25/02/2014 Snooker: Welsh Open

Good afternoon from the Newport Centre. The big names are having to

work really hard to get through. Yesterday, defending champion,

Stephen Maguire, squeezed into the last 32, despite a bad back. Today,

the big names keep coming. Ding Junhui Faces Jamie Cope. World

number one, Neil Robertson, is hoping to repeat his 2007 triumph,

he faces Rory McIllroy out. -- Rory McLeod. But what the crowd really

love is to see Welsh players doing well. Three players made it through

yesterday. Matthew Stevens progressed to a hard-fought four -

two victory. He will now face Joe Perry. That is when snooker is

really tough. It is easy when you are 4-0 up, but it is when you need

to dig deep and show had to get back into the game. -- heart. I am

pleased with the way I responded. Dominic Dale made it through with a

4-1 victory. Yesterday he was doing his stuff in the arena, today I am

the light to say he joins me as my guest. -- delighted. You got the

ball rolling on what turned out to be a good day for Welsh players. The

table was playing beautifully. Although I lost the first frame, I

responded very well. I was pretty solid. And Matthew Stevens through

also, good news for Welsh fans. Unfortunately we lost Michael White

but he had a tough game. The biggest name in Welsh snooker recently is

Mark Williams. He plays this afternoon will stop what are you

hoping from him? He is playing somebody who does not have his

wealth of experience. Tian Pengfei will need to start well. Mark has

his family up, his wife, he is ready to do the business, and I expect him

to play well. Tian Pengfei, perhaps not much being expected of him, but

he could use that to his advantage, give it a good go. That is exactly

what he will do. He is a very good player. All of the Asian players

have a very good technique, and that could stand him in good stead. Mark

Williams has been world number one and 118 ranking tournaments. -- won

18. But by his own high standards he is going through a dip at the

moment. Yet you would never write him off.

I would watch pot Black on the television, many years ago. My

father bought me a table not long after that. I just started playing,

he took me to the local inns -- Institute, all the local miners

would have a competition, and I have been competitive ever since. I would

get beat, but I kept going back and back. Eventually I started to win

every now and again, and managed to beat them quite regularly. That gave

me the most satisfaction when I was young. Defeating people older than

myself. It is a bit silly, really. You set the balls up in a nice

position, pot them all, then set them back up again. But that is what

we do. When you're in a good run of form, winning comes naturally. But

if you start losing, losing becomes a habit. I have been there before.

At the top one year, then a few years later, down to number 47. I

know what you need to do to get back up the rankings but the more years

go by, the harder it gets. But it is my job. I am luckier than somebody

working down the pit all their life. The only ambition I have is to just

try to keep as high up the rankings as I can for as long as I can play

to a good standard. I will keep trying and see how long I can stay

up for. Tian Pengfei has been professional

since 2006 after finishing runner-up in the world under 21 is

championship. He won at the German Masters earlier this season. Mark

Williams, local boy, it would just have taken him 20 minutes to drive

from home to the venue. In the commentary box, Willie Thorne and

Darren Morgan. Thank you very much. This will be

very intriguing. We know lots about Mark Williams, not so much about his

opponent. Like a lot of Asian players, very, very good. Very sound

cue action. This should be a good one.

It is a little bit more difficult for Mark Williams, in front of a

home crowd. But I expect him to win. Not quite at his fluent best yet

this season. Some may say he is on the decline, I

still think he has a two and left in him. Whether it is this one remains

to be seen. That is a very good safety shot from

Tian Pengfei. Mark Williams is playing with a

relatively new cue. He has had a couple of different ones in recent

seasons, not always a good ring. -- thing. I know a lot of players who

went through their career using the same cue. John Higgins has really

changed around in the last same cue. John Higgins has really

seasons and he is an unbelievable player.

But when there is a lack of confidence in a few departments,

they sometimes think that is the way to change.

He has decent cue power but did not quite get into that enough. I have

been impressed looking at his record. Some good results. You need

to be decent to defeat Robertson. He only seems to lose two seeded

players. Back in 2010 he defeated Ryan Day in

China. He has the credentials to be a very good player.

In his last shot he got the green. This time he caught the Brown. It

gives your opponent the advantage. Comfortable queueing.

He would have loved that to have gone right, tight under the bottom

cushion. But much better. Tian Pengfei will need to play a

little bit more open as the match goes on. He will not defeat Mark

Williams with safety play. Not many can.

That is the best shot Mark has played in this first frame. We were

talking about his new cue. He has elected to go for a non-deflecting

cue. You name exactly where you want to hit the object ball, whether you

are playing with side, it doesn't react. -- you aim. All his angles

have had to change. He has obviously being practising of

the table a lot. As we see Tian Pengfei Miss that safety shot. A

shot to nothing on. I was about to say that he has been

practising a lot here at the Newport Centre. I was following a practice

session on Twitter, sitting at home, and after every frame, Andrew and

Mark Williams were tweeting, how sad I? Sitting at home following a game

on Twitter! Both players are getting the speed

of the table. Some good safety play going on. That is about as good as

it gets. Maybe Mark can get through to the red two roll onto it.

Again, a very well played shot. We have seen some wonderful safety, not

only from the mark, but also 10pm -- Tian Pengfei. Mark Williams does not

like to get bogged down in safety too much.

He may take the one that is just below the pink.

He tried to pinch a little bit of it.

More like one of the games you would see in the old Winter league. The

way the reds are. That is his first poor safety shot.

Too thin. Somebody will have to play an aggressive safety shot soon.

It looks like they are playing on a ship at the moment, everything is

rolling to the lack -- black spot end.

I think your call was good. This could be a very long game unless we

see some attacking safe the shots -- safety. Everything is still tightly

bunched. The amazing thing is that the black is still on its spot. But

just as I say that, it moves. Another excellent safety shot. He is

certainly one of the best in that department.

This is good stuff. Very cagey from both players.

At least the Black has come into play.

Still no mistake from either player in the safety Department. A really

good exchange. As near to in the safety Department. A really

cushion is possible makes it ethical for your opponent -- difficult. Will

he be tempted? That is twice he has done that in

this frame. Trying to get the thinnest of edges. I am surprised

that Tian Pengfei is playing this from that position. I can't really

understand that. Obviously it was a difficult safety for Mark. Even

though he caught it too thick it does not appear to have left

anything on. The red has come behind the black.

Tian Pengfei is in a little bit of trouble here.

This is the mistake. Too thin. He was trying to go around the back of

that red and black. There were 48 consecutive safety shots before that

mistake was made. bring Reds into play. He was

unfortunate not to bring more into play, because he could that really

well. -- hit that. A sizeable lead, I would not expect him to win the

frame and this visit, but you never know.

I don't want to give the commentator curse but he seems very good at the

moment. Right with it. Some good safety play. Some confident pots.

What is the saying? Form is temporary, class is permanent.

Mark Williams has always been very good and this kind of game,

scrapping when balls are out of commission. Lots of players get

frustrated. Stephen Hendry used to hate playing lots of safety shots.

But boy, could he knock them in. Bad contact. Not the desired

screwback. But to make this break from where the balls were is

amazing. APPLAUSE. Word is the next red come

from? Is he going to risk screwing into the four reds that are tied up.

-- question mark --? It would maybe go into the top red part -- pot. You

can see it does pot. He has got a chance to win the frame without

moving those reds. A remarkable break.

