Day 6

:01:29. > :01:34.Welcome to the Crucible Theatre. Some top seeds have crashed out

:01:34. > :01:38.already. Today the second round get under way, but there are still two

:01:38. > :01:48.places up for grabs. Neil Robertson has yet to book his place in the

:01:48. > :02:10.

:02:10. > :02:14.We are looking forward to seeing Neil Robertson take on Robert

:02:14. > :02:19.Milkins. It is packed to the rafters here today and here is what

:02:19. > :02:24.is coming up. He won the world title three years ago, but Neil

:02:24. > :02:29.Robertson only made the quarter- finals last year. He is the only

:02:29. > :02:35.top four C not into the second round yet. He is 5-4 up against

:02:35. > :02:41.Robert Milkins. They play to have finished this afternoon. This

:02:41. > :02:47.second round gets under way with Shaun Murphy taking on Graeme Dott.

:02:47. > :02:54.That is on Table 1. Graeme Dott has made the headlines this week in the

:02:54. > :02:58.debate over slow play. We will ask if there should be a shotclock.

:02:58. > :03:05.Steve Davis continues our look at their history of snooker. Today it

:03:05. > :03:10.is the turn of the tables. So, plenty to look forward to this

:03:10. > :03:15.afternoon. The match we are focusing on his Dale Robertson

:03:15. > :03:25.about -- against Robert Milkins. Can the man they called the milkman

:03:25. > :03:28.

:03:28. > :03:32.delivered this afternoon? A couple of years ago I had a few years when

:03:32. > :03:39.I disrespected the game. In the end, it probably cost me four or five

:03:39. > :03:43.years. I was virtually homeless. I had nothing. I had to knuckle down.

:03:43. > :03:47.I was really lucky because I had a couple of really good friends are

:03:47. > :03:53.rightly. I met a girl at the same time and she helped me out. I met

:03:53. > :03:57.my manager. He has been brilliant as well. A combination of the few

:03:57. > :04:05.things turned my life around. There was a lot of times when I felt like

:04:05. > :04:10.giving up. It was silly, really. I knew that I was good enough to win

:04:11. > :04:16.a tournament, even when I was going through a bad spell. It has taken

:04:16. > :04:21.me a couple of years to get back on track. I have started knuckling

:04:21. > :04:27.down. I have got to nice young kids and they have taken the pressure

:04:27. > :04:32.off, because they come first, not snooker. I have started performing.

:04:32. > :04:36.Like a lot of the players have. A lot of the players that they have

:04:36. > :04:41.got older, their games have matured and they have started to play well.

:04:41. > :04:48.I wouldn't turn it around. I have done what I have done. I just look

:04:48. > :04:58.forward to the future and I want to try and win a tournament. But there

:04:58. > :05:09.

:05:09. > :05:15.That was a stunning long shot. Not happy.

:05:15. > :05:25.Robert Milkins never had a chance in that frame.

:05:25. > :05:26.

:05:26. > :05:31.A tester of a blue. Robert Milkins shakes his head.

:05:31. > :05:41.Neil Robertson did what he had to do, and make a good start. Robert

:05:41. > :05:50.

:05:50. > :06:00.That was an excellent pot on the pink, and that gets him a frame

:06:00. > :06:05.

:06:05. > :06:15.That was a fabulous shot. When he was under threat, he just changed

:06:15. > :06:25.

:06:25. > :06:35.years. Will 143 be enough? An Robert Milkins has closed the gap.

:06:35. > :06:45.

:06:45. > :06:48.He trails by two frames now at 5-3. They handshake will come. Neil

:06:48. > :06:53.Robertson waves to the crowd, but he will be disappointed to only be

:06:53. > :06:59.leading by a 5-4. A I will be enjoying the company of

:06:59. > :07:05.John Parrott. In the context of this match, how important was it

:07:05. > :07:10.that Robert Milkins got those two frames in the final session? To win

:07:10. > :07:14.the last two frames is massive for him. Make no mistake, the

:07:14. > :07:18.Australian is in a match today. What I find fascinating in that

:07:18. > :07:24.interview was that he was so honest. He seems to have overcome his

:07:24. > :07:29.issues. K E is improving all the time. I always thought he was a

:07:30. > :07:36.great break-builder and a good potter. He has been improving. When

:07:36. > :07:40.he can score quickly, the scoreline will change quickly. Neil Robertson

:07:40. > :07:46.got off to a flyer. How impressed Riggi yesterday with his

:07:46. > :07:53.temperament? Back goes without question. Today he has to start

:07:53. > :07:57.again and really focus. This is a dangerous opponent today. I was in

:07:57. > :08:02.the practice run a few minutes ago and he is putting well. He looks

:08:02. > :08:05.remarkably relaxed. What is it like when you are former world champion

:08:05. > :08:09.and you are not in the second drawing jet and you're still

:08:09. > :08:14.involved in a tussle? It is horrible. John Higgins has gone

:08:14. > :08:20.home, Mark Allen, Stephen Maguire, it is not nice to go home. Hard you

:08:20. > :08:29.conscious of bats when the top players are falling? You tell

:08:29. > :08:34.everybody you're not, but you are. Well, with Terry Griffiths and

:08:34. > :08:44.Dennis Taylor is Ken Doherty. A I am delighted to be joined by

:08:44. > :08:45.

:08:45. > :08:52.two former world champions. Terry, you have been at his corner with

:08:52. > :08:56.Robert Milkins, what have you been saying to him? He played very well

:08:56. > :09:00.to come back yesterday. Robert Milkins is the kind of player who

:09:00. > :09:09.can reach great heights, but he has been known to go walkabout for a

:09:09. > :09:17.few frames. He is a tremendous player. No matter how many time to

:09:17. > :09:22.play here, the first round can be a banana skin. He certainly can be.

:09:22. > :09:28.You feel the World Championship really start in the second rounds.

:09:28. > :09:33.He looks really well. He hasn't won it since 2010. Neil Robertson wants

:09:33. > :09:39.another world title. The crowd are ready, the players are ready and so

:09:39. > :09:46.is RMC, Rob Walker. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. We are

:09:46. > :09:52.cranking up the drama here. Just two places left in the second round,

:09:52. > :09:57.which also gets under way today. Papac does here at the Crucible.

:09:57. > :10:01.The stage is set with three world champions. Please welcome a player

:10:01. > :10:09.who sometimes doesn't gets the respect his achievements deserve.

:10:09. > :10:14.He has contested three up and act - - last nine world finals. Bidding

:10:15. > :10:24.for a fit Crucible quarter-final, be only Scottish person left in the

:10:25. > :10:41.

:10:41. > :10:47.His opponent, also a world champion in 2005, this man is a class act on

:10:47. > :10:51.and off the table. Producing an excellent second session in the

:10:51. > :10:58.first round, he also won the UK title in 2000 inmates. One of the

:10:58. > :11:08.most consistent players, ready to make an impact once again, he is

:11:08. > :11:24.

:11:24. > :11:29.Here on Table two, please welcome a player making his first appearance

:11:29. > :11:36.for eight years. Producing some of the best snooker of his career in

:11:36. > :11:41.the last two years. He won the last two frames yesterday and he is

:11:41. > :11:51.right back in the hunt. He likes his cider, but we call him the

:11:51. > :12:04.

:12:04. > :12:09.MUSIC: "I Am A Cider Drinker" by Please welcome one of the best long

:12:09. > :12:14.potters in the game. He came over from Australia a decade ago with

:12:14. > :12:18.hardly a penny in his pocket. Winner here in 2010, he has offered

:12:18. > :12:24.to buy a pint for every Australian who comes to support him in

:12:24. > :12:34.Sheffield this year. Winner of the China Open this month, he is the

:12:34. > :12:37.

:12:38. > :12:47.thunder from Down Under, he is Neil MUSIC: "Heart Of Courage" by Two

:12:48. > :12:52.

:12:52. > :12:58.So, live coverage. If you want Shaun Murphy against Graeme Dott in

:12:58. > :13:04.the second rounds, the first of three sessions, hit your red button

:13:04. > :13:11.now. We're concentrating on this fascinating first-round match. Let

:13:11. > :13:16.me hang due to our dynamic duo, Dennis Taylor and Terry Griffiths.

:13:17. > :13:21.VENICE: What a fabulous atmosphere again at the Crucible. While the

:13:21. > :13:28.players got terrific receptions. Robert Milkins with his walk on

:13:28. > :13:38.music had the crowd clapping here. You think they ever get the cue

:13:38. > :13:43.

:13:43. > :13:53.Did you can get a little bit sticky I t when the conditions are fairly

:13:53. > :14:10.

:14:10. > :14:16.Neil Robertson gets the tenth frame under way. He looked very

:14:16. > :14:21.impressive. That little file is just to make sure the tip of the

:14:21. > :14:30.cue doesn't get too shiny. He played very well yesterday. He had

:14:30. > :14:40.a magnificent 143, which is the contender for the high break. We

:14:40. > :14:50.

:14:50. > :15:00.have had three breaks over 140. Judd Trump had a magnificent break

:15:00. > :15:38.

:15:38. > :15:48.of 142. That was superseded by Neil Robert Milkins will be very pleased

:15:48. > :15:49.

:15:49. > :15:53.with the 5-4 results. You never know when you get up in the morning

:15:53. > :16:03.and you face a session in the Crucible how you're going to feel.

:16:03. > :16:06.

:16:06. > :16:16.His thoughts will be dominated by how many frames he wins today.

:16:16. > :16:16.

:16:16. > :17:15.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:17:15. > :17:20.Could we see an early Neil Robert Milkins has the safety game

:17:20. > :17:30.to hold Neil Robertson. He didn't score as heavily as him yesterday,

:17:30. > :17:48.

:17:48. > :17:53.though. He did make any 88, that There is deceit the success rate,

:17:53. > :18:02.so Robert is well ahead of Neil Robertson in that department. He

:18:02. > :18:12.might lose a percentage for that safety shot! He has not left

:18:12. > :18:17.anything on, I think. She has a choice, he could put it back, which

:18:17. > :18:23.she has. He could have made him play it from where the cue ball had

:18:23. > :18:33.finished. Not a difficult shot. He just doesn't want to hit it thickly,

:18:33. > :18:33.

