:00:35. > :00:40.A very good evening. It's been a really busy first day here at the
:00:40. > :00:43.888 Welsh Open. We've had a stream of quick-fire matches on both
:00:43. > :00:47.tables here at the Newport Centre. It is the best of seven frames at
:00:47. > :00:53.this stage. That means that some players' tournaments have ended
:00:53. > :01:00.before they had barely begun. Ryan Day's stay at the Welsh Open
:01:00. > :01:07.lasted less than a day. The Potter was sadly weighten 4-0 in his
:01:07. > :01:13.qualifying round match by Michael Holt of England. 4-0, you can't get
:01:13. > :01:19.any better, can you? I played OK. I played well actually. Didn't miss
:01:19. > :01:25.anything in play. Took my chance, and that's what you've got to do at
:01:25. > :01:28.this level. The current golden ball of world snooker Judd Trump wasted
:01:28. > :01:36.little time in dispatching Fergal O'Brien 4-0 to cruise into round
:01:36. > :01:40.two. I'm looking at the last four or
:01:40. > :01:44.five tournaments and hopefully I can win two. You've got to set your
:01:44. > :01:50.standards high. I know I'm playing well. If I keep playing like that I
:01:50. > :01:55.will be tough to stop. You've just got to take it one match at a time
:01:55. > :02:00.and not get too ahead of yourself. Former world Championship Shaun
:02:00. > :02:08.Murphy is through to the last 16. The world number 6 was trailing
:02:08. > :02:12.Mark Joyce by two frames and then won to take the match 4-2. I didn't
:02:12. > :02:17.want to let him settle down. Through one thing or another which
:02:17. > :02:22.I didn't feel was my fault I let him into the balls. I had some
:02:22. > :02:26.really bad kicks. The table was a bit square. A year ago I would have
:02:26. > :02:29.been angry about that and would have come off the table moaning
:02:29. > :02:35.about it. But I've learnt that while you are out there there is
:02:35. > :02:39.nothing you can do about it, as it's the same for both players, and
:02:39. > :02:45.I carried on. Shaun Murphy's opponent will be
:02:45. > :02:55.either Ali Carter or cave Davis, still competing on the circuit --
:02:55. > :03:18.
:03:18. > :03:22.or Steve Davis, still competing on Can he get through to the black? I
:03:22. > :03:32.think it is his only potable ball, although the angle isn't the right
:03:32. > :03:49.
:03:49. > :03:59.If that black ball had been in open play I'm sure you would have seen
:03:59. > :04:10.
:04:10. > :04:13.Steve roll up behind the green, but Well, what a pot that was. APPLAUSE
:04:13. > :04:23.I think Steve Davis has been watching too much Judd Trump.
:04:23. > :04:49.
:04:49. > :04:53.That's the sort of pot he would That was perfect. He won't worry
:04:53. > :05:03.about that black being out of commission. Plenty of reds
:05:03. > :05:25.
:05:25. > :05:35.The wrong side of the blue. Because of that he is even considering the
:05:35. > :05:53.
:05:53. > :06:03.Just making heavy weather of this. Can't get straight enough on the
:06:03. > :06:03.
:06:03. > :07:06.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:07:06. > :07:10.next ball. Again he's got too much Well played. That was an excellent
:07:10. > :07:20.shot from Steve. Found the gap between the reds for nigh on
:07:20. > :07:20.
:07:20. > :08:14.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:08:14. > :08:18.Can he get through to the red into Getting ever closer to the winning
:08:18. > :08:28.line. That was an excellent shot from Steve. That's exactly what he
:08:28. > :08:28.
:08:28. > :09:16.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:09:16. > :09:26.Not too many pots needed now to Has he just got the right side of
:09:26. > :09:38.
:09:38. > :09:44.That's a nice kiss. Red colour red required. I think maybe Steve has
:09:44. > :09:48.cannoned, finished sufficiently near the topcution the red above it
:09:48. > :09:58.pots into the left corner. I think that will go, the red at the top of
:09:58. > :10:06.
:10:06. > :10:16.There's the first one. I think it's going to be all over
:10:16. > :10:26.for Ali Carter in this year's Welsh Well done Steve Davis. Not there
:10:26. > :10:56.
:10:56. > :11:06.Just needs that red. It's there. A possible 121 on to match his
:11:06. > :11:06.
:11:06. > :12:20.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:12:20. > :12:30.Steve Davis is a very popular That was a lusty bounce.
:12:30. > :12:36.
:12:36. > :12:40.It's just gone in. This blue for It finds its way into the pocket.
