:00:31. > :00:37.Hello again. To make it to the semifinal stages of this year's
:00:38. > :00:43.World Championship our four survivors have had had to win 36
:00:44. > :00:47.frames but if they want to land the world title they've got to win 35
:00:48. > :00:50.more. Yes, the workload is piling up. But the excitement and tension
:00:51. > :01:44.levels are rocketing too. What a line-up we have for the
:01:45. > :01:54.semifinals. Let's remind you of it. A fair degree of deja Vu involved. A
:01:55. > :01:57.Neil Robertson against Mark Selby. This is the match we will enjoy
:01:58. > :02:01.first of all. They started this evening. Before we do, let's remind
:02:02. > :02:05.you of the pedigree of this pair. Neil Robertson came here for five
:02:06. > :02:09.years before getting to this stage in the semifinals in 2009. He came
:02:10. > :02:12.back the following year to become champion. The third overseas player
:02:13. > :02:19.ever to lift this title. As for his opponent, Mark Selby, it
:02:20. > :02:23.took him three years to get to the final where he was runner-up to John
:02:24. > :02:27.Higgins. Disappointing follow-up to that the following year but strong
:02:28. > :02:32.performances with quarters, semiand quarter. He has waited four years to
:02:33. > :02:36.get back to this stage. This was a fascinating first opening session.
:02:37. > :02:39.It will be a best of 33 frames-match. Some intriguing
:02:40. > :02:44.snooker going on as they share the first couple of frames. We are going
:02:45. > :02:49.to join them in frame five after the interval. We are in the company of
:02:50. > :03:01.Willie Thorne and Dennis Taylor. He needs the green to the rescue, I
:03:02. > :03:03.don't think it has. Unlucky. He nearly sent that red in off the
:03:04. > :03:26.black there. He was always going to be on a
:03:27. > :03:54.colour as long as he got through that gap. This is not a bad chance
:03:55. > :04:24.now for Mark Selby. He may split the bunch of four into
:04:25. > :04:26.play. He will be unlucky not to be on the one nearest the black. He
:04:27. > :05:05.might play for the loose one. He has played that in a way to bring
:05:06. > :05:07.the other three reds into play now, maybe all the reds. Got to
:05:08. > :05:17.the other three reds into play now, careful with the cue ball here.
:05:18. > :05:52.He made it look so easy. It was far from easy to judge that.
:05:53. > :06:16.Neil hasn't really had a chance like this. His highest break is still 46.
:06:17. > :06:31.Mark Selby had a clearance of 133 in the previous frame.
:06:32. > :06:39.I think Neil was having a glance at the monitor to see how he was on the
:06:40. > :06:42.red here. There is a few monitors around the arena. You can't always
:06:43. > :06:57.see when you are in your seat. You are level with the table.
:06:58. > :07:02.Looks like he is taking the more difficult red, the middle. He has
:07:03. > :07:14.gone back to the original choice. Made a bit of a mess of this. It's a
:07:15. > :07:50.tough little pot. We didn't see that coming. Look
:07:51. > :07:52.where the cue ball was. He hit it all wrong. Never got on the black.
:07:53. > :08:06.He has been fortunate. That red could have landed anywhere
:08:07. > :08:09.once he missed it. It came in the most awkward position. It prevents
:08:10. > :08:30.Neil from attempting any pot. This is going to test Mark Selby
:08:31. > :09:24.here. He has hit it too thick and left the
:09:25. > :09:29.lot on here. That's why I thought he might miss it on the first attempt.
:09:30. > :09:37.Missing it is better than hitting it thick like that.
:09:38. > :09:42.These two reds are available into the same pocket as the black. Or the
:09:43. > :10:21.middle. I am wondering if Neil thought the
:10:22. > :10:28.blue was on-the-spot there because he hasn't got the angle. Look where
:10:29. > :10:46.he is hitting the cue ball. To get that back spin. Beautifully played.
:10:47. > :10:53.Can you believe it? It fooled Mark Selby earlier in this match. Didn't
:10:54. > :11:35.go in. Once again it hasn't gone in. I did think Neil was going to pinch
:11:36. > :11:41.this frame. Just touched that near jaw.
:11:42. > :11:49.It will be a relieved Mark Selby that almost had this frame pinched
:11:50. > :12:50.from him. Well, he will be mighty relieved,
:12:51. > :12:54.Mark Selby. He looked as if he was going to take the frame easily in an
:12:55. > :12:58.earlier break of 48 but Neil Robertson had a chance until he
:12:59. > :13:05.missed that red. Mark won't mind that. He leads 3-2.
