Day One - Highlights Snooker: Welsh Open Highlights

Well, Williams took on China's Lyu Chenwei in round 1 and what a

struggle he had against the man ranked 104 in the world. It went to

3-3. We're going to join the deciding frame with Williams at the

table trailing by two points - 25-27.

There's one mistake after another here from both players.

Normally straightforward shots that you get. Take the pressure into

account. I mean, this would be a really tough - he'd be feeling it

out there but he's strong enough. He's been through these things

before. He's come out the other side.

The problem is obviously that red up - you have to push to go past the

green. Giving himself a tough red with the rest.

Probably that was the most important one - the one he missed.

So 20 points in front despite missing that red. The favourite in

this deciding frame. Well,

He can't pot the black and get on the red so he may take the green.

Not quite sure if he played that cross. We'll give him the benefit of

the doubt. It looks pretty straight. Hit it

nicely. The pink is the saving ball now for Mark.

16 points behind. Only need the pink if he takes the high volley on this

red. Had three golden opportunities in this last frame to clinch it. I

just wonder whether he can go get over the line this time. He doesn't

have to do anything with the cue ball, play two cushions, play for

the yellow in the opposite pocket. Played hard enough it may pass in

between the green and brown. I mean, this is a bit more of a pressure

shot cueing down on it. Not making hard work of it at the

moment, but he's in the midst, that's the key thing. This was the

shot where we weren't sure about. The important thing is getting a cue

ball, which he got. Young man, this is your chance to win frame of match

now. Just hold yourself together for five pots.

Looking a bit nervous out there, you can tell, he just dropped the chalk

there. A good pot on the green, you would think brown and blue wouldn't

be a problem. Oh, dear. That clinches. That's just tension.

7. That's not his best shot. Been a bit fortunate to finish straight on

the blue. Williams will never play any worse than this to win a match.

Looks the case now. APPLAUSE

High break of only 40. Williams looks assured to go in the next

round. A winner by four games to 3. It was enough for Williams to come

through that nail-biting final frame but not the comfortable pass to

round 2 he would have wanted. And certainly one of his worst

performances in recent years. Play some good stuff, play some OK stuff,

and then some really poor stuff, and that was probably one of the better

ones actually. Only good thing is I won. But I can't take any

satisfaction at winning like that. Some people say you still left in 12

months. I'm happy I'm still in. But let's see what tomorrow things. The

only good thing about it - I know for 100% fact that I cannot play any

worse than that. So what of the other Welshmen.

Michael White who raised to 17 in the world made it to round 2 over

4-2 win over Joel O'Connor. A very comfortable win for Ryan Day who

reached the quarterfinals of the German Masters recently and played

well here today. 4-0 his victory over the Australian Vinnie

Calabrese. But a short lived Welsh Open for Duane Jones, the

22-year-old from mountain Ash who had the misfortune to come in

contact with Mark Selby with a 4-0 whitewash. I didn't performance

fantastic. Duane will be disappointed the way he played. If

he had settled a lot quicker, I could have been doing an interview

having lost the match. Now, once again, most of the headlines on day

one were made by Ronnie O'Sullivan. You'll see why exactly in a moment.

He was up on table 1 this afternoon against the veteran Englishman Barry

Pinches. Let's join this one with O'Sullivan 3-1 up at the table with

no score in frame five. APPLAUSE

I can't tell you how a hard that is to play at that pace. Never touched

the draw. Amazing. I think he's ready to go home,

Ronnie. Going to try to win the frame at this visit. 8. He's on this

red but he wanted a little flick off the red to the left of the cue ball.

That's what he played. Got the long tackle out. Still in perfect

position, though. . 9. You know with Ronnie - he'll already

be looking at this. Should never say anything really, it's a long way,

away. He's one of the players that looks at it from the start. Just

trying a bit too far on that red, I think. It is a bit surprising he

didn't play for the red in the opposite corner. If he plays low ner

the red, he gets reds into play, and then obviously on to the black. But

playing in the other pocket would have been easier. This is tell us if

he was thinking of the 147. There's your answer.

APPLAUSE Finished extremely low on this red.

Has to be be careful the white doesn't run him to the corner. He's

played it nicely. 33. Now is he going to risk going all

the way around at the back and trying to get on the black. He

fancies it. It is a natural angle actually. You can play the plain

ball. He's just looking at me in the commentary box there he's thinking -

shall I go for the max or not? He's played it! How is the cue ball?

