Day 14, Part 1 Snooker: World Championship

Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. It is the 2013 Betfair World Snooker

Championship and the semifinals. In the next few minutes the defending

champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will resume his mat should against Judd

Trump. And they treated us to an enthralling first session.

It is very, very special today. There is the magnificent arena with

We have a re-spotted black in the second frame. In it goes! It is

1-1. What a great shot from Ronnie O'Sullivan. Ronnie O'Sullivan will

be delighted with the opening He closes the gap. It is 4-3 to

each. First session yesterday at the

Crucible had everything. Stephen Hendry will be commenting and joins

me now. Good morning to you. It is set up beautifully, isn't it?

Absolutely. The session this morning will be fantastic. Ronnie O'Sullivan

raced to a 4-1 lead virtually unopposed. I was so impressed the

way Judd Trump came back to 4-4. It is probably the best three frames I

have seen him play live. His safety play was good and his long shot was

immense. How important is it that Judd gets off to a good start this

morning Mr Mark Rowley has not been behind in this championship. Yes and

Ronnie has been out for 12 months. He has not been out of his comfort

zone in that respect. As in every session, the first couple of frames

is so important. We know that Judd Trump has a terrific long pot. But

also his strategic game yesterday, you was happy to engage in the

tactical battle against Ronnie. He is mature in which you would

expect. As you play more seasons, get more experience, play more big

matches, you learn the right shots to play. Some of the long pot, I had

never seen anything like it yesterday. Thank you. Enjoy this

match. It is set up Mike evidently with two of the world's best snooker

players about to walk into the wonderful arena.

MC: Good morning ladies and gentlemen. They could not be any

more talented and they could not be closer. The match could not be any

more important. Welcome to the second instalment of this epic

Betfair World Championship semi-final. A packed house at the

Crucible once again. It is going to be absolutely electric. Please

welcome a player that stormed onto the big stage two years ago with a

bold attacking run to the final. He has matured as a player since then,

producing a great comeback against Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals

and drawing level yesterday from 4-1 down. Here the years, with his own

brand of naughty snooker, the pride of Bristol, the Ace In The Pack,

Judd Trump! MC: And his opponent, an absolute

genius with a cue in his hand. Some of his snooker at this

tournament has been sublime. You would never know he had been away

for 11 months. Win of 24 ranking event titles. If this is to be his

last one, he wants to bow out in style. Welcome the defending world

champion, the Rocket, Ronnie O'Sullivan.

MUSIC: "Let Me Entertain You" by Robbie Williams.

Here we go. Remember it is Judd Trump who leads in the head-to-head

and Ronnie won their last meeting back in 2012. It is the best of the

-- three frames. This is the first session this morning. Good morning

to Stephen Hendry and John Virgo. Good morning everybody. What an

atmosphere we have here at 10am in Sheffield. There is excitement in

yesterday. It looked like Ronnie was running away with it but his

character, focus and determination to not let Ronnie getaway was

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You cannot win just by putting a long ball. That was a mistake there

from Ronnie. He could take them red on for the pink into the right

confidence when you miss your first long ball by that distance. No. He

wasn't trying to do much with the cue ball but hold it there for the

practice table at the top of the show. It is very different out here.

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mistake. A simple snooker behind the well now to get this safe and try

is all because he did not get the snooker behind the yellow. You have

to keep your errors to an absolute pink in the middle of the table must

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have looked like footballs to him the match, I think he has to be so

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to stand in for the black of the cannon and was hampered. To me that

is the difference between the two players. In amongst the pink and

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black Ronnie is more pinpoint with right angle on the colour to then

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he is in full flow, anyone can say, I could have potted that. He makes

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it look that easy. It is all about would expect him to do. You give him

an easy chance, he will clear up. That is why it is so important for

Judd to try and take the first visit he gets and win frames early. It

would have been nice for Judd to win the first frame to see Ronnie's

reaction as he has not been behind let off the hook a lot a tractor a

little bit. He missed a snooker but Judd Trump missed a great chance and

that was all it took for Ronnie to finish off the frame. He is back in

front again at 5-4. It is a funny thing about snooker, when you get in

amongst the balls, they were nicely spread and he did well to get a good

position on the black, and then all of a sudden, he is and it

snowballed. Yes. Viewers watching may think he is on the red to the

left corner but it was important to get the cue ball high on that red.

