:00:51. > :00:57.Good evening. The defending champion takes centre stage at the Welsh Open
:00:58. > :01:02.this evening. Stephen Maguire from Glasgow is the top seed here and
:01:03. > :01:07.tonight he faces the local boy. The a match is coming up. Let's catch up
:01:08. > :01:27.on the progress of Ronnie O'Sullivan who played his third round match
:01:28. > :01:37.this afternoon. His owe popeblet was Xiao
:01:38. > :02:00.Has he got away with it? I don't think so.
:02:01. > :02:06.He has got a couple of attempts. But no tricky shots. He does feel he can
:02:07. > :03:15.get through to this one. He is beginning to look quite
:03:16. > :03:20.dangerous now, Xiao Guodong. He has found his feet. He is quite settled.
:03:21. > :04:06.He could be fancying the job here. It has to be said, he is starting to
:04:07. > :04:14.look very strong. He didn't have a chance in the first frame at all. He
:04:15. > :04:22.got a chance in the second frame. He knocked in a good 59. He took these
:04:23. > :05:18.very well so far. He has got right back into this frame.
:05:19. > :05:22.He has certainly grown in confidence, Xiao Guodong. Almost
:05:23. > :05:48.visibly. That was a little bit of a tentative
:05:49. > :05:50.one. He just quit on that one a little bit. He could have hit that
:05:51. > :05:57.one a lot of harder. He could have little bit. He could have hit that
:05:58. > :06:03.pushed the cue through a little bit smoother and that's what you get.
:06:04. > :06:09.All of a sudden, Ronnie is back in business.
:06:10. > :06:15.It wasn't so much, you would still have expected him to have potted
:06:16. > :06:24.that red, but it was the positional shot was the poor shot. Well, Ronnie
:06:25. > :06:28.played an attacking shot there. It hasn't worked out too bad to be
:06:29. > :06:30.fair. He has developed the one red and he is on this black. That could
:06:31. > :06:53.have gone anywhere. Yeah, Ronnie's thinking was he
:06:54. > :06:58.hardly hits it. There are six colours all over the place. He is
:06:59. > :07:09.bound to be on something. I don't think he expected to be on the
:07:10. > :07:10.black. He is just a point now. It is getting to the crucial part of this
:07:11. > :07:26.third frame. And what a shot. If he can get on
:07:27. > :07:34.this red, behind it, down this cushion, he will swap hands and play
:07:35. > :07:39.with his left-hand. That cue ball is travelling, he needs it do slow down
:07:40. > :07:49.otherwise he will have to use the rest. Well, he is going to have to
:07:50. > :07:56.play safe. He played a great safety shot. He is in total control now in
:07:57. > :08:04.this third frame. Seven points ahead. And he has got the snooker.
:08:05. > :08:13.Yeah, but I wouldn't want to be Ronnie. I fancy Xiao to snooker him
:08:14. > :08:18.back. He could leave that cue ball exactly where the red is. He would
:08:19. > :08:21.be disappointed if he doesn't play it well. Well, he will be
:08:22. > :08:30.disappointed if he doesn't play it well. He will be disappointed with
:08:31. > :08:37.himself. And it is a free ball. I can assure you, he will feel that's
:08:38. > :08:41.a dreadful mistake. He almost swerves the cue ball. There is too
:08:42. > :08:50.much spin on the ball and he took it into the plaque. -- black.
:08:51. > :08:57.I wonder what bearing that mistake could have on the are remainder of
:08:58. > :09:11.this match? Still not quite over the winning
:09:12. > :09:22.line in this frame. Now that red has gone in. This black.
:09:23. > :09:31.It has been a good match this. It has been very entertaining. Both
:09:32. > :09:32.players are in good form. Ronnie is just having a quick look at the
:09:33. > :09:46.scoreboard to make sure. Ronnie O'Sullivan looks effortless.
:09:47. > :09:58.He is a terrific striker of the ball.
