Day 4 Snooker: World Championship Highlights

Hello and good evening. Welcome back to The Crucible Theatre in

Sheffield. They number four of the better Fred World Snooker

Championship. Our first glimpse of Judd Trump, he is taking on Rory

McLeod. Before we show you that match, let's bring you up today with

the early finishes. John Higgins saw of the challenge of

Martin Gould. Higgins resumed overnight 7-2 in front and made the

last 16 by beating Martin Gould ten frames to six. Delighted to beat

Martin. Everyone comes in the and sits and says, you beat the hires

qualify you could have got. For the last few years, Martin has been

bouncing around the 16. One year he is in, one year he is out. I knew I

would enjoy it because Martin likes to go for his shots and can be

pretty quick. So it was enjoyable beating the player. And Ding Junhui

also led 7-2 overnight against 19-year-old Zhou Yuelong. But he was

pegged back 7-4 but eventually won it -- five. I am happy with my form.

Happy to play, everything is good. It is hard to play somebody from the

same country, China. And Rory McLeod has had an incredible day at the

Crucible against Judd Trump. MacLeod was 4-0 down but grew in confidence

winning four frames in a row to draw level. We join the action with Judd

Trump to play. COMMENTATOR: He has just lost a

little bit of discipline. He scattered them all over the table.

Bit of concentration and a bit of discipline, but goodness me, they

have gone everywhere. Have a look at this. Never seen

balls fly around the table quite like that.

He has got to keep his concentration. He has his man on the

rack at the moment. He could have hit that one bit better. Just had to

make sure he was the other side of the blue coming down towards The

reds. Poor shots, really. Wow! What a beauty. Looked like he

could have lost position completely, but to finish there.

And now, he should be back in position. I am saying that, he could

have done with a little bit extra to get on the blue. It is hard work,

this break at the minute. He cannot get the cue ball where he wants it.

That jumped a little bit, but he is OK. It definitely took the pace out

of the cue ball. Have a look at this. This time, it was the green

that leapt off the bed of the table. Will

it wasn't the worst kick, if you can say such a thing, because it left

him on that angle for the red. John, when he gets the pink back on its

spot, he doesn't have to worry about the black. The way the reds are

situated, he can score on the pink and the blue if needed.

I haven't seen Rory play for quite some time, but he certainly seems to

have picked the pace up with his game. He is a much better player for

it. He has done so well here, this afternoon.

I was about to say, he will be, his heart will be pumping because he

knows this is a brilliant chance to take the lead in this much. It is

difficult to just control your emotions sometimes. As for his

opponents, Judd, he cannot believe the scoreline. 3-0 and comfortable,

then looks like going behind. The tournament favourites.

Not that many pots away from securing this frame in this session.

Getting more difficult now. He could just drop this in and play

for the red on the question. That is the best shot to go for. Once again,

this needs a little bit of respect. If he knocks this red in and a high

value colour... He will have enough points to take the frame. You can

see him swinging his backhand. Little bit of tension creeping in.

He knows the importance of this pink. This will leave Judd needing a

snooker. What a performance from Rory McLeod. 4-0 down against one of

the favourites, John and he has won five frames in a row, almost.

Outstanding performance, Dennis. I don't think anyone in the Crucible

Theatre or anyone watching at home was expecting this from Rory McLeod.

He was, he knew he was capable of doing this. And when you cannot

balls like that in... That is the reason why Judd Trump, highest break

55. But he was knocking some unbelievable pots in. But the

mid-session interval has turned this match on its head. Wow! Good shot.

