Day 7, Part 2 Snooker: World Championship

Good afternoon. Over the last 22 years Stephen Hendry and John

Higgins have been so busy winning world titles it had not occurred to

many people they had done so without ever facing one another

until today. This second round meeting of Scotland's greatest

players has got everyone in the press room and the media room it

really excited. What is to come on day seven of the World

That is a real cruncher, two of the toughest men out on the baize.

takes his 4th world title! He is one of the best players in the

world and whenever he comes to the Crucible he has got to be amongst

one of the favourites. Absolutely fantastic. There is only one

Stephen Hendry. Who said he is not the player he was? Absolutely

fantastic. When Stephen plays like that, he can win very easily. It is

fantastic to make 147 any time, but to do it at the Crucible is extra-

special. I have done that in stops and starts all season, but I have

not done it enough, that is why my ranking is where it is. But I'm

still capable of doing that. And it is there. Look at what it means to

the defending champion. 10-9, it doesn't get any closer to that.

Even when he is not playing well, he still seems to come through

matches. He is a fantastic player and has achieved everything there

is to achieve, it is amazing we have not met at the Crucible.

has beaten Jimmy White 18-12 to become the youngest ever champion.

Stephen has played here a lot longer than I have, but I have

played here about 18 years now and to have never played him,

especially when he is at the top of his game, it is an unbelievable

statistic. It will be great to play him here. He has got himself under

a bit of pressure, the defending champion. He will be favourite

going into that match between the two of us, so I will have to get my

game into shape. I am looking forward to it, it is the chance of

playing the world champion at the Crucible. Yes, I cannot wait.

experts, but beggars and fans think Stephen Hendry will put up a good

performance, but John Higgins will eventually overpower him. I do not

think I would agree. Going on the first round performance of both

players, John Higgins really struggled to get over the line,

whereas Stephen Hendry in his cavalier approach before the match

played his best snooker for a number of years at the Crucible. If

you go on that perspective, you would say Stephen Hendry will

pushchair all the way. This will be a really close match. The stand-out

match of the round, apart from this one, is Ronnie O'Sullivan versus

Mark Williams. Five World Championships between them and they

have had a lot of great matches between them. Both players did not

perform to the best of their abilities in the first round, but

it is the best of 25, lots of time to settle down and I'm really

looking forward to it. We have still got four qualifiers. There

will be some journeys into the unknown. It must be so exciting for

them because we are going to have at least two qualifiers in the

quarter-finals. Andrew Higginson may shade it from experience, but

Jamie Jones played superbly in the first round. You would have to go

for a little bit of experience and I would have to say Ryan Day.

building up into a fascinating tournament.

It is indeed and two of those tyres Petr check men who have

collectively won this title no fewer than 16 times. Ronnie

O'Sullivan against Mark Williams starts tomorrow, but it is the

other blockbuster we are concentrating on this afternoon.

The defending champion was not at his best as he survived a first

round decider and knows he must sharpen things up now against

Stephen Hendry. A fellow snooker legend he had a mild the jet flight

opening performance. Neil Robertson's action turned a deficit

against Dave Gilbert into a 5-3 advantage. Cao Yupeng kicked Mark

Allen out in the opening round, but the magnitude of that when got lost

in controversy. He is in the last 16. He meets Ryan Day will also

enjoyed a famous first round win. He is on the right track again.

Just one point in it as we play the next round of our snooker pub quiz.

Who will pay for the drinks? Tell us what you make of the second line

round-up. Did anyone predict it correctly? Get in touch by e-mail

and on Twitter. Straight on we go into that John Higgins, Stephen

Hendry tight. Stephen Hendry turned up here as a young 17 year-old in

1986, the year that Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson and Alex

Ferguson took over as manager of Manchester United. 27 years on, he

is still here, although he had to qualify again, and what great

memories he must have of this World Championship. My first experience

was Steve Davis's first win when he beat Doug Mountjoy. That is my

first experience of watching things at the Crucible. My first aim it

was not to be embarrassed. I was playing one of the top players at

the time and I did not want to get beaten 10-0. I made a good account

of myself and was disappointed to lose. As soon as you arrive at

Sheffield, because I used to stay at the same hotel every year, you

check into the same room and the same hotel and you go down for

their first practice session and the anticipation and excitement is

there. When you have got confidence, it becomes more a place of work, a

job you are there to do, to win the tournament. But you still get to

enjoy that. If you do not enjoy walking out in the Crucible, there

is something wrong. Everything is like a rabbit warren, the press

room, the press rooms, nothing is ideal for a snooker tournament. But

it is unique, the Crucible, it is a tremendous atmosphere. Sheffield is

definitely like a second home to me. 26, 27 years play at the Crucible.

I have watched the city grow and grow over the years and become what

it is now, a fantastic place. It is hard to pick out one, I have had so

many magic moments. Your first appearance playing somebody like

Ronnie Thorne, the first victory, the one table situation is probably

one of the biggest buzzes you will ever get. It is impossible for me

to pick out one moment because I have had so many. For me John

Higgins is the best match player. The way he plays the game is lovely

to watch. He is a real fighter and he never gives up. He is a hard man

to beat. He has got every attribute of the game. He is a fantastic all-

rounder. A nice guy, and nice family man, good values, a role

model. What you see is what you get. I have known him since we were very

young and we have had some great laughs. Here is one of the best

players ever, Stephen Hendry, but maybe by the time John's career is

finished he will be the best. your breath for this match on table

number one. Please welcome a man who barely needs introduction in

Sheffield, the most decorated player the game has ever seen,

making his 23rd appearance in the second round after a storming win

and a 147 at the weekend, the seven-times winner, the king of the

And his opponent, also one of Scotland's finest exports, winner

of 24 ranking event titles and his mental strength on the table is

second to none. He has won three of the last five titles here, the

defending world champion, the There has been plenty of history

between them, even if it has not been here. It has been four years

since they face of in any ranking events and going back nine years

since Stephen Hendry beat John Higgins in any ranking event. This

is frame four. It is the best of 25 frames. John Parrott and John Virgo

That is an excellent break off shot. He would like to be doing that

every time he broke off. I wonder That has let Stephen a pot on.

REFEREE: Please do not shout out, Stephen his first in and nicely on

the black. This is the type of That is what we say sometimes about

a nice run of the ball. It might Very straight on the black and he

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He is nicely on that red. That will help him get on the black. He did

not pot the red clean. He did not He was looking for the flick to

leave the half ball black. He will be slightly disappointed with that,

but you just have to change your plan. He has got to play for the

Now it is imperative he leaves a good angle. You prefer maybe to go

into these reds off the blue, but he cannot get back into the blue,

so he has to lead a good angle on the black. What I have seen of the

opening four frames, I would say Stephen is hitting the ball better

than John. I know the score line is the other way, but when he is

amongst them, he looks like he is cueing better than John. Fair

comment. It was just those first couple of frames which were a bit

They broke absolutely beautifully. You could see he gave it the old

elbow, getting there! He leaned We have got a match on now, I am

pleased to say. Stephen needed a good start probably more than John.