Hawkeye is showing you where it should have been. Ronnie is almost

perfect every single time on the balls. He does not leave position to

chance. You could say Judd was slightly unfortunate there that he

left and sent -- that he left himself hampered by the balls.

anything, it just drifted to the positively for the black to the left

corner. If he plays that shot, he has to get it. He would have to play

that with a lot of pace. I am wondering about the potting angle

that type of shot and he is not getting away with it. He has left a

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black. He would love to get on the going into the cluster. He is very

get a better opportunity to open the reds. Perhaps he thought he did not

his nemesis. That was the pocket he missed the pink in. It looked like

it just squared up in fairness to that kicks were brought on by not

keeping the cue parallel to the table. I believe a lot of kicks are

caused by not having a pure strike on the cue ball. And not following

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through. That was a nice shot. And that was so impressive is that he

did not miss a long shot. He is not to believe he can beat Ronnie

It is so disappointing he did not capitalise on that first chance in

the first frame. The secret is to put that disappointment behind you

Ronnie will be disappointed to have missed that. He may be saved by the

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He judged that well. At a good shot. And now we a frame-winning

He played that nicely, finished a bit low on the black and had to

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Just a colour to leave Ronnie 64 ahead, 59 remaining. Two

snookers needed. I think he Ronnie would play on that if an Judd did

It is a good lead, but Ronnie was coming back to the table. If he

does not get two snookers, he will He has just got to keep his

The balls are quite well placed. He does not want to let Ronnie have

the chance to pot three or four of Well, it was a shot he thought

would give him a chance in the frames. He was not far away, in all

I thought he would have dropped it into the middle pocket. Played it

as a shot for nothing. Judd knows, one more red and that is the frame

Not bad at all. If he pots the pink, he will still only need the two

snookers. Where is the yellow ball He cannot afford the pink. He tried

to pinch something there in potting the black. I am sure he would like

to concede, but the etiquette of the game says do not concede when

it is your opponent's turn at the Friend conceded. Yes, it was enough

for it running. Judd Trump did not really do that frame in style, but

The main thing, it to me, is part of the red. I felt he tried to do

too much with the cue ball. Ronnie is actually hitting down on the cue

ball. I would have much preferred getting the cue ball parallel. Make

sure you get the pot. It was a careless miss. And Judd took

advantage of it. He added to the lead he already had. Very

interesting when you look at the statistics. Judd still very low.

For someone who built his game around potting, that is very low.

86%. But it is all about taking He needs the green to come to his

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The there is a red just above the There are three reds, if he could

get through to the left-hand side one... He has just gone too far. If

he had stopped a fraction shorter he would have had the possibility

It was not an easy opportunity. Good opening red, but the wrong

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side of the blue. He can forgive It looks like Ronnie can just get

to the edge of this red. It was much too thick. That was a poor

shot. His safety has been poor this morning, so far. He is not going to

It could have worked out better, he He could not play to go past the

blue there. The cue ball probably He is looking to get position on

the black here. Quite a tricky one. I am not certain if he does not

play for the black, what other He is just about on it, but it is

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tricky. This is not straightforward After putting such a good black, he

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was very unfortunate to finish That great asset Ronnie has, being

The problem Ronnie has, he will have to work his way around the

It is not going to be easy. He has not screwed far enough for the blue.

That was it a rare, care must positional shot by Ronnie

When you play one bad positional shot, it is sometimes so hard to

He still needs a good shot to get For someone who plays left-hander

That was much too thick. He goes back to his seat, up one point in

front. This frame a very much still That will irritate Ronnie, he would

Judd will be disappointed there. That was have a chance. -- half a

Just trying to will that cue ball another couple of inches down the

He just needs to nestle into the two reds and bring them into play.

That was a little bit disappointing. That was trickier than it should

He obviously felt the cue ball would finish near the side cushion.

