14.judge it. Yes! Very difficult that shot.

:50:15. > :50:19.Certainly striking down, and also trying to get some safety with it.

:50:20. > :50:27.It is a shot, where if you play all out for the pot, you have a better

:50:28. > :50:32.chance. If you try a two in one shot, you don't get either, you

:50:33. > :50:39.don't get the safety or the basmati Can Ronnie make a counter punch? And

:50:40. > :50:44.after the all the hard work at the start of that frame for Neil

:50:45. > :50:49.Robertson... Will he is set the frame up for Ronnie O'Sullivan to

:50:50. > :51:02.come and steal it? The way that the reds are, they are lovely, aren't

:51:03. > :51:05.they? Couldn't be better, John. Even the one next to the pink will be

:51:06. > :51:24.available. Hang on... What has he played there?

:51:25. > :51:29.Well, ways going to say it was a careless shot the one before. I know

:51:30. > :51:38.for the player with visibility, a straight shot to the side but it

:51:39. > :51:43.shouldn't have been straight. Such a margin for error here. To

:51:44. > :51:49.overhit that. It is a lively cloth but that was very poor. Can he cut

:51:50. > :51:57.this one in? What a shot this would be.

:51:58. > :52:19.Nope! So that excellent opportunity has disappeared rapidly.

:52:20. > :52:26.I bet Neil Robertson can't contain his excitement, being back at the

:52:27. > :52:32.table. The way that Ronnie has been hitting

:52:33. > :52:35.it this afternoon. When he has had chances, he's been cueing

:52:36. > :52:49.beautifully. I whet can't believe he's back at the table.

:52:50. > :52:55.I bet he can't believe he's back at the table.

:52:56. > :53:04.Interesting to see how it affects Ronnie O'Sullivan. He's looked

:53:05. > :53:10.focussed this afternoon. Inside, he will be seething as what

:53:11. > :53:15.he's just done. If you want to give your opponents

:53:16. > :53:19.any more confidence... Keep doing what you've just done.

:53:20. > :54:17.Neil will be feeding off that. A complete contrast to the two

:54:18. > :54:23.frames before the mid-session interval.

:54:24. > :54:46.This has been going less than 12 minutes.

:54:47. > :54:56.A little bit of an exhibition shot. So much side there. It looked like

:54:57. > :55:06.the white was going to stop at the cushion behind the black. Then it

:55:07. > :55:07.spun the table. There's another exhibition shot from

:55:08. > :55:26.the Australian. That in? Yes. Two visit, Neil

:55:27. > :55:29.Robertson. An earlier break. Ronnie had a chance to counterattack, he

:55:30. > :55:37.didn't take it. The Australian leads. 3-2.

:55:38. > :55:40.So, 3-2 in front and the Australians, Neil Robertson, a

:55:41. > :55:45.fantastic red to get him under way. An interesting frame.

:55:46. > :55:50.Neil played a poor position into the bunch. It broke down. Odds on it

:55:51. > :55:55.looked like Ronnie O'Sullivan could clear up to win. He was favourite to

:55:56. > :56:01.win the frame when he got in. Ronnie will be fuming. These matches

:56:02. > :56:05.between two top players, this is what John mentioned in commentary,

:56:06. > :56:09.it's the frames you shouldn't win. They can decide the winner

:56:10. > :56:14.sometimes. When the players are so evenly matched. Ronnie will be

:56:15. > :56:19.disappointed at the chance of that missed opportunity. And the chance

:56:20. > :56:25.to give a psychological blow. It would have given Neil Robertson a

:56:26. > :56:29.bit of confidence and taken the edge of Ronnie. That can snowball and

:56:30. > :56:32.irritate him slightly. It will be interesting to see how he kicks on

:56:33. > :56:36.from here and how Neil Robertson kicks on as well. Now he has the

:56:37. > :56:39.upper hand, he has a bit more confidence. It has been very, very

:56:40. > :56:47.interesting. It has. That indeed was Robertson's

:56:48. > :57:00.best break since the first frame when he made a 74. He appears to be

:57:01. > :57:07.in good stroke again. And that's the pretty good break-off

:57:08. > :57:13.shot. I I mean if the red was not near the

:57:14. > :57:16.black, Ronnie would have a go. But because of the red being next to the

:57:17. > :57:20.black, you can't. He would leave that on.

:57:21. > :57:25.So just containing this escape off the side cushion.

:57:26. > :57:34.It could have been judged a little better. It doesn't want to be

:57:35. > :57:38.leaving any sort of basmati For Neil, this is awkward bridging. He

:57:39. > :57:49.is not contemplating that red to the left of the blue.

:57:50. > :57:53.Well, he holds his hand up. That was a nice little flick off the brown to

:57:54. > :58:20.fluke the snooker. And this is another careless one

:58:21. > :58:27.from Ronnie... He just can't keep presenting opportunities. Not that

:58:28. > :58:34.this is a gimme by a long stretch. You can't give up opportunities.

:58:35. > :58:38.He is starting to look a little worrying in that frame, Ronnie, like

:58:39. > :58:43.he was losing momentum in the match. I think he can drop on the black,

:58:44. > :58:50.you know. Come around between the red and the black there.

:58:51. > :58:54.Well, he decided that was risky. But he's the wrong side of the blue. It

:58:55. > :59:10.looked as if he could possibly have held fob the black.

:59:11. > :59:21.He's going to have to swing this around the angles again to leave

:59:22. > :59:27.pink or blue. Now that's such a good shot. That's

:59:28. > :59:32.beautiful. That's the type of shot you have to get loads of screw on

:59:33. > :59:37.it, and then hit it softer than you think. He played that really well.

:59:38. > :00:08.Now, how's your luck? Pretty good! Just OK. I thought that red was

:00:09. > :00:17.going to block the path for the blue but it's easily possible.

:00:18. > :00:21.Just wondering, that shot to the pocket that Neil Robertson missed,

:00:22. > :00:28.how important is that in the context of the match? He got it down to 3-2

:00:29. > :00:32.in the first opportunity. It is little things like that in these

:00:33. > :00:33.matches that make all of the difference, certainly with the top

:00:34. > :00:50.boys. The shot in the middle pocket, just

:00:51. > :00:52.to the far jaw. Instead of it being your opportunity, it's gone to

:00:53. > :01:10.Ronnie. Will it be costly? Pink out of commission, black a

:01:11. > :01:14.little awkward. I'm not sure if it's available to the right corner, the

:01:15. > :01:15.black, but he's got the perfect angle on the blue to get back into

:01:16. > :01:26.nice position. Needs to be straight on this red, so

:01:27. > :01:31.he can roll it in and leave that black. If he's not straight on it...

:01:32. > :01:40.Well, he'll have to wait for another chance. Going up for the blue again.

:01:41. > :01:46.A little bit pacey this time, so a slight change of plan again. One of

:01:47. > :01:51.those shots where you probably are on the side of being a seat, just in

:01:52. > :01:55.case you end up on a baulk colour instead. Oh! You don't want to be

:01:56. > :02:11.missing the green. Wow. Well, all I can put that down to is

:02:12. > :02:12.a lapse in concentration. Or maybe a little bit of the previous frame in

:02:13. > :02:25.his mind. If he's not got position, he will

:02:26. > :02:27.have been very lucky. Named two is looking at that red at the back.

:02:28. > :02:55.Does it pot? Difficult to know. Well, that was your answer, but I

:02:56. > :03:02.didn't expect named two to make such a poor attempt at getting the cue

:03:03. > :03:08.ball in the baulk area. -- I didn't expect Neil to make such a poor

:03:09. > :03:15.attempt. Not left any, but given Ronnie and easy way to come back.

