Highlights - Day 4 Snooker: Welsh Open Highlights

Good evening. It has been yet another incredible day of drama here

in Cardiff. We started with a 32 players and tonight the field

reduced to eight, who will contest the quarterfinals tomorrow. The

adventure is over for the Welsh wild card who has been making all the

headlines. It has been a weak one teenager will never forget. Jackson

Page grabbed the limelight by making the last 32 at the age of 15. When

his big moment came against his boyhood hero we could lay a finger

on Judd Trump and it was a whitewash but the pundits are predicting a

bright future for the Welsh schoolboy. It was great out there

but playing someone like Judd Trump I am not going to get many chances

and the once you as you have to take but obviously with the pressure I

suppose and nerves of being out there I just didn't take them but it

has been great. My first tournament. Even if I lost first-round it would

still have been a great experience but to win two grains has been

great. While Judd Trump marched on another big-name crashed out, world

number one Mark Selby eliminated by a teenager who only turned pro two

years ago. It was no narrow win either for Yan Bingtao from China,

he lost frame one but he never looked back after that. The perfect

way to spend his 17th birthday, and a huge shock for Mark Selby. Just

not good enough really. I performed very poorly and they had chances in

both frames but I didn't really capitalise. He has been talked about

for over a year now and he had a good season in his first season and

he showed obviously what a great player he is out there today and he

has just turned 17 live on TV and held himself together well. This was

the last 16 line-up and it featured just one Welshman after Michael

White Gloucester Robbie Williams and Dominic Dale was eaten. Lee Walker

was flying the flag for Wales against a 19-year-old Chinese

player. We will show you what happened when Judd Trump met the

first professional player ever to come out of Iran. We join it with

Judd Trump 2-1 but Saint FA leading. -- Hossein Ayouri is leading.

42 behind but more than enough to take the frame. The reds look well

spread. It would just come Judd Trump down a little in this match.

Obviously not panicking next -- yet, he leads to - one, but two breaks.

A few minutes just asserting himself on this match, but a seemingly

effortless break would just settle him down here, and, of course, put

him within one of the winner. The black looks as though it goes

into the left corner possibly, but he is playing up with the blue. He

cut into thin and once again he hasn't got the pace right. We could

see another one running around the table, the cue ball, steaming as it

goes. He is playing the yellow instead.

He was lucky his arm didn't fall off when he hit that, he hit it so hard

then. A good shot though. He just can't get the right position.

It must be so difficult for him out there, his mind is thinking, what is

happening here? He is normally so efficient with the balls but he

hasn't been at all in this match. 56 was OK but it was not great. Since

the first frame he hasn't looked 100%.

That is a good pot from there. White on the side cushion, that is very

miserable. Just five behind now. 39. I think it is OK. He is straight

on the blue but he hasn't got the pink. Probably screwing off the side

and bottom cushion. Still a very good positioning shot.

Still not in a good position. He is in between everything. Read only

goes into the left corner pocket, he can't really play the blue and get

on it, surely. Even with this power. Or can he? Wow! If he gets on that

red, it's a miracle. That's what makes him special. He brings these

shots out that others won't even see.

Hossein requires snookers. An expression gives away his

frustration there. This has been an excellent clearance from Judd Trump.

He has had to work hard for it and produced some great shots. His best

break of the match so far and he is within one of the winning line and a

place in the Welsh Open quarterfinals. So Trump is looking

pretty much unstoppable. We will now go to frame five, with Hossein

Vafaei at the table and no score. Judd Trump has had to work hard to

find himself within a frame of victory here against Hossein Vafaei.

Many of those long pots have been dropping for the 22-year-old. But

this is a clear-cut chance right at the beginning of what could be the

last frame in the match. Judd Trump is keen to get on with

this as quickly as possible. An excellent break of 84 in the

preceding frame, before that his best was 56 when he broke down a

frame ball in the second. That second frame turned out to be 37

minutes, which is why we have now been playing for almost an hour and

a half. It's the start of the fifth. That 84 break you mentioned has put

him back into sync. 15. A lot of professional snooker players, you

know, when they are playing really well they feel, can they continue

doing it? And when they are playing bad they know they are going to

continue doing it. You can't have both of them. 22.