Another opportunity for Judd. But He missed that black as if it was a

kick. I do not know if it was a cook or not. I do not think so. --

There's a lot of tension out there. So much respect and it adds that

At the moment, this is the match that everybody has been looking

They played in China last year and the standard and quality was

A good shot from Ronnie. That puts him 16 points in the lead. Still

not a straightforward run to the A little bit unlucky not to be on

any easier red than this. He is unlucky the case of the first red

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That was a good safety shot from If he can just get past the pink,

He played it nicely. When he does not hit the ball too hard, you feel

Ronnie with a slight problem here. You have to be careful when you

play this shot that you do not run That would be my idea of playing it.

On the way to that you could case of the red on the way to the black.

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If he has covered both reds, that isn't it -- an excellent safety

He played it slowly, he could not At the moment, Judd is calling the

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That is just beautifully played. That was unfortunate. Judd raised

his eyebrows as if to say, that If he leaves any angle on the black

he will not be able to play for the The one thing you have got to do,

of course, it is pot the red. He has got away with it but he will be

snookered the next time he comes to This is not difficult for Ronnie to

live on the bottom red. He should He would want to get in between the

red and the cushion. He has to use the spider because he cannot reach

He could not have played it better. The initiative is now back with

Judd. This is a very important That was a poor effort. 14 points

behind, the laughing Judd needs is the pink to go safe on the side

I remember Jimmy White used to do a lot of that. No concentration. He

should have had the upper hand, but not know if this red in the middle

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difficult sometimes to judge the effect of the side. He did get the

snooker but Judd will be pleased with that. He was able to swerve it

around. The black has blocked the might have to be a bit of hit and

hope. An automatic miss if he does not hit it. He has to make sure he

hits the red. 14 points behind so a chance for his opponent but it is

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not have a bad cue ball. It could be wonderful. A tough spot. -- pot. He

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safeties which forced a mistake in running very well this morning. The

players have had a few kicks. I do not think the players have been too

happy. I did the first session of Ricky Walden and Barry Hawkins last

night. Willie Thorne thought the table played dreadfully. I do not

know why it should red. It is not in but Ronnie is not all that. A very,

very interesting frame. Ronnie having the edge in the safety

exchange which puts him in front once again. It is now 6-5.

When you get near the end of a frame and there are only a few reds left,

safety then becomes so important. We just saw a few examples from Ronnie.

It is incredible that he puts so much thought into the shot. He

controls the side there to get off the two cushions for the brown and

yellow. Judd just seems happy to get the cue ball but Ronnie is looking

for the toughest place on the table two make it really awkward for Judd

Trump. This was the shot that finally won him the frame. Gain,

control of the side of two cushions perfectly. Of course, when you are

in that position, it is almost impossible. Judd did not hit it that

hard and was hoping to catch the red thinner and send the cue ball back

up the table but he caught it thick. It was not an easy pot but

Ronnie made light of it. This match is living up to all the billing.

There will be a mid-session interval after this frame. Will Ronnie have a

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frame advantage or will we be all ball. He could play the green here

and going to the cluster with pace. pack because he could tie up the

so he chose to go into the reds because he might not get a better

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chance. It is not an easy chance is back, he may not be on one of the

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reds. He probably wanted to screw baulk cushion, hitting thin enough

-- hit it thin enough, then he can get back to the old and after a

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the right corner. But such a tough know whether to use the green is the

blocker or leave the red thin. He tried to use the brown and did not

get it. You do not have to leave Judd Trump much of an opportunity.

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That was a tremendous opening red. more awkward. You have to keep

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finding angles on the colours to get know if he can get enough check side

enough. A disappointing end to this chance if he does not find a pot

you do not want it hanging in the jaws! To close if you are going to

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frame-winning chance when he came to way but do not let it get to you. It

smiling in this match. More than I have seen in the past. It might be

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the pressure of the situation. We do could have finished adjacent to the

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middle but fled wind Fairplay. -- though he's not happy the contact.