:18:33. > :18:38.that is all. He has hit it too thickly this time, but he got a

:18:38. > :18:44.result because it's went round the other side of the blue. He will

:18:44. > :18:54.take that. He might have a patch round the bat -- round the back of

:18:54. > :19:14.

:19:14. > :19:24.the black here that is near us to He did not fancy trying to swing it

:19:24. > :19:35.

:19:35. > :19:45.around the ankles in case he called There is an indication of the fact

:19:45. > :19:57.

:19:57. > :20:07.One good positional shot here and he has a decent opportunity. Robert

:20:07. > :20:08.

:20:08. > :20:12.is pushing for a top 16 spots. He is pushing very close. He plays at

:20:12. > :20:17.the south-west snooker academy at Gloucester. I think that opening up

:20:17. > :20:27.there has helped him with it career he has had in the last few years.

:20:27. > :20:32.

:20:32. > :20:39.You go down there wanted was a month don't you, Terry? Yes. I do

:20:39. > :20:44.some coaching there and a few other things. I go around some schools

:20:44. > :20:53.and different things. Am really enjoying it. Polmont is the man

:20:53. > :20:58.there you put it all together. -- Paul mounts. The way the reds are

:20:58. > :21:03.situated, things should improve the problem. He looks so good when he

:21:03. > :21:13.is amongst the balls. He is so fluent. The pink looks like it is

:21:13. > :21:40.

:21:40. > :21:48.available, so he has a straight red He has a swagger about him, Robert.

:21:48. > :21:53.He always has when he is walking wounded table. He fancies the job,

:21:53. > :22:03.and here I am, mate! If you don't have any confidence, there is no

:22:03. > :22:07.point playing this game, I can tell He does have a habit of just

:22:07. > :22:12.shaking his head every now and again. He just went a little bit

:22:12. > :22:18.further than he intended there. Been straighter on the plea would

:22:18. > :22:28.have been ideal. He is reluctant to play a little cannon here and messy

:22:28. > :22:35.

:22:35. > :22:41.slips out of position. He could I thought he would hate them a

:22:41. > :22:51.little bit harder than that. It was the right idea, but he needed to

:22:51. > :22:52.

:22:52. > :23:02.hit it a little bit firmer. That will be disappointing. This will be

:23:02. > :23:05.

:23:05. > :23:15.thing, this one. That is a great recovery shot! Especially when he

:23:15. > :23:31.

:23:31. > :23:41.He can't quite get the cue ball under control at the moment. He has

:23:41. > :23:43.

:23:43. > :23:48.stopped short of his intended position. You have to rely on your

:23:48. > :23:58.instincts for the feel of the shot. Sometimes it doesn't come. Perhaps

:23:58. > :24:01.

:24:01. > :24:11.he is a little bit tense. It is the A well, well, well. It looked in.

:24:11. > :24:11.

:24:11. > :24:57.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:24:57. > :25:07.He has left that on. This a good I think he's just OK. He almost put

:25:07. > :25:32.

:25:32. > :25:36.himself out of position, but he has Those for reds were just blocking

:25:37. > :25:44.themselves into the corner pocket, so he might play a cannon on to the

:25:44. > :25:54.one between the black and the pink. They seem to be covering each other.

:25:54. > :26:14.

:26:14. > :26:24.Now everything is in the open. Just the one sea of red. -- see it read.

:26:24. > :26:42.

:26:42. > :26:52.There are five Easy reds, but he will need that difficult red to

:26:52. > :27:02.

:27:02. > :27:12.His break-building has improved in the last few years. He is a really

:27:12. > :27:15.

:27:15. > :27:19.strong favourite to win here this All you have to do is to cut his

:27:19. > :27:29.statistics. He has had 44 centuries this season, 54 centuries last

:27:29. > :27:38.

:27:38. > :27:43.I think Judd Trump had 54 as well. His safety is brilliant, his

:27:43. > :27:48.temperament is brilliant. He was just debating their whether or not

:27:48. > :27:58.to bring that difficult read into play. It is always risky to play

:27:58. > :28:03.

:28:03. > :28:13.He has lots of options. He is already concerned about that

:28:13. > :28:23.

:28:23. > :28:32.Those two reds are perfectly placed to bring the difficult one into

:28:32. > :28:41.play. He is the type of player that wouldn't be bothered, his putting

:28:41. > :28:51.is so good. He always has been an exceptional potter. Over the years

:28:51. > :28:54.

:28:54. > :29:02.he has added a lot more to his game Well, I'm surprised he played back

:29:02. > :29:07.for the blue. Why did he have to hit it that harder? He could have

:29:07. > :29:14.played for the black or the pink, but he decided to come back for the

:29:14. > :29:20.blue and hit it very hard. What a reprieve for Robert. He was trying

:29:20. > :29:30.to lead an ankle on the black to cannon out that typical red. He is

:29:30. > :29:45.

:29:45. > :29:52.to straight on the black. So, a So, a little bit of tension in this

:29:52. > :30:00.opening frame. It is such an important frame. To get back all

:30:00. > :30:10.square, he had the chance there. Two unexpected misses, one from

:30:10. > :30:10.

:30:10. > :30:13.each player. Robert did not look at the pink. The pink was just a

:30:13. > :30:23.natural roll in any would have definitely been on that red into

:30:23. > :30:23.

:30:23. > :31:13.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:31:13. > :31:23.That was a pretty good shot from I can see why he played that shot,

:31:23. > :31:44.

:31:44. > :31:50.but it does leave the possibility I am not sure if he can hit this

:31:50. > :32:00.red, he might be able to catch the edge of it. If he plays the safety

:32:00. > :32:04.

:32:05. > :32:14.This was the black that Robert played. He did not even look at the

:32:15. > :32:32.

:32:32. > :32:42.pink. He never even then gave it a He was close to the brown. He felt

:32:42. > :32:52.he could see enough of it. Worth the risk along the cushion here? If

:32:52. > :33:05.

:33:05. > :33:12.the red goes in then he can put He did not play the best safety, I

:33:12. > :33:19.was with you there. I thought he could have played for the blue or

:33:19. > :33:29.brown or the yellow. But out there you get different thoughts. Some

:33:29. > :33:48.

:33:48. > :33:58.people like that had. -- shot and Knocking that green safe has

:33:58. > :34:24.

:34:24. > :34:29.changed the complexion of this He is going to try and land on this

:34:29. > :34:39.red near the cushion. Not a lot else he can play, he could not risk

:34:39. > :35:09.

:35:09. > :35:19.Just a little delicate one to come He played that so well, he hasn't

:35:19. > :35:28.

:35:29. > :35:34.left and shot four or Robert Sometimes you have just got to keep

:35:34. > :35:44.the ball safe in Asif do shot, it is not always trying to get it safe

:35:44. > :36:05.

:36:05. > :36:15.It is always difficult for the players when the reds are earth

:36:15. > :36:30.

:36:30. > :36:38.were they are now. He has to be The he did not want that kiss. Is

:36:39. > :36:48.Robert to up to it? He has just spotted something on the cue ball

:36:49. > :36:52.

:36:52. > :37:02.The referee from Alton is just making sure it is nice and clean.

:37:02. > :37:09.

:37:09. > :37:17.He certainly did. Good cueing there. If he tries to get close to the red,

:37:17. > :37:27.he had to go round the angles. There he goes. This looks pretty

:37:27. > :38:01.

:38:01. > :38:11.good. Not quite as he intended, but This first frame often dictates how

:38:11. > :38:20.

:38:20. > :38:30.the match can span out. The players He might be able to swerve around

:38:30. > :38:47.

:38:47. > :38:57.that, and if he does swerve around He has played the safety shot, so

:38:57. > :38:57.

:38:57. > :39:43.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:39:43. > :39:53.There is a chance to get behind I do not understand why he played

:39:53. > :40:11.

:40:11. > :40:21.it that way. Perhaps he just mishit Well, he will have to play the

:40:21. > :40:26.

:40:26. > :40:36.snooker now. And bring the green into a better position. He is

:40:36. > :41:03.

:41:03. > :41:08.looking at the St blue. -- the He chaired the scoreboard, he was

:41:08. > :41:18.four in front. Now if Neil Robertson gets a chance, he will

:41:18. > :41:28.

:41:28. > :41:38.The if that had gone in, what a What you would call, half in the

:41:38. > :41:51.

:41:51. > :41:57.Could have been worse for Robert Milkins there. I am not sure if

:41:57. > :42:03.Neil can play this shot into the centre, over the brown and to in

:42:03. > :42:13.the way. He is a very good shot maker, a very strong player towards

:42:13. > :42:22.

:42:23. > :42:32.Clever shot there. He has brought the pink back into play and he has

:42:33. > :42:38.

:42:38. > :42:48.I don't think he played the snooker, he just played the cannon. He was

:42:48. > :42:49.

:42:49. > :42:59.hoping to get the yellow between He will be in trouble with that

:42:59. > :42:59.

:42:59. > :43:47.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:43:47. > :43:57.I think he can get enough side on The last time he had a shock like

:43:57. > :44:07.

:44:07. > :44:17.this, he pushed the red it over the In that situation you have got to

:44:17. > :44:25.

:44:25. > :44:31.make sure you keep the object ball He caught but a little bit thin. He

:44:31. > :44:35.was trying to push the yellow away from the pocket a little bit.

:44:35. > :44:45.wondering if you can miss the through and come back towards the

:44:45. > :44:55.

:44:55. > :45:05.It has not bounced enough. He will have to come back up towards the

:45:05. > :45:37.

:45:37. > :45:46.A little thin one, but once again That was not the best safety shot I

:45:46. > :45:56.have ever seen from Neil Robertson. The robber to is a dynamic potter

:45:56. > :46:02.

:46:02. > :46:08.The that is pretty clever because that pink is blocking the pocket.

:46:08. > :46:15.He has got a good safety game, as Terry was saying at the start of

:46:15. > :46:25.the frame. Affray which has been going for just over 32 minutes. --

:46:25. > :46:26.