Stephen has been struggling of late, that is why he had to play a

qualifier. Now it is close and he can really get into it. There is a

major difference in Stephen's improvement. I know it is daft to

say for somebody who has been the world champion seven times, but he

has found the middle of the white That is what happens with snooker

Just looking for one more red. well has he taken these? As you

said earlier, we should not be surprised, but he really is a class

I was going to say this is very close and he had an alternative to

play. This frame is not over just yet. It looked tight and he had an

alternative red to this corner, which would not have given him

position on the black. How costly I cannot believe that, I am so

surprised. He cannot believe it himself. The camera angle makes it

look a little easier than it is. It must have been on. You would not

take a short thinking it was not on, would you, John? No. There are 73

points remaining. He can afford to play one pink and the rest have to

be black. It is a tall order, but The words body blows bring to mind

He cannot get on the black off this red. He can play one more pink, but

the rest have to be black to win it If he pots the blue, he can only

But that is it now. He has got to play black. 42 behind and 43

remaining. Stephen will be kicking It was always going to be difficult

for John to win the frame, particularly with that awkward red

near the pink. It started to throw him out of pinpoint position.

Stephen is looking for one red. He has decided to play the snooker and

he has played that well. Good shot. For all the excellent staff he did

in the earlier break, that is good a shot as any that he has played in

He needs a snooker. A free ball. I am certain Stephen Hendry will

level the match at two apiece. The black counts as a red when it is a

It has not cost him this time Those made range pots are finding

the back of the left there. He is After his first round match, the

question on everybody's lips where can he repeat that? His consistency

has not been one of his strengths over the last few years. He was

struggling in the first two frames, but he has hit the ball nicely in

these last two frames. 69 in this one, but it should have been a

bigger break. It does not matter. Stephen Hendry and John Higgins

will be happy with those first four Before this match there was a fair

bit of banter flying around between them and I heard they were sharing

the same table in the practice room and Stephen Hendry came in after

John Higgins. John started joking that Stephen was turfing him off

and there was lots of fun going on. Clearly a huge amount of respect

between these men. It is building up beautifully for real on the real

There was something he was not quite happy with their. He stood up

John Higgins has been presented with a very good tons. The one

thing you cannot do at this level is miss the black off the spot.

This is an unexpected chance for You usually stand back and walk

into the shot again, but he only John needs to make a decent

contribution. Despite the score line before the interval I thought

Stephen was hitting the ball better than John. End John's own mind he

will need to make a better It is all about taking your chances.

He had a slim chance in the last session, but he was not able to do

Stephen will be disappointed he did not make a century, but it is

frames that matter. You have got to judge the case off the second red,

and he caught it a little bit more He played that nicely and he is on

This magnetised the mistake from He will be seeking missing the

black off the spot when he looked to be in good stroke. He did not

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This will be doing John a lot of Just that red to put him 16 in

front with only 59 remaining. It is noticeable to me in this frame that

he looks a little bit tentative, but there is nothing tentative

about this visit. No, this is more like it. John Higgins always has a

wonderful sense of what the match is doing. When he has needed to get

over the line, he has always played a hard game of snooker. He has got

a wonderful tactical sense. He does not want to see Stephen making

sizeable contributions every frame, he has got to do a little bit of

that himself. We have not seen a If he gets a century here, it will

It was bubbling up nicely before the interview, but this is great

now. Both players are starting to score. It could be the classic

The sponsors are donating �200 for every century to a children's

hospice. That is another �200 in the bank. If there are over 75

extra in the tournament, they are This has been beautifully

constructed and more like the John Higgins that we know. Absolutely

marvellous. Stephen Hendry first in, missed the black off the spot and

sat down for the rest of that frame and John Higgins looked in really

good stroke. That was his second century of the

championship, 500 in total in his career. Into frame six we go and

eight John Higgins is five points JOHN VIRGO: It could be cut into

the right middle here. One thing when you play the shot, concentrate

on the pot. You think you might run into the brown. But do not miss the

I said he may run into the brown, but at least he concentrated on the

pot. You do not have much control So many players think about what

will happen with the cue ball and they take their eye off the pot.

JOHN PARROTT: He hit that so well. And to get the angle out of that to

get where he has finished, he I assume the pink spot is not

available. It will go on the black The reason I say that, otherwise,

why would he not play for the black. He came very straight on the black.

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He would like to get the one next It would be great if they played at

If Stephen Hendry was to produce his best game... He wants to be

He slightly lost the cue ball. You would still fancy him to knock this

I was speaking to his coach just before we came back out for the

second session and I said, well done, you have done a good job with

your man. He has found the middle of the weight, and he went, he

certainly has. He has been working hard. He is cueing as well as I

Stephen was so used to winning and coming out and playing well. Not

getting the results, it is You get the feeling, talking to him,

the joke backstage, that he is more relaxed about it. That will take

the pressure off. He is playing well and he is playing well in a

venue that he really likes and has played well in. When you have been

as successful and Stephen, there is nothing like coming back to the

Crucible. This is where you want to This is a test. In the cubicles,

there are an their people watching... That was a mistake. 60

points in front and 67 remaining. He played for the red below the

But, it is in. And he is on the pink. His heart would have skipped

That puts and 67 points in front This is enjoyable. Frame two, 11

minutes, frame three, 11 minutes, the next 10. This is 11. This is

good. Excellent. What everybody was John Higgins made his 500 career

It would be 775 -- 785. That is for They had new cloths on the tables

yesterday, and that makes a difference. At the moment, they are

You can see how annoyed he is. But he will be pleased to get the frame

on the board. He did not slip away when he lost position. A good

He caught that thick. He may have left an easy starter. He has.

is the second break off he has done like that this morning, catching it

too thick and leaving a shot for He has gone too far for comfort on

the blue. He does not want to be going into the cluster just yet,

This is a similar black to the one It is amazing how many times that

happens, you miss a ball in the frame before and you have exactly

the same shot in the next frame. That is not what he played for, the

But he managed to recover the situation somewhat. Not ideal on

That was a better shot than it looked. If he had played a cannon

on the right, he might not have been on this red now, so that was

I have not seen him hit the ball this well for a long time. He must

Look at that pot success. Just the And this quality of match play

snooker puts enormous pressure on your opponent. If you think every

time you go to the table you will score in one visit, your safety

player and you're pots become more That was a beautifully controlled

John Higgins will be annoyed. It was the break-off shot that gave a

He went into them and he has finished absolutely perfectly on a

red to the right corner. That is all you can hope for when you go

into them. You are just looking for an easy red to continue and he has

He had a funny contact. This is the second time he has done this today,

John. Brought the red up the table and left it after hitting it thick.

And all he has done is sit in his chair and watch since then.