Just reiterating, so pleased for him, he has been a good player for a

long time. Now everybody can see how good he is. His results in the

qualifiers, things were good, scores. Now you can see for yourself

here at The Crucible, where it matters, how good a player he really

is. Been very good today. Can he somehow missed the brown and bring

that yellow into play when he pots the blue? He has got too much action

onto it. That is just adrenaline pumping through his body at the

moment. Will have to double the yellow to get a possible century,

but has pulled off a few cracking doubles. He has played it down the

question. It doesn't matter. Judd Trump will come forward to shake the

hand of Rory McLeod. He will be totally shocked because he was 4-0

up, come out after the interval and it was all Rory McLeod and he takes

an overnight lead, 5-4. That finishes at 10am tomorrow and

Rory has been in practising and is looking good. Judd Trump has a

mighty match on his hands tomorrow. This next match sees Liang Wenbo

taking on Stuart Carrington. The man from Grimsby making only his second

appearance here at The Crucible, looking to get into the second round

for the very first time. Stuart Carrington led 5-4. But Liang won

the next two. Liang Wenbo getting a little bit frustrated. Take a look

at this. Banging his head on the snooker table, leaving a red mark on

his forehead. Here it comes again. Very strange. You can see the red

mark. Carrington was looking to stamp his authority on the match. At

7-7, no splitting them. In the frame 15, Liang to play. Commentary from

Willie Thorne and Ken Doherty. COMMENTATOR: Chance for Stuart

Carrington. Get a few points on the board, get his arm going again. Even

say it is a chance to win the frame from here because he is 26 points

behind. Those three reds on the left-hand side of the table, a bit

awkward for him. He has choices now. Can play the

stun into the two reds and bring them into play or go round the back

and bring the three reds into play. Looks like he will play the still

into the two reds. Pretty good, well done.

It straight on the pink. Looking to see if he runs through with the cue

ball. What angle he needs for those reds on the left-hand side of the

table. He must be pretty confident with the

rest. Could have left an angle on this red. Decided to leave it

straight with the rest and screw it back up for blue or pink again.

You play that in practice 20 times, you will pot it 19. Just shows what

happens when you are under pressure. Good pot. The pink is still

possible, but he has to be very careful doesn't play a push shot.

22 points ahead. Two reds and pinks will put in 36 ahead with 25 on the

table. He can pot this pink and screw onto

the side cushion. Getting the cue ball cleaned. Been a

few kicks tonight. Just making sure he doesn't get another one here.

That is better, that is butter. He will be very relieved. -- better.

Didn't use too much pace. Stuart Carrington stays in his

chair. He goes into the lead once more. He needs two more frames for a

place in the last 16. STUDIO: Liang Wenbo getting closer

to the line. He won the next and is looking to win it in the next frame.

He is at the table leading by 46 points.

COMMENTATOR: Liang Wenbo saw the winning post.

Might as well clear up and keep this much going. What he wouldn't give

for a 50 odd break now. He has got to pour all his

concentration and all the hours of practice he has done, the three

qualifiers he came through, the last one against Mark Williams, will

stand him in good stead. Needs to hold it together and get back into

this frame. If it was the early part of the match, you could say he could

win the frame from here. But this is not the early part of the match,

this is all the pressure in the world.

He has gone too far. Gone too far for the lower red. The one in the

middle of the bunch and not far enough for the loose red. He can

still pot this, but a lot more difficult than it should have been.

Better. That was a brave shots, playing with that pays. Knowing if

he missed it it would have been over the pocket. He knows this is a great

chance to pinch this frame and get to within one.

This would be an incredible clearance, should he go on and win

the frame from this position. Wanted to be a little bit straighter

on this red so he can run it through without having to play any cannons.

Still should be OK. Just brush off the red, just below it. Well... Try

to stun it, went beyond the pink, but it has gone wrong. It is amazing

what pressure does. It was the correct shot, because it couldn't go

wrong. Playing it the way he did, it could go wrong.

The reds will be flying around all over the place if he takes this pink

on. Has got to try and concentrate on the pot, not to worry about the

reds. This is a tough pot. Well played. Well played. He judged it

very well. Went all out for it. Played a couple of lovely recovery

shots. If he holds himself together now, it is definitely going to be

9-8. That's not where he needed the cue

ball. He needs a good positional shot here. Normally these blues are

a certainty, but this is not normal. This is not normal, you could see

that happening. Purely pressure. Purely pressure.

Will that be his last shot in this year's World Championship? At the

moment, he believes so. Judge that cannon nicely. Can just

drop the pink into the left centre. Nicely on the yellow.

Now, 24 points ahead, just the yellow required. You may see a bit

of reaction from Liang Wenbo. We saw when he won the English open. You

have got to feel sorry for Stuart Carrington. Will he get a little bit

animated? It remains to be seen. Stuart Carrington, created history.

Three centuries in a row. He shakes his hand and says well played the

Liang Wenbo. Liang Wenbo goes through into the last 16. Well

played Stuart Carrington. Liang Wenbo into the last 16 to play his

fellow countrymen, Ding Junhui. What a match that will be. He beat Stuart

Carrington by ten frames to seven. I had played horrible.