:12:40. > :12:44.An excellent performance by Steve Davis. He will take his place into
:12:44. > :12:54.round 2. He defeats Ali Carter by four frames to three in round one
:12:54. > :12:57.of this year's Welsh Open. Well To make the century breaking the
:12:57. > :13:03.last is always fantastic. And I thought I really sort of the, I was
:13:03. > :13:07.OK out there. I felt very comfortable. I felt amongst the
:13:07. > :13:11.balls happy with how I was playing. Clear mind. All the things you're
:13:11. > :13:18.supposed to have. Waiting for chances. I didn't think I was going
:13:18. > :13:23.to get them, but Ali didn't put me away, so delighted. Every player
:13:23. > :13:29.needs some sort of confirmation that they can still perform on the
:13:29. > :13:34.snooker table. If you don't get any of that for a long period of time,
:13:35. > :13:39.it is very debilitating. So before that match, which was nice against
:13:39. > :13:43.Ali Carter, I would have to look back to perhaps some of the PTC
:13:43. > :13:47.matches, but they are not as high profile. And John Higgins in the
:13:47. > :13:52.World Championship two years ago. It seems like a long time ago now.
:13:52. > :13:56.The longer it goes in between the harder it is. You have just got to
:13:56. > :14:00.be resilient. Optimistic and hope as well. You've got to be quite
:14:00. > :14:07.hopeful. In the other matches today Ding
:14:07. > :14:13.Junhui was a comfortable winner against Steve Davis -- against Mark
:14:13. > :14:19.Davis. There was also a great victory for
:14:19. > :14:24.Tom Ford. He beat former world chu- Graeme Dott 4-2.
:14:24. > :14:32.Tonight John Higgins began the defence of his Welsh Open title.
:14:32. > :14:38.His first round opponent was Liang Wenbo of China. In this one John
:14:38. > :14:48.Higgins took a 3-1 lead. We pick it up in the fifth frame with Higgins
:14:48. > :15:18.
:15:18. > :15:28.If this goes in, you would have to fancy match over.
:15:28. > :15:39.
:15:39. > :15:49.He decided not to bring the black back into play there.
:15:49. > :16:16.
:16:16. > :16:26.He could have got on the black again, but just pushed it out of
:16:26. > :16:37.
:16:37. > :16:47.the way. Now he will have to work Maybe forced into playing for the
:16:47. > :16:47.
:16:47. > :18:09.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:18:09. > :18:19.A couple of shots away now from It is just one shot. All the reds
:18:19. > :18:19.
:18:19. > :19:07.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:19:08. > :19:17.He has gone a bit too far. He will The gap was there. One more red
:19:18. > :19:24.
:19:24. > :19:30.I don't believe it he has missed two game balls. It shows you even
:19:30. > :19:38.the greatest players are sometimes, when they know they're struggling
:19:38. > :19:48.for form, miss easy shots. I didn't see that one coming. The only good
:19:48. > :19:48.
:19:48. > :20:30.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:20:30. > :20:40.thing is he put the blue and the The only frame he has won this
:20:40. > :20:59.
:20:59. > :21:04.He is still in there and glad to When you consider he was left right
:21:04. > :21:11.in the ball there is and played a very careless shot to get on to the
:21:11. > :21:21.pink. John Higgins will be delighted to have won this match 4-
:21:21. > :21:39.
:21:39. > :21:45.Even though he has missed that, he is 54 in front and barring snookers
:21:45. > :21:50.he will go into the next round. That was enougher for John Higgins.
:21:50. > :21:57.Liang couldn't get back in and John Higgins moves in to the second
:21:57. > :22:04.round with a 4-1 victory. He is coming back into form and I went 2-
:22:04. > :22:07.0 up playing OK and then I missed a bad red to make it 3-0 and he has
:22:07. > :22:12.done a good clearance and that could have changed the match. But
:22:12. > :22:17.he missed a couple of that, so did I and luckily for me I won the two
:22:17. > :22:23.frames. I felt as if I was hitting the ball well, but then I was
:22:23. > :22:28.missing easy shots. You can't afford to do that. I play another
:22:28. > :22:34.Chinese boy now, played the No 2 and then their No 1 player, Ding
:22:34. > :22:41.Junhui next. He played well against Mark Davis. So normally you
:22:41. > :22:45.sometimes play Ding a semi final or final, now strength and I'm having
:22:45. > :22:53.to play him in the last 16. other match involved Wales' Domic
:22:53. > :22:59.dale. He faced Sam Baird in this final round qualifying match. Baird
:22:59. > :23:06.starred started well, taking the first two frames. We pick it up in
:23:06. > :23:16.the fourlt frame. No one has potted a ball and Baird is next to play. -
:23:16. > :23:36.