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He played that nicely. He did not Playing for the pink because it is

easier to get onto the next red. Keep it simple when you can. He

just needs a red and a colour. And that will be to take the lead for

He used all of the pocket, it has This is vintage Stephen Hendry at

the minute. Break-building of the highest calibre. Always leaving

himself options and always chipping the ball out to the next position.

Stephen has had three good chances to make a century this morning.

He needed to bring those red into Blue for the hundred. He has made

breaks of 81, 69, 93. And now he has his hundred. 775th. 34th of the

I can give him no bigger compliment than saying this is what he used to

do all of the time. It makes it more exciting now. You take nothing

for granted when he gets in. No, he has had a few years in the world

and us. He has not won A BBC event for over 12 years. That is

remarkable. If he plays like this, You can see the fine lines between

success and failure at this level. John Higgins broke off and left the

red for Stephen Hendry and frame HAZEL IRVINE: An impressive couple

of frames from Stephen Hendry just like the one frame of snooker that

JOHN VIRGO: That was a horrendous kick, but fortunately for John

Higgins, it did not knock the red off line. It has been some time

since he last potted a ball. On a bad day, it would not have gone in,

but it did and he is not too bad on the blue and the reds cannot be

You are thinking, hit the brown anywhere, and you are bound to be

on a red. I think that does go in. Well, on nothing. Of all the places

to finish. He is snookered on all of the colours. Amazing. His is a

game of small margins. When that rolled on to the red, his heart

must have sunk. He had a chance to win the frame and now he is trying

He hit the black, but he has lived a -- run left a red to the centre.

It will need a good pot but he will not have to do much with the cue

It is Stephen's turn to get not the best of kisses. This blue is

As you mentioned earlier, just pot the ball. Guaranteed to be on

something, you would think. It is He is OK, he just ran past the

brown. This is a chance to take a two frame advantage from the

That is the thing at this game, if you have a difficult shot where the

cue ball runs loose, and you trust He could not have envisaged it

Stephen is in control of the situation now. Like you mentioned

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These two champions have served up a treat to the Crucible crowd this

morning. I am sure they were -- think it is worth every penny they

paid to be here. It is snooker of A great amount of tension and a

He came too straight on the black for comfort. He is not as good on

the red as he would like to be. He does not have to do too much with

It almost went wrong, but he is Might him heart of the pocket. Did

not have to do much to get position He is looking for three more reds

with colours. That will put him past the winning line in this

important frame. This is a frame that can give Stephen a two frame

advantage into the second session 100% with the rest. That is eight

He was desperately unlucky, Higgins, with that particular cut, that went

all round the table to finish there. One thing he knows is that Stephen

Hendry is playing well and it will take a big effort from John Higgins,

I feel, to win this match. I have not seen Stephen play as well as

this for a long time. Once again, when he gets near the situation

where he is just a couple of balls away from winning the frame, he has

run out of position. He played for With that much pace and playing

with side, you could not have hit The only downside for Stephen is

that he probably wishes the session was not finishing. When you are

hitting as well as this, you want We are not even at the Two hour

mark. Nowhere near. And eight frames have flown by. The first

frame took almost 26 minutes. It has been quality ever since. He

will be disappointed, but John Higgins, the chances he has had.

What a marvellous opening session. Stephen Hendry last the first two

Stephen Hendry last the first two Stephen Hendry last the first two

frames. He will be pleased with the scoreline.

HAZEL IRVINE: You have been enjoying that. The quality was

extremely high. Two centuries, and Stephen 81 and other high breaks.

Stephen Hendry is playing as a different character. He seems to be

playing without the worries of the world on his back arm. When a

player worries about whether he makes a 100 break, you know he is

in good nick. He is delighted with how he is playing, we know that.

Then is in danger with Blockbuster matches that they do not live up to

expectation. This is a classic. It is like two fighters in a ring. It

has the hallmarks of going to the last session and to the wire. 13-12

looks written all over it. It is great to see Stephen in great form.

He has come in with a cavalier approach. 6 or 7 hour's practice,

the previous years, it did not work. He had a maximum on the first day.

He has a different approach and it is working. He brought his golf

clubs back. I do not know whether that is reverse psychology, but it

shows a different side to him. have to enjoy yourself while you

were here. If you worry about your form, and hide away from everybody,

you can go in your own world. John Higgins will expect Stephen Hendry

to come out like that. He is within touch. This evening, he will give

it everything. But what a start to the match. I know that clearly they

have nothing to prove. They have done it so many times. How much

does this match mean to then? Everything. Two Scotsman. They are

as hungry as ever. -- men. They have a great admiration for each

other. But they want to beat each other badly! It makes it worth

watching. We began the day in the Media Centre in the Crucible. We

can go back there to get reaction. We have been talking about this

match all warding. Philip, Stephen Hendry has been fantastic. A we

have waited for a long time for the showdown. It has been worth it. A

fantastic session. Stephen Hendry has taken opportunities and scored

heavily. It has been vintage Stephen Hendry. That is what he had

to do. John Higgins has not played badly with a 124 break. But in the

last three frames he was a spectator. Where has this come

from? We have heard other players criticising him for flying back

from China a day before his first round match. This time last year,

we were talking about the possibility of Stephen Hendry

having played his last match here. Now look at him. In recent years,

he has struggled to put performances together. It is

sustaining brilliance match after match. He has made a great start

and proved he has the game and scores heavily. John skill back

from the press Association, John's had a squeaky moment against Liang

Wenbo. He is under no illusion that this is a big task. The irony is

that this is the match that John wanted. He told me after the launch

of the tournament. He has everything to do in the second

session. If he gets out at 8-8 -- were 8-8, he will be happy. There

is a long way to go. I fancy Stephen, though. However it goes,

Hazel, we will watch every frame here.

It is fascinating. We are watching every moment here. We also watched

as Neil Robertson stepped out again against Dave Gilbert. Neil

ranking titles and is the reigning Masters champion. He has become the

most successful overseas player in the game. His interviews are also

surprisingly, not surprisingly, world class in terms of his

communication skills and honesty. I think I am a nice person. I am a

good listener. I give people advice. My mother gives me a telephone call

before every match. That is the thing. It does not matter what time

it is, she will always leave a message or gives me a call. Do you

want me to do it? Seriously? OK. My friend and I work out how to do it

at eight years old. I am lazy. I forget to do stuff. I just forget.

I like to play video games. I just laugh a escaping and just, yeah, I

can play for ten hours straight. Before the World Championships the

most nervous. The whole country with a lot of expectation. There

Both Neil and his opponent, Dave Gilbert from Tamworth, are both 30

years of age. The Staffordshire man is only starting to realise his

potential. This is his first round two at the Crucible in his second

appearance own little stop Gilbert played barely -- very solid Lee.