If he's getting lots of kicks, he possibly needs to get the cue ball

cleaned before playing follow heavy contact and he was not on the

black as he wanted affected him. That was not a tough black vote. His

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the shots make. Judd played a poor positional shot. He is definitely

edgier this morning. It seems every time he plays a shot he is jumping

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of the morning but that will not bother Judd Trump. It has been very

tense out there. He is hanging on to Ronnie's shirt tails. He needs to

stay with Ronnie. That is what we all agree he needs to do. Do not

mid-session interval. They are still all square. A frame again that could

have gone either way but Judd Trump levels. It is 6-6.

There is nothing between those two players. Interesting they may be two

of the best players on the planet but a funeral is out there in the

Crucible Theatre. You're on the mid-session interval and we will

join them shortly. In the meantime, the best of the other semi-final

between Ricky Walden and Barry Hawkins. That semi-final got under

way last night in the first session. Walden has a good record against the

man who sent Mark Selby and Ding Junhui packing. We join it in frame

the baulk cushion, you can see how far he has gone to hit that. Just

not getting through the ball. It looks like the table is playing very

slow. I just think they are not getting through the ball and not

getting top spin or back spin when heart of the pocket. It seemed to

have some bounce when the cue ball cannon to hold the cue ball.

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that yellows had to force an angle. He is OK. He will have to use the

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rest. He will be at full stretch Just looking at if the pink is

And another kick. This table has not played that well to be honest

I do not think it knocked him out of position, but it left the cue

ball a little bit close to the side cushion. More than he would have

That was OK. This could be the key shot to this for him. -- to this

He may have to play the semi-final is little bit more open than he had

thought. Once again, the table seems to be playing slightly slower

Inch-perfect on the blue. This will put him 52 points in front with

Just the red, red and a colour. Ricky Walden has already made a

wonderful break of 105. Chance for Four wonderful screams this evening,

and two shockers. -- wonderful He is just checking that one of the

That is what he was worried about us. I do not think he is on the red

next to the black. They do not think he can see enough of this red.

An excellent break, it really well played. When you consider what

happened in the two previous frames, this is a wonderful display. Quite

a shock to the system for Barry Hawkins. I am sure he felt he was

An excellent break. He struggled a little bit in the previous two

And that was his fifth century break of the tournament so far.

Back into the next frame and he is He did not really play the pot

there. He was hoping to hit the red off the top cushion. He has

Nothing that is have difficult has been plotted here. Barry had a

chance, and now this is a chance for Ricky Walden. This is an

important frame, as they all are. If Rickie can win this, he will

know at the end of this session he will have at least a two frame

He has got an angle to play the run-through, but he needs to play

this well. Plenty of top, plenty of He played it well, at played it

perfectly, in fact. He does not have to do much with this red to

It is all about the position from black to yellow. The black will put

him three points in front. Now looking for yellow, green, brown

and blue. Good shot, lots of top He made a marvellous break in the

last frame, but this one could have gone up either way. Barry Hawkins

certainly missed a chance to put the red in the corner. Just this

The pink is a four-mile -- is a formality, and this frame is over.

Barry Hawkins leaving the arena trying to build himself up for the

next frame. Then Ricky Walden took the final frame of the session to

lead 6-2 overnight. They resume at 2:30pm so. We will be showing it in

our programme later this afternoon. Stephen Hendry is commentating,

they run a mid-session interval. Let's reflect on Ricky Walden

versus Barry Hawkins. Barry has it all to do. Yes. Sometimes you try

to win each session and treat it as a mini match. But he needs to win

the first two or three frames. asked him this morning if he was

happy, but he said he was a little bit scrappy last night. It is down

to nerves. Barry took a long time to settle, he looked very nervous

and was not able to play his natural game. Ricky Walden scored

much heavier. With the greatest respect to players Rickie has been

along the way, Barry has beaten Mark Selby and other big players.

Will that have an effect? anything, he should draw confidence

from that. He should feel, I am here on merit, I have had these

great results. The start of recession is so important. The last

thing you want to do is be chasing. They might be two of the best

players on the planet, but there are some nerves are out there this

morning between Ronnie and Judd. Both of them were making the States.

