14/02/2013 Snooker: Welsh Open

Could evening and welcome to do Newport Centre for a day for off

the Welsh Open. We have seen since fantastic snooker today. First,

let's round-up the big stories of the day. The last Welshman standing,

Matthew Stevens, has been knocked out. Stephen Maguire sealed his win

with a break of 106. It was a 50-50 match between us to. I was just

trying my hardest to get into the quarter-final. From 2-1 up, he made

a great 90 awful long reds. I missed the red early on at 2-2, and

he punished me. Another could break in the last frame. All credit to

Stephen, he deserved to win. Australian Neil Robertson took an

early lead, but was pegged back by Stuart Bingham. It is up there in

the one -- in the top one or two clearances of my life. Stuart was

by far the better player. Including the last scoring chance when he had,

we may be great clearance on the black. He nearly won every frame in

his opening visit. I did well to hang in there, but it didn't play

well. I haven't played well since the Masters. It has been a little

bit difficult to get any momentum going. In some ways, it could be a

positive that I am out so I can get Stuart Bingham played incredibly

well. Stuart made a great clearance up till then. He thought, let's

have a go, let's go for it. It went A wonderful performance. Another

thing, he came in and he was so shocked that he had won. He could

hardly string two words together because he was pumped full of

adrenalin. That just shows what pressure does to you. You get these

lifelines. When you get them, you have got to take them. The last

Welshman, Matthew Stevens is out. He looked in control. He missed an

easy brown in the first frame. Luckily for him, Stephen missed his

chances in the next frame and Matthew took his. He levelled the

match at 1-all. Stephen's performance in the last three

frames was fantastic. There was nothing Matthew could have done. I

had a chat to him afterwards and he said, he could not do much about

the last three frames. Stephen only missed one pot. He could be a

contender for the title. Thank you very much, Dominic. Judd Trump

against Andrew Higginson coming up in a few moments. Remember 2007? On

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his way to the final, Andrew Andrew Higginson, virtually unknown

to the general public has made a 147 maximum. It earns him �22,000

and all in his first world-ranking Brilliant stuff. A place in the

last eight at stake against India's Pankaj Advani. We join the action

in frame one. Higginson at the That was an uncharacteristic

You would put Judd Trump favourite. He has admitted that he has been

It should be you out there. I have given up my position in today's

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match in favour of being in the That was too low. The pot is

But red has gone into the middle of the pocket. He looks like he is

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He is one of these players who is Andrew Higginson does not think he

will get back to the table and he probably will not. A very fast and

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For somebody of his age he knows an What an incredible start this is

He is only 23 but he has won quite What a lightning-fast start from a

An excellent start. We pick them up in Frome four. Higginson is that

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I don't quite know what shot he has It should have been a lot easier

than this. He hit the draw. -- he hit the draw. He can't afford to do

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I'll be very surprised if he doesn't make enough here to secure

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Job only needed that red to meet Andrew has had plenty of chances on

his side of things, and you'll be very disappointed he didn't take

them. Judd Trump is not the easiest player to play because he scores so

He will make his century if you pots de black from the remaining

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Judd Trump couldn't quite make a century earlier, but because now. A

break of 100. Brilliant stuff from Judd Trump.

Andrew Higginson is at the table in He has cued so far across that!

That is what fascinates me about this game. You can play some

disastrous shots, and come to the table a minute later and get over

Andrew had a chance in the last frame, and did nothing with it.

That was a pivotal part of this match. He had a great chance to go

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Look at that for a shot! Lots of Judd Trump is normally a very good

front runner. It would not surprise me if he was to go on and win the

He will probably need to cannon into the cluster because none of

I think you'll have to go into them after this next read macro. --

He just needs to miss the bottom red and cannon into the two just

Well, he caught the one at the back of the pack. He didn't really want

to do that. You might now be on He has got control again of this

I just wonder if Andrew will be tempted you buy one of the reds

that you can pot. A safety from That was a fantastic shot. It could

have been matched over if he missed You would have expected him to have

put the blue away. It is just not happening. He has had a couple of

chances, but this is a much better Just watch this. He got a very hard

bounce from the cushion, that Perfect ball. It is not touching

ball. That was about as good as it That shot, according to the rules,

that is a poor shot, a cop who -- because the cue ball, the object

ball would all be in contact at the same time. That is a millimetre

away, probably less than that. Surely, the cue ball, the tip of

the cue and the object ball would all be in contact at the same time.

According to the weight of rule was written, that would be a foul shot.