:03:16. > :03:19.Not the best, because you can't afford to leave Neil Robertson these

:03:20. > :03:32.long pot. He's so good at them. Oh, and that's a useful cannon on

:03:33. > :03:39.the blue. Let me show you this terrific long pot again. Wobbled a

:03:40. > :03:40.few times but, without the cannon on the blue, he'd have been out of

:03:41. > :04:02.position. He'll settle for that. You have to

:04:03. > :04:04.say, Dennis, one or two worrying signs at the minute. Ronnie

:04:05. > :04:09.O'Sullivan is looking second-best in this match. Green off the spot, not

:04:10. > :04:25.expecting him to miss that ever. Yeah and, make no mistake about it,

:04:26. > :04:29.the Australian Neil Robertson will pick up on those couple of errors

:04:30. > :04:38.that Ronnie has made and it will give him an extra little boost.

:04:39. > :04:44.As a competitor, you can remember as well as anybody, when you sense a

:04:45. > :04:48.bit of weakness in your opponent, it's time to make the most of it,

:04:49. > :05:03.and you can see that's what Neil Robertson's doing.

:05:04. > :05:10.I wonder whether he can bring any reds out? Yes, forcing through to

:05:11. > :05:19.bring a single red out. That was a good shot.

:05:20. > :05:27.He could have done with getting a little bit more side on that. He may

:05:28. > :05:32.have to go up the table. If the blue is available, you can play on that.

:05:33. > :05:35.It would be nice to get the blue back of its spots, but not

:05:36. > :05:42.essential, but that's what he's got in mind. Pot this read and leave

:05:43. > :05:52.himself on the blue and get back to the scoring end of the table.

:05:53. > :06:01.Neil had a little look before. Might be a chance of a plant, but I don't

:06:02. > :06:06.think it's on. So there's nothing there. What does he do here? Does he

:06:07. > :06:10.play for the single red or take a chance? If he's got a natural angle

:06:11. > :06:15.to come off the side cushion, he could play a cannon into that pink

:06:16. > :06:21.and free reds, but it's not a big target. He is looking at the single

:06:22. > :06:27.red, but he's got a couple of options.

:06:28. > :06:36.I don't blame him. If he can pot this red... I think he wanted the

:06:37. > :06:43.cue ball to go a bit further. Quite an easy cannon off the blue into

:06:44. > :06:47.that pink and three reds. Yeah, I think it was a little awkward. The

:06:48. > :06:51.white was a bit too close to the question to risk potting the blue

:06:52. > :06:56.and disturbing those three reds and pink.

:06:57. > :07:09.He didn't cue that well. Just cued across that one slightly. For a

:07:10. > :07:26.putter like Neil Robertson, you'd have to say that's a poor miss.

:07:27. > :07:33.A nice little half ball on the blue, and it's all about the cannon here.

:07:34. > :07:42.Just need these to open up and to land on one and he would be a

:07:43. > :07:57.massive favourite in this frame. That'll do.

:07:58. > :08:04.Nice to have enthusiasm, but shouting out at the wrong time can

:08:05. > :08:09.put the player off. We mentioned earlier there would be slightly

:08:10. > :08:12.worrying times, but there will be seriously worrying times if he

:08:13. > :08:19.doesn't win the frame from here, because the are absolutely lovely

:08:20. > :08:24.now. -- these are absolutely lovely now. Green to brown could be the

:08:25. > :08:30.only slight pick-up, but we wouldn't expect it. We have had four or five

:08:31. > :08:38.matches that have gone to a deciding frame already. This could be another

:08:39. > :08:46.one of those that might go all the way, John. Yes, Neil Robertson will

:08:47. > :08:50.be sat in his chair, kicking himself about the red he missed. OK, it

:08:51. > :09:00.wasn't easy, but he was in command in the frame.

:09:01. > :09:05.Just needs to make sure of the green. 24, the difference. This will

:09:06. > :09:23.secure the frame. A good response from Ronnie and,

:09:24. > :09:43.once again, we are all square. Great match.

:09:44. > :09:50.Well, Neil Robertson had a chance for a two frame advantage. He didn't

:09:51. > :10:54.take it. Ronnie O'Sullivan took his chance. We are all square, 3-3.

:10:55. > :11:02.It's a cracking afternoon's play, isn't it? Three apiece, and a couple

:11:03. > :11:08.of missed reds from Neil Robertson. There was one to the centre pocket

:11:09. > :11:12.and a long one later. These type of reds for Neil Robertson are like

:11:13. > :11:16.bread and butter. As the lad spoke about in commentary, when you sense

:11:17. > :11:21.a bit of weakness in your opponent, it's time to step up and drive the

:11:22. > :11:25.nail home and drive your advantage home, and that was a great

:11:26. > :11:29.opportunity for Neil Robertson to establish a two frame lead. Your

:11:30. > :11:36.assessment of the way this match is ebbing and flowing? The first two

:11:37. > :11:40.frames, in terms of scoring, the standards have dropped drastically,

:11:41. > :11:42.but it hasn't left the match left interesting. Lots of mistakes, which

:11:43. > :11:56.you wouldn't expect from these players. Bring it on.

:11:57. > :12:03.It's always nice to see the centuries flying in, but sometimes

:12:04. > :12:10.it's nice to watch this type of snooker where both players are

:12:11. > :12:17.missing the odd chance. I think they both want this one so badly, John.

:12:18. > :12:22.There's a good, intense rivalry between these two. They both have

:12:23. > :12:32.the ultimate respect for each others came.

:12:33. > :12:40.Sometimes we say about Ronnie that some matches he played in are a bit

:12:41. > :12:46.easy for him and he isn't getting tested, but he's going to get tested

:12:47. > :12:48.this afternoon, that's for sure. You can see from his attitude that he's

:12:49. > :13:16.enjoying it. Just come up a bit short. Ronnie

:13:17. > :13:23.might be tempted because, if he can get round the back of the black and

:13:24. > :14:06.red, if he takes the pot on here... That's OK. Hasn't left anything.

:14:07. > :14:17.What's the angle like he's left for Neil? Has he got a pot at one? Yet,

:14:18. > :14:33.here goes. You never know where the red you

:14:34. > :14:42.play is going to go but it's finished up OK. A very attacking

:14:43. > :14:49.shot on here. Whether he'll take it or not, I don't know.

:14:50. > :15:01.Decided to play the safety shot. A good one it was as well. There's a

:15:02. > :15:05.pot on the red on the right-hand side of the cluster where you could

:15:06. > :15:13.play and screw back for blue. He wasn't having any of that. He is

:15:14. > :15:17.taking this pot on, but keep your eye on the cue ball. It's going to

:15:18. > :15:22.head towards the black and reds. Where will it finish up? He's found

:15:23. > :15:32.the gap. Is he going to finish on the green? I mean, if he really

:15:33. > :15:37.powers the green in, he's left-handed so he might be able to

:15:38. > :15:43.reach round. He's over six foot tall, so he's got quite a stretch.

:15:44. > :15:48.Even then, he'd have to force this, and he could miss the pot if he

:15:49. > :15:54.tries to clock it too hard. It's tight on the question, so it's not

:15:55. > :15:59.totally over the pocket. Not a complete gimme. Still got to cue it

:16:00. > :16:05.well, just to the pot. Wright he's trying to get in behind it.

:16:06. > :16:16.He had to use the jaw of the pocket, and he just misjudged it slightly.

:16:17. > :16:22.A similar sort of shot for Ronnie. Neil found the gap. Where will the

:16:23. > :16:39.cue ball go this time? You say you make your own luck. He

:16:40. > :17:09.deserved it after that pot. That was brilliantly struck and controlled.

:17:10. > :17:20.Perfect. Just feel with this match, the way it's been going, certainly

:17:21. > :17:24.in the last few frames, the boys mentioned in the studio that they

:17:25. > :17:29.haven't been one visit, winning these frames. One player could just

:17:30. > :17:31.step up and grab hold of this match with some scoring. They could run

:17:32. > :18:02.away with it. Still got that one red at the back

:18:03. > :18:12.of the bunch that is available to him. Let's see how he gets it. He's

:18:13. > :18:14.left it in such a way that he can develop a few more. But has to make

:18:15. > :18:32.sure he doesn't lose position. A little is done there, the cue ball

:18:33. > :18:38.running through. -- a little stun. Good cueing. That's exactly what he

:18:39. > :19:00.got. That was beautifully struck as well.

