Day 1 Snooker: World Championship Highlights

(APPLAUSE) This is absolutely perfect. Can't

fail to be on the yellow. Can you believe this? Similar to the shot

that Cliffe had on this very table. Little run through onto the green.

It's almost the same shot. Unfortunately Stephen is stretching

slightly. Cliffe wasn't. He was a little further away from the yellow.

There has not been a rollover. So it's 40,000 pound. This is the key

shot. In it goes. Perfect.- up the green. 40,000 pounds for the

maximum. 10,000 pounds for the highest break of the tournament. So

these five remaining colours for a bonus of 50,000 pound. And another

magical moment created by the king of the Crucible, Stephen Hendry.

One more shot getting on to that blue perfectly would surely seal it.

What a chance this is. Decided to play for the pink into the middle

rather than hold it. His temperament has always been his

main strength. Can he just hold it main strength. Can he just hold it

together for two shots? (APPLAUSE)

There is only one Stephen Hendry. Big congratulations to for Stuart

Bingham and our referee. Well done, Stephen, you've done the game proud

once again. He is congratulated by both player from the other side.

Stephen Hendry, who said he is not the player he was. Absolutely

fantastic. Form is temporary, skhras permanent. That was the 88

maximum in pro competition, the 45th on TV, the 12th of the world

championship. Hendry's third at the Crucible. It was also Hendry's 11th

147 which equals the total set Byrony O'Sullivan. A wonderful

Byrony O'Sullivan. A wonderful performance by Stephen Hendry. He

joked before the match that he would probably play better with

jetlag after what has been so far a disappointing season by his very

high standards. He also produced another century and five half

centuries as he opened up an 8-1 lead over Stuart Bingham making him

strong favourite to progress to the second round of the tournament for

the 23rd time in his Crucible career. To this afternoon's other

match, a clash between two former champions, the 2010 winner Neil

Robinson against the man who won in 2007, Ken Dohorty. The Australian

takes it. This is a chance of a possible 147. He knows the frame is

possible 147. He knows the frame is safe now. Great effort from Ken

Doherty. Though the frame wasn't to be. He leads Ken Doherty by two

frames to one. He really needs to make this chance count. So a good

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 168 seconds

He was feeling fairly confident specially after the previous round

when he cleared the table. If it was a heavy contact it has come at

a bad time. But this isn't a gimme across the cushion. You can see him

lining up the shot there, getting the shot ready. You can see the

the shot ready. You can see the look of determination on his face.

Well, he has done the hard part. Now the colours are there for the

taking. The yellow will come back up again. Has he gone a bit too

far? He is quite a tall lad, so he can reach over. Just not settled.

Always best to get away from the shot and back down again. Would you

believe it? He is shaking his head. He had so many choices to get on

the green. Why hit it that hard? He can pot this. The angle is there to

drop on the green, two cushions. And it's there. That in the context

of this match could be a huge mistake, Steve. Monstrous yellow.

But what great control John Higgins showed on that yellow. Very

missable that way. What a great shot. 14 ahead. Just needs the blue

it make absolutely sure and draw level. I just wonder how much that

missed yellow will take out of Leang. For all the world it looked

as if Leang was going to lead 9-7 but he doesn't. It's 8 frames each.

What a match. Having levelled the match Higgins took the next frame

with a break of 58 and is just one praik away from 15. We join it

That's the first ball, believe it or not, that Leang has potted for

24 minutes. But what a good one. One of his rare long pots coming

just at the right time so it makes that careless blue that John missed

even more important. Ooh! That wasn't in the heart of the pocket.

A bit of a twitch there in the cue action. We have seen plenty of

twitching here at the Crucible. Since 1977 people have been

twitching here. Nicely played, the correct angle. Gives himself

options. There is one thought in his mind, get that red away from

the black spot as quick as possible. That's a rotten shot really. I

thought he could have screwed down the same side of the table. Perhaps

it was a bit wide. Caused himself all sorts of problems now if he

can't get back up to the black. Don't think the blue goes, does it?

Perhaps it does. If the blue goes, that helps. It would be a big bonus

for him. The blue goes but as you This shot is now missable. I think

he will get it, though. Too well played. I don't think he could have

expected the cue ball to go through that far. Now what? Red into the

middle. Coming round to see whether he can line himself up for black or

blue. The blue has to go as close as possible to the black without

touching the black and then it will usually pot into the middle pockets.