:09:59. > :10:03.It looked at one stage, Xiao Guodong was going to take this frame. He was
:10:04. > :10:15.nicely in amongst the balls. He played a bad positional shot and
:10:16. > :10:19.ended up missing the red and the cushion, but Ronnie played a
:10:20. > :10:24.terrific safety shot. It doesn't matter about the black. He will be
:10:25. > :10:28.really happy. Xiao Guodong with something to really think about.
:10:29. > :10:35.Ronnie O'Sullivan leaves the arena. He now leads 2-1.
:10:36. > :10:39.O'Sullivan also won frame four. Xiao Guodong got off to a good start in
:10:40. > :10:56.the fifth. He is on a break of 52. I was about to say that he will be
:10:57. > :11:00.very disappointed if he doesn't go on to win this frame now. What on
:11:01. > :11:02.earth happened there? Maybe the thoughts of the winning line in this
:11:03. > :11:27.frame? Well, could he possibly have played
:11:28. > :11:29.his last shot in this match now? Ronnie is normally deadly from
:11:30. > :11:53.positions like this. The only half safe ball is the brown
:11:54. > :11:59.and he is quite close to that corner pocket. I don't think that's going
:12:00. > :12:07.to cause him much trouble. What a miss that was. Looked really good as
:12:08. > :13:38.well. He was cueing great. How he missed, it is just unbelievable.
:13:39. > :13:45.He has got rid of all the reds and colours now Ronnie. It is all about
:13:46. > :13:53.getting a nice angle now on the green. It is the only possible
:13:54. > :14:22.saviour for Xiao Guodong. I don't think it will save him.
:14:23. > :14:29.He has got a lot more distance between cue ball and object ball and
:14:30. > :15:05.he is going to have to play a deep screw. What a terrific shot.
:15:06. > :15:18.A great performance from Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has clinched victory
:15:19. > :15:23.over his Chinese compatriot, Xiao Guodong. I practised with him a lot.
:15:24. > :15:30.He beat me a few years ago. I hardly got a shot really. You know what the
:15:31. > :15:36.man's capable of. In the back of your mind, you are ware, but that
:15:37. > :15:40.makes you play a bit better sometimes. It is good. So Ronnie is
:15:41. > :15:49.safely through today. There were three Welsh players trying to book
:15:50. > :15:58.their place in the last 16. Our own Dominic Dale bowed out today. Mark
:15:59. > :16:03.Selby proved too good. It was a 4-0 victory.
:16:04. > :16:08.APPLAUSE I started off OK. I had a 70 break
:16:09. > :16:12.the first frame. I was fortunate in the second frame. I played a safety
:16:13. > :16:19.shot and managed to capitalise and win the frame. After that I played
:16:20. > :16:22.solid and didn't really miss much. Matthew Stevens fell at the third
:16:23. > :16:29.round stage today. The 20th seed led for most of the match, but he lost a
:16:30. > :16:32.final frame decider to Joe Perry. APPLAUSE
:16:33. > :16:40.There was better news for Mark Williams. He prevailed 4-3 following
:16:41. > :16:49.a Titanic struggle with Neil Robertson. Playing the best player
:16:50. > :16:55.in the world. To beat him in Wales is an excellent win for me. I played
:16:56. > :17:01.OK in the match as well. Well, I have been joined by Willie
:17:02. > :17:07.Thorn. It just seemed like a really significant result? Well, the table
:17:08. > :17:11.played poorly today. Robertson started OK. Williams was looking
:17:12. > :17:14.good and in the middle of the match, it just went dead and it wasn't
:17:15. > :17:18.until the fabulous clearance from Mark to win the match and that was
:17:19. > :17:21.the only bright thing over the last four or five frames. We probably
:17:22. > :17:25.won't remember much of the snooker that was played, but the result
:17:26. > :17:29.seems to be hugely significant, not least for Williams, but for this
:17:30. > :17:32.tournament? Well, I have always been a big fan of Mark Williams and the
:17:33. > :17:36.fact that he is playing in Wales, we all want him to do well. There is
:17:37. > :17:43.only him and Andrew Pagett left in the tournament so far. Williams has
:17:44. > :17:49.a chance of a good run. He has Marco Fu in the next round. Marco Fu, when
:17:50. > :17:55.he is playing well, he is so hard to beat. That will be a tough game. So
:17:56. > :18:00.Mark Williams flying the flag for Wales, but what chance he could be
:18:01. > :18:08.joined by in the last 16, by Andrew Pagett? He comes from Blackweed and
:18:09. > :18:19.he is -- Blackwood and he is a former practise partner of Williams.
