:00:14. > :01:08.Good evening. Mr consistent, Mark Selby, is a man who loves the ?
:01:09. > :01:13.Welsh Open. This is worth he won his first title in 2008. Tonight, we
:01:14. > :01:21.will be focusing on his quarterfinal match against two Perry on a day of
:01:22. > :01:24.high drama here in Newport. Ding Junhui was in trouble
:01:25. > :01:29.high drama here in Newport. Joel Walker who had raced into a 4-2
:01:30. > :01:38.lead. It brought the best out of the world number three, who won three
:01:39. > :01:47.frames in a row to go through. I don't think he played badly. I
:01:48. > :01:51.didn't play well and didn't concentrate hard. Ronnie O'Sullivan
:01:52. > :02:02.continued his effortless journey into the last four. He booked a
:02:03. > :02:07.semifinal place 5-1. That is a great result. Whether he is playing well
:02:08. > :02:11.or not, he is a big scalp. I am hitting the ball really well, the
:02:12. > :02:18.cue ball was under control. It was all right. Dominic Dale is one of
:02:19. > :02:22.the world 's top 30 players and he joins me. Ronnie O'Sullivan, fully
:02:23. > :02:30.justifying his place as the favourite.
:02:31. > :02:39.For me he has got better and better in this event. His performance today
:02:40. > :02:44.against John Higgins, winning 5-1, would make him the favourite in this
:02:45. > :02:49.event. Mark Selby against Joe Perry tonight. Mark Selby be due on the
:02:50. > :02:55.way to this match tonight. He is looking in good form. He is a great
:02:56. > :02:59.player. Mentally very strong. The situation doesn't seem to bother
:03:00. > :03:04.him. He gets on with the game. He is a great break-builder, great
:03:05. > :03:08.tactician and always difficult to beat. Joe Perry, just in the top 16
:03:09. > :03:12.in the world at the moment. beat. Joe Perry, just in the top 16
:03:13. > :03:19.important for him to get a good result at this tournament. That will
:03:20. > :03:23.be foremost in his mind, to be able to go to the Crucible without having
:03:24. > :03:31.to qualify. Joe Perry will be full of confidence. He beat Mark Selby
:03:32. > :03:35.here last made 4-0. We have 2/4-finals to be played this
:03:36. > :03:41.evening. We have four players to bring into the arena. Let's do that
:03:42. > :03:47.with our mark -- our master of ceremonies.
:03:48. > :03:51.Quarterfinals night here in Newport, and what a fantastic
:03:52. > :03:57.atmosphere! Let's get our players to the tables. First of all, he has
:03:58. > :04:03.been in fantastic form in the last 12 months. 2013 Australian open
:04:04. > :04:22.champion, from Hong Kong, please welcome Marco Fu!
:04:23. > :04:27.His opponent has improved so much in the last 12 months. He reached the
:04:28. > :04:30.finals of the World Championships last season. Please welcome Harry
:04:31. > :05:00.Hopkins! -- Barry Hawkins. So, I man seeded number 16. Such a
:05:01. > :05:04.tough match player. I winner earlier this year, please welcome Joe Perry!
:05:05. > :05:40.He is up against one of the games greats. A three-time Masters
:05:41. > :05:43.champion, a former Welsh Open champion, bitter hands together for
:05:44. > :06:13.Mark Selby! There is a horrific atmosphere here
:06:14. > :06:18.this evening. It is Mark Selby against Joe Perry. Let's bid a good
:06:19. > :06:27.evening to our commentators, Willie Thorne and Terry Griffiths.
:06:28. > :06:35.Good evening, everybody. Two seasoned campaigners. Mark Selby is
:06:36. > :06:43.a slight favourite. Great atmosphere all week here at the Newport Centre.
:06:44. > :06:47.Joe Perry has had a couple of good results, beating Matthew Stevens,
:06:48. > :07:11.Stewart and am. -- Stuart Bingham. Mark Selby seems to be at the
:07:12. > :07:25.business end of every single tournament he plays at the moment.
:07:26. > :07:39.APPLAUSE. How was that for a starter?
:07:40. > :07:56.Mark Selby is very good at this kind of shot, playing into the pack. He
:07:57. > :08:06.put a bit of screw on at that time. That has come back to the cushion.
:08:07. > :08:15.He may have to take on this one to the middle. He may try to play in a
:08:16. > :08:40.night of baulk to get on the brown with the blue. -- or the blue.