:19:01. > :19:07.He did the right thing, a bit like a golfer. He hadn't quite make his

:19:08. > :19:10.mind up and he got back up off the shot and got back down again. The

:19:11. > :19:16.worst thing you can do is change your mind when you are down on the

:19:17. > :19:30.shot and continue. It was a lot better than it looked. Very well

:19:31. > :19:36.pursued. -- very well cued. Striking down on it, right the way through,

:19:37. > :19:38.and then screw back up for the brown. More difficult than it

:19:39. > :19:59.looked. He can obviously play some sort of

:20:00. > :20:03.cannon off the blue into the reds if he wants, but he is worried about

:20:04. > :20:08.losing the cue ball. The single red on the right-hand side of the

:20:09. > :20:11.pink... He is looking at coming round the angles off the ground.

:20:12. > :20:18.He's trying to guarantee position here, as opposed to taking a chance.

:20:19. > :20:24.-- coming round the angles off the brown. Well, he took too long on

:20:25. > :20:33.that. Surely he's not going to fluke it... Well! No reaction from Neil,

:20:34. > :20:37.but that is one of the biggest flukes you could ever wish to see.

:20:38. > :20:41.He couldn't make his mind up. You wanted to take the blue and get a

:20:42. > :20:46.little cannon. He didn't want to risk that. In the end, he got down

:20:47. > :20:48.and missed the brown by a long way. How did he look into that corner

:20:49. > :20:58.pocket? He's played a few strange shots.

:20:59. > :21:05.It's as if he's lost his concentration somewhat. He just got

:21:06. > :21:06.down... If the plant was on, you don't just get down and hammer it

:21:07. > :21:13.like that. I wonder if he felt guilty for

:21:14. > :21:29.getting the fluke. Well, it might come back to want

:21:30. > :21:41.him, the way he played that plant. -- to haunt him. Just hit it that

:21:42. > :21:45.hard, didn't give it a chance. But this was amazing. He couldn't make

:21:46. > :21:51.his mind up. In the end, he missed by a long way.

:21:52. > :22:26.And then, to see it go in-off the red...

:22:27. > :22:33.Meanwhile, this is not a straightforward chance for Neil

:22:34. > :22:38.Robertson. OK, so those two reds on the left-hand push on shouldn't be

:22:39. > :22:46.as much of a problem to him as a right-hander. -- the left-hand

:22:47. > :23:07.cushion. Nevertheless, not ideally situated.

:23:08. > :23:16.He has the option. He could play this firmly and try and flick the

:23:17. > :23:22.red out or try and drop in behind. Could have played it firmer to move

:23:23. > :23:23.the red that's above the cue ball out. But chose not to do it that

:23:24. > :24:19.way. Not the best positional shot at

:24:20. > :24:27.Neil's ever played. He's probably already thinking about the two reds

:24:28. > :24:32.that are slightly awkward, one very awkward, the one on the right side

:24:33. > :24:37.of the table not too badly placed. Going back to that shot early on,

:24:38. > :24:42.when he was on the black, he could have tried to flick that red out. I

:24:43. > :24:46.know he's left-handed, but that's a tricky shot, where that is, halfway

:24:47. > :24:57.up the cushion. It will have to be negotiated later.

:24:58. > :25:05.He's got a slight angle on the black. He's left-handed. He can play

:25:06. > :25:09.to drop in behind it or he can try to cannon it out. Not the perfect

:25:10. > :25:18.angle. He'll have to really power this in. And he certainly powered it

:25:19. > :25:21.in. But not quite far enough. So it looks like it will have to be a

:25:22. > :25:38.safety, and Ronnie will be relieved. I think he felt that Neil might

:25:39. > :25:47.finish it up there. Still in the balance, this. When Ronnie missed

:25:48. > :25:56.the brown, he had an alternate shot. We might be able to show you...

:25:57. > :26:03.I thought he could have taken the blue and played the cannon on the

:26:04. > :26:04.two reds. He thought for ages and couldn't quite make his mind up and

:26:05. > :26:18.he hammered the brown and missed it. That was a bit hazy. Oh, the blue

:26:19. > :26:27.has come to his rescue. -- a bit pacey. Yes, Neil raised his eyebrows

:26:28. > :26:32.slightly. Must have been thinking that was going to be a chance. OK,

:26:33. > :26:41.the green is over the corner. That might have been stopping a pot.

:26:42. > :27:02.Yeah, "Is nice he is saying. -- yeah, "Is nice blue", he is saying.

:27:03. > :27:10.He's got to get the swerve on it. He could be knocking it towards the

:27:11. > :27:18.yellow pocket. He's in a lot of trouble, and he will take that. He

:27:19. > :27:24.might not like the next shot. Ronnie can get in behind the black here.

:27:25. > :27:36.He hasn't hit it hard enough. He missed a trick there.

:27:37. > :27:42.They are wearing normal ties, and you could see Neil pulling at the

:27:43. > :27:46.time. That is why we used to wear bow ties, even during the day,

:27:47. > :27:54.because a normal tie gets in your way slightly. Oh, that's right over

:27:55. > :27:59.the pocket. I'm a massive fan of Neil Robertson, I really am, but I

:28:00. > :28:03.think he's played two or three shots today totally out of character for

:28:04. > :28:14.him. He never, ever does that, what he's just done.

:28:15. > :28:20.For him to play that I mean, obviously the priority with that

:28:21. > :28:28.shot is, do not put the object ball over the middle pocket.

:28:29. > :28:42.Whoever loses this frame will be sore.

:28:43. > :28:49.He overhit that, and now it's going to be awkward, because he also needs

:28:50. > :28:56.the brown. Having a quick look at the scoreboard. 15 ahead. Needs

:28:57. > :28:59.green and brown, and he's going to need a little bit of assistance to

:29:00. > :29:05.get to this. I don't know if he can do it with the rest. Might just be

:29:06. > :29:15.able to cue past the blue. But he could miss it if he gets it too

:29:16. > :29:20.hard. He left angle. You could play with a bit of running side, just to

:29:21. > :29:27.flick it in. That was the good news about that shot. Well, one good long

:29:28. > :29:41.pot and we are right down the line of the shot. It's there.

:29:42. > :30:00.Neil needs a snooker, as you can see.

:30:01. > :30:05.Did that previously in the match, when he missed a pink in the middle

:30:06. > :30:11.and had to wait for another ten minutes. We'll show you the miss in

:30:12. > :30:20.the blue -- on the blue that would have kept Neil in his seat.

:30:21. > :30:30.It looks like nothing, those situations, but it stops your

:30:31. > :30:31.momentum. At 4-3 up, you could give yourself ten, 15 minutes of complete

:30:32. > :30:38.aggravation for no reason at all. It's been a funny frame, this, it's

:30:39. > :31:07.had a little bit of everything. With only needing the one snooker,

:31:08. > :31:11.there is no way Neil would be potting the blue, if he had a

:31:12. > :31:16.chance. More chance of the snooker with the paint the black on the

:31:17. > :31:22.table. As well as playing for the snooker, you have to try to keep the

:31:23. > :31:31.object ball safe. Well, he didn't mean to pot that. He's... He didn't

:31:32. > :31:35.play to pot that. But it might be just behind the

:31:36. > :31:39.black here but it's more difficult now with the one snookering ball on

:31:40. > :31:45.the table. And the black is off its spot. The

:31:46. > :31:52.closest to the cushion for the black is easier to get a snooker but where

:31:53. > :31:58.it is now, you've got to be perfect. He's got one real good shot at it,

:31:59. > :32:10.and it's not great what he's got any way, so, good luck with this one.