It's not too bad. Well played. APPLAUSE

41. I suppose it's a bit unfortunate to

have left himself slightly hampered. Needed the full ball kiss. It's

still OK. Would have preferred the full ball kiss though. Little wry

smile. A magnificent crowd. Look at his smile he's got on his face. He's

fancied it, didn't he? 56. I can't believe it - he's asking

how many it is for the max! (LAUGHTER)

That's what he's looking at - how much money it is for the maximum.

APPLAUSE 64.

APPLAUSE 72.

Still perfect. APPLAUSE

73. He keeps looking to the commentary

box. We haven't got the notes in front of us but I'm sure somebody

will tell me very shortly, and then I can tell Ronnie. 80.

APPLAUSE 81. I can tell Ronnie, it's 10,000,

plus 2,000 highest break. 88. He just had a look at me in the

commentary box. I have put 10 fingers up to say it's 10,000.

Sometimes he doesn't try sometimes if it's not enough. Yeah. I think he

might try this time. He didn't look too impressed when he thought it was

only 10,000 as well, did he?! It's amazing he can keep his

concentration when it's like this. He's not even trying at the minute.

APPLAUSE He's such a genius, he really is.

APPLAUSE 104. He's not even going for it now.

He felt it's not enough money. That's amazing, isn't it?! He just

looked at the commentary box and smiled. Bless him. You have to love

him. I got to be honest - you have to love him 112. Anything to make us

unhappy, Ronnie will do it. He's not been many 146s made in snooker. I

think you can count them on one hand, that's for certain. He might

even upon the last black just to be really annoying. -- pop the last

black just to be really annoying. Barry Pinches had ever chance in

this match. But this is O'Sullivan he'll have to watch.

APPLAUSE He's done a 146 and still playing

shots. 133. The boy is a genius. Is he going to play pot the black?

Wouldn't surprise me if he played the double. The boy undoubtedly is a

genius! A magnificent break of 146. Ronnie O'Sullivan looks at us in the

commentary box with a smiem. He goes into the next round as a comfortable

4-1 winner. I thought it was a good break. I was

pleased with it. Sometimes it's nice to give them a 146 than a 147.

Probably a bit mischievous. I can't help it. I get a buzz out of it.

Like watching a film - it's a sequel, you hit the first one. There

could be a better ending in the next one. I have only played the Masters

and the match here and a few matches at Condon. But that's what I really

want to play to be honest with you. You know, so much - I got so many

other things I'm doing that I'm really enjoying. Snooker has become

a partime thing for me now. I'm having fun with it. He said he was

being mischievous. But there had been a backlash to his decision not

to go for that 147 maximum because he thought the 10,000 prize money

was too cheap. The chairman of World Snooker of course has tweeted his

reaction saying that players have a duty to deliver the best standard

and entertainment that they can. He said anything less than playing to

their best ability is unacceptable and disrespectful to the paying

public. So Ronnie and disrespectful to the paying

Two other top seats through, but Neil Robertson pushed all the way by

Fraser Patrick. 112, breaks of 61 and 107 helping the Aussie overcome

Patrick eventually in a final frame decider. Four more straightforward

4. avoiding a shock win over Leslie.

Very positive shot there from John Higgins. To be expected to be a bit

easier than what he's got into this middle pocket.

APPLAUSE They're just so gentle, give the

pocket a good chance. 20. You see this red - any more

speed it may have wobbled it. He's an absolute full flow now -

John Higgins. Wonderful cuist when he's in full flow 39. -- 39.

Just floats everything in. Very good indeed 46.

APPLAUSE 70. High quality stuff from the

defending champion. 71. He's put the marker down here in the first round

just to show all the other players he's here, he's wanting to win the

Welsh Open once again. Take him to five times. 78.

Breaks of 74 and 80 in the previous two frames. And this is 86. 87.

Shows a lot to players on tour, I feel, that this is what they got to

play like to win the big tournaments.