Robinson through in two centuries along the way. This morning they

are shared the first four frames. This is frame 15. Neal Foulds and

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He has got to dig into that to just brush off the pack. He managed to

avoid the pack. He did really well to get into that without flicking

off the pack. He missed that top rate by an absolute fraction. He

would have probably liked to have brought another couple of reds into

I do not know what he played there, but he is still on it. It is

absolutely perfect. It is amazing when you get a bit of fortune at

Well, that nudge on the pink means he cannot do anything with this

except to run through it. He could have played that red the shot

before. There is not anything else he can do and this he can dig out a

plant from somewhere. He is looking at that. I think the plant is on if

he can hit the first red full on, but he cannot, so I do not think

that will go. That will slide off into the direction of the bottom

cushion. He is looking at the baulk colour. He does not fancy running

in the blue and taking in the edge He did not get anywhere near the

pot. I think he had his mind on the cue ball and trying to slide it off

the pack. He could only just get to the potting angle as well. He could

have done better there. I just have seen the colour drained out of him

a little bit at the moment. He is getting a little bit upset with

himself. Neil Robertson is played excellent snooker. It is still only

nine to five. Just stay with it, Dave, you have still got a chance

in this game, but you have to win the last two frames. It is

obviously a massive match for him. It is the first time he has got to

the last 16 stage of the World Championship. The seeded players

have played quite a lot of snooker to get here. David Gilbert had to

win four matches just to qualify. He had a few close ones on the way.

Do not forget the qualifiers are only a week before this tournament.

But this is by far the biggest test he has faced so far. Do you think

that is the reason why some of the top seeds have gone out? We were

making that point the other day. With the qualifiers so close, the

momentum has come. Under the new regime it has to be that way

because the rankings are updated so much. You do not know who I in the

qualifiers. So many players when they are revised, they would be in

the top 16, so you have to have the qualifies as late as possible.

There certainly were a first round It is going to be tough to continue

that run of very high breaks that we have had. And as he wants to

risk playing for the black off this We know they roll towards the left

hand jaw. He will have to play this high. Quite a few shots on this

particular pocket. There we are. Now he can win the frame at this

I would be slightly surprised if he did not win the frame, for me. As

the frames have developed, he has played better and better, he has

got stronger. He finished yesterday with a 131. He gets stronger and

The odds were reduced to 4-1 for this championship. I think he is

playing great. It is possible over 17 days he could burn himself out

because he is playing so well so early, and that is possible.

Players have done that before, they have played so well at the start,

His next match will not be so easy. He has got two great players,

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams. Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan

would be a tremendous match in the quarter-finals. That is maybe why

they have made him such a big prize, the draw is not so kind to him. But

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Frames on the trot where we have had 70 or above. And Dave has

It is amazing to think he led 3-1 and now he is facing a 10-6 deficit.

Sorry, 10-5. There has been a barrage of breaks from Neil

His 131 was a superb break. This could be up there with them, but he

needs pink and black to do that. What a shame. He had two chances in

the last two frames to make centuries. Neil Robertson is

steamrollering him now and he looks very good indeed.

That is four frames in a row from the Australian and like the pattern

of yesterday's opening session, Robertson coming on strong, along

with things go on out there, will Goodness me, another excellent case.

When you pot balls like that, I suppose you deserve a good kiss.

He does not seem to have missed many at long range. 77% is an

exceptionally good rate. Those are good statistics. 50% would be good.

You are playing a lot of them from He felt he got a slight kick.

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He never really looked like missing that, straight into the middle of

the pocket. He has not seen many shots lately as the session has

developed. But an opportunity now to pull a frame back. The green

would be easier in a number of ways. He is right handed. He would love

to get onto the two reds near the pink, but off the green he cannot

do that. Off the yellow he can. green is the easier pot, but the

He played that well. He is on all three, well played. Yes, that was a

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Once again just slightly heavy Things are about to get more

He has to play the red hard on the cushion and he might as well do it

That was never in. Neil might take the opportunity in to kiss the

other red over the middle pocket as well. Neil Robertson will get the

I have seen those missed because it was not hanging over the pocket.

he is on the blue, it is brilliant. If he is not on the blue, it is

If he gets a snooker, it gives him a big advantage still. What a tense

final frame this is going to beat. There is a glimmer of hope for Dave

The one cushion escape is not so difficult, but the safety part of

it is. Sometimes there is side on that shot. I do not know why, it

REFEREE: Foul and a miss. It is decision time. In practise he would

knock this long, straight one on and get on to the blue. But it is

in your mind, I could put him again. If this had been 2-2, he would have

definitely taken this red on. He will be bemoaning his luck if Neil

Robertson hits it and get it safe This is almost the identical red he

refused a minute ago, but he APPLAUSE In hindsight he made the

right decision. The final hurdle would be getting

on to the blue. The pink has been in the way of a few shots in this

It struggled in. But that was a steely clearance from David Gilbert

and an enjoyable session of snooker again. It was played to our high

standard. Neil Robertson will feel he is in the driving seat. He takes

a lead into the final session. HAZEL IRVINE: He needs three more

frames this evening when they come back to complete that match. The

live play this afternoon is coming up shortly with Stephen Maguire

against Joe Perry. We watched in really high quality session last

night from these two. Three centuries, two from Stephen, and

centuries, two from Stephen, and centuries, two from Stephen, and

five other hefty breaks. Re Lee high-quality. Another really good

match. -- really. Stephen Maguire looked more experienced. But Joe

Perry has been to the semi-final and he did beat Stephen Maguire on

the way to that. A lot of good snooker left in that match. Ryan

Day, number 35 in the world, and Cao Yupeng. Only 21 and first

season on the tour. The 81st ranked player in the world. This story

goes on and on. The quality of his match against Mark Allen got lost

in a controversy. Add bit unfairly really. Coming here first time, it

was as good a performance in the first round we have seen. And Jamie

Jones, the other rookie, a great performance. He is up against a

player with a false ranking, he has more experience than his ranking

suggests. I think we are in for a decent match. Both have reasons to

believe they have a chance. You would have to say Ryan Day because

of his experience. But Cao Yupeng is an unknown quantity and you do

not want to play are known quantities. They are both

qualifiers. The players are ready and so too is Rob Walker.

Good afternoon. What a day we have had already at the Betfred.com

World Snooker Championship. We started with 32 last Saturday and

now there are just 16. The drama will continue this afternoon. Let's

get the boy is on the baize. APPLAUSE -- boys.

Please welcome a man who played his part in an absorbing session

yesterday. His sixth appearance in the second round, and after a big

win over Graeme Dott, a quarter- finalist in 2004 and a semi-

finalist in 2008, gentlemen Joe His opponent. A world-class player

hoping to fulfil his Crucible potential. Two centuries yesterday

indicate the great form he brings from the China Open final. The

winner of four ranking events. When he is good, he is on fire, he come

On table two, Amman flying the flag for China in the second round. --

eight man. He produced a 10-6 win against Mark Allen and won four

matches in qualifying. The former Asian Under 21 champion, Cao

Finally, to a player who produced the biggest shock off the first

round coming from 9-6 down to beat Ding Junhui. Tried to recapture the

form that took him to world number six in the past. And Ryan dynamite

day. -- dynamite Ryan Day. HAZEL IRVINE: It is girl power out

there. with two female referees. It will be interesting to see the

opening exchanges in this battle of the qualifiers. We will do so with

Terry Griffiths and Willie Thorne. Terry Griffiths and Willie Thorne.