:32:11. > :32:15.I'll tell you what, it's a pretty good effort if the pink pulls up...

:32:16. > :32:25.It's just a bit too far but it wasn't a bad effort.

:32:26. > :32:37.In or over is how you play that shot it's in! O'Sullivan... In the end

:32:38. > :32:42.Ronnie O'Sullivan will be delight he gets himself into a four frames to

:32:43. > :32:47.three lead. Intriguing but a strange afternoon.

:32:48. > :32:53.At the start we had two big punches, we thought it would be crash, bang,

:32:54. > :32:58.wallop, then suddenly, the nature of the match has changed.

:32:59. > :33:02.You could argue in terms of standards, there has been the best

:33:03. > :33:08.and the worst. It has had everything. But I expected, I know

:33:09. > :33:15.that snooker is won in lots of different ways but I expected lots

:33:16. > :33:21.of one-visit wins. It has been more scrappy than I expected. And the

:33:22. > :33:26.moment of indecision, not for the first time from Ronnie, and after

:33:27. > :33:30.the plant with the fluke brown, and one or two awkward moments from Neil

:33:31. > :33:36.as well? And with the red, the last one on the table. He is trying to

:33:37. > :33:42.play a container shot, putting the red on the left of the yellow in the

:33:43. > :33:46.middle, and he butched it. Very, very disappointed with it. Some

:33:47. > :33:52.safety shots you can play more aggressively and getting the cue and

:33:53. > :33:56.the object ball safe but that was amateurish, for someone of Neil's

:33:57. > :34:00.ability to play a shot like that. Especially when it looked like he

:34:01. > :34:04.was getting to Ronnie. Ronnie was looking agitated. It looked like he

:34:05. > :34:09.was getting on top. Then he let it slip and now he's thrown it back

:34:10. > :34:14.into Ronnie's court. What is all of this telling about the pressure and

:34:15. > :34:20.the desire levels of the two? There is no doubt that is very, very high

:34:21. > :34:26.for the two. That is what is causing this lot, the misses.

:34:27. > :34:36.And sometimes, the bake breaks of the ball. But it's making it very,

:34:37. > :34:42.very interesting. A bit of a free pot for Ronnie. He

:34:43. > :35:09.could go around the back of the black and take this on.

:35:10. > :35:16.Yes, an interesting pot in that last frame. It ultimately went down to

:35:17. > :35:21.the last red. A shot when Neil Robertson could have potted the

:35:22. > :35:26.black and flicked the red up above his hand. If he plays it fair, and

:35:27. > :35:32.that knock it is out, he could go on to win the frame but it was a bit of

:35:33. > :35:36.a shot to nothing, really. I think he may have missed a trick there.

:35:37. > :35:38.Ultimately, that red was the last he had to get, yet he couldn't get on

:35:39. > :36:01.it. Right, that was what we call an

:36:02. > :36:07.Aussie special! I mean, one of the greatest long potters the game's

:36:08. > :36:14.ever seen without a doubt. Oh, he's just tremendous cueing.

:36:15. > :36:18.Such a hard pot anyway but to knock it up to the top spot and get back

:36:19. > :36:22.on side for the blue is just a wonderful shot. Yeah, I think I

:36:23. > :36:25.mentioned at the start of the tournament how many great

:36:26. > :36:37.left-handers there are in the game and what great potters they are.

:36:38. > :36:42.Going way back there was only a few. Perry Mans, a great potter from

:36:43. > :36:48.South Africa. But nowa day, I mean there's so many

:36:49. > :36:55.great left-hander players. Then Jimmy White came on the scene. Mark

:36:56. > :37:01.William, Judd Trump, Barry Hawkins... Well, he knocked in an

:37:02. > :37:07.unbelievable opening red, how do you see him missing one like that? I

:37:08. > :37:12.know. If anything, I was looking at Neil Robertson today and I've not

:37:13. > :37:16.seen him play much but his concentration levels is not as high

:37:17. > :37:28.as what it usually is. That's the only thing you can say, because he

:37:29. > :37:32.would never miss a shot like that. A great pot from Ronnie. He did well

:37:33. > :37:39.to avoid the cannon on that red there.

:37:40. > :37:40.Ronnie's turn to sense weakness in his opponent.

:37:41. > :38:09.Can he make the most of it? I agree with Stephenhandry,

:38:10. > :38:13.standardwise, it has probably been one of the worst matches, although

:38:14. > :38:22.it is still very, very exciting. But no century break.

:38:23. > :38:31.The highest scores, 74, 63 but fascinating stuff.

:38:32. > :38:36.Very similar to yesterday's match with Mark Williams and Mark Selby.

:38:37. > :38:40.Mark Williams, played some fantastic match-play.

:38:41. > :38:48.Oh, what's going on here at the minute. What is going on? Are we now

:38:49. > :39:08.at the stage where both players are trying that little bit too hard?

:39:09. > :39:15.Well, he got a heavy contact there. OK, the red's gone in but it's

:39:16. > :39:32.spoiled the position outside of the shot.

:39:33. > :39:38.I suppose in this year's masters, there hasn't been a great deal of

:39:39. > :39:42.kicks. Unfortunately, like it happened

:39:43. > :39:47.yesterday for Mark Williams on the blue, Neil Robertson's having to

:39:48. > :39:54.take it on here, it was magnified but this is a big shot to take on.

:39:55. > :39:57.Wow! Look at that. And to do it after the disapointment of the kick

:39:58. > :40:07.and the loss of position is just fabulous.

:40:08. > :40:11.I think he's still keen on winning this match, Dennis, after that shot?

:40:12. > :40:22.As I say, they both want it so badly.

:40:23. > :40:37.But it has to be said, Ronnie was in the balls, looking good.

:40:38. > :41:22.And that's gone wrong. It's amazing, I was just about to say, with these

:41:23. > :41:27.players, you expect these players to win with one visit. But there are

:41:28. > :41:33.all sorts of little things going on. There's another one where it's ran

:41:34. > :41:43.out of the red and on to position. I don't think it's desperate, he has

:41:44. > :41:55.one insurance policy in the area over there. This could be going in.

:41:56. > :42:04.So not all bad news there. He's got a chance here to pot the

:42:05. > :42:09.yellow off the side and into the cushion for the pack. That's what he

:42:10. > :42:15.played but he hit that so badly, he was nowhere near it! I don't know

:42:16. > :42:19.about you, John but you sense, normally, you think they are in,

:42:20. > :42:23.this will win the frame but you sense with what is going on, they

:42:24. > :42:29.are not confident of winning the frame with one visit.

:42:30. > :42:35.I don't think this will go in.ness there is a gap between the reds. If

:42:36. > :42:37.those two reds are closer together it will squeeze it away to the

:42:38. > :42:44.pocket. Let's see. Close together, the angle

:42:45. > :42:52.he's got, he'll squeeze it away from the pocket, I think.

:42:53. > :42:58.From that angle, maybe he could possibly make it. There is a little

:42:59. > :43:14.gap between the reds. But he still doesn't fancy it.

:43:15. > :43:20.25 for Neil. But he'll be kicking himself for that shot off the

:43:21. > :43:24.yellow. The red over the middle there, it

:43:25. > :43:43.was looking like a frame-winning chance but it's gone now.

:43:44. > :43:52.It's good stuff, though, tennis, I don't know what's going to happen

:43:53. > :44:01.next! You were on a programme, Question of Sport, you used to the

:44:02. > :44:07.captain? What happened next? Well, he thought he could pot that.

:44:08. > :44:13.The white needs to keep running otherwise he's left it. Yeah, I

:44:14. > :44:40.think he can get past the blue. Someone shouted out "get in" we

:44:41. > :44:43.don't need anyone like that shouting while the player is playing the

:44:44. > :44:59.shot. It will put the player he's supporting off.