REFEREE: 56. This has been top drawer from Mark Williams. He wants

this black. No heroics there. As you can see, still enough balls

on their in the event of him missing and Tian Pengfei coming in in -- and

taking the Reds and all the colours and a re-spotted black. -- reds. He

thought he was I do not blame him for taking it on.

He thought he was sure to come away from the pocket playing at that

speed. If Tian Pengfei can get higher than this black, he camp in

the three reds interplay -- he can bring in. -- in to play.

This could turn out to be one of the best frames. That is a bad shot. He

did not play that well at all. No conviction in that. He needs to

try and get things away from the blackspot. The Black still would

have been covered at that speed -- black. Mark will be reluctant to

move that away from the black. Decision time.

I suppose that that red and the black gold to the left corner, so if

there is anyway he can shunt the black around the table, get it onto

a cushion, he must prefer to do that, but he is in all kinds of

trouble at the moment -- go to the left corner. Here's looking at the

black. He is almost bound to leave a pot on two reds. He has an angle on

the red next to the black. There is no way he can get behind at the

curlers. He has two hope he pushes the black onto the side cushion.

That is a result, putting the red safe, he may have left a pot into

the top corner. He thought he had potted that, he

struck it well, it would not have been an easy black, but he has left

Mark Williams a nice easy start. This has been good from Mark

Williams, first frame. Not a great shot, but it will not matter. I

cannot imagine that Tian Pengfei will come back. He is looking like

he will carry on. Tian Pengfei is carrying on to try

and have a bit of potting practice. He has no aspirations of winning

this frame, it is all over. This is just to get his arm going

again. He has conceded the frame now, it

has been an intriguing first frame for Mark Williams, he leads 1-0.

I want to bring you up to date with another match involving a Welsh

player which has just finished. This was the match between it Jamie Jones

and he was playing the former world champion Graeme Dott. The Leeds

changed hand, but in the end it went to a deciding frame and the final

black was safely parted by Graeme Dott. He is into the last 32 were he

will play Marco Fu. That is disappointing for Jamie. He was

behind and he managed to get himself in amongst the balls. The brown was

awkward, tight near the baulk line. He got back into the frame, ten

points ahead, but the safety exchanges went in favour of Graeme

Dott. A real shame for Jamie Jones. He has not pushed on as much as he

would like. He was trying to get back into the top 32. As shame for

Jamie Jones, but Mark Williams has made a decent start. -- a shame.

What did you make of it? And unusual start to the frame, Mark Williams is

such an attacking player -- and unusual start. Mark Williams made a

brilliant break. The top players get a chance and they can make 60 or 70.

The connoisseurs would have enjoyed that.

Not a lot on here for Mark Williams. REFEREE: Touching ball. It would

have been tough to play a safety shot.

The only bad thing about that shot is it leaves Mark Williams a great

shot. I would be tempted to leave a player at the edge of the pack, as

long as you get tied on the cushion. It means that he will open

some reds for you. Amazingly, that did not swerve. It hardly swerved at

all. That is what I was on about. It is strange, I had a couple of shots

yesterday, set up the way you would normally play at, it is very

strange. There is no allowance made. If you have allowed all your

career, with a deflecting cue, it is a massive difference.

Good pot, but there is no angle on the red to do anything on the cue

ball, so it is probably end of break. He might just roll this in

and play a safety shot. He will not want to play it at pace

to risk missing it. Always the problem, if you play that

shot, you have to get it, you are doing nothing with the cue ball, the

red is bound to stand the jaws. And an expected chance for Mark

Williams. -- an unexpected chance. I can only presume he was screwing

back for the red which was nearest the cushion. It does not look

possible from our position. As usual, a good safety shot.

The red is quite close to the corner prop it. -- pocket.

No problem. If that pink goes, that was very well played. There, we can

see it flies in there, it was very well struck.

He is higher on the red than he should have been, he could have

played that with a run inside, this is now very tricky.

It is fully deceiving, the angle of the camera made that red look easier

than it was -- very deceiving. He will be very disappointed,

especially after the good long red Mark Williams will be happy. He has

had half a chance, even if he goes 2-0 behind, he has had a couple of

chances. If you get chances and do not score, you can say it is your

fault, but if you are playing a top player, you might not get a shot at

the best of seven. You cannot complain if you have chances and he

has had chances so far. Whether he will get into this match at some

stage, I am not so sure. He can play.

Can you believe that, he concentrated so hard on the kiss he

forgot about the black and you cannot do that at any standard. He

did not cue it's great either. At that anxious. He will be

disappointed. -- he did not cue it great either.

Ten points in front, he will need one of the two reds on the side of

the cushion. This is not a great chance, but he will be the favourite

in the frame. Unless it is straight, that will be end of break, because

the next red will be difficult unless he takes the blue.

He has another option, he could stun the cue ball. He has to make sure he

stuns the cue ball. He will be snookered. It sounded good! It was a

good call. REFEREE: Tian Pengfei, 21.

Mark Williams will be delighted to be back at the table so soon.

That is one thing you lose the older you get, the long game it

disappears, if you look at all the great players, especially like

Stephen Hendry, those long ones do not seem to go in as often.

Again, a very good pot. He has had his chances in these first few

frames. Safety has been strong from both players, Mark is very sharp

when he got in. He really has got to make more of these opportunities,

Tian Pengfei, if he wants to have any chance in this match, and as I

say that, he has missed a red that you would expect to pot.

That is not being cruel, that was a bad miss.

How is the angle on the pink, if it is dead straight, it will not be any

good, but I think he has an angle where he can screw across.

He will have to finish low on this black so he can get the last red.

The stun makes the pot a bit difficult. He concentrated too

hard, he has finished too low. That is a clever shot, covering the

right-hand side of the table. The only problem with plain that

this way, if you cannot pass the red, you are in trouble, on the

left-hand side, this could go past the red on the left-hand side. That

was a strange shot. Luckily, he got away with it, if he had kissed that

red, he would not. If he had hit it, he would have left a half-ball pot.

I do not know whether you agree, this miss rule, it is funny. He has

made a right mess of this one, it will be a free ball. Going back to

the misrule, it is up to the referee. They call it and this, if

you miss the ball. -- a miss. Some of the referees to make their own

decision and if they make a really good attempt of a difficult snooker,

they will not call a mess. -- off. He is a very good referee. -- miss.

People talk about the pockets being big, they do not touch the sides on

a club table. Tian Pengfei, goodness me, he had

that so badly. -- he hit that so badly.

For somebody of his class, that is very bad.

He did not want the kiss on the brain or the yellow, it is not easy.

-- green. He is very quick on that one again.

That was not a good delivery of the cue, bit too quick.

He looks a bit anxious, playing in front of his home crowd. He has no

need to impress anyone, his career highlights have been amazing.

He has had a number legal ball amount of success in the game. He

has left himself a bit to do with the cue ball here. -- he has had an

unbelievable amount of each player has had several chances

to win this frame, it is more important for Tian Pengfei.

That is unlucky. 14 points in front, he only needs one ball. If

you could snick the blue, bring it back between the pink and black. --

if he could. Has it landed? Good effort.

APPLAUSE. Got to be a little bit careful. If

he is playing to the side cushion, which it looks like he is doing, he

he is playing to the side cushion, won't be playing a double. And at

first glance, it is not an easy safety shot. Cannot do anything with

the cue ball to get that blue safe. And that is not safe.

