Day Two - Part 2 Snooker: Welsh Open

Good evening. He may seem like yesterday's hero. If 17 years ago he

won. What you can never write off Mark Williams. It has already been

an exciting day. Michael White ensured Welsh interest in round

three. The 24-year-old seemed progress, with a fantastic break up

56. That is only going to give me confidence, for the rest of the

competition. One much at a time. Also hoping to end 17 years of

misery, Matthew Stevens, with a 4-2 victory. It has been frustrating, or

last 15 years, not getting past the quarterfinals. Hopefully this year I

can get to the final. Judd Trump won through 4-1. But the scoreline,

flattering the left hander, closing with a break of 85. And I am pleased

to get through that one. It was scrappy. So many matches, 120

players, you're going to get those. And Ronnie O'Sullivan, sweeping

asside Tian in less than an hour. That came after the controversial

146. It is like the traffic lights, you slow down, then open up, know

when to push on. And do not try to something, that is not there. It was

not a bad afternoon of snooker. We thought the evening, lives up to

what we have seen. Particularly Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan? It was

a good afternoon of entertainment, Judd Trump, I thought he would pot

everything. He was fantastic, last night, but McLeod will be going home

disappointed. Trump lives to fight another day. And then, some blame,

Ronnie O'Sullivan. Starting after that 146. Flawless. Could have had

100, got a 90. Unbelievable standard. And you're going to

remember the furore about the 146. But now saying that any of that got

to him. Ronnie is Ronnie. Love him or hate him. But you cannot take

anything away from them. He seems as though he has been around forever.

Getting better with age. More comfortable in his skin, life,

enjoying snooker. Enjoying himself. But he can be mischievous. He is

through. We will find out if Mark Williams can join them. We will get

a professional opinion on the Welsh number one. I call him my hero. You

could not possibly meet anyone more down to earth. Probably the most

relaxed. He takes the practice game, to the competition. I love him! So

calm. Laidback. Any more, he would fall over! It always looks so easy

to him. Floats about the table. You can be mad, under pressure, he's

having a stroll! Funny oneliners. Always getting involved on social

media. I like that. Takes life not too seriously. Probably one of the

all-time greats. Great player. His clothes aren't as good as his

snooker! The fashionista. Good thing he's a good snooker player! Dress

sense is nonexistent. Always gets stick for that! Rod Lawler in his

way. One of his best achievements, recently, semifinal at the 20 14th

German Masters. -- 2014. We are going to join the MC. Table one.

54th. Playing to the best of those capabilities, please welcome Rod

Lawler. Up against a legend. Two time world

champion. Two time Welsh Open champion.

Put your hands together for the incredible Mark Williams! Two

players out. Thank you. Looking forward to this. The incredible Mark

Williams. I have heard him called a few things! That has never been one

of them. Tough one this evening. Rod Lawler, hard match player. Won PCC

not long ago. Had some good wins. Had some good wins.

Yes. The day strain, but does everything properly. Nothing rash.

That is worrying, for Mark Williams, because when he was practising, his

tip came off. That is not going to bode well. Especially not after

playing at his best year study. That looks like a brand-new one. We will

have a look at that, the next shot. I know that came off, in practice,

but he did not notice for 15 minutes. Not a great game yesterday.

Nobody plays well all the time. It can, -- could be his night tonight.

Slowish. Rhythm is slow. But he still plays aggressively. Good

character. He once said, I don't leave anything

in the dressing room! The tip doing a job. That bodes well. First shot

to nothing in the heart of the pocket. Going back to yesterday... I

am one of his biggest fans. In my top five of all time. Twilight of

his career now. Yesterday was a bad day at the office, but the beauty

is, winning with this B game. You can definitely see from that,

brand new tip. Totally flush. These are the ones, you have to know the

tip. Loads of side. You could underscrew. Especially, going to the

pack. Didn't sound good. But a good kick, for a change. You can see,

that bounced. This is just the start that Mark

Williams would have been looking for. Getting the thoughts of his

previous match out of his mind. Everybody has telling me he has been

doing well in practice. I detected another kick. He stood up

immediately. Absolutely. That bounced. At first glance, not too

much damage. Been lucky where that red has ended up.

There's Mark's lovely wife. Usually two boys are with her too. I can see

them on the side, near the steps. Smile to the camera!

Always reminds me of John Parrott, Rod Lawler. Cues similar. Both from

Liverpool. As yet, not the same results as John. He was one of the

greats. Not the worst kiss. Goodness.

He took that for granted. Wasn't to be. Almost an unmissable.

Very well played. That was nice. Hitting the back of the pocket. In

the centre. This is not straightforward, these four reds,

pink in the middle. Didn't work out. Got a long pot on.

Left of the yellow. Nothing available down here.

If Rod, doesn't put the cue back and forth much when he's down.

Cue, hardly moving at all. Sticks the tip to the white. Stays there.