:08:41. > :08:44.He was always going to leave something on. There is a long red on
:08:45. > :09:04.for Joe Perry. This will settle Jews if you get
:09:05. > :09:15.this in. -- Joe. If you are going to miss it, Mrs I a lot! It is quite
:09:16. > :09:17.noticeable that the red macro is wobbling and staying near the pocket
:09:18. > :09:29.all the time. That looks for all money like it was
:09:30. > :11:56.going to go in, the previous red. Both these players are very good at
:11:57. > :12:25.the safety game. If Joe to guarantee cutting this
:12:26. > :12:34.past the yellow, past the middle pocket, he would be happy. This will
:12:35. > :12:52.be an easy safety shot. I think the idea is to leave the two reds.
:12:53. > :13:01.That is a good shot. He has made it difficult for Joe Perry to play a
:13:02. > :13:39.positive safe and shot on the red macro next to the yellow.
:13:40. > :13:50.It would be fair to say that Mark Selby one that little safety battle.
:13:51. > :14:11.-- won. Both players would have some, you
:14:12. > :14:16.know, sign of nerves when they go out there for the match. The
:14:17. > :14:20.excitement of opening the quarter-final of a major event. If
:14:21. > :14:25.you hit a few safety shots early on from distance and get the dead
:14:26. > :14:28.weight on the baulk cushion, it does settle you down. Selby is one of the
:14:29. > :14:41.masters of that game. Mark Selby leads 4-3 on the
:14:42. > :14:45.head-to-heads. The interesting fact, Mark Selby is actually in the last
:14:46. > :14:52.three occasions they met, never beaten him on English soil. Beat him
:14:53. > :14:57.way back in 2005 World Championship qualifiers. Since they have been
:14:58. > :15:01.established pros, every time they played in Great Britain, Joe Perry
:15:02. > :15:46.has won. I wonder if that will make a difference tonight.
:15:47. > :15:51.This is the first real chance really, pink in open play, black
:15:52. > :15:55.available in both corner pockets, if he gets nicely on the red here. You
:15:56. > :16:06.would expect him to score quite heavily.
:16:07. > :16:12.One of the hardest players in the game to beat at the moment is Mark
:16:13. > :16:17.Selby. His b game gets him over the line on numerous occasions. When he
:16:18. > :16:19.has his a game right, he is capable of winning every tournament he plays
:16:20. > :16:24.in. A lean spell as far as winning
:16:25. > :16:29.tournaments are concerned over the last two or three years, at least
:16:30. > :17:19.over the last year. He's still so hard to beat.
:17:20. > :17:27.Not quite sure what happened then. Whether he had a bad contact or just
:17:28. > :17:29.missed the pot. Didn't seem to be a bad contact. Very unexpected miss
:17:30. > :17:36.there from Mark. Any excuse. Trying to hold it this
:17:37. > :17:42.side of the black. Not finishing high on the black. He certainly
:17:43. > :17:48.didn't expect to miss. Nothing breeds confidence for your opponent
:17:49. > :17:51.if you start missing those, more than something like that happening.
:17:52. > :17:55.Tried a very delicate shot there. Has he fluked it? He was trying it
:17:56. > :18:05.get right through the gap of those three reds. Concentrated more on
:18:06. > :18:10.that than the pot. That will surely cost him this first frame.
:18:11. > :18:19.He will have to play this red cushion first though.
:18:20. > :18:29.I wouldn't it's unmissable, every shot you would expect him to get
:18:30. > :18:35.nine out of ten. Haven't got the angle on the blue to go around the
:18:36. > :18:39.table or tomorrow down from the reds. He will have to pot something
:18:40. > :18:41.from distance if he wants to carry this going.
:18:42. > :18:49.Very tight gap that, Terry, wasn't it? Especially in the middle. These
:18:50. > :19:01.middles are pretty sharp. Joe is in your stable. What are his
:19:02. > :19:06.feelings at the moment as the season goes on? Are there the rankings
:19:07. > :19:10.making any difference to him? Yes. He is into the top 16 again. He is
:19:11. > :19:13.having a consistent season. I know he lost in the semi-final to Marco
:19:14. > :19:24.Fu. He's happy with himself at the
:19:25. > :19:30.moment, I feel. If a snooker player can ever be happy!