If Tian Pengfei does not win this frame, I don't see how he can win

the match. His mind will be scrambled with the number of chances

he has had to win. But somehow Mark Williams has got over the line. You

see the sign of relief. I think his mind is a bit

scrambled! He wants to make sure he is 19 in front. But he has got over

the line. Quite scrappy. Mark Williams leads by 2-0.

the line. Quite scrappy. Mark This is a picture of me, Joanne, the

two kids. There I am fishing, I do a lot of fishing. This is me with the

onesie my two boys got me for my birth day. My wife took a picture, I

never hear the last of it! Here are my boys with Craig Bellamy. They

love watching Cardiff. This is a picture of me messing about on

Twitter. I like to have a laugh. Refuge -- Ricky Gervais was asking

people to post pictures, that was my first attempt. Terrible, isn't it?

Not much to laugh about in that first frame. If Tian Pengfei does

not take the chances he is being offered, he has no chance of winning

this match. The best chances all failed

this match. to him. If Mark Williams starts to

believe that Tian Pengfei cannot hurt him, he will start to play

better himself. He made some uncharacteristic mistakes himself

when the frame was at his mercy. He is looking to prove something to

himself to give him the confidence to do well in this event. May not be

at the height of his powers, but crucially, a two frame advantage.

It is all going wrong for Tian Pengfei.

A great pot by Mark. He played to catch the middle jaw. That is a

nice, tight roll in behind the yellow. Just straight over the top

of the cue ball, not enough chalk on the tip. Amazing how players always

chalk after a miscue, never before! Tian Pengfei, it will be tough to

get on a colour, but you have to start scoring. The cue ball has come

back and touched his hand. It is all going wrong for Tian Pengfei. It is

not going to plan. Two shots in this game, just watch the cue ball as it

spins back. He just did not get his fingers out of the way. I don't

think I have ever seen that before. He had plenty of time to get out of

the way. Just a lack of concentration.

Whatever the case, Mark Williams in the balls again and you would be

surprised if he does not make at least 40 from here.

Obviously he has played for the plant just below the pink. We can

see, it is not exactly on. In it goes, nicely on the pink, but

the cue ball is close to the two Reds.

Trying very hard to bring balls into play. It has not quite happened.

36 in front before this loop, that is 41. You would expect him to win

the frame now that he has got the pink clear. Can do so with another

four Reds, four colours. Just a little mistake from the

referee. He put the colour on the wrong spot.

Frame over, trying now to bring balls into play to make a century.

Not had a great tally of centuries this season, only nine, and only

nine in the Herald last season. -- the whole of.

He needs an angle to move the red card. Not quite got it. He cannot do

it from this shot. He played an exhibition shot to move

it over the pocket. Brilliant. Deserves a century now, that was

excellent. And what a shame! No Deserves a century now, that was

century for Mark Williams. But a break of 77

This was quite strange. When you go into the pack at speed, you watch

the Reds. But he forgot about the white. Talk us through this. He

played it perfect, his hand should have been well away from the table

by then. He did really well to get the cue ball into the pack and out.

We can see his eyes looking at the pack of Reds. They drift over

towards the pack. Just watch his eyes. They look at where the ball is

going and forget where the white is going. First time I have seen that.

Unbelievable. Not being a good afternoon for him. It has been a

horror story. He now needs to win the last four frames.

This is a short to nothing. -- shot. He is close to cueing very

well. That will give him confidence that he is very close to playing

well. As we see this shot again, this longer red. Well done. After

what has happened, that is a good pot. He would like to finish low on

this next red to bring others into play. That is what he has done. Will

he get his hand out of the way this time? I like to think he will!

He just quit and did not push the cue through. You need a lot of

backspin to get out of that cluster. He will look back on that and think

his safety play was very good but he made chances he did not take. He

will be very disappointed. Looking at the statistics, when you see who

he has defeated in recent seasons, it suggested he has a long way to go

to compete at this level. A bad day at the office. We have all had them.

Even the greats, when things do not go according to plan.

Clever shot. It is touching ball, so a good shot from Mark.

Slightly more aggressive safety shot. Playing it slightly thicker

than you would do normally. Trying to force another mistake.

He struck that very good. The only thing wrong was that it did not go

in. But he did strike it very, very good. And that is a trademark Mark

Williams shot. This is not easy. He has only got to make sure of it,

really, on this black. He should land on a red. There we have it.

Very well played. Luckily, one has been pushed out into the middle. Had

it not come away from the pack the next shot would have been tough. But

he now has a chance to win the match at this visit. A horror story for

Tian Pengfei. He certainly had chances in the first three, he had

half a chance in the fourth frame. A far better player than we have seen

today. For those who are watching Tian

Pengfei for the first time, he has had eight centuries this season.

That shows you he has a pretty good break. But at the moment he will

struggle to make 50. That is what happens sometimes. He has reached

the last 16 in three different tournaments. World ranking of 58. 64

is the key number, 128 on the tour, but 64 is the key number as far as

seeding is concerned. Mark Williams is now at his best, in and around

the black area. Very shaky in frame number two, but

this has been a good forms by Mark Williams. -- performance. He will be

a handful for whoever he plays. Making sure of that red. This is

match ball. Well played, Mark Williams. A good performance. He has

looked very good. His safety play is very good. His scoring, when he gets

in. Can he go on to win another Welsh open title?

This has been very good from Mark. Great to see him playing somewhere

near his very best. Let's hope it continues. And what a treat we have

got coming up for you this afternoon, Robertson against

McLeod, and then the great Ronnie O'Sullivan this evening at 7pm, not

a spare seat in the house. This, for century number 310 of his career.

And his 10th of the season. Very well played, Mark Williams.

This large crowd applaud another century from their hero.

Will we see an exhibition shot? It does not disappear, but a very good

performance from Mark Williams. Back to the drawing board for TM paying

faith. Mark Williams storming through, a 4-0 win.

That was a good performance towards the end after a patchy start. By and

large, a good performance. Two really good friends, two indifferent

ones. As soon as he realised that Tian Pengfei would not threaten him

he was able to play much better snooker. Difficult to think how much

more could have gone wrong for poor Tian Pengfei. He should have won

that second frame. He had golden chance after golden chance, it is

very deflating to lose that. It is tough to beat somebody like Mark

Williams, if you cannot put the top guys under Drescher, they find their

A-game. -- under pressure. Mark Williams is the sort of guy, if you

reach is the quarterfinals, he will be a threat for the championship.

And I guess that he is such a local favourite, if he can do well, it

provides an extra spark for the tournament. Absolutely. A wealth of

experience and a great player. Hopefully the Welsh players can do

well, including myself as well ex-commission -- and Neil Robertson,

the number of centuries he has had this season has been absolutely

ridiculous! He is a scoring machine. And that is the style of

play of Mark as well. Mark Williams has dropped out of the

world top 16 at the moment. But he has gone up and down in the past.

Could you start climbing up again? He is married with kids and has his

life away from the table. If you buckle is down and puts the hours in

he can get back up the rankings, but it is up to him. -- if he buckles

down. And he joins us now. And who is

this? My youngest. Kian. You were playing well towards the end. I was

lucky to go 2-0 up. But I was still frustrated with myself. Missing some

easy ones. I can normally put them out of my mind, but for some reason

I didn't, became frustrated, just start losing my patience. In the

last couple of frames I just decided to play a lot quicker and go for

everything. It must have helped that he was missing. Apart from the last

two frames it could have gone either way. I was feeling good and then I

missed the easiest ball. Dominic could have potted them ex-commission

-- that is how easy it was. He threw away a couple of golden chances. You

must have felt he could not threaten you. He had plenty of chances. But I

should have won a frame in one visit and felt comfortable, but when you

miss such easy balls, you make it harder for yourself. And in the next

round, Robertson or McLeod. A tough match in prospect. But if you get

through it, anyone can win it. Neal is one of the best players in the

world at the minute. I like watching his game. His long potting is

excellent. But I capable of beating anybody if I play like I did in the

last two frames, consistently. Are you going to go swimming today?