:18:20. > :18:25.Every match I have been shaking like former practise partner of Williams.
:18:26. > :18:30.I'm looking forward to it really. I have had a lot of support from
:18:31. > :18:35.family and friends. They have all come down because I'm only 20
:18:36. > :18:41.minutes away from the venue. It is nice to have all my crowd support.
:18:42. > :18:46.I have no tactics really. I will just go out and play my game. If it
:18:47. > :18:52.is good enough, if I get me head down and concentrate, I know I am he
:18:53. > :18:55.a handful for anyone. I'm really looking forward to
:18:56. > :19:03.getting out there tonight and seeing what happens. Andrew Pagett seeded
:19:04. > :19:08.100th for this tournament tonight. He plays the number one seed and
:19:09. > :19:12.defending champion, Stephen Maguire. Maguire took the first frame. Well,
:19:13. > :19:22.let's head out into the arena now to pick up on the second frame and our
:19:23. > :19:28.commentators are Terry Griffiths and Dominic Dale.
:19:29. > :19:40.Andrew Pagett on the blue to break the pack. He tried to split the pack
:19:41. > :20:08.in his previous shot. But he has spread them out a bit.
:20:09. > :20:10.in his previous shot. But he has It is not easy to retain position in
:20:11. > :21:24.those type of shots. Well, I don't think he was entirely
:21:25. > :21:27.settled over that shot. He may have been in two minds as to what colour
:21:28. > :21:59.to play for, I don't know. But he missed that by an awfully long way.
:22:00. > :22:03.That's nicely played that safety. He got the cue ball exactly where he
:22:04. > :22:28.wanted. And Stephen Maguire can't get to the
:22:29. > :22:32.left-hand side of the red as we look at it in the right corner. He hasn't
:22:33. > :22:44.got a straightforward safety on here.
:22:45. > :22:55.This shot requires a very thin contact on the red.
:22:56. > :23:37.Just about miss the red on the way down.
:23:38. > :23:50.A bit unlucky Andrew Pagett there. There is a gap through to the red.
:23:51. > :23:59.Looking at the position of the reds this is another great chance. Came
:24:00. > :26:26.to the table 21 points in arrears, but that could soon diminish.
:26:27. > :26:48.He played that nicely. You can get caught out in those shots because
:26:49. > :26:53.the blue is below it. He is so rock solid on the shot and good, firm,
:26:54. > :26:58.accurate cuist. He is such a straight cuist. The cue goes
:26:59. > :27:09.backwards and forwards naturally. He doesn't lift the back of the cue in
:27:10. > :27:12.the air as some players do. I think he seemed to strike the ball
:27:13. > :29:23.very purely. He is trying to get past the 43
:29:24. > :29:33.target. The two reds are difficult there. Red and blue will do it.
:29:34. > :29:47.Andrew Pagett hasn't made the most of his chances so far in this match.
:29:48. > :29:55.The balls are pretty much open. Just like Stephen Hendry used to be. He
:29:56. > :30:04.has just over done that one. Andrew Pagett wouldn't have carried on, but
:30:05. > :30:10.he can't see it to pot it. Stephen Maguire looks disgusted with that
:30:11. > :30:11.shot. He has got him safe, but he is still disgusted. He is very
:30:12. > :30:38.demanding of himself. The turned the red ball into the
:30:39. > :31:11.pocket. He didn't care about the position really.
:31:12. > :31:22.That's 73 from Stephen Maguire. It wins him another frame. He is 2-0 in
:31:23. > :31:29.front. The defending champion is looking comfortable? His last match.