That is what we call a split. He may output to reds to the side of the

commission but they won't come into play if he continues this form. A

nice space between all the reds to make them pot in a number of

pockets. A great player. This didn't make the contact there,

obviously, didn't get a spin on. Just getting this cleaned again.

He could finish with a flourish here. A couple of red zone

aggression but he is essentially on for 140 plus here. And he stays up

on the blue. Terry was right. That 84, the 3-1 lead seems to have got

Judd Trump back on track. After what was potentially turning into a

little bit of a scrappy encounter. Great effort from Hossein Vafaei to

make it to the last 16 to go with his quarterfinal appearance in the

Northern Ireland open just before Christmas and, all of a sudden, Judd

Trump is on the verge of victory here. So, slickers required for

Hossein Vafaei. -- snookers. Trump's class has risen to the fore. And

saying that, he's decided to shake hands, and that visit, a great run

for Hossein Vafaei into the last 16 but Judd Trump found his rhythm

towards the end of the match and it is he who advances to the

quarterfinals, 4-1. It was a bit of a struggle. At 2-1 it was getting a

bit bogged down and a bit slow and to me that was an important frame,

winning that and I ended up scoring well in the last frame but at one

point it looked like it was going to be a long, drawn-out game, so just

glad to get through, and quite comfortably, in the end. Trump's

quarterfinal opponent is another top 16 players fine form, the three-time

Welsh Open semifinalist Barry Hawkins. The world Grand Prix winner

with a 4-1 win early in the day and then a 4-0 rout of Craig Steadman is

book his place in the last eight. This was the week that Lee Walker of

Newport stepped out of the shadows. He has beaten two former world

champions, Neil Robertson and Graeme Dott, to make the last 16, but he

came unstuck against the 19-year-old Chinese player, Zhou Yuelong. Down

to earth with a 4-0 defeat. It was a big disappointment to go out like

that, and it will always be difficult away that I play, to play

two matches in day. I had a long match with Neil, then one against

Graham and then back on in the night. But he is a great young

player. I just wish that I could have given him a better game rather

than just giving it to him, really. It is never nice to make it easy for

him, which I did tonight, but the week, on the hall, has been

brilliant. Last Welshman standing, which is great, did better than Mark

Williams, so make sure you get that on camera! It has been a great week.

Just a little bit of a shame that I couldn't carry it on, but everything

has been positive. The man who sent defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan

home yesterday is out himself. Mark Davis beaten 4-3 by Scott Donaldson.

Stuart Carrington had never made it beyond round two before but he's

into the quarterfinals after beating the Brazilian, Michael.

This is Robbie Williams' seventh attempt to get out of a snooker

against Stuart Bingham. We join it in frame seven. Different tactic.

Agonisingly short. Stuart, almost a little bit

apologetic as he indicates to the remaining referee, yes please, back

where it started. -- Romanian referee.

CHEERING And some ironic applause from the

crowd. Robbie Williams act knowledges that. A bit of a

marathon, to get out of that one. LAUGHTER. And a puff of the cheeks

therefrom Robbie Williams. Not quite as difficult, this one. Oh, dear.

REFEREE: Foul, Stuart Bingham, four. 35 on without one red, 31 behind. A

little bit of amusement here, but this will cease to be funny for

Robbie Williams very soon. APPLAUSE

Oh, yes! He just put his hand up there, to acknowledge that one.

Maybe he deserved a little bit of luck, there. It has been a torrid

few minutes for him. He has flipped the red, he's on the brown and if he

was to pot the brown and clear up, he would win by a point. And if you

were a betting man you would rather have money on Robbie Williams to

clear up, here. Because all the balls are in open play.