Those waves are killing me. Well done today. Thank you for joining

us. The Welsh Open falls towards the end of the snooker season, it is a

busy schedule with lots more tournaments and a lot more trouble,

but lots more prize money, so let us bring you up-to-date with what has

been happening in the sold are. -- in this season so far.

Lots of tournaments, at busy programme. -- a busy programme.

I1-macro that one a few weeks ago in Blackpool. It suits my personality

-- I1-macro that one. It is a great thing to have on our tournament.

Ding Junhui has been on to reflect form. -- has been on great form. The

rest of the players must be looking at him and thinking he is amazing.

He has to reflect technique -- he has brilliant technique. I played

him in Germany, I was 3-1 up against Ding Junhui and then he beat me. He

went on to win the tournament and had a great win in the semi-finals

against Ryan Day. He was starting to play well, but Ding Junhui had all

the answers. He is going for his fifth title in Newport this week and

he was in action this morning. He was playing Jamie Cope. In this one,

it only went to five frames, just lost the one against Jamie Cope.

Ding Junhui moved into the last 32 and is on course for a fifth title

of the season. That would be remarkable. Let us bring you

up-to-date with some of the other scorers.

Liang Wenbo beat Fergal O'Brien. Anthony Hamilton beat Li Hang.

Also into the next round, Ben Woollaston, it he won this one for

-1 against Alfie Burden. We are going to look forward to our next

match and this involves Neil Robertson and the current UK

champion -- Hugh is the current UK champion. -- who is.

You were held in really high esteem, so many of the great players

said that, how does that make you feel? When you hear it from John

Higgins, Mark Williams and Stephen Hendry, even Ronnie O'Sullivan, it

is incredible, because they were my heroes growing up and to hear it

from them, from a serious point of view, they do mean it. It is

fantastic. Although I compete with these guys, I really look up to

them, because these were the players who have inspired me to try and

become the player I am now. Any kind of praise and recognition from them

is incredible. You have a natural aggression when you let out and then

you step back, you almost inhibit yourself by becoming slightly

defensive and menu readdress the situation. This season, you have

said that was it -- and then you red dress the situation. When I played

Robert Milkins, I was winning. I was going back and forth, and I thought

if I tightened it up, I was guaranteed to win. The opposite

happens, it put me under pressure, I lost every scrappy frame on the

colours. It is something that has never happened to me. After the

match, I thought I did not enjoy it. Even if I had won, I would not have

enjoyed it, the strain it put me under. I saw interviews with Ronnie

O'Sullivan and how he talked about keeping the opponent under

pressure, he does not go for reckless shots, but he keeps

attacking and when you stop attacking in this game, you stop

scaring people. Judd Trump, he is probably at a crossroads with his

selection, when he won the UK Championship, he was scaring

people. The problem with over attacking is that you give your

opponent 's chances and you are banking on them bottling it, which

was what was happening against Judd Trump. People were paying too much

attention to the hype. Now, he is trying to win more on merit, playing

really good safety, now the fear is gone and people are not afraid of

playing him any more. He is definitely a much better player. He

is nowhere near as scary to play. Does he go back to being reckless or

does he play a much more around game? That is something I have had

to deal with, you are always adjusting it. I have been quicker

this season, thinking more instinctively about the shots I want

to play, getting down and playing them, I know that Judd Trump and

Mark Allen have accused me of playing too slow, it was not on

purpose to slow them down, playing too slow, it was not on

for me, trying to make the right decision. I have much more enjoyed

my snooker at this season. There has been making centuries. I have not

played in another fans to do that, however. -- in enough events. His

form is remarkable. Today he will be playing Rory McLeod. He is the only

Afro-Caribbean player on the circuit. He is based in Qatar. He

reached the last 16 of the World Championship in 2011 and got to the

same stage at the China Open and Australia Open this season. He

could, on his day, cause problems for Neil Robertson. We can head over

to the arena. Good afternoon. This is a tough

match to be playing against Neil Robertson, for Rory McLeod. He is

very capable, he made three consecutive centuries against Ronnie

O Sullivan three years ago. That tells us he is a good break

builder, build it -- playing against a man who is on fire. It is

unbelievable to think that a lot of the great players have not made over

86 centuries in their whole career, he has made it in one season. He is

still the world number one. He is in a lean period at the moment. He is

vulnerable. He needs to get confidence back.

It have match for Rory McLeod. -- a tough match. He slows himself down

so much, it breaks his rhythm. I watched him play in Gloucester and

he was three - one down against Jak Jones and he was running around the

table and he won the match. Even that shot there, he had a chance of

playing an aggressive safety shot, but decided to play but then one. --

thin one. He caught that a little thicker, but

he did not intend that to come between yellow and brown. Not a bad

shot. Not a normal safety from Neil

Robertson. He is an exceptionally good safety player.

APPLAUSE. He did not help that one hard enough. -- hit.

He is a very powerful hitter of the ball, but he lost his accuracy.

Can you see 100 here? Not really, he has only just arrived

Can you see 100 here? Not really, he building. He was probably

Can you see 100 here? Not really, he expecting to be on as quickly.

Can you see 100 here? Not really, he only arrived a couple of minutes

ago, so he has had no practice time. Will he make 100 in his first visit?

You never know. Does he look ruffled? He turns up late so often.

He never looks ruffled. He is unbelievable. He has great

temperament. When he first came over from Australia, he was at my club in

Leicester, and I never thought he would turn out to be the player he

was now. He was a great potter and that was

it. All of a sudden, he improved 100%, almost overnight. He has a

great desire to learn. He picks things up very quickly and he has

found his way in the game and he is a special player.

There is nothing worse than playing against someone who looks as if he

does not care and that is how he looks like. He is a tough

competitor. He is probably the only player I have seen who has got a

better temperament than new! I wish I could have what a temperament --

than you. -- bought a We were very fortunate to play in

the good years of snooker. We have a different class of player

playing now. Rory McLeod is no slouch, he has

made over 50 competitive centuries. He relies on safety, one of his

strength and he is good at long potting. I feel he is an excellent

scorer. -- strengths. Good pot, needs the cue ball to kiss

the yellow. He did not want to finish there. He will be tucking it

up behind the yellow. Neil Robertson might take the blue one, but Rory

McLeod will not. REFEREE: Foul and a mess. -- on

this. -- miss. He could miss all day. I was

watching a game and Allister Carter was 28 points ahead of the yellow

and the next time his competitor came to the table, he was in front.