Good afternoon, Gents. TERRY GRIFFITHS: Ryan Day gets the

second round match under way. After victory of 10-9 in the first round

over Ding Junhui. It looked at one time as if he was going home but he

recovered well. His opponent, Cao Yupeng, had a wonderful match

against Mark Allen. He is the practice partner of Ding Junhui at

the academy in Sheffield. I'm sure he would have given advice for

today, not that he would need many. He played well. This is my first

chance of seeing him and I am looking forward to it. I'm sure he

would prefer to play Ryan Day than Ding Junhui because I imagine Ding

Junhui in practice is absolutely Against Mark Allen there were many

good shots throughout the match. I thought he held up tremendously

well for his first visit to the Crucible. And against a player

feared by many, Mark Allen. He played positively throughout the

They are blessed with wonderful temperaments the Chinese players,

for some reason. And that is the key at the Crucible. If you have

any nerves here, it will find you He was not sure whether that would

go in, he hesitated. He looked round and got up to have a look if

the -- the red went in. He beat Dave Harold. He beat Nigel Bond.

10-7. Tom Ford, 10-9 in the final qualifying match. Tom Ford had a

frame awarded against him for being late after the interval. And he

beat Mark Allen 10-6. He is coming in with some momentum. It is

amazing how they have to play five qualifying games. That is the

strength in qualifying snooker now. There is not a lot of him. He is a

He has a beautiful stance. I am not sure of his cue power because I

have not seen too much of him, but there is nothing wrong with his cue

action. One strength is his long potting. He can do enough. That was

another beautiful shots. He played for two reds and he is on both of

them. He has settled in early on. If Ryan Day was not aware of him

coming into the match, he is now. He went a little bit quick cats

that one. And the cue ball is nowhere near where he wanted to go

How many blacks have you seen missed off the spot like that? They

He has the perfect angle to go into the side of them. Sometimes in the

first frame you hit too hard and do not get the direct line. That was

Ryan Day is not short of power. But unlucky if the -- the red does not

go past the black. The pink is on into the centre pocket. It could

He can screw back for pink in the same corner of to cushions, but the

pot will then become more difficult. -- off two. Having said that,

perfect. Pot the pink, cannon the If I happen to spot a weakness in

Ryan's game in among the balls, there are not many. But he does not

play the gentle shot so well. Which you often find with players who

have a lot of power. Cao Yupeng is back to the table quickly. He has

not had a lot of experience of playing against the big hitters in

That was a lovely shot. He hit that nicely. The cue ball... When they

hit it good and get through the ball well, the cue ball seems to go

on like on a fast green in golf. In Willie Thorne's case, 20 ft pass

He played it kiss and he has been fortunate. -- the kiss. He played

for the first two reds for alarm and skimmed off on the red and

brought the black into a possible He played that badly. There was so

much room for error. He could have played for the blue or baulk

colours and now he is on nothing. He has to consider putting

something say. That last shot, with the pink where it was, he could

have overhit it. He should put a baulk colour say. -- safe. If you

are going to play safe, it should be more safe than that. There were

two reds available of the distance. Perhaps he felt he had to get a

good white ball. Perhaps he lost concentration on where the blue

He could plant this. That came off the cushion very quickly. He needed

Is there any ball that did not move then? He missed the red by so far

and he has kissed to other reds. -- two. None of them are in a safe

You can see how important it was to This would be a major pinch of the

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He did not appear to make up his mind which red to play for. The one

in the middle is easy. He does not That is OK. Even better now. What a

chance this is to pinch the frame. Cao Yupeng would be very

He may be a good break-builder, but you have to get the colour safe. He

did not get the blue safe when he If this is straight it is a tough

positional shot. He could do with an angle. I cannot tell from the

That was a great positional shot. Now he has gone favourite to win

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

the frame. Cao Yupeng was a He kept good control of the cue

ball, especially towards the end of this break. It helps when you are

And in goes the black. An excellent clearance of 53. He takes the first

HAZEL IRVINE: That was a good start for Ryan Day. In terms of his

performances here, he has been a quarter finalist twice. But what

has happened for him at the end of an average season? It is hard to

know. The old line about form being temporary and class permanent, he

is a class cueist. That is a brilliant clearance. We get

desensitised by the fantastic snooker we see, but that was the

perfect way to start a match. He stamped his authority on it.

Winning a frame like that is better than getting a century in the first,

because your opponent has had a couple of bites of the cherry and

did not take the most of his chances. When you counter with a

50-odd break, that is the sucker punch. Cao Yupeng, this is the

first time in his last 16 of any event. This is a big news. There

will be nerves, particularly in the first session. It is important for

him to get his first frame on the board quickly.

WILLIE THORNE: That could be hard to get out of your mind because it

was a frame he controlled. An TERRY GRIFFITHS: Cao Yupeng missed

the black off the spot early in the frame. That can have an effect. And

he missed the long red later on. These are the shots that unsettle

He was trying to pot the red and also to screw the cue ball back to

beyond the black and leave nothing on. The problem is, you can take

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

focus away from the pot and that is A tremendous pot this time. He

could not get a lot closer to the black, I'm afraid. He should make

He hit that perfect. It is tricky when you are under pressure. In his

previous round I noted he had a Again, a very gentle push into the

reds and that was another thing I noticed in his last game. He is

good at doing that. He is not one that smashes into them. He

dislodged quite a few there. He may go into them again, it depends on

how he feels. He has to be careful not to cover the red that is just

above the cue ball if he goes into Oh, dear. It is hard to see someone

play a shot like that. That pack was perfect. I am surprised he

played it like that. He did not deserve to have a better positional

shot than this at the pace he played it. He hit that quick. But

he has just got through the corner. He has a number of choices to get

I don't know what he did then. He is on nothing. He is asking

Michaela Tabb to clean the cue ball. You can see the delay before the

backspin. It means there was a He is looking at what he could

leave if he plays the double. He can play to the right centre and

hold for the black, but only if you Just a little bit short with his

And that is an excellent shot. 100% committed to what he wanted to do.

He did a 41 in the first frame and broke down and lost the frame. He

does not want to do that again. And He glanced at the pink but that is

The bridging made that shot missable. And that is what he did.