Just goes to show, doesn't it, all of those mistakes trying to escape a

snooker from Robbie Williams, he can't do anything in terms of the

scoreboard, but he gave at least 20 points or more away in fouls, but

because of the way that the car was well positioned, it was a red ball

game. -- the way that the colours were positioned.

36 points given away in fouls. What a steal this would be. He needs all

three and he could do it by a point. Robbie Williams has never beaten

Stuart Bingham in three meetings. And it has got a little bit tricky

now. Well, middle left gave him the

opportunity. It was a fluke red and he thought maybe he could finish it

off in style to the middle right, not to be. The speed of this table

and the speed of the cushions forced Robbie to overhit pink to black. He

tried the double, got very fortunate when he missed it, but that is a

wonderful safety from Stuart. What will he do with this one? A couple

of things he could do. He could play the black straight up and down the

spots again like Stewart has just done, or come from behind the black

and kick it down the table. And that is what he has done. You never quite

know whether black is finishing when you play that shot. It has finished

pretty well. APPLAUSE

A big investment from both men in this frame, approaching 36 minutes.

It could be a long night here in the Motorpoint Arena.

Dominic Day, how much time do you guys spend with just these two balls

on the table, precisely for this kind of scenario? Not much, really.

Sometimes if you are practising with a fellow professional you might play

some re-spotted black and have ?1 on each one of them as a friendly debt,

but we do practice safety shot clipping the age of reds clipping

shots back into baulk, as sort of an exercise routine and many of the

shots that you would see from a re-spot situation like this involved

that type of a shock. But it is more about the pressure you feel on a

re-spotted black when one shot can cost you the frame. It is in the

mind, rather than in the intrinsic difficulty of the shots that you

have to play. It has been something of an epic

opener, this one. Stewart just taps the table. Neither man giving the

arbour and opening on the black, yet. That is potentially the most

telling safety shot I have seen from this re-spotted black. Much more

difficult to get a good safety shot here, and that is well played. He

played the black on such a manner from the side cushion to deflect it

towards the top cushion. That is a little bit of a nothing shot, but

when you play those really well you can cause some problems for your

opponent. Well Stuart try a double-header? It

has been an exciting frame, this one, and it still continues -- Will

Stuart try a double? And at what stage in a frame like

this do you get tempted to go for the big finish? I fancy Stuart to

double this black. A 39 minute opening frame and it is Stuart

Bingham who takes it on a re-spotted black. He leads by one frame to nil.

You got there in the end. After that mammoth 39 minute frame lets take

you into a much shorter second one. Williams at the table, no score.

We'll Robbie Williams feel a bit disheartened after that? He battled

for 40 minutes and came out of the frame with nothing. It was quite a

way to finish as well. Black to middle left, he did it in style.

Yes, unfortunately Robbie just happened to leave the balls lined up

perfectly for a double for Stuart and here is that double. It is one

of those doubles you would be disappointed to miss as a player. Of

course no double is a certainty but as far as doubles go that was as

easy as they have got. I am not sure if Stuart tried to put that red.

There are three balls of the line in the middle of that pack of roads

that are set for that corner. He tried to cannoned them in a line to

make the plant and he actually looks that read, he did not play it. --

fluked that red. He is playing this plant now, you

see. In doing so, you expect it to open a pack of reds probably a lot

more than he did do actually. 28. Well, we'll Robbie see that

opening frame as a missed opportunity against a player that he

has not beaten in three meetings? If so, how difficult will it be to put

that disappointment out of his mind? Well, of course, this is what the

great players in all sports do so well, keep the mind of the present

and accept what has gone before and to deal with it and deal with it

quickly so that when you lose a frame like that one it doesn't cost

you the next frame as well because you are still dwelling on what has

just happened. I suppose in tennis turns it is a bit like a net cord at

a crucial stage in a vital tie break or something like that, something

that the player has to deal with immediately before he gets onto the

next set. Good and bad fortune will always happen in snooker but often

it is how you deal with it if things are not going your way.

I think Stuart can just about get through to the potting angle of this

red. He may plate with a trace of right-hand side.