Sometimes snooker 's are came to the table, he was in front.

hit, it can happen. -- snookers. He also covered that red into the left

centre. Great pot. He is a tremendous long

potter. He puts pressure on the safety for his opponent because of

that. Sometimes, they push the boat out, this safety player, a

complicated shop to get it tight on the cushion. That leaves him a long

one and he knocks it in, but he did not get the position this time. A

one and he knocks it in, but he did fraction harder, he would have

one and he knocks it in, but he did perfect on the black. He played that

as a shot to nothing and it looked like a difficult pot. No idea worth

the red would have gone. It is unlike Neil Robertson to do that --

where the red would have gone. We did not see that one coming! He

has over screwed it. It is the second time he has gone over the

Luke line. -- baulk line. I do not think he can get through to

the red on the right cushion, the green is covering that. The other

reds are in the up and it is difficult to escape and keep it

safe. He is swerving around trying to

catch the edge of the red. That was a great shot. He has left a red in

the middle, but that is as good as he could have done. If he had left

have been better, but it was a risky shot. It was the weight he got

wrong. It is a tough pots -- pot for Rory McLeod.

He has to commit to this, 100%. He looked at it three times. He needs

to knock it in. There you go, a typical example.

That is how you complete yourself off a shot before you play it. It

was a big shot -- how you can put yourself off. I do not mind someone

looking at a shot and building themselves up, it was a big shot, he

knew he would be leaving something on, but if you stand there and get a

positive thought in your mind to see the shot and get the image and then

play it, you would have made it, but he looked at it, looked again, he

more or less told himself to be negative. He did not commit to it

100%. I am not being critical, he is in a difficult position.

What ever the scenario, it is a great chance for Neil Robertson to

take the first round. Had a quick glance at the scoreboard

to see how many more reds he would need, he is 32 in front, so he would

not need to worry about that Just got a little bit too much into

the cue ball. The rate will probably be enough. But he will need this

blue, well done. Just got here five minutes before

the match, straight into his stride. The game nowadays is all about the

mental attitude. They play so many tournaments. Robertson with a break

of 57 takes the opening frame. Let me bring you up-to-date with

some of the other things that have been happening. Jamie Jones has been

followed through the X it by Ryan Day. -- exit. Ryan Day, Dominic, a

very talented player, a shame that he has not been able to put it

together in this tournament. Anthony McGill played very well. Ryan made

uncharacteristic mistakes. And they played so well that he did not get a

second chance. I have practised with Ryan and I know his game inside out.

He is the greatest potter I have seen in my life. I would rather see

somebody lose by taking something on that than turning something down. He

has to be at 90% or better to compete with the top players, but

when he is on his A-game he can play anybody off the table. Neal has not

done much wrong here. Some tremendous pots in the first frame.

I think his mind was a bit befuddled. Hoping to strike back

quickly. A terrific pot from Neil Robertson.

A little unfortunate. Needed to play that with a touch of side to catch

the Reds. A chance for Rory McLeod. Not an

easy one in the circumstances. Take this on, swing the cue ball behind

the black and of the cushion. Not going his way at the moment. If

anybody asks you the difference between practice and matchplay, if

you had seen him upstairs track to sing, he was absolutely brilliant.

-- practising. Ten minutes later, out here, can hit them straight.

I can't tell you how difficult that shot is. To play that with stun for

position, you need to be so accurate. One of the best middle

pocket players I have ever seen. The angle of the cue ball. Perfect on

the black. Played for two rates. -- Reds. And

has not come good on either of them. But with a slight angle he is OK.

He had a slight angle. Good positioning shot. Those deep screws

can go wrong. That is the cue action that we just

had a glance at there. The three Reds in a line, the what one must

pot. -- bottom. But he needs an angle to go into something after

this. Problems going into the pack. The

two reds below are acting as a buffer. Pink into the centre.

He is just trying to see if anything pot. He wants to manoeuvre things in

a way which does not necessarily leave a cannon to the bunch. He did

not play that very well at all. I think he is going to decide to

play the cut into the middle. Just where the pink is. Now, he is

playing the other way around. I think he got a bad contact. I am

surprised he did not cut that in the middle, he had a big target.

This is his first chance for a while. Not easy to just get into a

rhythm straightaway. He is playing for the centre. Not

any other options. That is better, that will settle him

down. It was awkward, that one, at this stage. Well, well. What

happened? He just does not have a flow happening out there, he is just

going to slow or two quick. -- too slow or too quick. I can tell you

how bad that feels. Against the class of Neil Robertson you do not

get many chances. But I don't think he has got an angle to split the

pack of black one of the colours. Whether he can park the cue ball, I

don't think so. He does not have an angle.

The only place on the table where he cannot get at the next red. He is

playing the blue, he will try to nudge the red off the cushion. Rory

might find himself in a lot of trouble.

He tried to cover the left-hand side of the pack with the yellow.

That is a bit of a result. But it is one of those, if you hit it for, too

thin, or too thick, you can't guarantee getting the cue ball back

in for that one. Must be careful not to hit this too

thick. And he concentrated so hard he hit it too thin.

He doesn't want to bring the black into play. But I don't see any

option unless he can hit the blue than enough -- thin. As long as he

misses the kiss on the green... Well played.

He is covered in the left corner. Robertson can certainly see a few

reds in between green and pink. It is so handy when you can pot

balls like that. Most players don't like that type of shot. Very thin

cuts and fast tables. Did not quite get the contact he

wanted. This is the thin red he started with. Needs another good one

now. He is having some luck.

Unbelievable, two kisses. Goodness me. Just keep an eye on the cue

ball. To kiss the blue, then the brown as well? It has put him in a

load of trouble. Very difficult. Try to get the cue ball somewhere near

the same place it is now, but he does not fancy that. I don't know

quite what he is doing. That is not bad.

He hit that well. Just shows you what a beautiful cueist he is. This

hit the jaws four times before it spun away from the pocket. Rory,

just try to bring another red into play. You would be very unlucky not

to be on some sort of colour for a shot.

He is just looking at what happens to the red if he plays the cannon

onto the other red. Now looking at the potting angle.

He was trying to avoid the cannon which made a more difficult. Just

play with topspin. Just needs the red. 46 in front, 43

remaining. He will not miss this yellow. This has been a scrappy

frame. He is going to smuggle him. --

snooker. Rory McLeod comes back to the table but it looks like it will

be 2-0 to Robertson. I don't really know why he is

playing on. I suppose it is worth the table time when he has not had a

lot. He has had spells in this match without potting a ball for a while.

Coming up to 30 minutes now. Sitting out is not great, watching your

opponent knocked them in. We have seen the wider Robertson is

winning lots of tournaments and is world number one. -- seen why. He

has the patience to play tight games. If the game is scrappy, he

does not mind. Stephen Hendry never liked those type of games. He has

done enough. 2-0 in front. Definitely not true. The game has

become a lot more professional in the last 20 years. If you had a

night out with the top players, you would have a good time!

Definitely the case three years ago, but now it is too much of a

job. In terms of hours practised I have

definitely practice less than anyone else in the top 20 in the world.

Definitely something I don't do. I don't moan about travelling.

I have just got a gymnasium treadmill in the house now, so I

have no excuse not to be fit. It is one of my goals for the new season.

I used to be absolutely terrible, the number of matches I had just got

too, but I'm much more professional nowadays, and try to arrive early.

You are either watching DVDs or playing computer games. It is

important to keep it under control I would never settle for being a

one-time champion. I want another two or three.

He sounds like a model professional. What has made him so good this

season? He has a great deal of belief in himself. I have heard

stories from other guys about him rolling into the club in mid

afternoon and does not practice match. -- much. But he has got all

the quality he needs and it works for him.

This game has not caught fire yet. But at no point has he looked in

trouble. She has dominated the first two frames. He is well in control.

McLeod needs to get back in the game soon.