:13:06. > :13:08.Already we are seeing the high drama matchplay that's characterised their
:13:09. > :13:15.recent meet initial two finals last year in the UK Championship and the
:13:16. > :13:17.Masters. One win each in those. This time Robertson has work to do in
:13:18. > :13:29.this frame. Fantastic. Look at the angle on the
:13:30. > :13:32.brown. I thought for one minute he could screw into those two reds at
:13:33. > :13:35.the side of the black. He is looking, but he's gone a bit too
:13:36. > :14:00.thin. What a pot this was. With no blue available he is looking
:14:01. > :14:04.at the possibility, believe it or not, of bringing the black into
:14:05. > :14:08.play. If he pots this red in the right corner and gets the correct
:14:09. > :14:15.cannon he can develop the black here.
:14:16. > :14:43.Eight frames to be played in this session.
:14:44. > :14:51.You are always looking to get to four and then you know there's no
:14:52. > :15:12.way you can be behind going into the second session.
:15:13. > :15:19.Well, that is quite amazing. What he has done, we talked about it
:15:20. > :15:23.previously, he missed one to the near jaw and I said you got to play
:15:24. > :15:27.it in off the other jaw, the 11 as we look at it. He is thinking about
:15:28. > :15:35.that and done it and it still hasn't gone in. -- the left as we look at
:15:36. > :15:39.it. It's hard to convince amateur players - they keep saying these
:15:40. > :15:44.tables that the pros play on are easy compared to a club table. A
:15:45. > :15:48.club table the pockets are like buckets compared to these. I can't
:15:49. > :15:53.understand how they can play so different from the two table
:15:54. > :15:58.situation to this. Three reds missed this evening in that pocket would
:15:59. > :16:23.have gone in last week. Or sorry, yesterday.
:16:24. > :16:32.This is a massive frame for Selby. This will be a kick in the teeth for
:16:33. > :16:35.Robertson. He should have got back in this frame f not won it. Now
:16:36. > :16:47.Mark's got a chance. Neil Robertson is going to be two
:16:48. > :17:48.frames behind. The semifinal will be one session of
:17:49. > :17:52.this match tomorrow and then the two remaining sessions on Saturday.
:17:53. > :17:58.Ronnie O'Sullivan and Barry remaining sessions on Saturday.
:17:59. > :18:10.will play at 10.00am and tomorrow evening.
:18:11. > :18:21.He hasn't got the snooker. Mark Selby goes two clear. That was the
:18:22. > :18:26.case. Selby won the next with a break of 72. He is in fluent form.
:18:27. > :18:30.He has already knocked in a break of 133 before the interval. So a
:18:31. > :18:37.three-frame lead going into the last frame of this opening session. The
:18:38. > :18:42.final frame of the session, thank you. Neil Robertson to break. We all
:18:43. > :18:45.say you can't win a match in the first session but you can go a long
:18:46. > :18:48.way to losing it and that's already the case here. It will be tough to
:18:49. > :18:51.get back into a match with someone like Selby if you go four behind
:18:52. > :20:05.early. Makes such a difference getting the
:20:06. > :20:09.correct side of the blue as we show you the right coming back up the
:20:10. > :20:14.table. It needed to stop just about there. It kept on going. We know the
:20:15. > :20:26.cue power that he possesses. Look at that. What a shot. He
:20:27. > :20:32.deserves to be on something here. Brilliant shot!
:20:33. > :21:15.I agree. The pace to get into that pack, that shows you the cue power.
:21:16. > :21:39.If he can split these he has a bit of assurance.
:21:40. > :21:48.There is an old saying, when the going gets tough, the tough get
:21:49. > :21:52.going. That's what Neil - he is marching around the table at the
:21:53. > :21:56.moment. Yes, he knows thinks his best chance since the third frame
:21:57. > :22:51.where he scored a few points to get a frame on the board.
:22:52. > :22:55.Needs an angle on the next black to get nicely on the last remaining red
:22:56. > :23:30.at the back of the pack. He also had a glance at the two reds
:23:31. > :23:32.to make sure that they're not a plant and two reds to the right, he
:23:33. > :23:50.had a look at those. The only thing is if he takes this
:23:51. > :23:54.red and decides to cannon into them he has no red as a bit of insurance.
:23:55. > :24:08.Maybe the plant is on. It looks as if it's going to the
:24:09. > :24:20.left. He has glanced at that on a couple of occasions.
:24:21. > :24:27.If he risks going into the reds he will have to get lots of top spin,
:24:28. > :24:36.arc the white to bring them into play.
:24:37. > :24:43.I think he is just OK. He is on this one for the left corner.
:24:44. > :24:47.You can see the white arc into the reds. Would have been better if he
:24:48. > :24:57.wasn't quite as close as this. Any closer, and he could have pushed
:24:58. > :25:09.that but he played it well. What a time to produce your highest
:25:10. > :25:20.break of the match. He has come up a bit short here,
:25:21. > :25:27.though. He wants to make sure he leaves
:25:28. > :26:17.himself on the pink. The blue will put him 65 in front.