He was able to play it. I actually meant to left side, to bend the ball

slightly around the blue to make the potting angle, but it was not

necessary. That was a super sort -- a super

shot from Stuart. He possesses great cue power, well-controlled cue

power. A choice of reds, one into the pocket past the green.

He touched that beautifully, just missed the cannon on the blue that

could have caused to have a bad angle on it but I know Stuart would

be very disappointed if you can't go on and win the frame from here. Reds

at his mercy. In its 40 points and it should be plain sailing. -- he

needs 40 points. You have said a few times the best of seven. When you

lose the first suddenly the second frame becomes absolutely crucial,

especially if you bear in mind Robbie Williams has never beaten

Stuart. One of those defeats came in the World Championship. 10-7 in the

first round, the year that Stuart won it. I think he may have had a

little bit of a cold at the start of that tournament as well.

You sensed this frame is slipping away from Robbie. It is passing a

lot quicker than the first. 36. Justice red and one more colour

required for Stuart to take a 2-0 lead. This frame and been much

easier from his of view. Less than ten minutes this frame induration.

The audience here are big snooker aficionados and they recognised that

that black was the frame ball. Oh, now, did he hit the pink first

there. Oh, that was a foul. You can and the pink before he hit the red.

You could tell that from the fact that the pink move down where the

cue ball finished, but even so Robbie Williams remained in his

chair, he is too far in arrears to have done anything about it so it is

2-0 Stuart Bingham. Yes, despite the foul Stuart Bingham

was pretty much in the group so could Robbie Williams do anything

about it? We will head into frame three.

Oh, dear. Only 16 in front. Could that prove very costly error? Yes,

it could do, Rob. I think Robbie Williams ought to have known that

the way he played that shot the red was going to cannoned into the pink

which would deflect the red towards that right corner, as it did. Maybe

he intended to catch the initial read much thinner than he did to

stop that happening. But he has got to hope now that Stuart breaks down

somehow. Seven. 11. It hasn't been an easy match and

I guess at this level you don't expect any, despite the scoreline.

14. 18. He needs the blue and the pink

to move within one frame of a place in the quarterfinals. Yes, that is

true, he has given himself too much angle on this blue. He has had to

play a cannon into the pink as a way of holding the cue ball down the

centre of the table, and it could have gone better. Now then... 2-0

ahead and he just needs the pink 43-0. Decision time for Stuart

Bingham. Will he this on? He could play a good safety play the cue ball

up towards baulk and play the side cushion or he could move the pink up

towards the baulk, but I think he has taken it on. It is a great one

from Stuart, played with full commitment and concentration and

belief and the pink having gone in has meant that Stuart Bingham is now

one frame away from a place in the quarterfinals. He leads Robbie

Williams by 3-0. Yes a big is now very close into a

place into the last date and we go into frame for with Williams at the

table on a break of 60. That is just typical. When things

aren't going your way you don't take the chances away that you would hope

to, and when things are going wrong, this is what tends to happen to you,

bad luck tends to start to creep into things as well. You can't

believe that from his perspective. Does it iron itself out? The rub of

the balls? Well, you have to pretend that it will iron itself out, but of

course, in truth, it doesn't always. It might do during the course of the

season but there will be many times when during a match you don't get

anything working for you and you get a lot of bad luck. Every time you go

into a pack of roads you land on nothing. Then in other matches every

time you touch the meeting to be land on something. Certainly during

the course of an individual match you can have all sorts of bad luck

and your opponent can have all sorts of good luck and you have no chance

of winning it but then you play a match a few weeks later and it is

the other way around. When you are on the wrong side of Lady luck, how

do you cope with that? Well, that is when you need the help of someone

like Sigmund Freud. Or Terry Griffiths. As a last resort. No, I

mean Terry has had a wonderful career in snooker, of course, he has

been there and done it and he knows exactly, as all players do, what

goes through a mind, the player 's mind, during the course of every

tournament that you claim, every match that you play. Of course, with

Terry 's knowledge of the game he imparts some of that knowledge to

the youth on the tour currently and there are some very useful advice to

there are some very useful advice to all kinds of players really.