Absolutely. But we know he can. He looks a bit like a fish out of water

at the moment. But then you see a shot like that, and he does a lot of

it in practice. Neil Robertson does not practice much. You play so many

tournaments these days. That shot should have been played with power

and it wasn't. But there are so many tournaments that you only need one

hour or so every day of practice, unless you are playing really

hour or so every day of practice, badly. Sometimes you go through a

phase where you are missing long balls. But with so many tournaments

nowadays, if you are not match sharp, you will never get match

sharp. He has recovered well there. If he

pots this black he's naturally on one or two of these reds. Needs to

put a few together, just for his confidence at the moment.

If he's got the angle he can get up to the blue and leave a nice angle

to split the pack. Couldn't have hit it much better.

Very unlucky to have brought the pink close to the black. The ping

will be in the way, unless he gets rid of the pink off this next red.

He couldn't have hit that pack much better, or much harder.

He has played that well. Not much of a gap there.

Looking at all different angles, pointing his cue here and there.

Certainly got the power in his game to get back to these reds. May have

over done it. Oh. Could set him on fire this one.

The For a second I just thought he was going to hit the red and get

absolutely nothing. He has hit it quarter-ball and he's on a couple of

reds now. He wants to try and get rid of that pink as quickly as

possible to make the black available in both colours. That would make

things easier. Great chance to get a frame on the board.

You are allowed to have a little bit of luck in this game. It is allowed.

It's not a foul shot or anything! I didn't say it wasn't. It was

fortunate to get there. He needs a bit of luck at the minute, he has

been struggling out there. It's a big match for him, isn't it, playing

the World Number One. The that wasn't the best.

Got a bit to do with the cue ball now.

His break so far he has a touching ball. He's playing the green to ut

put the white on the cushion. He made a mess of that as well.

Just keeping it tight there. Didn't want to open any balls out. He's 41

points in front. He only scored 15 points in the first two frames. He

had a few chances. At least that 41 break has given him a bit of table

time. Clever little shot that. He almost

asked for it, didn't he, playing that negative safety shot. You can

see the red that's on the left of the blue. He can only see the right

hand side of that one. The one to the left of that red, I'm sure he

can see that as well. This is a tough situation now. He would do

well not to leave a pot on here. Good position shot then. Very little

room to manoeuvre that cue ball to get onto the blue.

Half a chance if he can get onto the pink at some stage there. Get the

pink out of the way. That 40 point lead could disappear quickly. Ly.

Neil Robertson's concentration powers are almost second to none.

He realised how important it was to get the pink out of the way now a

good chance to get back into the game. A mass ve game for Rory

McLeod. Big frame this. He needs to win it.

That was a kick. Took three or four inches out of the cue ball. The

wanted to be low on the pink. He's slight high. Neil Robertson

disturbed then. Someone walked in the line of his pot then. He didn't

miss it, but he gave him a glance. He has the angle to play the cannon

to the two reds to the right hand side. He may think it's too risky.

He could get onto the red left of the pink spot. He may decide to

bring a red into play here. That's what he decided to do. When you play

that shot you rely on good fortune on where they go. The key thing is

to get them into play. They couldn't have finished any worse, to be

honest. He has decided to play this cut in

the middle. He doesn't have to go round the back of the pink and

black. He has to play it hard enough to make sure he doesn't leave that

red on. He played in such a way it looked like a shot to nothing.

Decided to play safe there. I'm sure the red would pass the black on

those two reds into the corner. Decided to put a red safe. That 13

point lead, the red being safe doesn't mean a lot. If he was 40 in

front a put a red safe, I agree with that. He's trying to be too careful

front a put a red safe, I agree with at the moment, Rory, it's a massive

frame. That's the first bad safety shot

I've seen Neil play for quite some time. What a chance this is for

Rory. He's not going to do it here. He It will be tough to get onto the

red nicely. The one over the left hand side cushion there. No problem.

Where is the colour coming from? Unless he leaves it half-ball.

Good safety shot.ful pretty good. No way Neil will take this on. Pink and

black are out of play on that side of the table. It's tough to see how

he can play safe here. He might power it in and go up for one of the

baulk colours. There is no direct way back into baulk. If the he plays

the very, very thin safety shot he might get the double-kiss.

Playing it. Contain the safety. OK, he might

leave an off ball pot. He just took that risk.

Going through a scrappy spell now this frame. Playing this very thin.

He has got it thick. It's in this frame. Playing this very thin.

favour. The pink and black are in play. He landed on top of the

yellow, has he? Is oh, not quite. He must be thin on this.

Too thick. Wonderful playing these arenas in the professional game.

When you are hitting the ball badly, you don't want to be out there. That

is what is happening to Rory at the moment. Not to say he can't improve.

We all had bad sessions haven't we, The Crucible, that is the worse

place. When you feel bad at the Crucible. A black off the spot

sometimes looks difficult at the Crucible. They talk about taking it

away from the Crucible. I think it would be such a bad step for the

game. You have the Wimbledon in tennis and you should always keep

The Crucible for the World Championship.

I thought he might take that one on, but decided against it.

That is a lot more difficult safety shot. What a great shot that is from

Neil Robertson. I thought he would leave the red next to the black. He

has managed to curl it round that little bit of side, it curled

against - it's tough to hit this one. Sorry, not tough to hit, but

certainly tough to hit safe. Just the case of getting the weight

right, not leaving a pot along the cushion. I fancy him to hit the red,

but will he get it safe? This looks pretty good. Oh, unlucky.

Just turned over. I thought he was going to knock it on the cushion.

What a very good shot that previous one was there. That red to leave the

angle on the pink, to be able to move the black into play. They may

even play for the black here. He could screw around the back of the

black. This is quaranteed to have an angle on the black to get on the

black. This is quaranteed to have an last red. A glance at the score

board will tell him he's only 14 behind now.

Has he got the angle to move the red along the cushion, or will he have

to move the pot along the cushion. No, he can't go the cannon, he will

have to leave the pot. Well, these are not straight-forward.

To most players that is. Good shot. The fact he is left handed makes the

green easier than it would be for a right handed player. He has to try

and move the green, it's gone too far.

It looks like he has decided this yellow is not really available. He

can't gain an advantage. He will try and get in behind the black, making

sure the yellow comes back into the middle of the table. He hasn't

played the pot there amazingly enough. He just hit it bad.

He just played the safety. Pretty good one to boot. Unlucky there.

Amazing the gap between the pinks and the blues there.

Trying to get behind the black, he didn't make a good job of putting

the green safe. It's a difficult shot if he will play it dead weight

for the brown. May even turn the pot down.

Good safety. Decided he didn't like the drop in dead weight for the

green to get on the brown. I can't blame him at this stage. He's got to

win this frame to stay in it, of course. Can't see him winning from

3-0 behind. He played to get behind the black,

but over hit the green. Just looking now how he can come off the side

cushion and put the green safe. Looking at an angle.

If you swerve round the black, it's not that easy to control.

Take that all day. He didn't play it like that. He played it to get the

green up the table. He is struggle out there.

Just trying to leave plenty of distance between cue ball and object

ball by hitting it quite hard. He couldn't have played it much better.

Surely not three snookers on the trot from being in a snooker. It

certainly is. Amazing, isn't it? Three shots on the trot they haven't

played the snooker, but they've got it.

I thought it was going in for a minute. He certainly cannot pot it

and get back for the Brown. I don't know how he will miss the kiss on

the black. No way he can avoid a kiss on pink or black. That makes

the shot a lot more difficult. Managed to go the other side of the

ink, but where is the cue ball going? -- pink.