Ronnie making positional play mistakes, it was not a great

standard. There is a lot of tension out there, they have a lot of

respect for each other. Good stuff. The players are due back to the

Crucible in a few minutes. We are going to have a little bit of fun.

We are going to hear some My name is James Howard. I have

been doing impressions of lots of different people and I am at the

Crucible doing some of the pundits. Wandering around and seeing famous

This is what I call a really good team making opportunity. The

biscuits are open, and the white is in play. First of all, let's drop

the Browning, deadweight. We're playing in an area, we do not have

to be too precise. I will bring the water it into play. We must stand

nice and still on this shot. Bringing that the water in, making

sure we finish top side of the Cup. We will bring the teaspoon into

play. A little bit of value of having it cleaned just to avoid

heavy contact. A little bit of left hand side required here. That looks

good. I will have to really forced through the brown to develop the

shot. This will require a bit of cue power. That looks good. I can

drop that, anywhere on the table is fine. I have got to bring the white

into play. Too thick with the white and we will get tea which is too

weak and too cold on the tongue. Too thin will be too hot and

potentially too strong. Just drop it in. That looks absolutely

perfect. That is top draw of. In fairness, I think I might celebrate

with a biscuit. Stay nice and still on here. That is perfect. Where is

the biscuit going? How careless was that? So, here come the players.

Judd Trump has just tweeted, tough It is a different world out there.

Just out of interest, what did you do it in the mid-session interval?

It is Ronnie who breaks off. Left- handed. He always explained to me

he feels when he plays left-handed he gets more side on the ball. He

played that a little bit too thin. The cue ball is not close to the

No pot was left. His safety was a little bit too thin, so no real

He is having a look to see if there are any plants to the right hand

If one did go towards the corner, he did not hit it well, it hit the

blue. The first chance for Judd Trump. Much too thin, which is why

The problem Judd has here, and easy enough pot, it is just judging the

line of the cue ball. He could play with pace and career into the reds,

or play with a little left hand He found a gap there that he did

not expect. And he has finished on He has purposely try to go into the

The obvious shot here is to come off the baulk cushion first and

He decided to not come off the baulk cushion. I do not understand

why he did not concentrate all out there for the snooker. That was

A good, solid pot. This time he is Yes, he played positively. No

That looked pretty good, although it pulled up Al little bit sharp. -

Handy to get the blue back on that spot. He still needs a precise

positional shot here. He has got to come down the right-hand side of

I think the red immediately to the right of the pink is available to

I presume the pink spot is He is still in the open, so no

problem. He would have been aware it would not hide the black up. If

you was to play the black here, that would go up to the blue spot,

This is a decent chance, can he go ahead for the first time in the

Another tough contact there. I was speaking to Ricky Walden in the

interval, he said there were a lot of kicks happening out there. Which

emphasises my point, perhaps Judd should get the cue ball cleaned

Once again he has jumped up. Not happy with the way the cue ball ran

through there. If it keeps happening, it gets in your mind you

have to give it a little bit extra. Then you run out of position.

believe there is a new manufacturer of the balls this year as well.

Some of the players are not happy What happened there? That was just

careless. He was more interested in They were talking in the interval

that Judd had been tweeting that it was tough out there. It would be

interesting to know what he meant by that. It could mean a few

different things. Maybe he was referring to the fact he was not

happy with some of the contacts he was getting. It does not get any

tougher than the semi-final of the World Championships against one of

the biggest talents the game has ever produced. At this stage of the

World Championship it is meant to He has lost the cue ball there. He

was hoping for a thicker cannon on He will be disappointed it came to

a premature end. But that looks He has got a 23 point lead, but he

will know that is nowhere near enough. Really, the only safe red

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on the table is the one he has to Just the wrong side of the green,

It looks as though he could play the red above the blue into the

He missed the pot. But he will be quite pleased at where the cue ball

More or less forced into that. He did well to avoid a kiss on the

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right hand side of the table. He That Pinker puts him 11 points

It is unbelievably tense here at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.