:31:30. > :31:33.Steve was walking very gingerly around the table. After two or three
:31:34. > :31:37.frames, it wasn't common knowledge he had a problem, whether he slipped
:31:38. > :31:41.a disc or something, I don't know. I said to Terry, he is standing
:31:42. > :31:46.different. He is getting gingerly down on the shot and he is getting
:31:47. > :31:50.very high and the more and more we watched it, it was taking a long
:31:51. > :31:54.time to get down and I thought Sam should have won that match. He did
:31:55. > :31:58.very well to get through. He started very well there. Andrew Pagett
:31:59. > :32:01.missed a red that he shouldn't have missed, but Maguire looks a lot
:32:02. > :32:05.better. What difference does it make to a player when he is unable to
:32:06. > :32:10.move freely? He maybe has a sore limb o are a bad back, what
:32:11. > :32:14.difference does it make? The snooker player does a lot of stretching and
:32:15. > :32:22.if your back is hurting, you can't get down on the shot. He probably
:32:23. > :32:25.uses the rest more. I spoke to Stephen Maguire's father and he said
:32:26. > :32:30.it happened a few weeks ago in practise, he was reaching for a shot
:32:31. > :32:35.and ripped something in his back. I said why hasn't he been to a
:32:36. > :32:41.chiropractor. He was worried about making it worse. He knows what he
:32:42. > :32:45.can do, rather than risk going to a chiropractor, he thought he would
:32:46. > :32:51.carry on and play. He is has not been practising. He is having half
:32:52. > :32:56.an hour here and there. I wouldn't fancy him to win this tournament. If
:32:57. > :33:01.his back gets better, we know what a great player he is. What does Andrew
:33:02. > :33:04.Pagett have to do to get back into this? He is a very good player
:33:05. > :33:10.otherwise he wouldn't be on the main tour. He practises a lot with Mark
:33:11. > :33:14.Williams. I was watching his game on Twitter! Mark Williams was playing
:33:15. > :33:17.Andrew Pagett the best of 31 or something and they kept tweeting
:33:18. > :33:25.after every frame and I happened to be at home and I was watching it on
:33:26. > :33:30.Twitter. It is one thing to do it in practise and quite another thing to
:33:31. > :33:35.do it in front of the TV cameras at the Newport Arena. Can Andrew Pagett
:33:36. > :33:43.get back into it? I don't know what you boys in the commentary box
:33:44. > :33:48.think? Well, he can get back into it. He made the odd mistake at a
:33:49. > :33:52.crucial time in the first two frames that allowed Stephen Maguire to go
:33:53. > :33:56.on and make the breaks that he has. 73 in the last and a 35 and a 40 in
:33:57. > :34:08.the last in the last frame. It didn't help Andrew's cause when
:34:09. > :34:13.he declared a foul on himself and Stephen went on to win the frame
:34:14. > :34:19.from it. This is the one. Look, you can just
:34:20. > :34:21.see it move a couple of millimetres. He declared the foul on himself
:34:22. > :34:53.immediately. Good sportsmanship. Every time Stephen Maguire comes to
:34:54. > :34:58.the table he has a great chance. After that missed red from Andrew,
:34:59. > :35:00.another golden opportunity. He didn't play his positional shot
:35:01. > :35:15.there too well. There is not quite so much pressure
:35:16. > :35:17.on Stephen Maguire now with the 2-0 lead. He is firmly in control of
:35:18. > :35:48.this match. Stephen Maguire looks a lot more
:35:49. > :35:54.comfortable on the shot. He is back closer to his normal stance and
:35:55. > :36:22.striking the ball a lot better than he did in the first match.
:36:23. > :36:34.One of the reasons he has been losing the cue ball. He is striking
:36:35. > :36:43.the ball at a different trajectory and he is getting a fraction more
:36:44. > :36:47.spin on the ball. If he is standing, he is OK. But when he is standing
:36:48. > :36:53.low down on the cue ball, I think it is making a difference. He is doing
:36:54. > :36:56.OK though. Yes, of course, if he is compensating for the back issues
:36:57. > :37:01.that he has got the moment then he is obviously striking the ball
:37:02. > :37:04.slightly differently to the way he is accustomed and that will make a
:37:05. > :37:55.difference to his control of the balls.