He is taking a bit of time on this when there is a possibility he could

leave a long blue. But that is not his way, normally. One thing I have

noticed, especially in the last few years when he has improved his

game, one of the colours he will take on, often when he would not in

other circumstances. One of the problems is that there is no

straightforward safety on. He is still undecided.

I think he would take the Brown if he only needed the blue to win the

game. The fact that he needs the pink also will be changing his mind.

I did not think a lot of that shot, to be honest. He has left Rory a

chance. Got to avoid the blue, surely. He

will be disappointed with that. A good chance, if he wants to play

safety, to take the cue ball down the table.

Not quite. But leaving a good distance between the two balls and

putting pressure on his opponent. A tricky one for Rory. He will have

two home -- to hope he snookers Neil. Up and down is not a great

choice. But he has played that well. This has not been the most fluent

frame, but some good safety play. This is another one. Perfect. Very

clever shot. Neil Robertson wins a lot of these

types of frame. Sticking in, giving 100 descent. -- 100%. Does not seem

to bother him if it is a scrappy or a tight frame.

That is well played. Not easy to judge. Some good quality safety from

both players in this little bout. Crucial game for Rory McLeod. A lot

more pressure on his shots than his opponent's.

He tried to hit that Fuller to keep the white at this end of the table.

It could have been worse, if the cue ball stayed near the Brown it would

have been a very easy pot. Does it passes the blue in the corner? It

may do. It doesn't. So this is quite a thin one. Seven point in front. He

will need the blue also. What a beautiful shot. Shot of the day.

Longest frame of the match, it goes to Neil Robertson. He leads 3-0.

You have two feel for Rory McLeod. His best frame of the match and

still he loses it. He has had some chances early on. Did not settle

down, but he got right into that frame. Just a bit unlucky. We need a

bit of luck to leave your opponent snookered. He did not quite get that

luck and Neil was able to play good safety shots back. But we did see a

glimpse of what Rory McLeod is capable of. One thing I've noticed,

he really does crash the long balls. He is not a touch or a finesse

player. He is like Judd Trump. It is tough to strike the ball hard and be

accurate all the time. Snooker is all about confidence and momentum.

3-0 down to the world number one. He has to think, how can I put my

opponent under pressure? When two frames in a row. -- win. That is

what has got to happen. And hopefully that will build to

something greater? Precisely. There are many occasions when a player at

the interval can be 4-0 down, you think, what do I have to do to make

life difficult for my opponent? It is building blocks. If you get

pressure and momentum, you might force a few mistakes and make life

easier on yourself. Robertson must be very hopeful of

wrapping this up in the next frame. How do you get out of this

situation? 3-0 behind to the current world number one. The proverbial

mountain to climb. Even more so now.

Wow! That is what you call a split! He wanted the ball is open and he

has got them -- balls. But he is faced with a difficult not to keep

the break going. -- pot. If he was right-handed he could take on the

green. So it is a thin blue. He does not miss a lot, does he? Very clever

at those caught -- awkward shots. He does not do much wrong. Harder to

get anything out of him. He just has to be careful. That

green almost came out of the pocket. Took some power to get down

there. We were talking earlier about the fact that he won a match without

making a century. You don't see that often. And a chance of him doing so

again here. He is just waiting for some people

to come into the arena and take their seats.

I think with the four table situation it is slightly worse,

people can pay attention to one table and not pay attention to what

is happening on the other three. We have spoken quite a bit about it on

commentary today, Robertson does not care how he winds. -- wins. Scrappy

or poorly, this is an excellent chance to make a 345th career

century. 86 this season. That is the match safely in his

pocket. Now to concentrate on making a first century of the tournament

for him. It very rarely goes in off the jaws

when he makes a long pot. Will he play this right-handed?

That was a cheeky one, what a great shot! I know it does not really

matter in the context of the match, but still a great shot. It is on

now. He knew that Willie Thorne had his beady eye on him for a century!

Well done, son, well done. What a shame. It would have been nice to

have the clearance. But he has won this by 4-0.

He looks every bit the world number one. A terrific victory. Never look

in trouble. The performance of a true contender at the Welsh Open in

Newport this week. 87 century breaks this season, almost unbelievable. It

is ridiculous. He had 11 centuries in 13 frames across different

tournaments, that is Stephen Hendry at his best material, almost

unplayable, only Ronnie could compete with him. Working out

solutions to difficult situations, we saw that from him in this match.

He is just a very competent player who does not make easy mistakes. It

is hard to force a mistake from him. You need a great long pot to come

off. We saw his ability to craft a very special shot. Amazing. As

Willie Thorne said in commentary, you would never have thought he

would make a century from that position, but what a fantastic shot

to keep the break going. Establishing himself as a favourite

for this championship? Yes, but a very difficult draw, he will have a

battle of wits ahead. Perhaps psychologically he felt comfortable

playing somebody without the experience and pedigree he has. But

he will play Mark Williams, who has. That really is a match to look

forward to. Neil Robertson is on his way to the studio as we speak. Let

me update you with some other scores:

we will catch up with Neil Robertson in a couple of minutes. But first

let's look ahead to a match on table two. It involves Shaun Murphy, who

is in wonderful form just in time for this competition. He won in

Poland recently, we will see him in action in a few minutes. But let's

get an idea of who he thinks is the perfect player.

Stephen Hendry. For almost a decade if not longer he reproduced the same

action, countless century breaks. Ronnie O'Sullivan, when he is in

full flow, the greatest we have ever seen. If I had a long pot and had to

choose somebody to go for it, I would select him. Steve Davis in his

prime. Never out of position. John Higgins springs to mind. Playing to

get you in trouble from the minute you start. Paul Hunter. You never

knew if he had won or lost. If he was winning or behind. And he was so

gracious when he lost. Exactly the same when he won. Neil Robertson,

what he generates from seemingly so little effort. I think Jimmy White

was the best rest player the game has ever seen. Stephen Hendry. When

his chances came, because of a player making a mistake or him

forcing a mistake, what ever the tournament, he would step up. I have

seen John Higgins makes a mammoth clearances to win a frame by one or

two. Steve Davis. When I have played him over the years, you get to a

couple of snooker is required, he is almost favourite. Mark Selby. His

knowledge is brilliant. Shaun Murphy is out there at the moment playing

against Craig Steadman. In this one, Murphy has taken a 2-1 lead. We will

join the action live. This has been an interesting match

which Shaun Murphy looked like running away with but Craig is back

in the game. Even though, albeit, he is 20 nine point behind -- 29

points. Shaun Murphy has been claimed some superb snooker. --

playing. He has lost three stones in weight and looks fit and hungry to

play again. He was not dimmed when he won the world championship. --

thin. So it is not just about weight, but I don't think it helps.

You have a lots of travelling, and that can tire you out if you are

unfit. A chance for Craig. Can pot in the

middle. Well done. He will be favourite now

to level at to-mac-to-mac. -- two - two. This will be another close

match. I sometimes wonder if he tries to be too perfect. I can't

answer that one, I tries to be too perfect. I can't

his mind works. But he is a fine player. Did he win in Germany? Or

was Poland? Poland, it was. His first tournament win in 29 months,

ridiculous for such a good player. But he now has Chris Hendry working

with him, a very good coach. He is perfect on the blue.

Well done. Keeps him in the match. 3-1 would have been a bigger gap,

possibly, but he has got it level again at 2-2.