That is a shame. He played a few good shots. I have seen a lot of

blacks missed in that pocket. In the first frame, he had it within

there. He overhit that by seven inches. I do not think he is on

He wanted to stop about that and it That is one of the advantages of

having so much power if you cueing action. He delivered the cue very

easily. He still retained the spin, until he reached the red, tight on

We can see what he has got left on He needed to play that safe, and he

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

has played a poor one, from the top 4 points a way, but he is better of

doing that and wobbling in the Two blacks that young man has

missed, one in the first frame, one in the second, both into the same

That was a long way out. He has left something in the middle, that

is for sure. One of them will go. He cut it much too thin. Had the

cue ball been further up the table, this red would not have been

He has missed a few, but he seems to recover quickly. Crucible nous.

The first session of the biggest match of his life. He's just not

going through the cue ball well at the minute. A little bit of nous.

Good recovery, though. -- bit of He is in a good position again. The

black he missed early in this frame, a lost position trying to bridge

over it red, and missed the black because of it. He is OK. A little

too far, but it is better there, than being behind the pink, and

having to use the spider for the red. One of the reds is on the left

of the pot he is taking on. He has That was always going into the

That would in, it went into the pocket and hot up onto the well,

and onto the floor. -- that was in. That went in. That certainly

bounced as it was going in. It is hard to see what actually happened

to it, in slow motion. Let's have a It just caught the near jaw, Sir in

fairness, he was probably missing it anyway. He is certainly missing

Nicely played, but once again, went through the corner, on the thin

side. Not perfect position, but he is on the red. That is the problem

with those been cuts. Duly need a fraction of a bad contact and it

A few mistakes gripping in early on in this match. I suppose that you

can have expected. When you see these players on the practice table,

you wonder how they missed anything. They are all brilliant on the

I don't know how many chances you need to win the frame. He has just

That is very well played. Trying to find a reason why he missed that

pink, that was an unmissable shot, bought a professional player, even

under pressure. -- for a professional player. Just about

made the black, but did not quite I can't tell from your weather the

yellow passes the red into the ball. -- from here, whether. He will do

well not to leave a pot on, if he misses this. Well, and a miss. --

I'm not sure if that yellow is covering the red into the corner

pocket. It is not going to be easy for either player. Ryan Day might

have taken this on, if the pink was in the way. But he is giving him

Eight points conceded. He is still 17 in front. A slight adjustment

needed. And he made it. Could have been worse. The red is available.

It is a very thin cut, into the left corner. It is certainly

missable. He is entitled to take this on, with the pink and black

bean where it is. -- being where. This is back into the frame.

never see these cut been. That is because he's playing that a bit of

bottom and right hand side, that rouse the cue ball into the red. --

throws the cue ball. The red goes past the green, so, over the

He has covered the red. And, as it turned out, he brought the other

red into play as well, so he could have left this on for Ryan Day, and

it might well have been 2-0. I feel that when you are struggling up

there, you need a bit of luck. Yupeng should have won the first

time and he should have won this one. He is struggling at the moment.

He can certainly see the back cushion to come off the cushion for

the red nearest the black. You can see the referee Michaela Tabb

looking at exactly where the cue That is pretty good. Because that

red is going to goes safe. Ryan Day might be tempted. He has turned one

or two down in this match. Perhaps he feels he knows his young

opponent is under pressure and he does not want to given an easy

start. -- to give him. Great pot. That can keep him closer to that

final red. He has hit that perfectly. I'm not sure that he can

play it without the rest. Yes, he's OK. One good pot here, and he

becomes favourite to take the If ever a match should have started

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

2-0 to the Chinese player, this Cao Yupeng missed the pink early on

in this frame when it was exactly where it is now. And now his

opponent can take the frame with the pink. Both players have had

good chances to take both frames and Cao Yupeng knows that he should

be a leading 2-0, but he is an, Ryan Day to both frames, and now

leads 2-0. It has been an interesting pattern in this match.

Cao Yupeng made the initial breakthrough, but Ryan the has come

back and punish them. Yes, that miss with the pink, it was, you're

trying to do a little bit with the white ball. You assume that it is

guaranteed that the pink is going to go in. But, at this level,

experience would show that you are capable of missing anything. We

have almost those. But it is awful, when it happens. -- we have all

missed those. You can miss anything out there, particularly in the

first session, because he has not got much experience at this stage

of the tournament. There was a lot of pressure in the World

Championship. But you cannot afford to miss easy pots. He has had two a

three chances in each time, and you just cannot do that at this level.

If you do, you're going to get punished. He will be wondering why

he is 2-0 down instead of 2-0 up. Whilst he is out of the arena,

let's reflect on what has been in the mind of Ryan Day of late. It's

I like genuine be able who can sit down and talk to anyone, and a lot

of my friends are like that. I don't like it when people are rude

to people they don't know. I have recently my palms -- move house and

there seems to be a collection of the biggest spiders I have ever

seen. I would like to go back to the mid- 80s when the yuppies were

about. I like playing golf. I like playing football, as well postop

gambling, on football, I never seemed to pick the right team. The

way that I take my cue out of its case and carry it. That has gone

That gives us a bit of an insight into the players. He has caught the

red there, he missed it the first time. He must get behind the green,

surely? No, not quite. He played that with a lot of side, not to

leave the red on. He knows that Ryan Day is very strong in the long

Those are the type of shot he was knocking in and a regular basis

against Mark Allen in the first round and they were giving him good

openings. Now, he has not got such a good success rate, so far in this

match. He hasn't got the experience of being to the Crucible enough

times. To understand these long matches - everybody misses balls

out there. It is how you recover He could leave the cue ball were

the red is, and that would lead an easy safety shot, but there was no

real advantage of playing safe, He tried to kiss that red to the

green and expected the red to stay where the green is and the green to

come back towards its own spot, but it did not happen like that. This

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

pock looks straight forward. -- He felt he was entitled to taken

that shot to nothing. -- take on. It looks like he is taking the cup

on - or, is he taking the long one on? -- the cut. The cut looks the

easiest shot. In his previous match against Mark Allen, Cao barely ever

The difference between that red and the ones he has been missing was

that his cueing was much smoother. When you are playing those shots

with a lot of side and stun, if you deliver the cue too fast, you will

This has been a strong mind has got to come into play. He has had a few

chances, he has had a break of 41, and 33, lost both frames to missing

easy balls and a good position. He has got to put that out of his mind

and just play what is in front of him. He didn't quite get the spin

on the cue ball that he intended. Unexpected miss. I would love to

have o'clock on these players. He seemed to take a little bit longer

on it, when he was Dan in the shot. Not recommended, that. -- down in

the shot. It is not recommended to take too long. You have got to

clear your mind before you go down for the shot. Good advice from one

of the game's leading coaches. I should have said, the game's

leading coach! He has had first chance in both of the first frames

and he has had the first chance in Slightly thinner on the blue than

he would like. It is that beautiful cue action of his, with power, he

played this done so well. -- played the stun. The only poor thing was

that the white went near the cushion. But if he gets this red,

he is on the blue. He's going to have to work to get the pink back

This is not exactly where he wanted it. He has to be careful he does

not kiss the red directly above it, and the West the blue. He has to

play it with a little bit of side. He needs to take that positional

shot out of the equation. He is still on the blue nicely. Just one

good positional shot from making What kind of angle does he have won

this red? He is just off straight. -- on this red. He cannot get

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

perfect, can he? Everything is a That was well played. He made sure

he was on a good angle. As Willie mentioned, it is not easy to win

without the pink and black on. He has retained his position for the

blue, so far. There is more chance of things going wrong with the cue

He keeps playing that little bit He is 41 in front, so this is the

killer red, to make the frame safe. The first time he has been

fractionally out of position, and again, his power will come into

play. It is a big hit to get from there to the blue. Lovely shot. And

it could be the clincher. You have to time does so well, and really

get into the cue ball to get that amount of side on. And to have won

this frame, without potting a pink or black, it is one of the best

He missed the cannon. He still has He might play the cannon onto the

black to hold for the red. He will have to play something like that.