:37:56. > :38:04.A little series of canons worked out beautifully for Stephen Maguire.
:38:05. > :38:12.Four balls here. Click. Click. Click. Landed perfectly. He already
:38:13. > :39:20.goes to 32. I think there could be a lot more to come.
:39:21. > :39:37.Maguire is looking for another big win here.
:39:38. > :40:52.He was always going to canon that red towards the pocket.
:40:53. > :40:59.Although the red is on to the right corner, controlling the cue ball
:41:00. > :41:01.won't be too easy. If he can get on a colour, it is a great chance to
:41:02. > :41:41.get back into the frame. Well, he played that pretty well,
:41:42. > :41:46.Andrew Pagett. He managed to find all the necessary gaps with the cue
:41:47. > :41:50.ball, but look where he landed. Does he take the black on? It is worth
:41:51. > :41:55.taking the black on because I don't know if you will cannon anything to
:41:56. > :41:59.keep the cue ball down the table. He maybe able to leave himself on the
:42:00. > :42:11.red above the cue ball. The one that's near this left corner.
:42:12. > :42:14.That's a superb shot from Andrew Pagett. It is easily the best shot
:42:15. > :42:45.of the night for him so far. Well, look at those for a pair of
:42:46. > :42:54.shoes! How on earth is he 2-0 down with a pair of shoes like that?
:42:55. > :43:05.This is his best chance of how to win a frame at this stage, you know,
:43:06. > :43:21.late on. A little bit of bad contact there. He is still on the pink.
:43:22. > :43:43.It is never easy when you are 54 points behind and 2-0 down.
:43:44. > :43:53.He has got a little bit of an angle there. He will have to power it
:43:54. > :43:55.through. He has to screw back. So it makes the shot a little more
:43:56. > :44:01.difficult. It has gone in. And he is perfect on
:44:02. > :44:29.the black. Andrew. Andrew. Andrew. Just when he
:44:30. > :44:34.was looking so good. Well, you can't make any excuses for him there, I am
:44:35. > :44:38.afraid. We all miss dolly balls and that was just one from Andrew there.
:44:39. > :44:43.Unfortunately for him, that could spell the end of this frame. Already
:44:44. > :44:45.31 points behind. So just this black and one more red for Stephen Maguire
:44:46. > :45:03.to go within a frame of victory. He has over-run this. Does the red
:45:04. > :45:08.at the bottom of these two go into the corner? It is very close as to
:45:09. > :45:54.whether you can pot this. He is just able to get that through.
:45:55. > :46:05.So that was frame ball. Now 39 points ahead, but only 35 remaining.
:46:06. > :46:14.It has been tough for Andrew Pagett this evening. Of course, he is not
:46:15. > :46:19.as familiar under the television lights as his opponent is. The world
:46:20. > :46:25.number two and currently ranked world number eight. 271 career
:46:26. > :46:28.centuries. I don't think Andrew Pagett has made one yet as a
:46:29. > :46:54.professional. He won't worry about the green. He
:46:55. > :46:58.comfortably secures the frame. He leads Andrew Pagett by 3-0.
:46:59. > :47:12.Let me you on the other results at the Welsh Open today.
:47:13. > :47:19.Joel Walker is through. He beat James Wattana. Scott Donaldson is
:47:20. > :47:30.through to the fourth round as well winning over Andrew Highingenson.
:47:31. > :47:36.Ali Carter will play Mark Selby. Marco Fu will play what could be the
:47:37. > :47:44.only Welshman left in the competition.
:47:45. > :48:06.So let's head back then to this frame which could be the crucial one
:48:07. > :48:12.now for Stephen Maguire. He only needs to get to four to head through
:48:13. > :48:16.to the last 16. Can Andrew Pagett fight back into this match?