So both of those balls are That really was a superb pot under

pressure. Clear the blue away from the black spot or the blue spot.

Where the black is about to be spotted again. And still he is yet

to move that red from the black spot but he has kept the break

going. Can he hold himself together and take us into a deciding frame

in this fascinating first round tussle here against John Higgins,

He has already had another great Scott, the king of the Crucible,

Stephen Hendry, making a magnificent maximum break, his 11th,

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 168 seconds

to equal Ronnie O'Sullivan's record, It's great to see this from this

young Chinese player, under extreme pressure. He is holding himself

together very nicely. Interestingly, should Liang Wenbo win this frame

and force a decider the match on the other table is coming to a

finish and the barrier will be raised in the middle. The last

frame will be played in front of the whole Crucible. Just that last

frame, with a slightly different arrangement in your eye sight.

can just see the other table from the commentary box. The session is

close to finishing. It's gone a little bit too far. I think a

fraction too far. It's a very thin cut. He played one earlier in the

match like this and went off into the green pocket, I think, was it

him? Yes, he had a 54 break and John Higgins had a 70.

Beautifully played. It just shows you how focused he is. Loads of

noise coming from the other side of the arena as the session finished.

He never batted an eye lid. He knocked that cracking red in. He

needed that red to give himself the frame. This is it. It's worth look

at one more time. What a great shot. Most players would have played to

pot the red and trust to luck where the cue ball went. What a

performance and what a match this has turned out to be. Both players

giving it everything, as you would Doesn't really matter about that

pink. The frame was in the balance. John Higgins has it all to do again.

Liang Wenbo keeps himself in this first round match and levels the

score at 9-9, just one more to play. Will John Higgins go the same way

as Neil Robert son did last year when he returneded as champion but

lost in the first round. Here is the final first frame decider in

the 2012 tournament. Not that hard, though. Just the positional part.

Can you believe it. I think the referee spotted it straightaway.

Liang just pointed to the table. You could tell the way the white

followed the red. What a time to play a foul. Oh, dear. I hope that

doesn't put him out of this year's world championship, to go out with

a shot like this. He just followed on with the cue. Played a poor shot.

Just show you that a little bit slower here. Just watch as he

follows that through, yes, just He can't do anything now. A little

shake of the head. He has to sit there and just see what the

defending champion can do. Looking at the way the balls are situated,

even though he missed that long red, Liang knows only too well that John

Higgins could close out the match here. He got a kick on that red. He

now has more of an angle on the black, so he can play off the top

cushion. How many times have we seen John Higgins mop these up?

It's been a fascinating battle, this, it really has. Toed and froed.

Look at the total points. 999, he might have to call that number.

Total silence now in the Crucible theatre. You see the other table

empty. So far hasn't put a foot wrong in this break. The longer

this goes on the more confidence he will get. The second red looks like

it goes into the mird Dell, even if Well, can you get your breath? 44

points in front. The red was a little bit of a distraction there.

He hasn't left anything easy for Liang to go at. Is there a possible

plant into the middle pocket? That would be risky. He has looked at

those four reds that are around the pink spot. Even if they were in

line it would be rather difficult. What is he looking at? He is

looking at the possibility of making this. This is a bit risky.

There is an element of safety in the shot. Only an element, though.

Just how much you fancy it. He it going to pot this and screw back.

He can play it dead straight. Still a big shot, though. Three inches

between the two reds. He is picking the spot where he would have to

knock that first red on. Here we go, then. John looks up. I think John

can see a monitor in the arena. And it's in. It's in. Well, -

(APPLAUSE) A very brave plant from Liang there.

Only one difficult red. The red that John Higgins is very much

hoping that Liang Wenbo messes up on should he get to it. You

certainly feel that Wenbo will get Can this young Chinese player hold

himself together here? It's hard to describe how he is feeling inside.