I just played hard. I came from China here for about ten days. This

feeling, not well, no power. I get some medicine, drink a lot of water.

Very hot. I try to concentrate on every shot. Congratulations to Liang

Wenbo. Not a The Crucible classic, but he will not care, he is through

to the next round where he will play Ding Junhui. Let's hope Ali Carter

versus Graeme Dott is a better prospect. The Scot took the first

frame. We will join the action in frame two. Dott is leading by 12

points. Commentary from John Virgo and Terry Griffiths.

COMMENTATOR: He has missed it completely. Decision time. Do you

have it put back or do you make your opponent play from where it lies

now, or do you play it yourself? I wouldn't play it myself. Do you have

it put back or ask him to play from there? That is the decision. He is

saying, play it from there. Yellow going towards the corner. He

has not got the cue ball behind the pink. I think Ali can get to the

angle, but it is not easy. Six points behind. It is one of these,

if you get close and you miss it, you almost certain leave it.

He is not knocking in the long one. Where is the yellow ball going?

Would you believe it! If it doesn't drop, it is over the

pocket for Graeme Dott. What a result.

Well, decided to go for the double. And he's been fortunate, he's missed

the double and got the snooker! Graeme wanted to get right in behind

that. Now, is he going to be helped by the blue? He certainly is.

Anything you can do, I can do better!

Well, I can sing better than that... CHUCKLES

Where's the cue ball going? He doesn't want it in. Oh! He's gone

in. And that will probably cost him the frame.

Well, he wasn't going to miss that chance.

20 points in front now, so even if he misses the pink, he's still a

fair heavy favourite. And he hasn't missed the pink! Both players played

quite well out there but a fewer errors creeping in on both sides.

White STUDIO

Ali Carter visibly angry with his performance, and so he should be as

well. 4-0 down at the mid-session interval and he did manage to get on

the board, winning two frames. Graeme Dott winning by 5-2, when we

join it in the eighth. COMMENTATOR: At all pockets! He's on

the black! Perfect. -- attention all pockets!

That will be maddening for Graeme Dott. He thought he was OK there,

and next thing, the plant. I thought that was slightly risky, I did,

because the White was going straight into the pack of reds, you could be

on... Or miss the plant. So despite losing the last frame, he's still

got his positive hat on, good to see that.

He knew no matter what angle he had on the blue, there are the two reds.

Not a great chance yet, but there's a few easy reds on. As usual,

there's always a time when you've got to go into a pack of reds. In

one frame, you're guaranteed to go into them once. He'll be

disappointed with that positional shot. It was just a case of rolling

the red in, he should have been perfect on this blue. He's not now.

A bit of work to do with the cue ball.

He's played that well, you know. When you look at it, the yellow was

straightforward for him. If you remember, in the previous frame,

he's taken on a long yellow instead of the pink. Now he had an easier

yellow with guaranteed position and he went for the blue! Never try to

get inside a snooker player's mind! Not the type of cannon he was

expecting, but there must be something on here. The one I can see

is the one below the black, that one, but you've got to be very

accurate, the first few days the pockets were accepting these even if

they were just a little bit wide of the mark. He's going to play it with

pace, by the look of it. Very nice. You can see why he did that, because

he was not leaving any reds on, as long as that red wobbled and went

away from the pocket he would have been OK. To be fair, that would have

gone in on any pocket, he hit it so well. He took that opportunity just

to cannon into that little cluster of three, always knew he would be on

this red into the same pocket as the black. Chance now, he has already

got a 41 point lead. Of course, he had a plan to start

this break -- plant to start this break. A bit dangerous, but he got

it. Now he's in a good position now. Where the balls are set, really he

should be winning the frame from here. Here is the plant. It looks

straight enough to the pocket, there but there was a bit of space between

the two balls. He had to get on a colour and he is still on the table

now and looking good. The thing that impressed me about when he played

the plant, he played it with back spin so that when it hit the second

red, it would hold the cue ball in the middle of the table. That's why

he finished up on the black. Normally you would just play that

claim ball. Every credit for the way he played it. -- normally you would

play if claim ball. -- you would play it plain ball. 64

ahead. Read and a colour needed. Once he puts this red, there will

only be 67 available. So a red and a colour. And then we will prepare for

a big last frame of the evening. 6-3 or 5-4. A big difference.