:48:17. > :48:22.He has got a bit of a task and he will have to play a lot better than
:48:23. > :48:26.he has so far. Sometimes when you get to a stage like this, 3-0 down
:48:27. > :48:29.and missed a few chances, you just relax a bit and he may start to
:48:30. > :48:35.play. He is a lot better player than he
:48:36. > :49:20.has shown so far. Andrew Pagett beat Marcus Campbell
:49:21. > :49:37.4-0 in the first round of the tournament. It was a good win.
:49:38. > :49:43.It is a little bit of hit and miss stuff at the moment. He is not known
:49:44. > :50:07.for his discipline, Andrew Pagett. And that was such a clean strike of
:50:08. > :50:11.the ball, Stephen Maguire. He had that cue where he wanted it and he
:50:12. > :50:17.put Andrew Pagett in a bit of trouble here.
:50:18. > :50:20.Unless he can see the left-hand side of the edge which is just to the
:50:21. > :50:44.right of the black spot. This can be a slightly risky shot to
:50:45. > :50:47.play. But I think he is going to be all right. He will be in trouble
:50:48. > :51:12.when he comes back to the table shortly.
:51:13. > :51:19.Well, is there a three ball plant on? Andrew is having a closer look
:51:20. > :51:24.at it. Well, I don't think that's missable. The problem is how does he
:51:25. > :51:43.get on a colour from it? Well, hold on to your hats here! If
:51:44. > :51:49.he had potted it, he still wasn't on a colour. Not one red on a cushion.
:51:50. > :51:55.There is three in the front row though.
:51:56. > :52:04.It looked bad that, but the plant was on, wasn't it? The speed that he
:52:05. > :52:13.struck the cue ball at, he didn't get the hitting point correct on the
:52:14. > :52:17.first red and he left a pro erbial cherry tree here for Stephen
:52:18. > :52:21.Maguire. He is never going to be lucky on the black from that? Well,
:52:22. > :52:23.I don't think there was a pot on for Stephen Maguire so Andrew Pagett may
:52:24. > :53:57.have been fortunate there. They are just not going in for
:53:58. > :53:59.Andrew at the moment. He keeps wobbling balls. Now, what's he left
:54:00. > :55:07.here? Nothing easy, I don't think. A difficult safety. These two reds
:55:08. > :55:11.on the left of the table, hitting across the ball there. The cue ball
:55:12. > :55:13.can often go wrong. But there are no pots on here that he can guarantee
:55:14. > :55:26.to be on a colour. Andrew has been known to throw his
:55:27. > :55:32.cue at the ball sometimes and just have a bash at them. So far in this
:55:33. > :55:49.match that hasn't happened. This could go wrong. He played it
:55:50. > :56:14.well. Well, Stephen could attempt the red
:56:15. > :56:17.into the right-hand side corner and stun the cue ball up for the green.
:56:18. > :56:20.I don't think he would leave anything in terms of a pot for
:56:21. > :56:50.Andrew Pagett should he miss it. He didn't actually pay for anything
:56:51. > :56:58.there. If he potted a red it would have rolled up behind the green or
:56:59. > :57:00.the brown probably. There hasn't been many safety shots in this
:57:01. > :57:21.match. It is a very open game. I'm surprised he played that because
:57:22. > :57:26.previously he came off the side cushion just as to nestle up to a
:57:27. > :57:31.couple of reds. He turned down the opportunity of a difficult pot and
:57:32. > :57:36.this was even harder. He is trying to screw back, but striking down to
:57:37. > :57:42.the near cushion and couldn't g enough action on the cue ball.
:57:43. > :57:46.This is the opportunity now that Stephen has been waiting for to
:57:47. > :58:38.close out this match. Well, the snooker is drawing to a
:58:39. > :58:43.close. Andrew Pagett is still in this tournament, but just clinging
:58:44. > :58:48.on by his fingernails. The writing seems to be on the wall as Stephen
:58:49. > :58:54.Maguire closes in. Join us for our highlights programme at 11. 20pm on
:58:55. > :58:57.BBC Wales. We look forward to seeing you then. For now, bye-bye.