Very well played. If he clears from here with a century, it will be one

of the best centuries I have ever seen. He will need the black off

the last red to make that a possibility. And you have seen a

few centuries! Yes. What a shot! pressure, but it is still great.

The crowd love it. They are hoping for a century break. And the beauty

of this year is that our sponsors Betfred.com are giving to under

pounds to Haven House Children's Hospice for every century made. --

�200 this would be worth 2000! A it should get a bonus. It was

impossible to make a century. This will be the 35th competitive

century at the Crucible. I'm sure That was not bad. He would have

What a shame. After those good shot. But Ryan Day, 87 in the third frame,

it is all happening for him. So disappointed for this Chinese

sensation. He has come through five qualifying matches. He had a great

win over Tom Ford, where Tom Ford gave a frame away for being late to

the table and eventually lost 10-9. To come to the Crucible and beat a

player such as Mark Allen, he was a favourite to win the tournament,

that is a feather in his cap. did it in style. Mark Allen did not

play so badly. He did not play at his best, but this young man put

him under pressure. I am disappointed to see him play like

this so far. Hopefully, he can recover. He looks memorable at the

moment. -- vulnerable. If he had not played as he had in the first

match, I would be saying he has to improve and his safety is not good

and he shot selection is not so good. But thankfully we saw him

playing well against Mark Allen. He has to get a frame on board. You

cannot win a match in any session, but you can put yourself in a

position where you are struggling. Even though it is the best-of- 25,

He was a long way out with that. After that break he had earlier,

you would expect him to knock that in. When he gets in front of you,

Ryan Day it is a tough player. -- man Ryan Day it is. He thrives on

making long pots to start his breaks. He is very difficult to

A much easier cue delivery once again. It is so difficult to keep

calm when you are missing balls and disappointment grows shot by shot,

frame by frame. This is a big test That was another good chance missed.

I'm wondering if it rolled up the table a little bit. It appeared to

Another chance for Ryan Day to get some points on the board. The black

They are always missable, those. There is a different type of

pressure on Ryan Day. At the moment, he knows his opponent is struggling.

You feel as if you do not have to do that much to push on and get a

good lead in the first session. Everybody does it. Even that shot,

you have to be aggressive. Look at The red can't be missed, give it

something. He has brought one out. He is a clipper. He does well when

everything is going good. At the moment, you feel he needs

inspiration out there. He certainly has the skill. At the moment, he is

finding the task in front of him a Those are the shots that can

inspire you if they go in. It is They say if you relax your but out

there too often, somebody will come a long and cricket. Ryan Day --

kick it. Ryan Day has not had to do I love watching Ryan Day play. It

is disappointing he went backwards over the past couple of years. He

has tremendous cue power. He gets a little bit uptight and starts to

grip the cue when the pressure comes on. And sometimes when the

pressure is on he suddenly dives at the balls. And he is a really nice

I still think he has good performances in him. He works very

hard at his game. He can be devastating on his day. Some of his

friends say bared he is trying too hard all of the time to be perfect.

Some people say you should strive for four excellent -- excellence,

not perfection. But others say if you aim for perfection and miss,

you are still pretty good. If you aim for mediocrity and you miss,

Ryan Day has a mental battle to go on and win a major tournament. This

could be his time, but not good shots like that. And he has left

Even though he is leading 3-0, nobody is getting hold of the match

Ryan Day has broken down at 30 odd. Cam Cao Yupeng make Ryan Day pay

this time? -- can. Every frame that passes and goes on, it makes things

harder to get rid of the nerves. He desperately needs to win a frame

before the interval. He has a A fraction too low with the cue

ball, but not bad. You mentioned His break-building at the moment is

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Ryan Day is looking where he can It looks as if he went too hard.

He needs a good safety shot now. He can see the red. It needs to be

tight to try to cover the right- hand side of the table. The pink is

covered on the left-hand side and And there is a gap to play a shot

You can see the advantage of The noise when it went into the

He is playing the blue with check side, which is slightly more

difficult. But he played it nicely. REFEREE: foul. You could see Ryan

Day, he was turning around to say he had committed a foul. That is

very good. You see a lot of that in the game. It was definitely pink

Another chance for Cao Yupeng. Unexpected. You think he will start

making something after the chances. Otherwise, it will be tough for him,

That was not easy. Very well played. Because the pot was more difficult,

it takes your concentration away He let the cue ball travel. He is

not high, which means he will have If he gets straight on the pink, it

is tough. A lot of players would If he gets straight on the red, it

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is a problem. He's making hard work He has played a few good pots in

this effort of 26. A few good He will be relieved. When you are

4-0 behind, you cannot explain what it is like. You feel empty,

worthless, and you blame yourself for everything you missed. You come

out with a headache. And that is He wants to be careful with the cue

ball. I thought for a second he had That looks like to be the first of

I think he needs three. He can swerve around the pink. He almost

It is well worth Ryan Day trying to The chances are against, but you

If he wins this frame, he will be delighted going into the dressing

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He did not hit that too well. The I thought Ryan Day would go in

Luckily, the green has travels to The balls are not in a good

position for Ryan Day to get the He almost knocked the pink in. That

This is normally one of his favourites. You would expect him to

I do not know why he played it so hard. It certainly added to the

That was not a great attempt. A chance there to get behind the

black. Even then, off what macro cushion, it should be easy enough.

Ryan Day could do with others -- off one cushion. He needs two

snookers and he needs his opponent A much more difficult pot than the

At one time it looked as if he would not get a frame on the board.

They play ate frames today. 8 in the next session and nine in the

final session, if needed. He has not had a lot of table time. He

will be pleased he has won a frame and Ryan Day will be a little bit

and Ryan Day will be a little bit disappointed. But he goes into the

disappointed. But he goes into the interval 3-1 in front.

HAZEL IRVINE: That will be a big sigh of relief getting across the

line. When you look at his strategic play, there were

questions about one or two choices in the break-building department.