:26:18. > :27:07.Another red and colour. last four frames. His first
:27:08. > :27:09.opportunity he closes the gap to within two. Just one more red
:27:10. > :27:40.needed. How many century breaks has Neil
:27:41. > :27:46.made this season! Could be 101 in a minute.
:27:47. > :27:53.The way he has gone about this he deserves 100. Selby made 133 in
:27:54. > :28:05.frame four. To be fair, we have had everything
:28:06. > :28:09.in this session. Some fabulous tactical play that we have seen in
:28:10. > :28:12.the early part of the match. We have seen that magnificent 133 from Mark
:28:13. > :28:17.Selby and now this. It's still difficult to pick a
:28:18. > :28:33.winner of this one, Willie. Thinks possibly his 8th century of
:28:34. > :28:36.the tournament, should he get it. -- this is possibly.
:28:37. > :28:41.Looks a little less concerned about the century now the pressure is off
:28:42. > :28:46.him. He had three or four great chances before he got the one last
:28:47. > :28:50.night. There is another record he could look at, Stephen Hendry has
:28:51. > :29:00.made the most centuries at the Crucible, he made 15 one year.
:29:01. > :29:07.Very well done Neil Robertson. Determined to make sure the gap was
:29:08. > :29:12.two frames going into the next session. Would you expect one of the
:29:13. > :29:23.players to win 5-3 at least in every session.
:29:24. > :29:29.I think these boys will not have any problems sleeping this evening. A
:29:30. > :29:36.good night's rest and back again tomorrow afternoon.
:29:37. > :29:42.As you say, it has been a first-class session of snooker. To
:29:43. > :30:07.produce this after having lost the previous four frames...
:30:08. > :30:21.Exhibition time. He could not quite reach it. What a fantastic session
:30:22. > :30:25.from these two great players. The number one and the number three in
:30:26. > :30:32.the world. A standing ovation for the first session. Selby takes the
:30:33. > :30:39.lead into the second session. And they will be back at 2:30pm for
:30:40. > :30:44.their second session. Let's catch up in the events from the second
:30:45. > :30:47.semifinal. Ronnie O'Sullivan going against Barry Hawkins, playing a man
:30:48. > :30:52.he knows a lot about. In the last year, Barry Hawkins has shot up to
:30:53. > :30:54.world number four and the 35-year-old is no longer the quiet,
:30:55. > :31:40.underestimated man. Barry's opponent has been odds-on
:31:41. > :31:46.favourites to win this title ever since Ding Junhui way left in the
:31:47. > :31:49.competition in round one. But he has said he has always considered Barry
:31:50. > :31:55.Hawkins the danger man in his part of the draw. As for Ronnie's form,
:31:56. > :31:58.it has been very good this season. In the seven major events he has
:31:59. > :32:02.taken part in, he has won three of them including the champions of
:32:03. > :32:06.champions at Coventry and the Masters. And most impressive, the
:32:07. > :32:12.Welsh open, where he crowned that victory with a 147 in the final
:32:13. > :32:18.frame full stop after this match, it was pretty tight and tense early on.
:32:19. > :32:23.They shared the first four frames. Ronnie took the next. And we will
:32:24. > :32:35.join them in that frame. Ronnie on a break of 31.
:32:36. > :32:41.Just as I was singing his praises... You never expect him to miss shots
:32:42. > :32:57.like that. Unexpected opportunity for his
:32:58. > :32:59.opponent. It really hurts your opponent and Barry can take full
:33:00. > :33:10.advantage of this chance. It looked like a frame winning
:33:11. > :33:33.chance for Ronnie. He will be annoyed. Once the pink
:33:34. > :33:36.was in play, he had the frame at his mercy. A straightforward pink. No
:33:37. > :34:49.excuse for missing that. Not the best of angles on the pink.
:34:50. > :35:06.He wanted to be higher to stand down into the reds. -- stunned.
:35:07. > :35:24.A good positional shot. He has a perfect angle.
:35:25. > :36:00.A nice little short. What sort of an angle has he got on the black?
:36:01. > :36:03.He has overcome that a little. He may use it to his advantage and play
:36:04. > :36:15.a cannon. No other spots available. Three
:36:16. > :36:30.points behind. He could not avoid the kiss. He is
:36:31. > :36:41.going to need these four remaining colours. It is going to be a tough
:36:42. > :36:44.frame winning chance. Not straightforward any more. In all
:36:45. > :37:13.honesty, it never was. That was a good shot. More than
:37:14. > :37:17.likely, he would have blocked the pocket for the red he is going to
:37:18. > :37:27.play now. It can play it with more confidence. The points are all
:37:28. > :37:30.square. Four high-value colours. These four remaining reds would be
:37:31. > :37:52.enough. Plenty of problems facing Barry.
:37:53. > :38:36.He needs a bit of luck here. It could have been better.