:45:00. > :45:19.Once again, though, the position - it's not ideal for Ronnie.

:45:20. > :45:34.He should be taking this one. Listen, you get enough bad luck at

:45:35. > :45:40.time in the game, when you get a fluke like this, why not take full

:45:41. > :45:50.advantage? It left the cushion and seemed to come back in. There was a

:45:51. > :46:05.swerve on hitting the angles. I'm with you on it, you get a fluke,

:46:06. > :46:10.you make the most of it. Wow, that's brown's been pretty good today,

:46:11. > :46:13.hasn't it? It should have been in the other one but of course he

:46:14. > :46:16.played a plant afterwards with not a lot of care. But what a fluke that

:46:17. > :46:35.was. He didn't play that too well. That's

:46:36. > :46:41.a bit careless there. He mist judged the cannon completely.

:46:42. > :46:49.And he's just battling with himself a little bit at the moment. You can

:46:50. > :47:02.see the abject disappointment on his face, when he cease the problems but

:47:03. > :47:17.welcome to our world, Ronnie, that's what happens to most players!

:47:18. > :47:21.Welcome back to Ronnie's World! Yep, for all the misses and bad safeties

:47:22. > :47:24.and great safeties, you can't beat a little bit of luck. And what a fluke

:47:25. > :47:47.that was. Still, Neil Robertson, very

:47:48. > :47:52.focussed. A great temperament but that was hard to take. It means now

:47:53. > :47:58.he will have to win the last three frames.

:47:59. > :48:03.He's quite capable of doing that, as Ronnie overscrews the yellow. But

:48:04. > :48:11.that doesn't matter. He will stay in his seat, or he might leave the

:48:12. > :48:16.arena just to compose himself. Ronnie O'Sullivan, and no wonder

:48:17. > :48:21.he's leaving the arena. He is now just one frameway from a place in

:48:22. > :48:27.the semi-final. It's 5-3 to the Rocket.

:48:28. > :48:38.Well, they say you make your own luck but Ronnie has had a coup of

:48:39. > :48:42.slice there to take the two. Here, this came away from the

:48:43. > :48:49.cushion. It got a little flick off the brown. But apart from the fluke,

:48:50. > :48:54.Neil had his chance earlier on. He had a yellow. A target with the reds

:48:55. > :49:00.around the pink. He didn't make it. He should have got in from that

:49:01. > :49:03.position. It cost him. And it cost him.

:49:04. > :49:07.And when Neil gets in, there are times he can't buy a positional

:49:08. > :49:13.shot. Partly due to the pressure, maybe due to the fact he's not

:49:14. > :49:16.playing so well in the last two to three months, so a lack of

:49:17. > :49:22.confidence in the pit, as it were. So he's just not able to string.

:49:23. > :49:27.Well, none of them are. And I wonder when you have had a

:49:28. > :49:33.couple of pieces of luck go against you, as Neil has, does it confirm in

:49:34. > :49:38.your head, you have to fight that feeling it will not be your day? You

:49:39. > :49:45.are fighting against the elements and yourself. As Stephen says it

:49:46. > :49:48.could be the lack of the edge he had before, the invincibility is a

:49:49. > :49:52.little gone now. You do lose that little bit of edge.

:49:53. > :49:56.He looks vulnerable out there. That is not normally what you say about

:49:57. > :50:01.Neil Robertson. Normally, he loves this. This is the sort of occasion

:50:02. > :50:07.he is made for. But he does not look comfortable.

:50:08. > :50:11.And the route of this, at the start of the season he was thumped by

:50:12. > :50:18.Ronnie O'Sullivan. And a year ago he was 5-2 up and lost seven frames on

:50:19. > :50:22.the spin to Ronnie, so he's not had the best of times against Ronnie

:50:23. > :50:33.since the semi-final Masters and he's really up against it now.

:50:34. > :50:36.Yes, he certainly is. Ronnie a little short with the break-off

:50:37. > :51:22.shot. He could do with a long pot here.

:51:23. > :51:40.Just giving the cue a clean to make sure it's nice and smooth.

:51:41. > :51:44.He could do with a couple of new Robertson "specials." He's at the

:51:45. > :52:06.stage now where he knows he cannot afford many more misses.

:52:07. > :52:21.That's a terrific opener in. Just having a look there, to see if

:52:22. > :52:26.that back of the black is pottable at some stage. Obviously not playing

:52:27. > :52:30.on it there but seeing if he can pot that and get it away from the black,

:52:31. > :52:42.it will free it. But I don't know about that one.

:52:43. > :52:51.Here he is again, checking to see. Those ones you have to keep the cue

:52:52. > :52:57.ball high so when you pot the red you get the natural angle to screw

:52:58. > :53:05.out for the black. But it's a tough pot in itself, that red, behind the

:53:06. > :53:11.black. Certainly on these tables! He will be disgusted with that. You can

:53:12. > :53:13.see him turn his head away, the one thing he did want to do is come low.

:53:14. > :53:32.He's got into that a bit too much. It's very tight.

:53:33. > :53:36.Yeah, not from that angle. If the white had been near and to

:53:37. > :53:44.the right, slightly, it would have been OK.

:53:45. > :53:46.Stephen mentioned in the studio he was struggling for positional play

:53:47. > :54:26.today. Another example. Good opening pot.

:54:27. > :54:32.If the red doesn't go in, have a look where the cue ball is, the fact

:54:33. > :54:47.he potted it, he knew there would be a chance at the brown.

:54:48. > :54:54.Boy, to hit it that hard and expect the pocket to accept the brown was

:54:55. > :55:26.asking something... Oh, he's fouled it.

:55:27. > :55:31.Janver Haas was looking, and Neil thought he was OK but he touched it

:55:32. > :55:38.with his sleeve. Yeah, bad news on the foul.

:55:39. > :55:43.Good news was, that came across and hit the black and didn't leave one

:55:44. > :56:19.on! It could have been all bad for Neil there!

:56:20. > :56:26.Interesting how Ronnie tapped the table a few times. He tapped the

:56:27. > :56:35.table before the white got anywhere near the cushion. He knew where the

:56:36. > :56:44.white was going to finish up. I don't mind him missing all

:56:45. > :56:50.together with the first attempt... He'll have another go at it.

:56:51. > :56:54.But he'll want to really make contact this time. Three misses from

:56:55. > :57:05.this situation and you lose the frame. So can he get a thin enough

:57:06. > :57:10.contact here? No! The referee will now warn Ronnie.

:57:11. > :57:19.Is anything else going to happen in this match? Surely he's not going to

:57:20. > :57:26.lose the frame from missing the reds three times.

:57:27. > :57:28.Yeah, put plenty of chalk on the tip. The last thing you want to do

:57:29. > :57:52.is miscue. Well, in the end it was a terrific

:57:53. > :57:56.safety shot he played. But he is smiling there.

:57:57. > :58:13.I tell you what, then, this is a big shot to take on.

:58:14. > :58:24.Well, you were right, John, it was a big shot.

:58:25. > :58:31.Don't be giving too many chances to someone like Neil Robertson. He was

:58:32. > :58:34.in the jaws of the pocket. It was so close. But a very tough shot he took

:58:35. > :58:53.on there. Yes, not a brilliant chance, this,

:58:54. > :59:04.the blacks currently out of commission, the pink certainly is.

:59:05. > :59:10.Brown's on the side cushion... Not perfect on the blue.

:59:11. > :59:14.I suppose he could take the green, being left-handed. It might be a

:59:15. > :59:19.natural angle back for the red at the bottom of the cluster, cos that

:59:20. > :59:22.will pot. But is he hampered with his cueing?

:59:23. > :59:41.Hmm, looks like it. He's looking at the blue to the

:59:42. > :59:45.middle pocket. This is a thin cut. It could go out to the reds and open

:59:46. > :59:54.the game up. That's a bit unlucky. It was a very

:59:55. > :00:01.thin shot required. He got the main part of the shot. Didn't quite get

:00:02. > :00:06.enough screw on it but to go off was unfortunate indeed.