:46:26. > :46:33.a frame. They are both good safety players, that is why the frame is

:46:33. > :46:43.going 32 minutes! Almost a chance he could get in behind the pink, if

:46:43. > :46:45.

:46:46. > :46:55.the white had been a little further He would have to leave the greener

:46:56. > :47:12.

:47:12. > :47:22.Worth a try, but he overhit it Most of the frames have been fairly

:47:22. > :47:22.

:47:22. > :47:32.quiet, a couple of slow ones. He did not get into that. He did not

:47:32. > :47:39.

:47:39. > :47:44.He will automatically finish on the ground -- on the brown if he takes

:47:44. > :47:54.a chance. It will be a frame weather. That is what he is

:47:54. > :47:59.

:47:59. > :48:09.thinking about. Make your mind at Once again, he thought long and

:48:09. > :48:14.

:48:14. > :48:24.hard and decided not to risk of the Already the longest frame of the

:48:24. > :48:28.

:48:28. > :48:33.match so far, coming up to 35 He is just looking to see if he

:48:33. > :48:43.could hit it from behind, when you're playing that sort of shot

:48:43. > :48:50.

:48:50. > :48:58.you can always send the green up And that is what he has done. He

:48:58. > :49:07.might be able to take the pot on and cannon of brown. If the pot

:49:07. > :49:14.goes and, it looks to be a natural to cannon into the ground. -- into

:49:14. > :49:24.the brown. He has gone for the safety and he has hit it a little

:49:24. > :49:36.

:49:36. > :49:46.too full. Can Neil Robertson get If you played at the normal way

:49:46. > :49:51.

:49:51. > :50:00.with top spin he may collide into That is exactly the reason he

:50:01. > :50:10.refused to pot. But he has played a good safety here. Neil having a

:50:11. > :50:20.

:50:20. > :50:30.glance up at the monitor to see if They are not giving an inch in the

:50:30. > :50:35.

:50:35. > :50:40.safety belt. -- bout. It looked like the for him would be open

:50:40. > :50:50.quickly, and then Robert made a mistake and Neil came back with a

:50:50. > :51:01.

:51:01. > :51:08.44 Greek and it is a fascinating Everything went wrong with that

:51:08. > :51:18.shot. And if it is a full ball snooker he can put him back in

:51:18. > :51:26.

:51:26. > :51:36.again. The black is there for the It wobbled and it is going to be

:51:36. > :51:42.

:51:42. > :51:47.awkward. He did not pot the black cleanly. So, it is all happening.

:51:47. > :51:57.If he tries to drop this in he can cover the green with the brown

:51:57. > :52:28.

:52:28. > :52:35.He has more of the cover. -- he has That was a good shot, very well

:52:35. > :52:40.controlled. It looks to be a full ball snooker. He cannot get in

:52:40. > :52:50.behind the green, it is too close to the cushion. He may have to come

:52:50. > :52:51.

:52:51. > :53:01.off the side cushion and hope for a little run of the ball. All he can

:53:01. > :53:11.do is hit it and hope for the best. That is OK, he will settle for that.

:53:11. > :53:38.

:53:38. > :53:44.This is quite an exciting opening It looked for one second like it

:53:44. > :53:54.was going to go past the brown, then it went behind it. Still, a

:53:54. > :54:15.

:54:15. > :54:19.He got away with that, but he could Did he hit it hard enough? Well,

:54:19. > :54:29.the pink has no could him, so in behind the black would have been

:54:29. > :54:33.

:54:33. > :54:43.even better. -- snookered him. Can he get it safer game? He needs good

:54:43. > :54:50.

:54:50. > :55:00.fortune and they do not think he Neil Robertson could take this one

:55:00. > :55:11.

:55:11. > :55:17.He is going to be doing one of He has plenty of options, we know

:55:17. > :55:22.the green that will pass the blue. If he cuts the green, he might calm

:55:22. > :55:32.and the pink, and that is what he is worried about. -- he might

:55:32. > :55:36.

:55:36. > :55:46.He is one of the best potters in the game. And that is tight, to go

:55:46. > :55:56.in that corner pocket. He cannot make his mind doubts. He is a good

:55:56. > :56:00.

:56:00. > :56:10.judge of the deflection off the There's plenty of room to go past

:56:10. > :56:33.

:56:33. > :56:42.He is certainly giving it plenty of He is back looking at it, past the

:56:42. > :56:48.blue. It will go, if you are in behind it. If he tries and in the

:56:48. > :56:58.corner to get on the brown and he misses it, there is always a chance

:56:58. > :57:23.

:57:23. > :57:33.In the end, he made a complete mess of it and try to pot it past the

:57:33. > :57:39.

:57:39. > :57:45.It has turned out not too bad for Neil Robertson. If he pots this,

:57:46. > :57:51.the brown is only available in one corner. He refused a few pots

:57:51. > :58:01.earlier, then suddenly goes for one of which was quite difficult and

:58:01. > :58:28.

:58:28. > :58:38.He only needs the pink, so no problem if he gets nicely on the

:58:38. > :58:44.

:58:44. > :58:54.You do not like losing any frames, but it is the long frames that you

:58:54. > :59:15.

:59:15. > :59:21.want to win. From a confidence He is still a bit worried about it.

:59:21. > :59:31.If you have to hit it with more pace, you just lose the natural

:59:31. > :59:49.

:59:49. > :59:59.It is 61 points all. There is a possible shot on here, he could

:59:59. > :00:03.

:00:03. > :00:13.finish on the pink. He might do He put so much into the double, he

:00:13. > :00:23.

:00:23. > :00:33.just did not hit it hard enough to Neil, as does Robert. Where is that

:00:33. > :00:34.

:00:34. > :00:38.cue ball? It is safe! What a frame for Robert Milkins to take! Lasted

:00:39. > :00:44.nearly 47 minutes but didn't this Crucible crowd enjoy that? Robert

:00:44. > :00:48.Milkins is all square with Neil Robertson and it is five each.

:00:48. > :00:52.Well, that is the longest frame of the match so far and you were

:00:52. > :00:57.talking about just how tense this matches. Well, we've seen it from

:00:57. > :01:04.that frame. I can't believe how long Neil Robertson has taken on some of

:01:04. > :01:09.those shots. It looks as though he is going a bit fuzzy upstairs. You

:01:09. > :01:15.can see it from both players, lots of nerves going on. Normally he is a

:01:15. > :01:18.very quick player but he took over to a half minutes on one shot. You

:01:18. > :01:23.knew the importance of the shot itself but sometimes you can

:01:23. > :01:27.overcomplicate things. Your first instinct is normally your best and

:01:27. > :01:32.that's normally the best shot you play. And you can overcomplicate.

:01:32. > :01:37.Not even on just the green, but even on the blue, he eventually Mister

:01:37. > :01:44.blue by quite some distance, going off in the green pocket. -- missed

:01:44. > :01:49.the blue. And then of course the blue was a fantastic shot. He took a

:01:49. > :01:59.long time over the shot. And he has been very, very edgy, Neil

:01:59. > :01:59.

:01:59. > :02:03.Robertson, hasn't he? Yes. He hasn't got the cue ball on the Borg rail.

:02:03. > :02:08.Where he left it was most awkward. The harder you hit that, the wider

:02:08. > :02:11.the angle of the ball. So he was a bit tentative and it was one of

:02:11. > :02:18.those where sometimes you just land there, and it's hard to steal

:02:18. > :02:23.yourself and not just play the shot. Robert hauled himself back into this

:02:23. > :02:28.and now it is 5-5. How is he feeling? When you're playing a

:02:28. > :02:33.player who plays the way he plays, he gets on a roll and plays faster

:02:33. > :02:37.and faster. You could be sitting in your chair, pouring your water into

:02:37. > :02:42.your glass and you are 50 or 60 points down before you have finished

:02:42. > :02:48.pouring your water! Once he gets on a run it can upset the opponent

:02:48. > :02:52.because you are thrown out of your rhythm a bit. The commentary said

:02:52. > :02:57.Robert Milkins have this certain swagger, the way he goes around the

:02:57. > :03:01.table choosing his shots. Yes, you've got to look confident and

:03:01. > :03:04.feel confident and play confidently. I've seen him for a long time on the

:03:04. > :03:09.circuit and always thought he was a good pot and breaker but there is

:03:09. > :03:18.more to him than that. Fascinating stuff.

:03:18. > :03:26.TERRY GRIFFITHS: Yes, on the circuit for eight years. A great practice

:03:26. > :03:36.based now in Gloucester. At the Snooker Academy. And all of the

:03:36. > :04:05.

:04:05. > :04:15.covered this red up to the right corner. The black is tied up. So a

:04:15. > :04:18.

:04:18. > :04:22.bit for the former world champion playing is he doesn't mind the open

:04:22. > :04:27.game, the scraps. He doesn't mind anything. It seems he can adapt to

:04:27. > :04:30.whatever happens out there. Yes, that's why he was a world champion

:04:31. > :04:36.and is one of the favourites for this year. His all-round game is

:04:36. > :04:46.superb. Up there with the greatest potters we've ever had, if not the

:04:46. > :05:22.

:05:22. > :05:25.dropped it in across the nap of the cloth. You wouldn't think it would

:05:25. > :05:35.be his favourite shot but I think sometimes all pot is, the same to

:05:35. > :06:05.

:06:05. > :06:10.blue. He will need that bunch in a leave a possible red and then bring

:06:10. > :06:20.the black interplay. He's got a bit of angle to work with there but not

:06:20. > :06:47.

:06:47. > :06:53.blue and there is a red to the right of the bunch available but...

:06:53. > :07:03.There's no way he can get nicely onto it. As you can see, absolutely

:07:03. > :07:29.

:07:29. > :07:39.really is. The potting power of this Australian... Has he got an angle on

:07:39. > :07:39.

:07:39. > :09:42.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:09:42. > :09:51.the back of the pack but they are pocket but that's very thin. -- one

:09:51. > :10:01.red. Yes, those read Terry mentioned, you can find the gap and

:10:01. > :10:13.