Draws it back. Hits the ball. Hits the ball.

Just what Williams didn't need. Getting involved, in a tactical

battle. Especially with that new tip. But ahead 29 points. Rod Lawler

likes to concentrate. 44 seconds a shot already.

Up to 44 seconds. Or down to 44? Good point! We'll see how it goes

on. Improves or gets bigger. I played Rod once. Lost 5-0 in

Germany. Missed my flight. He took so long! But a good player!

Rod having a good look. That red was pottable.

Rod was unlucky. Played that shot to nothing quite well. Wry smile. Seem

to be getting kicks with every shot with this cue ball! Not one with

Ronnie O'Sullivan. Having a look at the tip. Expected

more reaction from the cue ball than that. Band not the desired amount of

side. -- and. That turned out all right. From

here, pink on its spot? Unusual to see the pattern of reds

up there. Going to be tough for Mark to make them all. 48 in front. 55

with this black. One more red, he's safe. If he gets on it, super.

Fraction more, and he was. He's looking. Good safety needed here.

You can never tell with Mark. He has wild moments, goes for cuts!

Amazing. I have never seen any other player, in the game, shot like that.

Virtually past the winning line. Just needs another colour. Didn't

risk playing for the red there. Must say, Mark has done well.

Considering he has got a new tip. A lot of players, in that position,

couldn't hit the white, never mind the red. It is difficult to explain,

to people who do not play the game. Some people play the same, Ronnie

O'Sullivan, Steve Davis, but it is difficult, that is why his plea in

some -- he is playing some exhibition shots, to get used to it.

Anyway. Good stuff from Mark. Won the first frame. If you were

watching yesterday... You would have seen a frustrating start for Mark

Williams. But he has got to be happy? Yesterday, it was a struggle,

after the match you could tilt that he was disappointed, glad he was

still in, but devastated with the way he had played. He has changed

the tip today. He plays with the same style tip. He has a box of

them. Take one off, another on. And it is almost identical. I do not

think it bottom, too much. -- will have bothered him. All similar.

Detailed information. And what about his opponent? Mid 40s. Has been

playing some decent slicker. We became professional, at similar

times, very hard player. Methodical, takes his time. Solid player. Never

gives up. Good scorer. No slouch. Mark will have to be on his toes.

He has had a couple of half chances. Good break. Safety here. Won't be

taking this on. It looks like he can get through to

this red in between the yellow and brown and possibly get through to

the potted angle, but it's fraught with danger, so he decided to play

it safely off the edge of the pack, the one remaining loose red that'll

cut in. Well, this is a surprising choice,

rather than risk playing a safety shot off the loose red, he's just

playing the rest on to the pack. Knocked this one on? I think he has.

That's a real bonus look at that. That's a real bonus for Mark.

Anybody that plays the game to any standard whatsoever will realise how

difficult it is to play with a new tip. He plays an awful lot of shots

playing ball and and that certainly helps.

Playing this red, it will open another two reds into the corner

pocket. The 24-point lead, looks to be another 40 points available so

this looks an excellent chance to get a 2-0 lead.

That was an example of not knowing the tip. Just overscrewed that by

four or five inches. He's still OK, though.

Mark Williams, 40. Didn't expect him to miss that one. He's one of the

game's great rollers of a ball as Terry has mentioned a few times in

commentary. I thought that would have been a certainty - that one.

But once again, he has a sizable lead, 40 points. Rod needs to get a

foothold in this match and quickly. It can drift away, especially with

him being in the best of seven. Doesn't take too long before you're

out of the match. You can just - a little run-through

off the cushions, a choice of a black or pink. Looks like he's

cueing another screw inside. He's played that nicely.

Well, I've got to be honest - that's a little bit of tension there. That

was not like Rod. That was commonly known in the trade as "a twitch."

It's just not the chance that Rod missed there. It's the effect of

missing a shot like that, can carry you through for a little while. A

very experienced player, of course, and hoping to get those bad thoughts

out of his mind. Mark's not sure what happened there.

I don't know. Play it off the cushion, and it hit the red. You

mentioned earlier - you're going to have some shots with the new tip on

it that'll be, shall we say, unusual. I think this could be one

of them, Terry. Whether you play with the rest - going to have to

play with the other side here to get on the black. It's the same -

missing that one, and the wry smile tells it all. He can't believe his

luck here after missing that black. Looked as if gone was going to go on

and clinch the frame. Seems to have opened up here a bit now. There's

four or five reds available. Black is wide open.

Let's have a look at this cue action now. He goes down. He stays there,

stays still. One draw back and then hits the ball. Not the orthodox way,

but it suits him, obviously. I don't think there's many players in the

game that gives it 110% on every single shot, whether it's a little

shot like this where it's virtually uns meable. He still gives it that.

Some shots would be down and on the black already, but Rod gives every

shot the same all the time. Not necessarily going to, obviously,

win the frame with this, but can certainly get right back into it.