The frame is well and truly in the bank now and he can just make

certain of this red, no way that Graeme will come back to the table.

He is concentrating on the high value colours. That is five blues,

two pinks, four blacks. Well, pity. But as I say, I don't think Graeme

will be coming back. No, he's conceded. So, Ali Carter has won

three frames now since the mid-session interval. From 4-0 down,

he is now 5-3 down. One more to play.

STUDIO Let's show you what happened in the

final frame of the session, Carter to play but trailing by 12. Well,

hitting it that hard, you don't give time for the side to take effect.

He's hit it with plenty of right-hand side but hit it too firm

and pushed into the red, that is why he caught it too thick. He didn't

hit that well at all. As you say, it's getting a bit tense out there.

A big frame, this, in the context of the match. In this first session.

Clever one. How did that go in off the blue at that pace? Amazing. I do

not know. That's unbelievable. But at this! The pace of that, it's just

gone in off the blue. Amazing. Ali Carter will be devastated if he

loses the frame from here. Yes, he's had chances, OK, but I don't think

it is straightforward, this one. A few reds available. When you're

tense, everything is missable. Absolutely. And it's only the

Crucible that creates that type of atmosphere. There we see, playing it

with right-hand side, you can't hit it that hard. You've got to give

time for the side to take effect. He'll settle for that. He'll settle

for that. Well, this is an excellent chance,

it really is, to take a three frame advantage overnight. The red

immediately above the black is available. That will put him nicely

on the black and also released the red just above it. There you see it.

Pot this and bring the other one into play.

Well, once again, a little bit further away from the black than he

would have liked. Now then, there's one in the middle,

but the one at the bottom of the pack, he would be running into the

pack. You don't want to do that, because those reds are pretty well

set. I'm just looking at the situation.

Maybe the pink doesn't spot and would go up on the brown spot. Maybe

the red near the red spot is available -- the pink spot is

available to the opposite corner. He hasn't made it any easier, with

the pink going back up the table. He's not happy with that one. He

didn't have to get that close to the red. He could have hit it a little

higher up on the white and the White would have gone further down he

would have had an easy shot to the middle. Where he went wrong first of

all there, when he stand up for the blue, why didn't he just rolled back

down for the black? He's only looking for one more red and a

colour. But it's getting... It is short and sometimes quick, Graeme's

cue action, and under pressure, that will be accentuated, won't it? Yes,

the old grip comes on a bit too soon and too tight and gets pace on the

cue ball. He still potted it! And that think we'll put him 63 points

in front with just 59 remaining. At the moment, he is 57 points in

front with 59 remaining. But the pink, if it goes in, it winds in the

frame. -- it winds him the frame. He didn't

play for the red, he just concentrated all-out to pot the

pink, and having done that, I'm surprised he missed it. Really it

was a against the grain, you see. So used to playing that sort of shot

and rolling down for the red, but he looked at the scoreboard and because

of that I think you missed the pink. Needs to miss the middle pocket!

Just about. If he had caught the bump, that would definitely have

been frame over. Left to chance -- he has left a chance here, for

Graeme, this fourth 6-3 overnight, and there it goes! That never

touched the sides. And Ali Carter is going to be three frames behind

coming into the second session, tomorrow afternoon. There was a

chance of getting out with something, having lost the first

four frames, but it doesn't look likely now and definitely not now

that that red has dropped. So Ali will be getting his gear together

and hoping that tomorrow, come the second session, he gets a better

start than he did tonight. No problem with the red. There will

be a handshake as both players go off and try and get a good night's

sleep. They will be back tomorrow afternoon, at 2:30pm. But it's

Graeme Dott who has an advantage, and it's quite a big one, really.

Three frames. He leads Ali Carter by six frames to three.

STUDIO Yes, a lot of work for Ali Carter to

do. Graeme Dott, the 2006 Crucible champion, looking very good. That's

it for now but Snooker Extra is up next with extended highlights of

John Higgins against Martin Gould. Hazel is back tomorrow from 10am,

can Rory McLeod cause a massive upset and knock out Judd Trump?

Thank you very much for watching. Goodbye for now.