:00:07. > :00:11.And added unfortunate, I he he's opened the pink.

:00:12. > :00:17.I think that the pink now goes. That red is removed from the pink. If

:00:18. > :00:21.Ronnie can pot this side. He has pink or blue able. Well, he should

:00:22. > :01:10.have had! What he needs to do is get that

:01:11. > :01:19.focus fact that he had at the start of the match. It has to be said,

:01:20. > :01:23.just a few little signs that he's getting a little frustrated with

:01:24. > :01:42.himself. He sets himself such high standards, Ronnie O'Sullivan.

:01:43. > :01:52.Didn't have much on. That was a good shot at Neil played. He knew he'd be

:01:53. > :01:57.clipping the red towards the corner but as long as he could use the blue

:01:58. > :01:58.to cover it up it was OK. A similar shot for Ronnie, but he has to be

:01:59. > :02:16.careful. Has he covered it? Well, he's covered the one closest

:02:17. > :02:19.to the pocket and the one on the side he's hampered by the yellow.

:02:20. > :02:46.Not great from Neil. -- for Neil. I just noticed something with Ronnie

:02:47. > :02:51.when he's down on the shots, it's as if he's moving around a little bit.

:02:52. > :02:54.He never used to do that, rock-solid, but a bit of movement

:02:55. > :03:01.when he was getting ready to deliver the cue.

:03:02. > :03:47.Tough shot, viz. Yeah, not surprised he missed it, actually. On the

:03:48. > :03:54.inside. He's not even looking to see about the red on the right-hand

:03:55. > :04:00.side. Well, that, I suppose, he could have potted that and got on

:04:01. > :04:05.the pink. He didn't even look at it, did he?

:04:06. > :04:15.While they're replacing it, now, you see, there's where it is, nearly on

:04:16. > :04:20.the brown spot. Looked as if he could take it on. Wouldn't have left

:04:21. > :04:27.a great deal, but he had it replaced.

:04:28. > :04:37.Now, it's Neil Robertson's turn to be warned. He won't even look at the

:04:38. > :04:43.red this time. If he did this and missed it three times, it would be

:04:44. > :04:46.frame and match, wouldn't it? It happened in the Irish masters, and I

:04:47. > :04:55.think Ken Doherty was playing Steve Davis. Was it Steve lost the match

:04:56. > :05:01.with three consecutive misses? You're dead right. That's what

:05:02. > :05:07.happened. You can probably have a good bet that this will be too big

:05:08. > :05:25.now. He'll be very careful. -- too thick.

:05:26. > :05:28.Yeah, too thick, but he'll be glad when it's finished. The blue has

:05:29. > :05:48.come to his rescue. Played that with a load of check

:05:49. > :05:54.side. Needs to straighten the cue ball up. And he's played it very

:05:55. > :06:01.well. Where the reds had turned up, he's had a bit of luck, of course,

:06:02. > :06:05.covering those two near the corner pocket with the red that's further

:06:06. > :06:10.up. So a bit of luck, but it was well played. First glance, looks

:06:11. > :06:25.like a fair bit of trouble. Well, that's what he's faced with

:06:26. > :06:31.there. As you can see, very difficult situation.

:06:32. > :06:40.He'll have to give this one a little bit of thought, because he knows one

:06:41. > :06:48.mistake here and he could be out of this year's Masters. Yeah, the two

:06:49. > :06:53.reds near the top corner, the bottom one, Neil was looking to try and

:06:54. > :06:59.drop on but if you don't get that right, you leave that red into the

:07:00. > :07:02.middle pocket. He is seeing if he can go up dead weight and rest on

:07:03. > :07:17.it, but you've got to get that right.

:07:18. > :07:28.This is a very delicate. It's not going to reach.

:07:29. > :07:34.That was the way he was trying to get in behind that red, and Ronnie

:07:35. > :07:38.isn't having the one in the middle pocket, so the great difficulty with

:07:39. > :07:42.that pot isn't something he fancies. But he's got Neil in a right load of

:07:43. > :08:11.trouble here. Same shot, is it? Yeah. And he'll have to be warned

:08:12. > :08:20.again, for the second time. That doesn't happen very often, where a

:08:21. > :08:26.player's warned twice in one frame. REFEREE: I've got to warn you again,

:08:27. > :08:36.if you play and miss, you'll the frame. And the match.

:08:37. > :08:56.Well! He's given a foul away, seven points. Black would have gone. I

:08:57. > :09:09.think it's the ultimate whammy. I think everything. -- I think

:09:10. > :09:13.everything pots. He had to take on that possible pot. Some of the balls

:09:14. > :09:22.were very awkward, but have a look at how the split up... To finish

:09:23. > :09:27.like that and get the black on its spot, with everything in the open,

:09:28. > :09:30.you couldn't ask for anything more, but the only thing is, the way it's

:09:31. > :09:48.gone this afternoon, will it be over?

:09:49. > :09:58.They've played each other twice in the Masters. Neil won 6-1 in the

:09:59. > :10:13.semifinal in 2015. Ronnie won it 6-4 in round two in 2010.

:10:14. > :10:20.Even that shot, Dennis, wasn't played up to his usual standards.

:10:21. > :10:27.Down on the shot, he was like in two minds, how he played it. He should

:10:28. > :10:30.be knocking this in, but little positional blips from Ronnie

:10:31. > :10:36.O'Sullivan that you don't usually see. But these are spread lovely.

:10:37. > :10:52.And no excuses now. I mean, before this match started,

:10:53. > :10:59.we thought we were going to be in for century breaks flying in all

:11:00. > :11:06.over the place, but Ronnie's highest break has been 63, Neil's 74, but

:11:07. > :11:10.there have been lots of 50s and 40s and misses. We've had a bit of

:11:11. > :11:17.everything. It's been great theatre this afternoon, that's for sure.

:11:18. > :11:21.This audience this afternoon, OK, as you say, not centuries rolling up

:11:22. > :11:24.every frame, but it's been fascinating right the way through.

:11:25. > :11:28.It's been difficult to commentate on, because we haven't known what's

:11:29. > :11:36.going on on occasions. People looking like they were going to

:11:37. > :11:37.clear up, then if you missed pot -- then a few missed pots you wouldn't

:11:38. > :11:52.get. But fascinating nonetheless. Neil Robertson had a chance to go

:11:53. > :11:58.4-2 in front and, for me, that was the big turning point in the match.

:11:59. > :12:09.The crowd here at Alexandra Palace have been very fair to both players.

:12:10. > :12:12.A lots of Ronnie fans here, but Neil Robertson's had terrific support

:12:13. > :12:20.also. But it's not going to be his year.

:12:21. > :12:27.Just looked as if he had lost a little bit of focus, Ronnie. He was

:12:28. > :12:33.very up for it at the start of the match, but just seemed to lose his

:12:34. > :12:36.way. Probably because he set such a high standard. He's had a few flukes

:12:37. > :12:53.here and there, which always help. Well, he will be delighted, Damian

:12:54. > :12:56.Hirst there, his good friend. Interesting to hear what Ronnie has

:12:57. > :13:02.to say about this match. The highest calibre. Both players, smiles for

:13:03. > :13:09.each other. It's been a fascinating tussle between these two great

:13:10. > :13:11.players, but Ronnie acknowledges the crowd, and he'll be absolutely

:13:12. > :13:20.delighted. In the end, it was a comfortable win, 6-3 for the Rocket.

:13:21. > :13:24.STUDIO: He is into his 13th master 's semifinal. He's only lost one

:13:25. > :13:29.semifinal, which was a couple of years ago to Neil Robertson. What a

:13:30. > :13:34.curious but nonetheless fascinating. Fascinating, intriguing. Not the

:13:35. > :13:39.best standard that we've seen all week, but nonetheless engrossing.