:10:13. > :10:18.get back down the table for those. still got back down the table. That

:10:18. > :10:22.almost went wrong. Now, there's a big pocket here. Not whether cue

:10:22. > :10:26.ball is sitting at the moment, but Robert will have to be careful

:10:26. > :10:36.because the red near the pocket is in such a position that if he got a

:10:36. > :10:59.

:10:59. > :11:03.chance, he could send in one of the good as you will get. I think he

:11:03. > :11:07.showed in the first frame this session he could hold the safety

:11:07. > :11:11.play of Neil Robertson, which, let's be honest, is very good, because

:11:11. > :11:15.it's not just the safety shots. If you're long potting is as good as

:11:15. > :11:25.your safety you will be a difficult player to beat and Robertson is up

:11:25. > :11:25.

:11:25. > :12:06.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:12:06. > :12:16.there with the very best in the Mind you, it's not easy to get onto

:12:16. > :12:26.

:12:26. > :12:34.the black if he was to put the red corner, there are a couple of reds

:12:34. > :12:44.blocking the position. He could get nicely onto the black. He might be

:12:44. > :12:58.

:12:58. > :13:05.able to cut the one in right over much pace. Difficult to see here in

:13:05. > :13:15.the commentary box. Plenty of room for it to pot into the right corner,

:13:15. > :13:32.

:13:32. > :13:39.but as I say, those to reds are in moment, he's looking to play a

:13:39. > :13:45.safety shot. Looks to me as if he could take the yellow on, and should

:13:45. > :13:52.he pot that, a minimum of eight to ten being a left-hander. Perhaps his

:13:52. > :14:00.philosophy at the moment is to keep things tight a little bit. He's been

:14:00. > :14:04.here enough times, Neil Robertson, to know what it takes to win. If you

:14:04. > :14:14.keep your opponent on the chair long enough, you will knock his

:14:14. > :14:21.

:14:21. > :14:31.first visit. He was a long way down and came back but lost 10-7 in the

:14:31. > :14:48.

:14:48. > :14:58.in. And he's flicked the pink. Everything turned out very nice with

:14:58. > :15:26.

:15:26. > :15:36.up to the reds but they are all just stunned it in. Because if he

:15:36. > :15:39.

:15:39. > :15:49.had rolled it, they would have been might not be available into that

:15:49. > :16:06.

:16:06. > :16:16.corner. He just nudged the black black for the same pocket. He is let

:16:16. > :16:23.

:16:23. > :16:33.a good chance slip away. Didn't get Can deserve a good kiss! That's what

:16:33. > :16:43.Eddie Chaplin would have said. remember you for looking a few balls

:16:43. > :17:05.

:17:05. > :17:09.and clearing the table, Terry! some of his tactical and safety

:17:09. > :17:19.play. We know he is a great elder and potter but he has a great safety

:17:19. > :17:27.

:17:27. > :17:32.shown why the game is going on in this session. Neil got a chance in

:17:32. > :17:36.the last session and so did Robert. And then they started on a good

:17:36. > :17:46.safety bout again because they are stopping each other playing, getting

:17:46. > :18:08.

:18:08. > :18:18.another chance for a while. Not this it has. He's got some movement in

:18:18. > :18:45.

:18:45. > :18:55.that cue ball. Very little angle on role the red like that and go off to

:18:55. > :18:55.

:18:55. > :19:36.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:19:36. > :19:42.the middle pocket. Wasn't unlucky lot more difficult by trying to

:19:42. > :19:52.screw back. But he's been a little bit lucky to cover with the pink

:19:52. > :19:52.

:19:52. > :20:02.there. He may be able to get past the cue ball, sorry, the pink to the

:20:02. > :20:34.

:20:34. > :20:41.applause from the other table put Neil Robertson off then. But he

:20:41. > :20:51.caught that much too thin. Now, how often would you see this in a frame?

:20:51. > :20:53.

:20:53. > :20:59.Six left. And not one colour on its spot. And he might get a colour back

:20:59. > :21:09.on its spot now. The black is out of commission. If he puts the pink and

:21:09. > :21:35.

:21:35. > :21:44.gets it on its spot, he is in pretty an angle in the middle of the reds

:21:44. > :21:54.there. He might just take the chance here of potting this and bringing

:21:54. > :21:54.

:21:54. > :22:38.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:22:38. > :22:45.time but if he sticks on the cushion to develop those two he might get

:22:45. > :22:55.out of position. Just looking to see what would happen... A key shot

:22:55. > :23:03.

:23:03. > :23:13.You're not guaranteed to be nicely on a colour. The red up to the right

:23:13. > :23:31.

:23:31. > :23:35.of the blue would be available but was the only problem with moving the

:23:35. > :23:41.two reds. It was Eddie Charlton who used to say, don't move the reds

:23:41. > :23:51.when you're potting a red. Move a colour. A good risk but it didn't

:23:51. > :23:59.

:23:59. > :24:03.is the first pot Robert Milkins has missed. When the colour has been on

:24:03. > :24:13.its spot. And of course when he missed that pink also, he brought

:24:13. > :24:51.

:24:51. > :24:54.the yellow into play, which was safe that and by a long way, which is a

:24:54. > :25:04.worrying sign for Neil Robertson because it is so unlike him to miss

:25:04. > :25:05.

:25:05. > :25:15.a pot like that by so far. So here's a little tense out there. -- so he

:25:15. > :25:33.

:25:33. > :25:43.again! In the previous frame it was the blue he backed double to get

:25:43. > :25:57.

:25:57. > :26:07.onto the pink. -- he did a back and pot the pink as well. Only 16 in

:26:07. > :26:18.

:26:18. > :26:28.yesterday. But the black was on the opposite side and he stunned behind

:26:28. > :26:49.

:26:49. > :26:59.have choices there. Well, he had a take the cart on, Terry, because

:26:59. > :27:10.

:27:10. > :27:20.there's always a chance of going in got to be careful because you don't

:27:20. > :27:27.

:27:27. > :27:33.want the white running around the first time, 6-5. Yes, so that the

:27:33. > :27:39.first time in the match, Robert goes into the lead. Neil Robertson did a

:27:39. > :27:46.real battle there. Not playing well at the mid-dash-mack at the minute.

:27:47. > :27:53.What is he doing? He's got cue action like a laser.

:27:54. > :28:02.When you look at the stats, his long pot success rate is only 63%.

:28:02. > :28:10.and that is one of the strong parts of Neil's game. He may have played a

:28:10. > :28:14.big part because now he has won four in a row. Neil Robertson looks under

:28:14. > :28:19.pressure, very edgy with uncharacteristic misses. And even

:28:19. > :28:23.when he's getting chances, he is not scoring like you normally does.

:28:23. > :28:31.as you said at the top of the programme, the fact Robert Milkins

:28:31. > :28:34.won those two sessions yesterday, that has had an influence? Yes, you

:28:34. > :28:42.go back to your hotel as though you are in front and he has carried on

:28:42. > :28:46.today. Neil has got to get sharper because he is in trouble today.

:28:46. > :28:56.And Robert Milkins has never beaten Neil Robertson.

:28:56. > :29:06.DENNIS TAYLOR: He might start off with a nice, long pot here. Ooh...

:29:06. > :29:16.

:29:16. > :29:26.Has he got away with it? You might black. Doesn't look as if he can

:29:26. > :29:34.

:29:34. > :29:44.don't think he was all that confident about it, because look

:29:44. > :30:00.

:30:00. > :30:10.where he has put the cue ball. Maybe at the red by a long way. He was a

:30:10. > :30:42.

:30:42. > :30:49.lot better at that one, wasn't he? It is so disappointing for Robert,

:30:50. > :30:59.he played such a good long pot to get in. So easy to take the next

:31:00. > :31:03.

:31:03. > :31:13.shot for granted, but there is no It has worked out very nice for

:31:13. > :31:30.

:31:30. > :31:35.Neil. Guaranteed at least one red, I think Neil could do with

:31:35. > :31:45.quickening up his pace a little bit. There has been a lot of tactical

:31:45. > :31:45.

:31:45. > :32:37.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:32:37. > :32:47.stuff and he has had to think long That is OK, but he is closer to the

:32:47. > :32:47.

:32:47. > :33:34.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:33:34. > :33:40.There are a two reds there to the left, but he has to be careful when

:33:40. > :33:50.the pink comes back on to that spot that he does not cover the red he

:33:50. > :34:09.

:34:09. > :34:17.He knows he is going to cannon the other red, he is just making sure

:34:17. > :34:22.he doesn't slip out of position. He has avoided the cannon but he has

:34:22. > :34:32.left himself the wrong side of the blue and he is looking at that red

:34:32. > :34:38.

:34:38. > :34:48.near the middle pocket to see if he If he screws back he can get

:34:48. > :34:55.

:34:55. > :35:05.He could not have left it any better, he just has to drop this in

:35:05. > :35:12.

:35:12. > :35:19.He gives the impression he is in a world of his own when he is out

:35:19. > :35:29.there, Neil. Even when he is missing balls, he does not react to

:35:29. > :35:30.

:35:30. > :35:34.things. This is a big visit because he struggled a bit and he knows the

:35:34. > :35:44.Robert Milkins will have to sit in his chair and stew after missing

:35:44. > :35:50.

:35:50. > :35:54.When you have one four frames in a row, that was a bad miss. He was

:35:54. > :36:04.putting the former world champion under a bit of pressure and he has

:36:04. > :36:05.

:36:05. > :36:15.let him off the hook a little bit Still not putting them in the

:36:15. > :36:15.

:36:15. > :37:05.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:37:05. > :37:10.centre of the pocket. That one That is the frame safe. It was not

:37:10. > :37:20.it imperative that he got nicely on the blue, but he can still take it

:37:20. > :37:54.

:37:54. > :38:04.He has had 15 centuries so far this Not easy for a left-hander to give

:38:04. > :38:04.

:38:04. > :39:38.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:39:38. > :39:48.Neil Robertson will be very pleased A terrible break off from Robert

:39:48. > :40:11.

:40:11. > :40:15.We might just seen Neil Robertson settle down now. That break he had

:40:15. > :40:25.done the previous game at might have given him a confidence boost.

:40:25. > :40:59.