93. Well, finish off with at least a century.

APPLAUSE 100. He's laughing because he didn't

hit that very well. Almost missed the pot, but as usual - the audience

here enjoyed the centuries. They're going all over the place now. Not

quite. But it doesn't really matter. Excellent performance from John

Higgins. He finishes off with 100 today. And he beat Andy Hicks. 4-0

frames. So former world champion John

Higgins through. Comfortably. What about the current one - Stuart

Bingham. He faced Anthony Hamilton. 68th in the world but he has beaten

Bingham four times in 10 meetings and he took a 2-0 lead here. We'll

pick them up in frame 3. Bingham on the table on a break of 28 leading

57-1. Did you see his cue-arm move there.

That was just - his back hand went completely to the right. If he loses

this frame, I can't see him winning the match. He's struggling.

1. Yes, you cannot believe that. He's such a good cue-ist.

He's missed two real bad blacks like that. One in the left pocket, one in

the right pocket. In practice he potted 100 out of 100. 7. He's got a

real good chance to pinch this frame. There's nothing difficult

here at all. He's just got to keep tight control. Tight control of the

cue ball. What he doesn't want to do is pot the black because the black

will be on its own spot, may tie the red up. That's why he's taking the

pink. Doesn't want to pot the black until he moved the red out of the

spot. Well, I can't belief what I have just seen. He feels like he had

a bad contact again. Why not roll it on and off the cushion, then you

don't have to worry about the black?! 14. Certainly delighted to

see that - that's the sort of hand he's played. But it's a lot more

difficult than it should have been. Good recovery. Nicely on the green.

He's also nicely on the yellow. If he's left-handed, yellow would be

the ball. It would be a bit of a stretch for him. I think he's

probably a bit straight on the green than he would have liked.

He's electing to play the yellow. Deep screw shot, this one.

Back in prime position now. Make the choice of pink or red of that. The

last red will be a certainty. Still plenty of points available.

It's hard to see him making a mistake from here.

Just a glimpse on the score board. Tell him how many he' -- he's

behind. Not surprises me the way he played

that. He played for the blue, it's impossible not to get a nice angle

to get on toe the yellow. -- on to the yellow.

Well, it had a wobble. He needs it to slow down - the cue ball. Going

to be a lot thinner on this yellow than he would have liked. 32. I

think he can probably just get through to the yellow and that is

really thin. It's whether he can get through to

the potting angle. This is all to do with the poor passionate shot.

Dig himselves out of some holes in this break. But he's still going.

Put himself to the sort a few times. Got out of it on a few occasions.

Didn't on the fourth. This requires one of the remaining five balls.

Still may be forced to have a go at this.

That green has bounced. It's bounced off the cushion a little bit

further. He might be able to play this for a shot to nothing. It is a

thin snick. It's a very good shot. Let's the cue

ball to run allittle bit. Going to be tight on the cushion. 3.

Straighter on this brown than he would have liked. But fundamental it

goes in, it could be a frame winner. -- if it goes in, it could be a

frame winner. 7. He's been scoring - he's lost a

position a few times. Going to be hard

12. Stuart Bingham will be from here.

12. Stuart Bingham will be absolutely distraught having lost

this frame. Going to need all of his mental

strength to come out of this match now.

By the way, you can see that is really tight. He's playing this with

the left-hand side to try to transfer it on to the red. This will

have to go right. I don't think that shot was on. Most certainly now

that's cost him the frame. 12. So, this red goes in. This frame

ball, so Stuart Bingham will be feeling a bit better. Only two

behind. He's cut his arrears. Still isn't great. He's over at that

by a country mile. 18. I don't think Anthony Hamilton will come back.

He's had a look at the score board. He's not going to come back. He is.

It looks like Stuart Bingham now trails by two. He's going to be 3-1

behind. Foul. So it doesn't matter. Anthony

Hamilton gives the frame up. So it is right - Stuart Bingham cuts his

arrears in two. He now trails from 3-1 frames. He's given us a fist

punch. He'll be feeling a little bit better. But he's still got a lot of

work to do. Yes, Bingham back in it at this

stage. Let's head into frame 5, Hamilton at the table - no score.

He plays the red into the brown. He can leave the white where the red

is, and hopefully the red will pass the middle pocket. Not expecting to

catch the green there, but it's still OK. It's a good safety shot.

1. Well, that's the best shot he's played all match. Played it dead

weight. Black in open play, blue in open play. This is the first chance

Stuart's had in the match so far where he can - you think he'd make

at least a 50. He's got choices. He's one to the

centre. One to the left corner. Good pot. 16. Played that well. Stayed

still. No movement at all on that one.