He's hit that some way. Still 31 points behind, but finish two or

three inches higher on this red it would be straight forward to play

the black or pink. The fact he has to screw off the pink he could be

playing the pink safe. He doesn't want to put the pink safe, which he

could do here. That was a really poor shot on the black.

Has the pink gone safe? Oh, the red's not gone in. He'll be kicking

himself. He's had two glorious chances in this frame and only

scored 17 points. Well, he's lost six or eight matches

he played against Mark Williams. Perhaps he's not feeling that

confident. I'm not sure if he knows that Mark has a bad tip on - sorry,

a new tip on, not a bad one. He was just checking that, Terry,

whether it's come loose or not. He seems to think it's not, though,

otherwise he would have already been asking the referee for the ten

minutes you're allowed to. Will he glue it? What do you mean, what's

come loose, the tip or his head, do you mean? He did play with the tip a

little bit after that previous shot. Good pot from Rod.

He glares at the ball. I think he frightens the ball into the pocket,

very intense! In the shoot-out, what do they call

him? Lightning Lawler. I said to him they call him Lightning law law. He

was playing here in the practise game. He said, "Not for long!" He's

got a lovely sense of humour. Slowly but surely cutting his

deficit here. He's just 22 points behind and two to follow. A lot of

players would have played for the black there but he played that

perfectly. Just drop this blue in now. Wants to kiss the first red. He

He wants to kiss it with the angle he's got. That's pretty good. He'll

be happy with that. Doesn't have to do an awful lot with

the cue ball leer but with the red being perilously close to the top

cushion, would like to be close to it, probably six or nine inches

away, but Rod may just roll it in and be 18 inches away, still should

be OK. I don't know why he's looking at that red at the minute. He's not

going to be playing that red off this black.

I don't know why he walked around the table to look at the red. It's -

has a chance of playing the pink, of course, but most players would have

played the black to play the one on the top cushion. He's going to need

both these reds to get over the line in this frame. A very strange choice

of shot. APPLAUSE

That's left the escape - you would expect Mark Williams to get this. If

he would have played on the green, he couldn't have played this shot.

Only maybe thinking it's rolled on the slate and didn't get it behind

the brown. Cushion first a possibility here.

Far enough away from the cushion. Mark Williams was 46 points in front

at one stage, and Rod has fought his way back, just a point behind.

That's a poor shot. He was trying -- - not trying to catch that yellow at

all. He's left him half a chance. If this red goes in - he'll be

disappointed with that one. And Mark Williams' favourite shots, those.

Usually happens doesn't it, when you're not confident. You look at

Stuart's match last night, those people watching that match - Bingham

was moving a lot of shots. It's just when you've got no confidence, you

get a bit edgy. You try to force them in sometimes.

All the movement in the body movement comes from the grip. We've

seen a few over the year there's jump up and down as well, but in

general terms, it's the grip that causes the tension in the muscles.

Well, that was a test with the tip. And he couldn't have played that a

lot better, on the chip side there. This one is hard to hit. He's going

to have to go two cushions here. If he hits it, he's got to be very

careful he didn't just push it towards the yellow pocket. I can't

see another escape apart from two cushions in between the pink and the

blue and towards the ball cushions in between the pink and the

try to hit the red, but it's a tough one. He could go where he's looking

now - between the brown and yellow, hit the brown off the ball cushion,

or he could come this way. The only problem with playing that is he's

going to have to play it quite hard and he's almost bound to leave a

free ball. He doesn't have to. He can hit it hard enough to... Oh,

yeah, yeah. The pocket. I think he could be. It's not an easy one, far

from it, isn't it? It's - no straight forward shot. You know, it

cost him, this - six and a free ball, perhaps. Perhaps you'll listen

to me next time, Terry, will you not? I have learned from a few,

honestly, such a wonderful partner for me in the box! Oh, well! You're

kidding me. Oh, Rod's looking a little bit

disappointed. He's got did snooker, but goodness me, rather him being in

the snooker than potting the black because it would have meant the end

of the frame. Looked up to the heavens very

quickly there. I don't know whether he felt that ball rolled off or

whether the tip just pushed away. This was the shot he played, and he

jumped up in the air straight the way. Once again, it's one of these

shots where he can easily play safe off the left-hand side of the red

but he's pushing it towards the right-hand corner pocket. He might

just have to play the up and down. That's a bit risky playing it that

way. He's OK, not left anything on. He may have played this shot to the

middle pocket knowing that the black or pink was there, should it go in.

In keeping, getting the red past the middle pocket. We're still no nearer

to knowing who is going do win this frame, been a bit lengthy, this one.

Well, I'm afraid this hour of snooker is up, but you can find out

later if Williams makings it through to round three in our highlights

show when we'll also round up the best of the day's play, so join us

later at 11. 15 on BBC Two Wales, but from all of us, it's goodbye for

now.