:40:59. > :41:07.And nice little cannon here will He felt the cue ball came off too

:41:07. > :41:11.fast. It has left him a different type of shot. He may have been

:41:11. > :41:21.hoping to pot that red into the right hand corner and retain

:41:21. > :41:34.

:41:34. > :41:40.position on the black, but he Mid-session interval coming up

:41:40. > :41:50.after this frames. Can Neil Robertson get his nose back in

:41:50. > :42:03.

:42:03. > :42:07.If you had have said before the start of the match it would be six

:42:07. > :42:17.frames all with the former world champion and tournament favourite,

:42:17. > :42:22.

:42:22. > :42:32.I think Robert would have taken Neil Robertson is such a good match

:42:32. > :42:35.

:42:35. > :42:45.player. He has recognised the time Robert has not potted a ball for 12

:42:45. > :43:15.

:43:15. > :43:21.It is a thin one. I do not think he can see enough of the pink. If he

:43:21. > :43:31.does not fancy the blue, he will come off the side cushion and

:43:31. > :43:31.

:43:31. > :44:29.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:44:29. > :44:39.Hawkeye tells you there is no way Amazing what you can do on these

:44:39. > :44:58.

:44:58. > :45:08.The black may going to the left corner pocket but it will be a

:45:08. > :45:11.

:45:12. > :45:21.tight positional shot. The angle on He could not have finished better.

:45:22. > :45:28.

:45:28. > :45:38.He must make sure he does not stick on that pink. He is 45 in front. It

:45:38. > :45:47.

:45:47. > :45:54.Absolutely amazing. He has took his eye off the pot and concentrated so

:45:54. > :46:02.much on the cannon. He cannot believe he has missed this. The

:46:02. > :46:12.number of times you see a player do that. They forget about the pot.

:46:12. > :46:26.

:46:26. > :46:36.Did that pink pass the blue? He will take it on, but it is a tough

:46:36. > :46:58.

:46:58. > :47:08.He has been starved of table time for a while. Neil Robertson has

:47:08. > :47:13.

:47:13. > :47:23.dominated for the last frame and a Very nicely played. A good chance

:47:23. > :47:41.

:47:41. > :47:51.You play Little, many sessions when you play the long matches. There

:47:51. > :48:04.

:48:04. > :48:14.are a couple of awkward reds to be It would have helped if the black

:48:14. > :48:28.

:48:28. > :48:38.I think the red that is behind the black would be available into one

:48:38. > :48:39.

:48:39. > :48:48.of the corner pockets, you would Difficult to get on it for that

:48:48. > :48:55.pocket. But maybe the other pocket. If it does, he can pot the pink and

:48:55. > :49:05.leave that red for the right corner. He is coming round to have a look.

:49:05. > :49:33.

:49:33. > :49:42.He feels as though he got a bit of a bounce off the back mission here.

:49:42. > :49:47.If he is touching the pink, the referee might have told him

:49:47. > :49:57.technically you're hitting the pink but you cannot play away. So he has

:49:57. > :50:05.

:50:05. > :50:13.nominated for Black. -- he has He has left himself a horrible shot

:50:13. > :50:23.because of that bounce off the cushion. He has got to commit

:50:23. > :50:29.

:50:29. > :50:39.Very often have done, hires his luck today? -- very optimistic, Hal

:50:39. > :50:46.

:50:46. > :50:56.Id is a very aggressive approach to the position on the table, but he

:50:56. > :51:05.

:51:05. > :51:15.knew if he played it successfully After moving the two reds he has

:51:15. > :51:26.

:51:26. > :51:36.It is a little awkward here and will stop he could send the red

:51:36. > :51:37.

:51:37. > :51:47.into the green, so it is a change He has hit the pink, that was

:51:47. > :51:51.

:51:51. > :52:01.careless. I wonder if he will try aback double here? If it goes in,

:52:01. > :52:24.

:52:24. > :52:34.He is not turning things down, he Look at this. Part I thought that

:52:34. > :52:34.

:52:34. > :53:36.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:53:36. > :53:46.Not the best. He has hit it six. -- That is just tensions. He has got

:53:46. > :54:08.

:54:08. > :54:17.away with that. They are always Not sure if he can get to the left-

:54:17. > :54:27.hand side of the red. If he can, Beatty's uneasy safety shot. -- if

:54:27. > :54:55.

:54:55. > :55:04.The normal shot here would be to Can he get enough side? Difficult

:55:04. > :55:10.to stop the a white. But that is pretty good. Green blocking the

:55:10. > :55:14.path from the red that Robert can see. He is faced with a very

:55:14. > :55:19.difficult safety shot because he cannot just play off the side of

:55:19. > :55:29.the red because he would hit the brown with the cue ball. He will

:55:29. > :55:30.

:55:30. > :55:40.have to think long and hard about this. But it is a bit awkward. He

:55:40. > :56:04.

:56:04. > :56:14.did well to miss the brown, where His manager told me has some sort

:56:14. > :56:22.

:56:22. > :56:32.of knowledge of safety, his safety He was not intending to cannon into

:56:32. > :56:33.

:56:33. > :56:43.the yellow, and he has finished perfectly on to the brown. He

:56:43. > :56:44.

:56:44. > :56:49.needed to screw that back a little bit further. Neil is quite tall,

:56:49. > :56:59.but I do not know if he can reach right round. That is quite a

:56:59. > :57:04.

:57:04. > :57:13.Totally different shot when you have to use the rest and an

:57:13. > :57:23.extension. These shots are all right when you're 17 in front, but

:57:23. > :57:35.

:57:35. > :57:45.when they are vital, it sows the He has potters nine out of mind in

:57:45. > :57:55.

:57:55. > :58:00.the rest, but this is the most Make it ten out of ten for Neil

:58:00. > :58:08.Robertson. He has a nice angle on the green to get himself on to the

:58:08. > :58:14.yellow. If he could pick the cue ball up and put it on to the pink

:58:14. > :58:22.spot, he would love to do that. Anywhere near the pink spot and he

:58:22. > :58:28.would be nicely on that yellow. And once again he concentrated so much

:58:28. > :58:38.on the green, he took his eye off the pot. He is certainly feeling

:58:38. > :58:48.the pressure out there. Well, what a golden opportunity for Robert

:58:48. > :58:56.

:58:56. > :59:06.I'd do not think I have ever seen Neil Robertson miss so many

:59:06. > :59:15.

:59:15. > :59:25.pressure balls. That is from this, And the easiest of pinks for Robert

:59:25. > :59:26.

:59:26. > :59:36.He will be absolutely delighted. He goes to the mid-session interval

:59:36. > :59:44.

:59:44. > :59:49.He will be absolutely delighted I do not know what is happening

:59:49. > :59:55.with Neil Robertson. This is so unusual for him. You would not

:59:55. > :00:01.expect him to miss that. I have not seen him miss so many pressure

:00:01. > :00:07.balls. It is quite unlike him and shows you how nervous years. He is

:00:07. > :00:14.coming in as a second favourite to Ronnie O'Sullivan. He has had a

:00:14. > :00:17.really good season and has been consistent on the circuit. You boys

:00:17. > :00:24.know what it is like, all week I have been hearing how difficult it

:00:24. > :00:31.is to play out there. He has just taken his eye off the ball and

:00:31. > :00:38.lacked that look of concentration. It is unforced errors. Have the

:00:38. > :00:43.time it is Neil's own errors. running out of position, getting

:00:43. > :00:49.chances and not scoring. He is probably one of the most prolific

:00:49. > :00:55.scorers, but his scoring has been pitiful in the last four or five

:00:55. > :01:01.frames. You have to praise Robert Milkins for hanging on in there,

:01:01. > :01:09.suddenly he goes into this interval and he is leading. Yes, but he will

:01:09. > :01:17.never have a better time at beating Neil Robertson. Robert Milkins has

:01:17. > :01:21.a great opportunity. What will Neil Robertson do now? Does he go to the

:01:21. > :01:28.practice room are his dressing room? If I was in his corner I

:01:28. > :01:37.would say get in the practice room. He is not striking the cue ball. He

:01:37. > :01:41.is not getting a nice reaction. He is not getting through the balls.

:01:41. > :01:47.When you screw the brown back to come to the side cushion, which is

:01:47. > :01:53.perfect for Neil, he had turned use the long rest. He is not timing of

:01:53. > :02:00.the ball. Just get a nice free- flowing cue action that he normally

:02:00. > :02:10.has. Neil Robertson has it all to do. All this week Steve Davis has

:02:10. > :02:27.

:02:27. > :02:30.been entertaining us with his history takes us to Liverpool, to a

:02:31. > :02:40.venerable old table manufacturer and host to a veritable treasure trove

:02:41. > :02:45.

:02:45. > :02:48.have played on a table in a club or private room where you needed a

:02:49. > :02:52.short cue to play a certain shot. Perhaps there was a pillar in the

:02:53. > :02:56.way or even a fireplace. Effectively, the room was too small

:02:56. > :03:01.for the table. But there is another solution. Don't chop a bit of the

:03:01. > :03:11.cue, chopped a bit off the table. And here we've got an octagonal

:03:11. > :03:14.

:03:14. > :03:21.table. Wow X -- wow! An Aladdin's cave of snooker memorabilia. I know

:03:21. > :03:25.you've got a special table to tell me about, Peter. This table is

:03:25. > :03:28.rumoured to have been used by the Duke of Wellington. It is a folding

:03:28. > :03:32.table so it can be moved around and the story goes the Duke of

:03:32. > :03:37.Wellington may have played on it during his campaigns. It is of the

:03:37. > :03:43.right age. We understand that in the first Afghan war, they actually took

:03:43. > :03:46.Billy tables would then strapped to their camels, so it is possible but

:03:46. > :03:56.Mac and 8-foot table here would have been strapped onto a camel and

:03:56. > :03:58.

:03:58. > :04:04.carted around! -- it is possible... I'm going to make myself sound very

:04:04. > :04:09.silly. It's got a wooden slate! It has a wooden bed in it but I'll tell

:04:09. > :04:19.you about that later. But the really important developments were things

:04:19. > :04:22.like oceans and we can go on and have a look at those. -- cushions.