All of a sudden, he's potting style has changed. He looks to be cueing

the ball nicely now. Little bit of bounce in his step as well.

. 32. He's just thought - I'm just going to get on with it. Knock

everything in. The ball going into the centre of the pocket now.

This is easily the highest break of the match so far, albeit he just ran

out of positions slightly. 55. A bit to do with the cue ball here T red

behind the black just to make a bit of a shot. He really needs to dig

into this if he wants to get on to the black. He needs to avoid the

kiss on that red. I suppose play it the other way around. He played it

very well indeed. Looks a different player now, Darren. Yes, all of a

sudden there's no movement, he's keeping through the ball. It's

become very easy all of a sudden. A torrid couple of frames, didn't he?

He knows he had a great chance to wrap this match up at 4-0 frames.

Real easy red into the corner. All of a sudden, it looks like he's only

going to be one frame ahead. Stuart Bingham is right on the cusp of

cutting his arrears to 1. At one stage, four frames left, he had to

win all four. Just needs this red into the right centre. 71.

Well, and he's missed it! Oh! He went to punch it heavily. He wasn't

very happy there. That's really annoyed him.

But there's still enough. There's enough for Anthony Hamilton to pinch

this match and frame. 8. Key thing is - potting the loose

red and getting back into the frame. He hasn't got many points to play

with, there was only 75 on when he came to the table. That was almost a

good kick. I wouldn't worry about that, Anthony. Can get on the red

easily on the left-hand side. He wouldn't complain about getting on

that first. Sometimes you get a kick, Darren, it stops dead. You got

nothing. At least he's got a nice angle on the black.

17. That was an excellent shot. He's given himself a perfect angle. If he

can get it into a potable position, there's a chance to pinch this

frame, which sounds unbelievable when you're 71 behind. If this goes

right - it hasn't done, though. He's 47 points behind. Even got a couple

of points to play with. Can't really afford to play for the blue. He can

play for the pink. Or screw back for the black. Just trying to do a bit

of maths there. If he plays for the blue, he's only got one point to

play with. Or do you risk playing across - towards are where the other

red is and get on to the pink? Or do you try and screw it into the black?

We'll know in a few seconds. Very good shot. Very good shot.

APPLAUSE Hasn't got much to play with now

with getting on to the blue. These two reds and possibly one black, one

pink. This would be a wonderful clearance

if he did that. Stuart will be ruing that miss in

the right centre. One good shot now from Anthony and it's all about

getting from black to this last red. He'll have to be dead straight on

it, all he has to do is make sure of the pot. He he needs to also on an

angle on this last red to be able to get on to the pink. That's not too

bad. He can play with the rest and play on the pink on the same pocket.

Or he could play a little slow in the opposite corner. This is the key

shot. Well played.

APPLAUSE Got half a chance now. Green to

brown looks the only stumbling block at the moment.

You can count on one hand, Darren, can't you, in the season how many

frames would be won from 71 points behind.

It's not a lot, Willie. The oirnic thing as well - it was Stuart

Bingham effort of the match - 71. Started to look really confident. He

struggled all match. The red in the middle that he missed was totally

unexpected. The first couple of frames, you would have expected he

missed anything. But the way he made to 71 and crafted it, it came as a

bit of a shock. But Anthony Hamilton so far took these very, very well.

Could Jew behind the green here and give him a chance to play on the

green in four pockets. That's the best way to play it. Gives you

That was the reason the shot on the green to brown? If he

That was the reason the shot on the yellow was so good. Giving himself a

chance of three to four pockets. This has been absolutely top draw.

It really has. This has been absolutely top draw.

Alan McManus. Clark did level at 3-3 but losing that final frame decider.

And who can forget Matthew Stevens. He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan, if you

remember last year, to get to round 4. He is through as well. Surviving

something of a comeback from David Morris to win by 4-2 frames.

So there we are then, we are down to 64 players and eight tables. Still

plenty of time. Even Ronnie if he fancys it for someone to get a 147

maximum. Join us on Tuesday afternoon, around about 12 hours'

time. Where we see Ronnie once again and Trump as well, but thank you for

watching. From all of us, it's a very good night.