:13:40. > :13:44.Both players were missing. You saw how much it meant to both of them.

:13:45. > :13:51.It was enjoyable in a sort of strange way, you know. In terms of

:13:52. > :13:55.Ronnie's performance, how did it compare to the opening match against

:13:56. > :13:59.Liang Wenbo? Similar bits and pieces, which is unlike him. But a

:14:00. > :14:05.win is a win and he is in another semifinal. A winner once again, a

:14:06. > :14:11.13th semifinal. A curious match was how edgy did it feel must I didn't

:14:12. > :14:15.really care to be honest. The last much I played, I was so ill. Today I

:14:16. > :14:20.felt at least I was physically OK. I know it wasn't great, but I tried my

:14:21. > :14:24.hardest. I haven't been great all season but I'll keep trying my

:14:25. > :14:30.hardest. That's all you can do sometimes. You looked focused. We

:14:31. > :14:34.talked about the desire levels between you and Neil, because it's

:14:35. > :14:38.always a big contest between you. I don't know for any of the top ten

:14:39. > :14:43.playing each other, they are all tough matches. You've seen some

:14:44. > :14:48.results this week, Hawkins beating Murphy comfortably. I haven't

:14:49. > :14:52.watched much snooker. Judd Trump beating Marco Fu... Everybody seems

:14:53. > :14:58.to be beating each other. I just keep trying. But I'm getting twitchy

:14:59. > :15:02.now. I'm officially twitching. A better all was for violence in this

:15:03. > :15:08.than against yen when both? -- a better or worse performance. The

:15:09. > :15:12.other day, I was all over the gaffe. The last few days, I've been really

:15:13. > :15:17.ill. This is the first day I actually felt normal. I was looking

:15:18. > :15:24.forward to playing because I felt decent in myself. Were you surprised

:15:25. > :15:28.with the misses that Neil Robertson was making? Sometimes it gets

:15:29. > :15:34.contagious. And then you get to the table and you miss. I felt I dragged

:15:35. > :15:38.him down, to be honest. That's what I'm doing, dragging them all down,

:15:39. > :15:42.and they seem to be missing balls or something keeps happening for me.

:15:43. > :15:47.That's all you can do sometimes. I've had a good 45 years of being

:15:48. > :15:52.consistent. This has been not a great spell for me, but hopefully it

:15:53. > :15:59.will turn around. -- a good four or five years. Everybody needs a bit of

:16:00. > :16:03.luck. You had some of that. Loads of its! More today than I've had in the

:16:04. > :16:09.last 20 years! I needed a bit of luck today to get through. When you

:16:10. > :16:15.think back on silverware, it's been almost a year. You beat Neil in the

:16:16. > :16:20.Welsh. You've been in three finals in the last few months. Does it

:16:21. > :16:24.start to get twitchy customer at this level, clearly you'd rather be

:16:25. > :16:28.winning titles and trophies, but are you feeling that another win is

:16:29. > :16:34.coming your way? No, you have to win them. I played all right against

:16:35. > :16:39.Selby, but the other two, I was a bit dodgy and didn't play well

:16:40. > :16:43.enough to win. I missed two easy balls against Mark. Maybe that's

:16:44. > :16:49.what happens as you get older. Sometimes I feel, you can just sense

:16:50. > :16:53.you are missing too many easy balls. I need to cut them out. I'm going to

:16:54. > :16:59.keep dragging my career out for as long as I can. That's all you can

:17:00. > :17:03.do, isn't it? To be in the semifinal, not playing anywhere near

:17:04. > :17:07.your best and still have a chance, it can only get better. It's nice to

:17:08. > :17:11.know if your game comes back, but if I'm at that point where I'm

:17:12. > :17:15.delusional and it's not coming back, and keep getting two quarters in

:17:16. > :17:19.semis and keep getting beaten... You always think you are as good as you

:17:20. > :17:22.were years ago. I don't want to waste ten years just playing and

:17:23. > :17:26.thinking I'm good enough but actually not being. Hopefully I've

:17:27. > :17:33.got three decent years. But you still believe you can win this? You

:17:34. > :17:36.believe you can win it if you are playing well enough. I don't think I

:17:37. > :17:41.am playing well enough to win it but a lot can happen in 24 hours. It

:17:42. > :17:46.never comes back when it goes. But I'll just keep dragging it out. I'm

:17:47. > :17:50.appreciative that I'm still playing at 40, 41, whatever it is. I

:17:51. > :17:54.appreciate every time I get an opportunity to go out there. That's

:17:55. > :18:01.what I'm saying, try and drag it out as long as you can. If the pension

:18:02. > :18:10.fund was good enough, I'd have pulled myself... Absolutely!

:18:11. > :18:15.Fantastic atmosphere. Amazing crowd. Does it give you a buzz coming out?

:18:16. > :18:20.Yeah, but when you start playing a bit ropey, the pressure comes on.

:18:21. > :18:26.When you don't play well, you feel you are letting down the supporters.

:18:27. > :18:31.It can get it on top of you when you are playing well, you revel in it.

:18:32. > :18:36.But I was a bit twitchy today. That's understandable. But you will

:18:37. > :18:41.at least be aware of Mark Allen or Marco Fu. It's going to be a

:18:42. > :18:47.fascinating match between them. What are your thoughts on Marco's

:18:48. > :18:49.resurgence? He played me in the UK and I knew he'd changed his

:18:50. > :18:56.technique. He looks so much aggressive. It's had an impact on

:18:57. > :19:01.all of his game. As well as being clinical around the balls, he looks

:19:02. > :19:06.confident. You'll find it a lot easier to get over the line. That's

:19:07. > :19:10.the only thing that held him back. He played fantastic in Glasgow and

:19:11. > :19:15.greatly against Judd Trump. I don't think he'd beat Judd Trump with his

:19:16. > :19:19.old technique. Playing with that confidence, when somebody like Judd

:19:20. > :19:23.is playing that well, you've got to go toe to toe and out punching and

:19:24. > :19:28.stay in till the end and out bottle. Marco did that because he playing

:19:29. > :19:33.more aggressive. To play that consistently, you need to play that

:19:34. > :19:38.game, unless you are Selby, who can tie you up in knots. Mark Allen has

:19:39. > :19:42.plenty of bottle, he's shown that. We saw in that final frame decider

:19:43. > :19:46.against John Higgins, it's almost like when the pressure gets more

:19:47. > :19:51.touchy-feely for him, he seems to respond better. Is that your view? I

:19:52. > :19:55.always thought he was a great match player. Like Marco, you could

:19:56. > :20:00.probably do with more of a power game to stay with the top guys. A

:20:01. > :20:03.lot of these guys, they see one shot and that opens the game up. If you

:20:04. > :20:08.can't do that comfortably, it's difficult to build momentum was a

:20:09. > :20:14.lots of these guys can win six or seven frames on the bounce through

:20:15. > :20:18.heavy scoring. It's unlikely you're going to scrap a tournament, you

:20:19. > :20:26.know? You might scrap the odd match but at some point you've got to

:20:27. > :20:31.start making 100s. Are you going to call that match? No, because I'll

:20:32. > :20:38.end up getting it wrong! I'm just going to go and chill out. Whoever

:20:39. > :20:41.it is, you'll meet them on Saturday. Speaking of that other quarterfinal

:20:42. > :20:45.this evening, it's going to be between Marco Fu, as we said, and

:20:46. > :20:53.Mark Allen. It was here in the Masters, the semifinals 2011, when

:20:54. > :20:57.Mark was 4-1 up and Marco beat him 6-4, at a time when Mark Allen was

:20:58. > :21:02.getting to semifinals in big events but really no further. Now he's got

:21:03. > :21:07.three world ranking titles, the same number as Marco, but eight years

:21:08. > :21:11.fewer as a professional. Mark Allen, he beat John Higgins to get this

:21:12. > :21:16.point, and earlier he caught up with Stephen Hendry. I hadn't won a

:21:17. > :21:22.decider in the Masters before. I don't think so. I just happened to

:21:23. > :21:27.see a thing before I started one of the slats. I think I'd lost a six

:21:28. > :21:33.designers in eight or nine years of play. -- six deciders. It's not

:21:34. > :21:37.something you want going through your mind when you are playing. It's

:21:38. > :21:42.hard enough as it is! But finally breaking the duck. We get asked who

:21:43. > :21:49.we think are going to win tournaments, and you probably never

:21:50. > :21:55.an -- mentioned. You have one isn't... To get these big events,

:21:56. > :21:59.what do you need to do? I think I need to lose weight. I practised so

:22:00. > :22:05.hard at work so hard at the game. There has to be something. It's hard

:22:06. > :22:08.that tournaments eat properly. There is no excuse if you wanted to eat

:22:09. > :22:15.well you would. I was never hungry before a match. I understand that.