:19:31. > :19:36.Good shot that. He did really good cueing to pot back and screw back
:19:37. > :19:43.for these reds. He didn't get a kick on that, I
:19:44. > :20:09.don't think. Strange, he potted a brilliant shot
:20:10. > :20:13.on the green didn't he? A tough pot. The first time I thought it must
:20:14. > :20:17.have been a kick. Watching it second time round, I didn't think it was a
:20:18. > :20:22.kick either. Maybe played with a side and straightened it up. Great
:20:23. > :20:24.chance now for Joe Perry to get back in the frame.
:20:25. > :20:34.Nervy start from both of them really. It can be awkward here
:20:35. > :20:38.mainly because the blue is the shot. He has to be careful because the
:20:39. > :20:43.pink is in the way. May be able to play it gently into the pink and
:20:44. > :21:39.hold the white. That's what's he's done. Played it quite well.
:21:40. > :21:44.Just about fair enough to roll this in and play for the two reds in the
:21:45. > :21:54.opposite corner. The next two reds and the two
:21:55. > :21:59.colours are no real problem. He needs an angle on the blue or the
:22:00. > :22:04.black off the next red to get right in behind those two reds on the side
:22:05. > :22:11.cushion now. He could do it here. He might try to bring one out. He will
:22:12. > :22:17.probably play for the lose one this time. -- loose one this time.
:22:18. > :22:26.He does have an angle to run through to the two reds. It's a little bit
:22:27. > :22:30.risky to play that. He is leaving the half-ball black. He will try and
:22:31. > :22:34.get right in behind them. Try and bring at least one of them into
:22:35. > :22:37.play. He would like to go two cushions and hit them both at the
:22:38. > :22:43.same time off the second cushion. If he hits one of them, he's sure to
:22:44. > :22:48.put one on. As long as he hits one he's OK. He didn't hit it well
:22:49. > :22:52.enough, did he? He would have loved to have hit the split of two reds
:22:53. > :22:56.and push them both into play. A big target that to make the cannon. A
:22:57. > :24:12.little bit disappointed there for Joe. Should have hit that better.
:24:13. > :24:20.He's got the blue, which wasn't intended. I don't think this red
:24:21. > :24:23.will pass. So no danger, but it's given Mark Selby a chance to put him
:24:24. > :24:36.in trouble. That flew off the cushion.
:24:37. > :24:42.Straightened it out a bit. A slow start, this match, just a
:24:43. > :24:59.point in it. Good safety shot. Hard to judge when
:25:00. > :25:13.that red is close to the cushion there.
:25:14. > :25:18.Swing it round the back of the black here, if he wants to, and get in
:25:19. > :25:28.round behind the blue. Tough shot. Where is that red going? Has he
:25:29. > :25:33.fluked it? No. Another chance for Joe Perry.
:25:34. > :25:38.Mark couldn't cater for that really. He played a very good safety. Got
:25:39. > :25:41.the cue ball exactly where he wanted it. Didn't expect that red to go in
:25:42. > :25:51.the middle. That's fine. Plenty of angle to get
:25:52. > :26:21.out for either red. The only thing that looks awkward
:26:22. > :26:28.here is where the blue is in relation to the yellow. Apart from
:26:29. > :26:32.that, not many colours on the spots. Only the black and green. At least
:26:33. > :26:35.they are all in the open. Yeah, probably play for the blue. It
:26:36. > :26:42.passes the yellow off this last red. That makes obviously the yellow a
:26:43. > :26:45.lot easier. He has finished perfect to do that. Up-and-down off the top
:26:46. > :26:54.cushion, if he can't hold it. 15 in front. This will be 16. This
:26:55. > :26:56.is a terrible white. This could kiss the green.
:26:57. > :27:05.Didn't hit that well at all. He's perfect on the green. . He just
:27:06. > :27:09.jabbed at that one a little bit. Not ideal to get perfect on the
:27:10. > :27:18.yellow here. From there, I'm not even sure he can
:27:19. > :27:48.pot it. Good escape from the snooker. The
:27:49. > :27:54.chance gone. Clear-cut opportunity there.
:27:55. > :28:25.Mark Selby, 19 points behind. 27 left on the table.
:28:26. > :28:35.We will make way for scrum five Live. A century from Barry Hawkins
:28:36. > :28:40.has put him 1-0 up against Marco Fu. We will be back at 10.00pm with the
:28:41. > :28:47.best of the quarter-final tonight. We will see you after Sport Wales at
:28:48. > :28:50.10.00pm on BBC Two Wales. From all of us here at the Newport Centre, a
:28:51. > :28:52.very good evening.