There is no margin for error with this game. You have to control the

cue ball and the object ball and Not the greatest shot for a left

hander to play. He would have liked to have been a bit further down the

table but he would have risked snookering himself with the red. So

he would have had to have played it short. It was all over the place. I

think he has messed up the position. Not too sure. Yes, he has. Does

that red cut past the middle in the middle? If not it's the long red

into the green pocket screwed back somehow. What a shot this is. John

Higgins knows there is an awful lot of pressure on this young man. He

is looking at the cut into the middle but it's the one up into the

corner he is faced with. That little cannon on the red he would

have been perfectly placed. Whoa, Well played.

(APPLAUSE) The only slight problem there is he

knocked the other red safe, but he won't be too concerned about that.

He potted a very good pressure ball John Higgins will have been

delighted to see that red go to the side cushion, absolutely delighted.

So that gives him some Real Insurance in this frame. A great

A possible chance to pot the red, screw back and shift the red off

the side cushion, should he so wish, and leave himself on the red in the

middle. He had the perfect angle to do that, Steve. I knowment He had

the red over the middle pocket now. A lot of players would have played

that. He is obviously feeling a lot of tension out there. Exactly

thought, "I don't really want to risk that." But your shot is the

one that could have freed that difficult red. I wonder if he was

sitting in the commentary box whether he would have seen it a

different way. But you've got to be out there playing to know. Oh, that

was a little bit hesitant. It went in. He is certainly back into this

match. That's guaranteed now. He can get a bit of a lead at the very

least? John Higgins was not that many pots away from securing this

final frame and he missed this one - this one in the middle pocket

that just went on the near jaw. (APPLAUSE)

Not idealaly placed. He has to get close to either of those reds. He

is a left hander, so the one near the cushion, even though he is left

handed is going to be more difficult than the one on the right

side of the table. He needs to get a bit closer to the red on the

right side of the pink. He has an angle on the blue to force it up

He has hit it too hard. He has hit it much too hard. Now, does he take

this red up into the corner and does he try and get himself onto

the black in such a way that he can move the difficult red? Well - I

mean it is a possibility because the only red he could leave would

be the one he would be attempting. He has already stood at the bottom

of the table with his cue lining up where he wants the white ball. I

don't know why he was standing there unless he can - unless he is

going to play the safety shot. is playing the little sin safety -

thin safety shot. I don't think he can get behind the green. He can

get to the middle of the cushion effectively. That's exactly where

he was standing. He has got the advantage but it's a slim one.

(APPLAUSE) Here is the safety shot, though,

What a tense opening match for the defending champion, John Higgins.

Can he keep himself in this year's world championship or will the

young Chinese player cause a big Look at the cue ball. Where is this

red going to finish? He is going to get away with it, is he? He is. On

left there is a possible double here. John has got away with that.

He has let the cue ball run wild there because he missed the pot by

so far. I think he is looking at the double, the possibility of a

double here, because he would Can he make the angle to take that

Where is the red going? AUDIENCE: Come on, John. Didn't

think it was on. I didn't think it was on. Only Liang Wenbo would have

known exactly. So first chance for John Higgins to get this red out or

get behind it. (APPLAUSE)

Assuming of course he pots that ball. What angle has he got on the

blue? That may be absolutely perfect to knock it out. Wouldn't

that be a bonus. If he doesn't like it he can roll behind it. His

choice. He can go for the knockout. It's perfect.

(APPLAUSE) Committee call on all his vast

experience now? And pull this match out of the fire. Because he has

been put under extreme pressure by Well, I don't think - he finished

perfectly on the pink. That wasn't the way he intended it to work out.

They are sitting like soldiers. There is going to have to be some

sort of collapse here not to scramble up to the blue at the very

least. Liang Wenbo had his chances in this match. It looked like he

was going to cause an upset but it's slipping away shot by shot

here. Just the brown and blue needed. And it will be a very

relieved John Higgins that keeps We said he looked a little bit

tired early on in this evening's session but I will tell you what,

he will be coming back Friday morning. If this blue goes in. And

it's there. He has put up a brilliant display

here. Jews has been a fascinating opening match. We see the smile on

John Higgins's face. He gets himself into the second round. He

does not get closer than that. was totally outplaying me. I was

really struggling. I don't know how I won that game. In the last frame,

Akua few, I don't know how. -- I cued a few. It is always a real

struggle in the final matches. I could have easily been six behind.

I felt good when I was in front. I dunno how were won the game.

defending champion is true, I only just. One more match to bring you