:04:22. > :04:32.According to the legend we've got, it would fit into a bay window.

:04:32. > :04:33.

:04:34. > :04:37.Perfect! So cushions are a very important part of the game. Indeed.

:04:37. > :04:47.Prior to using rubber in the cushions, this is what a traditional

:04:47. > :04:53.

:04:53. > :04:59.it, so basically it was there to stop the ball rolling off the table.

:04:59. > :05:03.So no bouncing? Peter Ebdon would be upset with that! The next thing was

:05:03. > :05:08.the introduction of natural rubber into the cushions in about 1835. And

:05:08. > :05:14.this was something similar to what it would have looked like.

:05:14. > :05:21.laminated? Yes. From then, you went to a vulcanised rubber. When you and

:05:21. > :05:28.I might have been going to play, with the ladies playing cards and we

:05:28. > :05:33.would have gone to the drawing room to have our pot and brandy, you

:05:33. > :05:38.would have had one of these which was a long steel Chewbacca with hot

:05:38. > :05:46.water... To soften the rubber up?It is essentially like a hot water

:05:46. > :05:51.bottle. Marvellous!And then you would get your response. So then it

:05:51. > :05:54.would bounce out of the middle of the table. This early rubber wasn't

:05:54. > :06:04.up to much so when did it get to the stage where you could play and it

:06:04. > :06:06.would bounce off a length? People used to promote the fact that they

:06:06. > :06:12.were low frost proof cushions because the vulcanised rubber wasn't

:06:12. > :06:18.affected by the cold. So that was really what a traditional, and still

:06:18. > :06:28.looks like today on most tables, cushion looks like. You have the

:06:28. > :06:28.

:06:28. > :06:36.block and then the body of the table. Because we have to refer

:06:36. > :06:41.back, they came up with things like steel blocks and that goes back. And

:06:41. > :06:45.then you have a big piece of steel on this one. Here it is only a piece

:06:45. > :06:50.of wood but the steel is bolted on to the bed of the table and then

:06:50. > :06:55.this piece of wood is the mask that goes on. And that makes it more

:06:55. > :06:59.solid. And we have blocks today and we still consider those to be the

:06:59. > :07:06.fastest response cushions there. What is this? This is a replica of

:07:07. > :07:14.the first match table. The legendary match table. It was chosen as a

:07:14. > :07:24.standard table full-size in 1832 so we got to 12 foot 6' as the playing

:07:24. > :07:27.

:07:27. > :07:33.area for the table. -- 12 feet it by six feet. And it would have been for

:07:33. > :07:43.the best players of the day. Prior to that, you would have had a table

:07:43. > :07:45.which was four feet wide and 14 feet long. Of course, Peter, at top-class

:07:46. > :07:50.level, the players moan like crazy if the tables on level, so over the

:07:50. > :08:00.years, it must have been a massive problem. Yes. If you follow me, I

:08:00. > :08:06.

:08:06. > :08:10.will show you some beds that they the slate. So, again, this is

:08:10. > :08:13.pre-1826. You can see it is made into a frame and each of these

:08:13. > :08:20.blocks, the grain runs in the opposite direction, trying to keep

:08:20. > :08:29.the bed level. Somewhere in our legend, we have found that they

:08:29. > :08:33.talked about "flogging the bed", which was to take over the high

:08:33. > :08:42.spots that they moaned about. look at the gaps! That is a crevice!

:08:42. > :08:48.Look at that! If you are trying to roll up slowly to the yellow...

:08:48. > :08:51.would give you some side on! This is about an inch thick and the original

:08:51. > :08:56.slate beds were made so they just replaced the wooden beds, so they

:08:56. > :09:00.were not very thick. This is actually in three sections and I

:09:00. > :09:04.think the early lightweight heads in slate were in three sections. But

:09:04. > :09:14.has we developed and you wanted a better surface, because a thin slate

:09:14. > :09:19.will warp, and it could go round, depending how it is supported, so

:09:19. > :09:29.this is how you made it level. We are now going to the standard

:09:29. > :09:32.

:09:32. > :09:39.hipness inch and three quarters. -- thickness. This is a concrete one

:09:39. > :09:45.from about 1860. Five sections?Two reasons for that. One, it is a size,

:09:45. > :09:49.given the thickness, that people can carry and deliver two places. And

:09:49. > :09:56.also, rather than having it in four sections, where a joint would

:09:56. > :10:00.probably hit the pocket, slate is obviously... It is easy to break up

:10:00. > :10:04.a bit so rather than have a problem with the middle pocket they made it

:10:04. > :10:11.into five. And then you can carry these. Two people could just about

:10:11. > :10:15.do it but with a full table, it was about three or four. When we had the

:10:15. > :10:20.snooker boom in the 80s, they try to use resin mixed with granite and

:10:20. > :10:25.slate dust and they even tried glass, but slate is easy to work,

:10:25. > :10:30.you can level it, and with five sections, if we had this laid up on

:10:30. > :10:33.a table and set up before we put the cloth on, and I got you to close

:10:33. > :10:38.your eyes and run your fingers over the length of the table, you

:10:38. > :10:43.wouldn't be able to feel it. The old Welsh slate mines are gone now.

:10:43. > :10:49.Where does it come from? The new tables will have Italian and now the

:10:49. > :10:54.very new tables will have Chinese slate. I've just spotted something

:10:55. > :10:59.over your head! What is this? It runs all the way along... Yes, this

:10:59. > :11:07.was for billiards, so that when you are practising at home you didn't

:11:08. > :11:15.have to walk all the way down. is wonderful. I haven't seen one of

:11:15. > :11:23.these for years. And I tell you what else - the coin-operated... 5p in

:11:23. > :11:28.the meter? It probably would have been 6p. They were properly doing it

:11:28. > :11:32.on bits of paper in those days. Fantastic! Feeding the meter, it

:11:32. > :11:42.used to be called. Keeping the light on. Stephen Hendry has never put any

:11:42. > :11:43.

:11:43. > :11:49.money in one of those metres in his life! I bet!

:11:49. > :11:53.I hope you are enjoying those lessons from Steve Davis. It is just

:11:53. > :12:01.under road from Goodison Park so you can pot down the road and have a

:12:01. > :12:10.look. As Steve said, it is like an Aladdin 's cave. Yes. I asked a

:12:10. > :12:19.couple of questions a few days ago in three hours later I came out!

:12:19. > :12:29.started on six by three tables. Ireland are getting my first. It was

:12:29. > :12:29.

:12:29. > :12:32.at the bottom of the bunkbeds. -- I remember. We had the metres as well.

:12:32. > :12:37.You're absolutely right that in the 80s, they were commercially

:12:37. > :12:42.available. We had one where I was growing up in Cardiff and it drove

:12:42. > :12:52.my mother nuts. It was in the corner of the room and we moved all the

:12:52. > :12:52.

:12:52. > :13:00.furniture and called it into the middle. They -- we drove her mad!

:13:01. > :13:10.Yes! I would come in every day after school when it was dragged in. I

:13:10. > :13:13.would pretend I do my homework but be playing. So now 12' x 6' were

:13:13. > :13:21.introduced in 1892. Before that it could be whatever size worked for

:13:21. > :13:29.the purchaser. I didn't know that. Who's going to play on that?

:13:29. > :13:33.probably need a rest to break off! -- I would probably need. We are now

:13:33. > :13:36.back with live coverage of Neil Robertson against Robert Milkins.

:13:36. > :13:46.Neil Robertson is in a bit of a pickle, so before the tournament, we

:13:46. > :13:57.

:13:57. > :14:02.grown up a lot in the last 20, 30 years, and the game has become a lot

:14:02. > :14:07.more professional, so if you have your night out with the top players

:14:07. > :14:17.I'm sure you will have a pretty good time. Definitely the case three

:14:17. > :14:23.years ago but now it is properly a bit too much of a job! -- probably.

:14:23. > :14:27.In terms of the hours of practice, I've probably practised less than

:14:27. > :14:32.anyone in the top 20 in the world. I concentrate on doing quality

:14:32. > :14:42.practice. No, definitely something I don't do. I don't moan about

:14:42. > :14:45.

:14:45. > :14:49.travelling at all. I've just got a gym and treadmill installed in my

:14:49. > :14:59.house so one of my goals for the new season is to be as fit as any other

:14:59. > :15:04.player on the tour, if not more fit. Yes, used to be absolutely

:15:04. > :15:13.terrible, the amount of matches I've just got through. But I now try to

:15:13. > :15:16.get to my matches early. It's either you were watching DVDs or playing

:15:16. > :15:26.computer games, so it's important to keep it under control and play in

:15:26. > :15:27.

:15:27. > :15:37.moderation. No, I've never said anything like that. I want to win

:15:37. > :15:38.

:15:38. > :15:42.another two or three world titles, Well, he's in a right old battle

:15:42. > :15:49.here, Neil Robertson. Let's hand you back to our commentary team of

:15:49. > :15:54.Dennis Taylor and Terry Griffiths. TERRY GRIFFITHS: Yes, he's got a lot

:15:54. > :16:02.to do, Neil Robertson. He's missed few pressure pots before the

:16:02. > :16:07.interval. That's unusual for him. -- he's missed a few. Ten is the number

:16:07. > :16:14.they are both looking for in frames. Doesn't matter how you get there. As

:16:15. > :16:20.long as you get there before your opponent! Interesting listening to

:16:20. > :16:25.Neil on the spot there. He said he wants to win another two or three

:16:25. > :16:35.titles, so he had better shape up here because he's taken his eye off

:16:35. > :16:58.

:16:58. > :17:08.But not too bad. I think Rob might be able to take the left onto the

:17:08. > :17:37.

:17:37. > :17:47.you're taking the pot on you need to avoid cannon -- the cannon into

:17:47. > :18:03.

:18:03. > :18:13.position there. I think the pink might pass into the left corner. The

:18:13. > :18:32.

:18:32. > :18:36.blue is definitely available anyway. well. Could have been worse. After

:18:37. > :18:46.he got the cannon on the yellow. He's got a red to go for and the

:18:47. > :19:25.