He will be a relieved man to get over the line, if he does, without

conceding a frame. He has given Robbie chances in this match, and he

hasn't been able to capitalise. When you win a match you forget all about

it, but I think the top players probably analyse the run performance

even when they do win. Stuart must understand that if Robbie had been

playing like you can play on another day he might not have won this

match. I don't think that Stuart will be particularly pleased with

his performance, but he will be delighted with the scoreline. I was

quite surprised when I went over his statistics at the Welsh Open. He

made the quarters, way back in 1999. I'm the only other time he has made

the last eight or beyond was when he just lost out to Stephen Maguire in

a decider in Newport, in 2013, so in 20 attempts to win the Welsh Open,

he has only made the quarters, twice. This would be a decent

victory for him in a tournament that hasn't given them a great deal over

the last two decades of entry. He was runner-up to John Higgins in

China championship this season. He has had four big semifinal

appearances this season including in Germany, losing out to Anthony

Hamilton. What a story that was for the Sheriff of Pottingham. I did not

come up with that nickname, by the way. That was coined long before I

appeared on the scene. He has had some good form this season, Stuart.

He will be happy getting to the interview room, then getting a good

night's sleep, assuming he finishes this frame of, to contemplate his

third Welsh Open quarterfinal in 21 years. He is getting ever closer.

Just this red and another, require. So fortunately for Stuart it will

not be one of the two remaining difficult reds. Just needs to

concentrate during the course of this break. This black, for a place

in the quarterfinals. He is confident enough to develop the

awkward red on this top cushion. He could cut this in if he wants to

have a go at it. Robbie Williams will feel he has played his last

shots in this year's Welsh Open. Or has he? 48 points behind, 43 on the

table so requiring two snookers. It did seem that Williams was chasing a

lost cause, needing snookers to win the frame. They did play on for

another six minutes or so, but Williams conceded in the end and the

world number two completing the 4-0 whitewash to make sure of a place in

the quarterfinals. Stuart, 4-0, it all sounds straightforward, but he

made you work for it in a funny kind of way. Robbie is a good lad. The

first frame was massive. He had a chance at clearing up and luckily I

buried the black to nick it. It was hard work. The pink that he took to

get on the black, it pinged off of a couple of cushions. Coming off two

cushions it was a bit of a lottery. You missed a few but he was not able

to capitalise on those chances. I guess that you will have to tighten

that up in the quarterfinals. Definitely. The way that the table

played, it made me of confidence in it. I was trying to get the White to

the object ball with a bit of action and just decelerating forward.

Getting used to it now and tomorrow will be a new day and it will be a

good match with Stu. You're one of only three guys in the top 30 in the

world still in it and you're the only one of the big three in the

bottom half of the draw. I didn't that. I have seen some of them

getting beat but you have just got to concentrate on your own match. It

was a tough game today and I could easily have lost a few of those

frames. I will just concentrate on the match tomorrow. Good luck. See

you for the quarters. Let's round up the other resorts. Robert Milkins

overcame his Chinese challenger to make the last eight with a 4-2

victory. And after beating the world number one Mark Selby, Yan Bingtao

came unstuck against the Norwegian Kurt Maflin. So this is how they

line up for the Arguably that tie of the round

between Judd Trump and Barry Hawkins. Stuart Bingham begin Stuart

Carrington, and Robert Milkins will need to beat Kurt Maflin to make the

semis. Are we any closer to knowing who is likely to get their hands on

the Ray Reardon Trophy come Sunday night? The way that this tournament

has gone, frankly, it is anyone's guess. Join us tomorrow from 1pm on

BBC Two Wales. A place in the semifinals will be at stake. From

all of us, good night. (Whatever happens,

stay close to me.) MUSIC: Perfect

by Mason vs Princess Superstar # Four, three, two, one

One, two, three, whoo!