The rule was wrong, it needed I can't agree or disagree with you,

I can't remember what they did yesterday let alone a few years

I do see where you're coming from, they all would have been in contact

together, so it would have been a poor shot. -- push shot. Could this

not be the final chapter of this Very close to the winning line now,

55 ahead, Surrey, 56 ahead. I think Judd Trump will be very happy with

his performance this afternoon. Breaks of 87, 100, 47. I wouldn't

I think Andrew Higginson will go away from here thinking if I took

my chances, it could have been a completely different match. He will

have to go away, gather his thoughts and cool way to fight

another day. I'm sure he will. This Isn't it amazing? All this sudden,

everything looks like he can pot You do not want to start fantastic

and then star waning towards the end of the event. He is doing it

It will be a very disappointed Andrew Higginson who shows his

congratulations. Judd Trump will be I thought I played a lot better

today. The conditions are not great other. I think that is why a lot of

the players are struggling. I think everybody is trying to get into the

semi-final when the table get the cloth. He looked to be getting

better and better. Dominic, you were against him

yesterday and he beat you. I suppose he warmed up with an easy

match and the difficult one today. Only joking! You have got a sense

of humour. I think he needs to be careful of his own appraisal. Had

Andrew Higginson taken his chances as I did, that much could have been

two all or three all at it could have been a similar match to the

one I had. He needs to be a bit careful. I thought he looked a bit

vulnerable at stages in that match. He gave away unnecessary chances

because of it. I think if he was going to play something like Ding

who is playing consistently well, he could come unstuck. Go the

defending champion is on a mission to retain his crown. This is what

One of the greatest players we have currently got. Particularly when

you think about how much pressure is on him all the time. From the

media in the UK and certainly in China. A player who strides on

trying to become the best at every aspect of the game. His positional

play, break-building, cue action is out there playing a match, he is

a fantastic technician. A beautiful cueist. He is a perfectionist in

many ways. That gives you an idea of the level of his own belief. He

really does know how good he is. His all-round games, he's -- his

really good attitude, sometimes he looks like he does not want to be

there. When he is on form, he is fantastic. He is a great player. I

think over the next couple of years he will really come through.

great player. So young and won so many tournaments at a young age. He

A big challenge for world No. 8 Mark Allen taking on Ding Junhui.

Ding took the first to two frames. Into frame three we go. Mark Allen

It was a pretty thin cut, that read. What a great shot that was. A lot

of pressure on that with so many What a great time to find your

He does have an alternative red Very well played. A lot of players

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do not like having to roll a ball That was clever thinking from mark.

He decided to play one of the more awkwardly placed reds. If the pain

goes in the corner that will be a big help for Maartje Paumen. -- be

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What a kick. You can see his disgust or hear it when he bangs

his cue on the floor. That is very disappointing for Mark Allen. The

Very disappointing. The one possibly saving grace for Mark

Din is playing very well here this week. He has come along very

quietly. Nobody has really noticed He can play a good safety here. He

The nap of the cloth runs against you when you play a shot like this

but it is in your favour along the Anything but a full ball kiss on

As you can see it is a snooker but That is a disaster for Mark Allen.

He over swerved it. It was a He played back with a lot of back

spin. He is asking once again for Mark Allen would say himself that

Absolutely dead in the centre of Mark Allen has had enough. I think

he is a bit exasperated. Ding We are now going to go to frame

He has not done a lot wrong in this He did not intend to cannon the red

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He has played for the red there to the writer of the black. Has he

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That has opened everything up for It is good -- it is good that he

has left an angle on this black. Decision time, really. Lots of

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He has done well to put the disappointment of that cake in the

third frame out of his mind. -- Oh dear, that was the ball he

You are not allowed to concede a fair and -- if there are enough

points remaining for you to win the What is going through his mind

here? He hasn't decided on a shot to play yet. If he doesn't make

contact was one of these reds, he will probably say enough is enough.

Could Mark Allen force a decider? Carey is back at the table on a

What it time to make a mistake like that! He did so well in the last

two frames. Just a single frame down now. Just caught the blue.

Playing for a thin edge of one of Ding Junhui is 11 points behind in

this frame, but he must be He does like position on the blue

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This one always promised to be a close match. Only a single place

between them in the world rankings. Ancient Greek is nine in the world,

Tension be is very orthodox. Mark Allen is a very natural player,

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In June we will not require any of those tricky to reds on the cushion.

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You have to feel sorry for Mark Allen, I am sure he feels this

match could have been 2-1, if it wasn't for an almighty kick on the

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There is no pressure on consumed we He defeats Mark Allen 4-2. An

excellent match. I had a little bit of luck in the start. He flipped

one red in the fourth frame to get back. Something changed. I just

needed one chance, but sometimes it didn't happen, so we just waited

Final thought from you, is he the man to beat, been Sinn we? For me

he's, when he starts to perform and score, he is one of the hardest

players to beat because he plays such as Gould came. A ramrod

straight cue action. He is a technical specialist. He doesn't

play anything rash and his results are consistent. He will take some