:19:25. > :19:32.back looking at it again. Normally he would get down and pot that. But

:19:32. > :19:42.that is more like it. Better cueing from Neil Robertson. He changed his

:19:42. > :20:16.

:20:16. > :20:26.played it well. And that's much more choice and he's given himself a

:20:26. > :20:59.

:20:59. > :21:09.far. He's pulled off some good pots pot the red into the left corner,

:21:09. > :21:29.

:21:29. > :21:33.question of the former world champion in taking that last frame

:21:33. > :21:39.and he's played very well, but he knows Neil Robertson can move up a

:21:39. > :21:44.gear. It's an act that some of the top players have when they are put

:21:44. > :21:47.under pressure. That's when they come into their own. It remains to

:21:47. > :21:57.be seen what happens here. But already he is looking much more

:21:57. > :22:21.

:22:21. > :22:31.It flew off that cushion. And of course Neil Robertson, I think you

:22:31. > :22:31.

:22:31. > :22:35.won in 2010, this Championship. -- he won. He was a long way down

:22:35. > :22:45.against Martin Gould in the second round at 11-5 and went on to win

:22:45. > :23:17.

:23:17. > :23:22.faced adversity here and they know mentioned Martin Gould there. He

:23:22. > :23:27.lost to Shaun Murphy in the first round and I've been watching the

:23:27. > :23:31.boys in the studio, and in the background, he's playing on the

:23:31. > :23:36.table with the youngsters and the people who come along to accuse own.

:23:36. > :23:41.So he likes to stay around, Martin Gould. There are few who do and they

:23:41. > :23:51.normally had back home. But he's been entertaining them and keeping

:23:51. > :23:51.

:23:51. > :24:31.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:24:32. > :24:41.goes, he will take that. If not, we red and then the colour. And then

:24:42. > :24:53.

:24:53. > :24:57.one more red to make Robert need a would you believe it! He was

:24:57. > :25:07.starting to look comfortable and that was frame ball and he missed

:25:07. > :25:17.

:25:17. > :25:27.the black and just disturb those reds he could get right back into

:25:27. > :25:37.

:25:37. > :25:47.There's a bit of distance between them but this could open things up.

:25:47. > :26:01.

:26:01. > :26:08.They are not dead set in line for could see the plant and he was

:26:08. > :26:16.hoping to split the reds up but he needed a bit more pace. He is now

:26:16. > :26:24.very restricted with his position. I don't think he's going to be on

:26:24. > :26:34.another red if he drops it in. because the pink would come back

:26:34. > :26:43.

:26:43. > :26:53.onto its spot and block the path of Just trying to get the snooker here.

:26:53. > :26:55.

:26:55. > :26:59.And he hasn't. His left Neil a free pot, although having said that, if

:26:59. > :27:09.he takes the cut on to the right corner he's got to make sure he

:27:09. > :27:19.

:27:19. > :27:23.misses the pink on the way back down then, if Robert Milkins has a look

:27:23. > :27:27.here, there's a possibility he could take this red down the cushion and

:27:27. > :27:31.he likes this type of shot, because it doesn't look from here as if any

:27:31. > :27:41.of those reds would go in the left centre. He's had one chance and he

:27:41. > :27:49.might not get another. He's 52 points behind with 51 left. He's

:27:49. > :27:59.looking at it. Yes, you walked around the table and spotted what

:27:59. > :28:26.

:28:26. > :28:36.looks to have played that perfectly. Beautiful shop there and a great

:28:36. > :28:46.

:28:46. > :28:56.virtually game ball and then it went safe so it might come to Neil's

:28:56. > :29:36.

:29:36. > :29:39.ball. I think the yellow passes the potted that pink in the middle and

:29:39. > :29:49.gone up to the baulk area and into the pack of reds when he took that

:29:49. > :30:20.

:30:20. > :30:30.onto it. The referee was putting the brown on the blue spot but quickly

:30:30. > :30:38.

:30:38. > :30:48.play. He was trying to macro shots in one there, trying to pot the

:30:48. > :31:19.

:31:19. > :31:27.The black is close to the middle pocket. Great chance for Neil

:31:27. > :31:37.Robertson to get back to all square again. He played that too slow,

:31:37. > :31:47.

:31:47. > :31:53.deliver the cued to slow. Deliver I have never seen Neil miss so many

:31:53. > :31:59.balls, he is under pressure for some reason. His opponent has

:31:59. > :32:09.played well, maybe that has put him under pressure. But why has he

:32:09. > :32:16.

:32:16. > :32:26.I felt he should have got that save us first. That black is in a very

:32:26. > :32:59.

:32:59. > :33:04.favourable positions. It may be all And if he does get a chance to pot

:33:04. > :33:12.the brown, he can then get in behind the black as you mentioned.

:33:12. > :33:21.Neil cannot afford to leave the brownout on. -- leave the brownout

:33:21. > :33:26.on. Because of where they are it is a big target area to play snooker.

:33:26. > :33:34.If he can get his cue ball on the right-hand side of the table and

:33:34. > :33:44.the object ball on the same side. He doesn't look to have a shot on

:33:44. > :34:03.

:34:03. > :34:13.here. He has got to get his brown He has got to be careful, the angle

:34:13. > :34:14.

:34:14. > :34:24.the cue ball will take. He should not play with any pace. That was a

:34:24. > :34:40.

:34:40. > :34:46.Neil Robertson has set the foundations for his winner. He is

:34:46. > :34:56.playing an exhibition shot here, that is unusual for Neil. He has

:34:56. > :35:00.

:35:00. > :35:10.Robertson made a break of 61, but he is not giving himself many

:35:10. > :35:10.

:35:10. > :35:17.He took the blue one, which you would ordinarily expect him to get,

:35:17. > :35:21.but at the moment though shots are not really happening for him.

:35:21. > :35:28.think he needs a good break to really settle him down and get that

:35:28. > :35:33.confidence. I know he is 26 points ahead, but he has missed a

:35:33. > :35:38.straightforward green into the pocket. He is very on edge. Nobody

:35:38. > :35:48.wants to go out on the first round. The factory is one of the

:35:48. > :35:48.

:35:48. > :35:54.favourites as pressure. It is the Crucible pressure, isn't it?

:35:54. > :35:59.have all been there. The first round is absolutely horrible, but

:35:59. > :36:07.Robert Milkins has got to keep doing what he has been doing. He is

:36:07. > :36:17.in with a big chance. Let's see what happens. Neil Robertson was

:36:17. > :36:22.

:36:22. > :36:32.Robert some might possibly have left a path for a red into the

:36:32. > :36:37.

:36:37. > :36:47.It must be tight because he is having a look at it from both ends.

:36:47. > :37:04.

:37:04. > :37:14.If he takes it on, he has got a pot Let's have a look. That looks a bit

:37:14. > :37:21.

:37:21. > :37:31.tight to get to the potting angle, He was indicating he is going to

:37:31. > :37:31.

:37:31. > :38:47.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:38:47. > :38:53.leave the white up at the black He thought he was going to go round

:38:53. > :38:56.the back of the black and red, and he scattered the reds all over the

:38:56. > :39:03.table. He has finished in a position where there is one

:39:03. > :39:13.possible pot and may be that it is not even on. What a result of Neil

:39:13. > :39:20.

:39:20. > :39:27.He is shaking his head, that tells Robert just have to forget about it

:39:27. > :39:32.and play a safety shot. That is an amazing result when you think of

:39:32. > :39:42.where the cue ball finished and where the reds did, you would think

:39:42. > :39:47.

:39:47. > :39:55.you are bound to have walked -- Do you think he can get to that red

:39:55. > :40:04.for safety? Yes, it just get as close to the cushioned... You would

:40:04. > :40:10.at least one to a shot where you can trap him, the ball has run. He

:40:10. > :40:16.cannot do much about it. In one respect to should be thinking how

:40:16. > :40:22.lucky he is because he missed the pot. He should not have left the

:40:22. > :40:28.white where he did because he left Neil an easy shot to snooker him.

:40:28. > :40:38.pretty poor safety from Robert. He should not have left the white in

:40:38. > :40:54.

:40:54. > :41:04.that position. He has got a bit of Maybe that is OK because they are

:41:04. > :41:12.

:41:12. > :41:18.covering each other. It wasn't If he can find a nice spot for the

:41:18. > :41:24.cue ball up near where he is standing, not on the carpet, on the

:41:24. > :41:34.table. And cover that red, on the left-hand side of the table, he

:41:34. > :41:53.

:41:53. > :42:03.Robert has a few choices, another defence of safety, push it off the

:42:03. > :42:06.

:42:06. > :42:16.He could even hit the red on the right cushion and bring the cue

:42:16. > :42:26.

:42:26. > :42:36.ball down here, but he has not There you go, I do not know which

:42:36. > :42:37.

:42:37. > :42:47.side of the red he played, I think he caught at two sec. -- icing he

:42:47. > :42:47.

:42:47. > :44:19.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:44:19. > :44:27.caught it to -- I think he caught Be looked pretty straightforward

:44:27. > :44:37.pick-up -- but they are not really. You have got to be a little bit

:44:37. > :44:47.

:44:47. > :44:53.A lot of them are blocking each He is just looking to see if the

:44:53. > :44:58.red will pass the black into the opposite corner pocket. He has got

:44:58. > :45:08.an angle on the black, he does not necessarily have to play for that

:45:08. > :45:33.

:45:33. > :45:38.If he is not absolutely sure, play Sometimes in this situation it is

:45:38. > :45:48.all plain sailing, other times a fraction can make all the

:45:48. > :45:51.

:45:51. > :46:01.He has flipped it. The he might have put himself right out of

:46:01. > :46:11.

:46:11. > :46:16.It will not go now. It would have before he'd just nudged it. What is

:46:16. > :46:25.a mistake that has turned out to be false stop he potted the black dead

:46:25. > :46:32.centre of the pocket, he just misjudged position. That is what he

:46:32. > :46:38.is faced with. I know Neil is under pressure, but he is taking a long

:46:38. > :46:43.time. I would like to see him pick the pace up. He is giving the

:46:43. > :46:52.message to his opponent that he is not feeling great. When he is

:46:52. > :46:58.feeling good out there, he is very fluid. In this situation, you do

:46:58. > :47:05.not mind him taking as much time as he likes. But when he is in the

:47:05. > :47:15.balls, just play your normal games. It is a devastating came that he

:47:15. > :47:31.