Let's have a word with Neil Robertson. How was it? I thought I

played well, apart from the last frame. I just had to make sure I

treated every shot 100%. The third frame and seem to be key. Rory

fought back, I guess if he had made it 2-1 it would have been a harder

task. Possibly, but I always felt comfortable. I always felt I was

able to create the frame winning opportunities. I managed to do that.

Overall, really happy. That was number 87 century. You must be

eyeing up that 100 century every time they go in Perhaps I'm trying

more to make sure I do make a century now. A lot of players when

they get to 70 or 80 their concentration goes down a bit. I'm

maintaining it all the way through. If I a chance to make 100 centuries

this season I will try. A a tournament left in the season. Two

tournaments in China. The rest of this. The World, if you go deep in

the World you will reach 100? Yeah. The World Championship is key. If I

have a good run in that perhaps I'll get there. If I don't, it's already

wonderful achievement anyway. The record before this was 61. I'm on

87. Whatever happens, it's a great achievement. Well past it. Mark

Williams, the local favourite, in the next round. One to look forward

to? Yeah. We haven't really sort of played each other too much in the

last few years. Mark will be keen to play well this week. It's his home

tournament. No Welshman has done that well in the last few years

here. The I'm sure Dominic as well will be really keen to make amends

for that. Do matches feel different when you are playing against a guy

with big local support, does the atmosphere feel different in the

arena? Not really. You would rather play in front of a full house than

not too many people. It will be a fantastic atmosphere, that brings

the best out of the top players. Give us an overview of your season

so far, you must be delighted with how things are going? I think I

could have won two or more ranking events as well. I have won the

biggest tournament of the season so far in the UK Championship. I think

that there is still plenty more to come for the rest of the season. I

want to finish winning another one or two more titles, for sure. What

does it mean to be World Number One, does that matter in the game now?

It's nice to be able to have had a really long sequence of weeks as

number one with the ranking system the way it is now. It's really tough

to stay number one. You know, I've been there from the first tournament

up until now, once again, a really good achievement to stay there as

long as possible. The rankings change at the end of the season to a

prize money list. It kind of... It's not... It won't be the same the

rankings. This is the last year of having like a proper ranking system.

I'm not a fan of the money list at all. That's the way Barry wants it.

Give us an idea as well. How are you enjoying the new format to some of

these tournaments. 128 players in the first round. Has that made any

difference to you? Most of the top players are getting through to the

later rounds? It depends if you can get your head around. If you are

used to playing on TV, if you are on a back table and get beat by someone

who you feel can't string three or four balls together on the TV. That

is when some of the players go - he couldn't have beat me on TV. They

get frustrated. You have to treat everyone with 100% respect. If

someone plays really well against you on a back table you have to

accept it. Congratulations today. Great performance. We look forward

to seeing you later in the week particularly against Mark Williams.

Into thank you. -- Thank you. We can go back to Shaun Murphy and Craig

Steadman. COMMENTATOR: a few safety shots in

this game. You haven't missed a lot. No real chance for either of the two

players yet to score. Another safety shot coming here. .

Certainly better safety shot. He's put a bit of pressure on Shaun

Murphy here. Dead straight, you can get to the red between the green and

the blue. There's no value if he drops it in, he can't see the black

anyway. This could be good. Has he left a

long one on? Maybe one into the left corner here.

The difference now, you can see it, there is a slight angle. He can push

through here and come up for the blue.

That red needs to run. I think it's available now for Shaun Murphy. It's

a bit thin, but it's certainly on. He thought he'd got that one.

He did well to hold that cue ball for the blue off that very thin cut.

This cloth is so fast. That little flick on the pink has

brought two more reds into play. There was five or six reds in play

already. He's dead straight on this red. I think the black will pot in

both pockets. Yes, it clearly does. No problem here. A good chance for

Shaun Murphy to take the lead again in this match. He will be per

terribled that it went 2-2. He's done well to stick in. He was second

favourite in the two frames he's won at one time or another. Lost the cue

ball a fraction there. He is still OK. Could have done with it two

inches further to the left, so he wasn't hampered.

He break builds as good as most, Shaun Murphy. Stephen Hendry spotted

something in commentary a little while ago, he probably breaks down

more than any other player when he gets to about 40. Obviously, you

then watch to see if that's right. The number of times he breaks down

on 40 or 50, it's quite amazing. He probably won't do it here. He has

lost or broke down on maybe 30, 40 frames in the last season, when I've

been watching, on 40 points. Of course, the first 40 is more

difficult, the second 40 or 50 points is a little easier because

there there are less balls on the table.

Got to play it with a little bit of side or stun. He may play with side

to get around the back of the black. Just a fraction off the side.

That's a little bit careless, finishing straight on the black.

Nothing seems to pot in that left hand corner. He will have to screw

back or run it back off two cushions. Just got a slight angle.

He really needed to be on that black half-ball. I couldn't stand it if

you broke down on 4. He's left himself a bit to do, you're right. A

lot of cue power, of course. What? He's on the one in the middle.

An awkward cue in. He strides around the table, doesn't

he, large steps. You did say 40 and 50s. 55 this

time. Didn't expect him to miss that black. Still a good lead. Once

again, hasn't won the frame at that visit, where you would expect him to

kick on and win the frame. Luckily for Shaun Murphy the black has gone

safe and the pink is tied up as well. He's still strong favourite in

this round. That certainly is a Achilles heal. Up there having won

the World Championship, the UK Championship, he is one of the

game's greats. Maybe that is something he just has to tighten up

on. Very good positional shot there.

Very soon, the pink will be in play. If both these reds pot. He's having

a look to see if the pink will be available afterwards. Certainly not

the same pocket he has played the red in. It will be available in the

middle. Not seen too much of Craig play. This is the first time I've

seen him on television, actually. Certainly has the cue ball moving in

this break. The break is 13 he has been in and out of baulk three

times. You are allowed to go in and out of

baulk, Willie. If you keep potting them, you will

win the frame. No doubt about that. He is not getting good position,

still a lot to do, as you edges pensioned, the pink was tied up on

the black. Essentially gets top side of the

blue here though. The then try and play the little cannon into the red

and pink. Really important there to get top side of the blue. That

little cannon into the red and pink would have opened the frame and

given him a chance to win at this visit. As it is now, he still has a

lot to do. Took a risk there, trying to bring

pink and red into play. Now, OK he has nudged the pink. Has he moved

the red enough? If he pots the pink, can he screw back. Let's look at

this shot again. Whether the red will be available if he takes the

pink on, I don't know. Pink's it tempting. If the red

doesn't pot, it's pointless playing the pink.

I thought for a second he was going to knock the yellow safe. Which

obviously he didn't mean to do. He's put it in a good position.

He will put him back again in and make him move the red that's tight.

Put him back in from there, not where it was before. That's amazing

to me. This is easier to hit from where he was the previous time. It's

a lot more difficult to hit that loose red from where he was.

I'm sure that Shaun will hit it this time. It's a lot easier from that

position than it was from the position he left him in previously.

27 points behind. He's doing his best, isn't he,

Shaun, to lose this frame. Now, essential to get on a colour to-this

last red into play. -- move this last red into play. We

are fast running out of time here on BBC Two Wales much we will bring you

the results in our programme at 7.00pm. The big names have shown

their quality. Tonight, it's the most exciting player of them all,

the multi-talented Ronnie O'Sullivan will be here. We are on air at

7.00pm on BBC Two Wales. Please, don't miss The Rocket.