:38:37. > :38:42.That was as good as he could have played it. Absolutely. All things
:38:43. > :38:49.considered, he has controlled the cue ball nicely. A nice angle of the
:38:50. > :38:57.blue for the top cushion. And he still has that red on the right-hand
:38:58. > :39:04.side. Being left-handed, you would like to not disturb it. Maybe he
:39:05. > :39:12.could cannon the black off the top cushion?
:39:13. > :39:54.You cannot believe that. That is so unlucky. A terrible kick. That has
:39:55. > :40:02.cost him twice already. Look at that. After doing all the hard work.
:40:03. > :40:08.To get a kick like that, very unfortunate. There was no
:40:09. > :40:18.legislation for that. What can you do?
:40:19. > :40:26.20 people have theories as to why we have these bad contacts but it has
:40:27. > :40:30.stopped Barry in his tracks. And what's worse, it knocked it away
:40:31. > :40:56.from the potting angle. But he has another chance here.
:40:57. > :41:03.He did not put all his eggs in one basket. How does a double kiss
:41:04. > :41:09.affect you, Barry? Not good. A chance for Ronnie. Ronnie comes to
:41:10. > :41:28.the table nine points behind. With a chance.
:41:29. > :41:34.The frame could be all about this short. He has to play the red to the
:41:35. > :41:41.right corner. He held the line short. This red is
:41:42. > :42:03.not a guinea. -- gimme. No problem. Short of good position
:42:04. > :42:10.on the blue, though. Another good shot needed.
:42:11. > :42:34.Good shot. Perfect. An excellent shot. That is as good as he has cued
:42:35. > :42:45.anything so far. A superb shot. Eight points in the
:42:46. > :42:53.lead and just brown and blue required.
:42:54. > :42:59.You would have to say that Barry Hawkins has been very unfortunate.
:43:00. > :43:02.Not only in this frame but in this session so far. Ronnie pots the
:43:03. > :43:24.blue. It was that wonderful yellow, cued
:43:25. > :43:29.in on the side rail, that gave him the frame. Barry Hawkins has two
:43:30. > :43:34.Ponder that kick. Ronnie O'Sullivan now leads four frames to two. And
:43:35. > :43:39.the reigning champion is really into his stride. He took four in a row
:43:40. > :43:48.and here is on his way to an eighth century the Crucible. -- century at
:43:49. > :43:55.the Crucible. He made four against Joe Perry and two against Shaun
:43:56. > :43:58.Perry. 55 ahead and we go into the last of the session. -- five -- two
:43:59. > :44:13.ahead. He was quite a long way away from
:44:14. > :44:34.that one. Surprised that he missed it by so
:44:35. > :44:46.far. There is a chance for Barry. He has to seize these opportunities.
:44:47. > :44:51.Dear me. Would you believe it? So now, we were asking the question,
:44:52. > :44:55.how much did that match with Dominic Dale take out of them. And we said
:44:56. > :45:03.we would not know until the session finished. I think there is now a bit
:45:04. > :45:10.of a hangover. Well, just in the last frame, but I think it is down,
:45:11. > :45:15.not from the Dominic Dale match but I think he has been affected by the
:45:16. > :45:22.kicks. Not only did that kicks, but they have cost him frames. -- the
:45:23. > :45:27.bad kicks. Sometimes you would get a kick but it would not cost to the
:45:28. > :45:39.frame but it certainly did. -- cost you the frame. It has shaken him. He
:45:40. > :45:47.needs to slide past this red and he has done. And that should set up
:45:48. > :45:53.this frame and Barry is in a bad place. He did not want to be four
:45:54. > :45:55.frames behind at the end of the first session and that looks more
:45:56. > :46:21.than likely. Still a lot of snooker left in this
:46:22. > :46:30.match. I would not be panicking just yet. But it is probably better for
:46:31. > :46:34.Barry even if it does finish 6-2, that this is the last frame of the
:46:35. > :46:47.session. They will not be back until tomorrow.
:46:48. > :47:14.Ronnie, 48 points in front. 43 remaining.
:47:15. > :47:26.That is the end of it. He is ready to shake Ronnie's hand. Eight
:47:27. > :47:32.frames. A disappointing start for Barry Hawkins when he needed a good
:47:33. > :47:38.one. Ronnie will not be bothered. He has a four frame advantage after the
:47:39. > :47:39.first eight frames. He leads 6-2. STUDIO: And I'm sure that Barry
:47:40. > :47:41.Hawkins first eight frames. He leads 6-2.
:47:42. > :47:45.STUDIO: And I'm sure will be glad to kick that session into touch. He
:47:46. > :47:52.will come back in the morning. 10am, and we will return with live
:47:53. > :47:54.coverage here on BBC Two. What a long weekend we are all in for. No
:47:55. > :47:57.complaints here. Catch you soon.