:22:16. > :22:19.Sometimes you come in after a late match and the only place open is a

:22:20. > :22:26.takeaway and it's not ideal. At you have to go out of your way deep 12.

:22:27. > :22:32.So you need to start looking a four in your mouth. Yes. I practice hard

:22:33. > :22:35.and it's annoying when I am not competing against these big players.

:22:36. > :22:40.I know I have the game to do it, I'd never questioned my ability, but I

:22:41. > :22:43.need to start doing things about it. I'm doing everything I can on the

:22:44. > :22:49.table so I need to get right off the table. I'm not comfortable with what

:22:50. > :22:52.I'm doing technically. I practised hard at Christmas, a few days off, a

:22:53. > :22:58.few drinks, but in general I practised quite a lot. I don't

:22:59. > :23:01.normally do that, even though my results were pretty poor in the

:23:02. > :23:06.championship league last week, I thought it was good for me to go and

:23:07. > :23:09.play and play the top players in the world invest fives. I haven't done

:23:10. > :23:15.that in five years before the Masters. You're known for not

:23:16. > :23:21.mincing your words on Twitter, which I think is the right way to be. Are

:23:22. > :23:26.you going to change that? Probably not. I have got a few fans in recent

:23:27. > :23:29.months with my comments. But unfortunately for me some people

:23:30. > :23:33.don't like hearing the truth. Just because I play snooker doesn't mean

:23:34. > :23:37.I'm not allowed to have an opinion. I maybe go on about things the right

:23:38. > :23:46.way. I've tried to get myself on the player's Forum. What's happened

:23:47. > :23:50.there? Is such a drawn-out process for something so simple. I don't

:23:51. > :23:54.know where I stand at the minute, but I am trying and I know that

:23:55. > :23:58.Shaun Murphy has got on, Mark Williams is trying. We are the ones

:23:59. > :24:03.who are more vocal on Twitter and we feel changes need to be done, so

:24:04. > :24:06.people automatically feel I am complaining, but I'm trying to go

:24:07. > :24:12.down the right channels. I think it's a no-brainer that you've done

:24:13. > :24:15.that. I like to think I'm quite objective, looking at the whole

:24:16. > :24:21.tour, not just what's best for me. I look at what's best for the game,

:24:22. > :24:24.and changes need to happen, but it's a long road ahead. Interesting

:24:25. > :24:29.thoughts from Mark Allen, as ever. As he said, he's toned down this

:24:30. > :24:33.mode of communication. I think we all remember when he walked into

:24:34. > :24:37.that press room in York with gaffer tape over his mouth to make a point.

:24:38. > :24:42.He says he's doing things the right way. Is he being listened to? I

:24:43. > :24:50.think so. He wants to come onto the players Forum, which is a good step,

:24:51. > :24:54.as our Mark Williams and Joe Perry and Shaun Murphy. He has been vocal

:24:55. > :24:58.and he has the game at heart, as we all do, but we all have different

:24:59. > :25:02.opinions. It would be great to get around the table. We have a meeting

:25:03. > :25:05.on Monday. We will have a chat, and with the powers that be as well.

:25:06. > :25:11.That will be quite interesting. At the end of the day, we all want the

:25:12. > :25:13.game to progress, not just from the top but all the way down to the

:25:14. > :25:19.bottom. We want what's best for everybody. Hopefully when we get our

:25:20. > :25:26.heads together some positives will come. Mark Allen the player, 2011,

:25:27. > :25:31.that semifinal against Marco Fu, his opponent this evening and, in the

:25:32. > :25:34.intervening years, he's finally converted that semifinal potential

:25:35. > :25:38.into three world ranking titles. The changes he feels he has to make, he

:25:39. > :25:46.wants to shed a few pounds. In your view, is that what's required? If he

:25:47. > :25:49.feels it's not giving him the stamina he requires to go through

:25:50. > :25:52.tournaments or whatever... There's no doubt, if you feel healthy or

:25:53. > :26:01.feel good, you're going to play better. He definitely needs to, well

:26:02. > :26:05.it's important to his snooker, but he needs to do something, because we

:26:06. > :26:11.never think of Mark Allen as one of the favourites to win these events,

:26:12. > :26:14.Selby, Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, he's never mentioned. He needs to

:26:15. > :26:22.get into that company. It's not easy. If the game was easy to be a

:26:23. > :26:26.winner, everybody would be winning. Maybe he feels something drastic has

:26:27. > :26:31.to be done. He is just knocking on the door, just outside the top four

:26:32. > :26:35.or five players, and you would probably put Ding Junhui in there as

:26:36. > :26:42.well. Keep Robbie just needs a big win here or elsewhere. -- he

:26:43. > :26:47.probably wins. That would give him confidence so, when he comes out on

:26:48. > :26:52.the top stages, the feels like one of top men. With Ronnie, is

:26:53. > :26:58.technique, sometimes his technique, he's not got the all-round, every

:26:59. > :27:03.shot in his armoury, like the top players have. Mark Allen, there are

:27:04. > :27:06.maybe one or two that he can't because of his technique. Maybe he

:27:07. > :27:09.needs to tweak something there. These are the other fellows who are

:27:10. > :27:16.in it. Let's have a look at the draw.

:27:17. > :27:23.Ronnie is through to a 13th semifinal. The match this evening

:27:24. > :27:29.will be live on the red button and online and on BBC Two for the first

:27:30. > :27:32.hour or so. Joe Perry playing with real freedom at the moment, after

:27:33. > :27:37.mauling Stuart Bingham, the former world champion, in the opening

:27:38. > :27:41.round. Ding Junhui with his first win ever at Ally Pally. Barry

:27:42. > :27:43.Hawkins, a surprisingly straightforward victory over Shaun

:27:44. > :27:52.Murphy last night. That means he's up against the world number one,

:27:53. > :27:56.Mark Selby. It's Kerry and Ding who will be on Friday evening, Selby

:27:57. > :27:59.against Hawkins tomorrow afternoon. Selby against Hawkins will be

:28:00. > :28:04.interesting, because they are both very gifted, and great ring craft.

:28:05. > :28:12.Great all-round games, great match players. Somebody like Selby, they

:28:13. > :28:19.will inspire sundry like Hawkins, but two top match players. You want

:28:20. > :28:23.to pitch between them. Selby will be touch, but Hawkins played well.

:28:24. > :28:27.Interesting lower half of the draw. I am sure we will see a great deal

:28:28. > :28:32.more from Jason, because he will be on with our second quarterfinal at

:28:33. > :28:37.7pm. It is Marco Fu against Mark Allen, and you can see that from 7pm

:28:38. > :28:42.on BBC Two, and it will move onto online and the red button from

:28:43. > :28:47.thereafter. It's been another day. The Rocket has come through. You

:28:48. > :29:00.need a bit of luck, but he is there. From Ally Pally, goodbye.

:29:01. > :29:05.To break someone physically... Agh! ..is not a problem.