:23:36. > :23:46.I'm not sure the black goes, so he will play the pink. I have never
:23:46. > :24:02.
:24:02. > :24:06.seen Sam Baird play until tonight. I thought he may have let Dominic
:24:06. > :24:16.intimidate him a bit. Dominic's a seasoned professional. Been around
:24:16. > :24:16.
:24:16. > :25:09.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:25:09. > :25:19.At the moment he is taking his If this red goes, it opens up
:25:19. > :25:19.
:25:19. > :26:05.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:26:05. > :26:12.everything any way. This is a great Well he has made the pot on the
:26:12. > :26:22.black. He has underscrewed the cue ball by about four or five sinch
:26:22. > :26:22.
:26:22. > :28:04.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:28:04. > :28:14.inches. He will can Monday in the A bit short with that one. He still
:28:14. > :28:14.
:28:15. > :28:24.has the red to left corner and to left centre. Again he has gone past
:28:25. > :28:25.
:28:25. > :29:12.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:29:12. > :29:22.He is not quite at the winning line, This has been very impressive.
:29:22. > :29:42.
:29:42. > :29:52.He couldn't really avoid that. Still in a good position. Dominic
:29:52. > :30:18.
:30:18. > :30:27.This has been terrific. Very He has got the perfect angle off
:30:27. > :30:37.the red to disturb these two from the side cushion. He has already
:30:37. > :30:41.
:30:41. > :30:51.won this one. He vust going for a He looks like he is really enjoying
:30:51. > :30:51.
:30:51. > :31:44.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 62 seconds
:31:44. > :31:54.On then Sam, on your debut, let's He is showing how much cue power he
:31:54. > :31:59.
:31:59. > :32:09.has. That was a terrific long red. He is not frightened of anything.
:32:09. > :32:32.
:32:32. > :32:42.You can tell when a player is enjoying himself. He is pulling out
:32:42. > :33:02.
:33:03. > :33:07.Sam Baird with 136 extends his lead to 3-1. Dominic Dame has it all to
:33:07. > :33:15.do. -- Dominic Dale has it all to do. That break was the highest in
:33:15. > :33:25.the tournament so far, giving Baird a handy 3-1 lead. But Dale took the
:33:25. > :33:29.
:33:30. > :33:33.next frame and we rejoin it in the Dominic's missed that by a long way.
:33:33. > :33:40.The one thing he won't want is a free ball. I don't know whether
:33:40. > :33:50.that will be. It will be close. If it is a free ball, Sam's got a nice
:33:50. > :33:54.
:33:54. > :34:01.easy start over the black. REFEREE: Free ball. It is a free ball, that
:34:01. > :34:11.is a disaster for Dominic. Don't get he wrong, Sam Baird's got to
:34:11. > :34:34.
:34:34. > :34:44.get to this red somehow, pot it and He will have another bite at the
:34:44. > :35:13.
:35:13. > :35:20.He would like to be close to this red. Needs that cue ball to bounce.
:35:20. > :35:30.That looks very straight. Sam's having a mutter to himself. So
:35:30. > :36:02.
:36:02. > :36:12.Has Dominic played his last shot of He will be having big butterflies
:36:12. > :36:36.
:36:36. > :36:42.at the moment, young Sam. He is on That probably was about as good as
:36:42. > :36:47.he was going to do. It was a good pot. The cue ball is a bit away
:36:47. > :36:57.from the cushion. Just having the cue ball cleaned.Less perfect on
:36:57. > :37:12.
:37:12. > :37:22.this brown to drop it in. It was The brown has disappeared. What a
:37:22. > :37:33.
:37:33. > :37:43.Dominic has been far from his best, but that has been due to the fact
:37:43. > :37:50.
:37:50. > :37:58.that this young man has played so That is it. A sigh of relief, Sam
:37:58. > :38:04.Baird will go through to the next round. Just this pink. I don't
:38:04. > :38:14.think he will play the black. It will just be a shake of hand. Young
:38:14. > :38:18.
:38:18. > :38:22.Sam Baird, not so Dominic Dale. have got a busy day of first round
:38:23. > :38:31.matches tomorrow. And there is bound to be plenty of local support
:38:31. > :38:41.for Mark Williams as he plays Andy Hicks. There is a clash of former
:38:41. > :38:42.