We were watching him making a break. Positional play is being analysed a

Positional play is being analysed a lot and rightly so. Take this

situation. We decided that perhaps the best way here, even though

there was a loose red, the best way would be to screw back into the

We expected him to smash the balls up. He played a soft stun for

position on the black. He rolled through the red to leave himself

What would we do? There is an acute angle on the black. Instead of

screwing into the pack, he should have aged the extreme left of the

Because he did not seize the initiative on the previous black,

we can run it and see what happens. He runs out of position. That could

have cost him the frame. It shows up his tactical awareness and

strategic play. The art of break- building, and some players might

say you get bad luck, but it is not bad luck because you should have

won the frame from that position initially. As we have seen, the

balls never forgive you. Is this instinct? He is in his first season.

Will it come with more experience? Yes, but it does not have to

because we analyse it. Willie Thorne has pushed the Para when it

comes to talking from the commentary box about the correct

shot -- part up. Players should be practising and discussing among

themselves and trying to improve their positional play. I would have

loved so much analysis when I was younger. We were talking about what

we would concentrate on if we had our time again. It would be

positional play. We did not watch as much snooker when we played at

the top level. But it is amazing how much you can learn and

experience from watching other players and working in commentary.

I wish I had watched more snooker over the years because I have

learned so much more watching and commentating. But in the 1980s, you

would have made the same mistakes. We have got closer to what is the

correct positional shot under all circumstances. For the young

players, my advice to them would be to watch a lot of snooker. Watch

how the guys break build, Ronnie O'Sullivans, Stephen Hendry, watch

them. And there is no excuse. We are on day and night. It is time to

take a break and have some pub quiz in just again. Yesterday, they were

one point ahead. And matches one point ahead. And matches

one point ahead. And matches The next round is a quick-fire

round. And rather than sitting around, we will have you jumping

out of your seats. Two later! his mind as a point. I will give

you a clue and if you jump out of your seat, you will say yes! And

then you give the answer. Number- one. Hammer horror actor. Yes. Ray

Reardon. That is wrong. His name is something to do with snooker.

Christopher Lee? No. It could be. Hold on. Peter. Peter cushion. --

Cushing. Number two. Left-back Wayne. Bridge. Correct. Grouse,

pheasant, chicken. Foul. Correct. Seventies police show. Cannons. --

You do nothing but complain. Next... Anticipation. And eight legged

creature. Spider. He did not say yes. It comes before driver and

ball. Q. It's my hand it over here. Screw. No. 8. A lightning flash.

did not say yes. Come on. Potter. Yes. Down with kids. Number nine.

US rock band. Oh, yes. Case. the final one. This is what we are

about. Led Zeppelin front man. Plant. There you go. At the end of

the first week where we have strangely been wearing the same

clothes all the time, what we have in the shouting round, scoring five

the Good the Bad And the ugly. The DJs have 43 it. The Good the Bad

And the ugly have 44. As anyone who was in Istanbul knows, you win

nothing at half-time. If you do not know the answer, just says Steve

Davis. Mr Parrott did not look pleased at the end, did he?

hates losing quizzes. I am glad you have changed. Shall we move on?

Stephen Maguire is very well fancied by many people to go a long

way in this championship, especially after a very good second

half of the season in which he has won a minor title and been runner

up in a couple of others. Over the years at the Crucible he has had

some moments to forget, but others where he has had things that will

stick in his memory. Let's get his best memories of the Crucible. The

first memory is when we joined the young players of distinction. You

could fill the atmosphere. It was a lot smaller than I was expecting

and the atmosphere, even watching it then, was pretty electric. The

first time I qualified I had to play Ronnie O'Sullivan, which was a

bit of a dampener. You can never prepare for the feeling when you go

out and play, pure adrenalin and butterflies. I still get that today

at the Crucible. Maybe it is because it is the World

Championship and you are trying your hardest at the tournament, but

it is just so closed and so warm and the crowd can touch you if you

sit in your seat. That is hard to get used to. A lot of players just

fold. On the other hand, if you are playing well, it can be the best

players in the world. The weather is pretty good as well and the

whole city is buzzing around the Crucible. It is good when you go

outside into the square and everybody is sitting with their

autograph books. It is a good time to be there. The semi-finals of the

world, the first to 17 was quite exciting and I had a good lead to

go in. That was quite painful. But our thing because it was John

Higgins who beat me it was better that way. If anyone is going to

beat me, I wanted it to be him. The World Championship for me is the

biggest thing. It is the one I play for. Starting off I wanted to win

it before 30, but it has gone now and I am 31 and it is not going to

get any easier. I will have to get it in the next couple of years, or

else. His Cambridgeshire opponent, Joe Perry, has been a very likeable

fixture on the scene for a few years and he is now 57 years old.

He made the highest break of the 2004 championships, 145. His best

progress was in 2008 with a run to the semi-finals where he lost to

Ali Carter a. There were excellence sessions from both men. John

Parrott and Dennis Taylor are REFEREE: Keep quiet, please.

Phantom chocolate eater is back It did not put Stephen Maguire off.

To roll the brown in from that position is tough enough. The two

at the back look like they are available into both corners, so no

If he wins this frame and opens up a four frame advantage, he is the

sort of player who believes and will not let go. It is what you

have got to do at this game. Steve Davis bogeyed everyone in the 80s.

If you have got your opponent where you want them, you just carry on.

If Stephen Maguire wins this frame, He should finish on pink or blue.

He has got an unwanted kiss on the blue. But it is not bad. I would

say that was a wonderful kiss. He has left an angle. He could not

go for the blue this time simply because the pink is away from the

reds. That is why he decided on the black rather than the blue. He has

They have opened up beautifully, but he did open them up himself, so

Well, well, well, Stephen Maguire. That will annoy him. He has kicked

the cue. That was a lapse in concentration. That is what he was

doing in his first round match. He played some great stuff, but then

Joe has really got to go to work here. His opponent has let him off

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 47 seconds

the cook with that mistake and he He decided not to risk the cannon

on this occasion. I do not blame As he gets on one of those four

reds, it clears the path for another couple. This will do his

confidence the world of good if he The reds will start to clear

themselves wants this one has gone below the pink. No excuse for not

getting the next three or four reds. The one on the cushion is going to

It will be interesting to see when he tries to get the angle to bring

the difficult red out. Not a bad idea to get that one on the left-

The pink is the best ball to try and move that difficult red, but

now he is going to have to do it He overdid that. That is careless

from Joe. That was a good chance, but he cannot move the red now.

am a little bit surprised he screwed that. He could have played

a soft stun and bounced it off the cushion and back, but he let it go.

That chance of removing the red has Knocking that brown relatively safe

is not a bad thing from Joe's point of view. If he does slip up, it

would be a tough clearance. It is pretty tough to get this safe as

well. It is not one you can knock around the angles. He could hit it

on the left hand side and send the red across the table and the white

back up to the baulk area. That He hit it much too thin, didn't he?