:47:31. > :47:39.I'm just wondering if this red to the right of the black, the two

:47:39. > :47:49.reds, it might go. There are other options. Robert had a look at that,

:47:49. > :47:54.

:47:54. > :48:01.but obviously cannot see enough of He is back having a look after it.

:48:01. > :48:11.But if it does not go, it does not go. It does not matter how I am on

:48:11. > :48:27.

:48:27. > :48:31.That is a cracking the opening red. And it has to be said, Robert

:48:31. > :48:39.Milkins is looking a more relaxed than the former world champion is

:48:39. > :48:45.at the moment. He is a pretty cool customer. He has only won one match,

:48:45. > :48:55.he has been here so many times, played here five times but has only

:48:55. > :48:59.

:48:59. > :49:09.As John Parrott said in the studio, make no mistake, this man could

:49:09. > :49:11.

:49:11. > :49:16.The opinion amongst a lot of the professional players is that Neil

:49:16. > :49:22.Robertson is the favourite to win the title this year. Not quite sure

:49:23. > :49:26.what the odds are, but he has been showing some great form. He has

:49:27. > :49:32.good history, and because of that you can understand why there is so

:49:32. > :49:42.much pressure on him. Robert Milkins, on the other hand, will

:49:42. > :49:46.

:49:46. > :49:56.just be glad to win this match. It He totally misjudged that once and

:49:56. > :49:58.

:49:58. > :50:04.If he was playing a cannon on that, those two reds together do not look

:50:04. > :50:14.like they would go. Anyway, there is a long pot on which might be

:50:14. > :50:18.

:50:18. > :50:28.He is a long way out of position. He has gone further up the table

:50:28. > :50:41.

:50:41. > :50:51.I think his bridge is awkward, you can see how much cue is out there.

:50:51. > :50:54.

:50:54. > :51:04.The red has come across and left Neil a chance. Both players have

:51:04. > :51:24.

:51:24. > :51:34.If he takes this red to the centre pocket, the natural angle taken up

:51:34. > :51:46.

:51:46. > :51:50.the right-hand side of the reds. A Well, he has had a good look around

:51:50. > :51:58.and he may have to play a cannon now. They all look to be blocking

:51:58. > :52:08.each other. He does not necessarily have to hit the pink this time, but

:52:08. > :52:24.

:52:25. > :52:34.It all depends on the angle. He He is looking to see if he can get

:52:35. > :52:43.

:52:43. > :52:53.He is stuck on the red, that is what I thought might happen. Can he

:52:53. > :52:57.see the black? He cannot, it is fractions. He is looking a bit

:52:57. > :53:07.unlucky there. Because he was striking down and trying to make an

:53:07. > :53:13.

:53:13. > :53:23.angle, he was just fractionally to The match has gone over five hours.

:53:23. > :53:50.

:53:50. > :54:00.Five hours and 15 minutes. It is He Neelie played a very clever shot

:54:00. > :54:03.

:54:03. > :54:13.there, he tried to put the white on the blues. -- he Neelie played. --

:54:13. > :54:23.

:54:23. > :54:28.Very unusual to see a player, playing a safety shot and leaving

:54:28. > :54:38.the white in the middle of the table beside the blue, but that is

:54:38. > :54:38.

:54:38. > :55:18.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:55:18. > :55:24.A little bit of noise from the other side of the arena. Play has

:55:24. > :55:34.finished, I think, on the other side. The players in a little while

:55:34. > :55:42.

:55:42. > :55:52.it will have the whole arena to That white just flew off the

:55:52. > :56:03.

:56:03. > :56:11.It went wrong. I do not know if he had a bad contract or not. Robert

:56:11. > :56:21.is having the cue ball cleaned, so maybe he did. Difficult to detect a

:56:21. > :56:21.

:56:21. > :57:12.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:57:12. > :57:19.This will help. And nice angle here to get up to the reds. It is not

:57:19. > :57:29.going to be easy. The black is awkward, pink is up the other end

:57:29. > :57:35.

:57:35. > :57:41.It is even more difficult it now that he is the wrong side of the

:57:41. > :57:47.blue and there is no red available. This would only give him an extra 5

:57:47. > :57:54.points, so there is not a great deal of value. He is looking at the

:57:54. > :58:04.score, it is still early days. A safety might be better than taking

:58:04. > :58:12.

:58:12. > :58:21.He has not got the snooker. He wanted to hit the pink slightly on

:58:21. > :58:31.the right side. Playing very gently like that, there is a good chance

:58:31. > :58:55.

:58:55. > :59:05.He has pushed the red over the Another two inches and that would

:59:05. > :59:08.

:59:08. > :59:17.have been possible. He will have to If he had gone a fraction further

:59:17. > :59:27.he could have brought the reds into There should not be too much danger

:59:27. > :59:38.

:59:39. > :59:48.He did not mean to hit it that hard. Maybe not, I can see Robert shaking

:59:49. > :59:57.

:59:57. > :00:07.his head. Neil almost left him in He thinks you can pot at, and he

:00:07. > :00:14.

:00:14. > :00:24.could. The -- he thinks he can have Can he can and the two reds? It is

:00:24. > :00:40.

:00:40. > :00:46.He knew this one was always going that's the one that gets you. When

:00:46. > :00:54.you get a few to porters there going, go on, Neil! And you have

:00:54. > :01:04.nothing to have a go at! -- you get a few supporters. There's a good

:01:04. > :01:15.

:01:15. > :01:20.crucial times not playing shots up to their usual standard. And that's

:01:20. > :01:26.not a good one either for Neil. Didn't hit it hard enough. So an

:01:26. > :01:36.easy safety from Robert to leave the white tight to the cushion. -- for

:01:36. > :01:53.

:01:53. > :01:56.DENNIS TAYLOR: Well, this next shot will open the table up. There is the

:01:56. > :02:04.straightforward safety down of the two reds. He can just see the single

:02:04. > :02:14.red. Then get past the blue to play down the left side of the table of

:02:14. > :02:41.

:02:42. > :02:51.was trying to be ultra-careful bounce. He could have played the

:02:52. > :02:58.

:02:58. > :03:08.pink and disturb the reds but now he old two-cushion escape. Try to

:03:08. > :03:23.

:03:23. > :03:33.glance of those roads to get back up with lots of left-hand side. And

:03:33. > :03:45.

:03:45. > :03:50.well played. Excellent shot! And occurs he should have played off

:03:50. > :04:00.those two reds in the previous safety shot. He played a very

:04:00. > :04:00.

:04:01. > :04:10.defensive shot. OK, this hasn't been the greatest friends for Neil. --

:04:11. > :04:33.

:04:33. > :04:43.about that! This time he is on the Championship so far and it might

:04:43. > :04:54.

:04:54. > :05:04.which makes it a bit awkward. So he will take the yellow and the yellow

:05:04. > :05:33.

:05:33. > :05:43.Milkins? He is in their battling away and making life tough. --

:05:43. > :06:06.

:06:07. > :06:12.doesn't really matter. He's just rolling it in anyway. Robert Milkins

:06:12. > :06:20.leads the former world champion, Neil Robertson, 8-7.

:06:20. > :06:25.Wow! What a frame! And Neil Robertson is in some trouble, Ken?

:06:25. > :06:30.Probably the shot of the Championship so far. He's played a

:06:30. > :06:36.great escape. Also soft trouble. He is not only hit it, but look at the

:06:36. > :06:40.position. Perfect on the pink. And that was going to win any frame.

:06:40. > :06:44.you agree, John? Was that one of the shots of the Championship so far?

:06:44. > :06:50.Neil Robertson could not play the shop before that any better and you

:06:50. > :06:57.must have been sitting in his chair thinking, I've got a right chance. A

:06:57. > :07:03.magnificent shot, really well thought out. And he's grown in

:07:03. > :07:07.confidence? Yes. Neil Robertson is a shadow today of what he normally is.

:07:07. > :07:15.He has a great chance of winning this match, Robert Milkins, and I

:07:15. > :07:19.firmly believe that because his opponent is not at speed today.

:07:19. > :07:24.is absolutely right. He looks on edge. We have talked about some of

:07:24. > :07:30.the top seeds coming in and he is maybe the second favourite to win

:07:30. > :07:36.this after Ronnie O'Sullivan. A couple of big seeds have gone out -

:07:36. > :07:42.Mark Williams is one of them. Sometimes that can play a part

:07:42. > :07:44.because it always makes you a bit more edgy. You want to get into the

:07:45. > :07:54.first match and get into the tournament and think it is open for

:07:55. > :08:00.

:08:00. > :08:03.you. I'm nitpicking editor bit but sometimes players do look at the

:08:03. > :08:06.draw and if the two big seeds have gone out of your quarter, you think,

:08:06. > :08:08.well, this is handy. Get over this first one and I could be in the

:08:08. > :08:11.semi-final. Do you buy the argument that he is also looking, thinking,

:08:11. > :08:14.I'm one of the top four seeds and I'm not into the second round yet?

:08:14. > :08:19.You should be thinking any of that. You go back to your hotel and think,

:08:19. > :08:22.he has got knocked out, and he has got knocked out. You would expect

:08:22. > :08:26.Stephen Maguire to have come through and Williams as well. But you have

:08:26. > :08:30.to blank that because if you don't get this match, you won't be playing

:08:30. > :08:36.anybody in the next round! Robert Milkins said he feels confident

:08:36. > :08:40.going into the game but because he has not been here for some time, he

:08:40. > :08:45.was terrified, but he seems to be growing and growing into the game as

:08:45. > :08:50.it progresses. Yes, it gives you confidence. When you see your

:08:50. > :08:54.opponent missing big breaks and not punishing you, you can get the

:08:54. > :08:59.frame. But Robert Milkins is not afraid of playing anybody. Not Neil

:08:59. > :09:03.Robertson or anybody. He has been growing confidence and is up to

:09:03. > :09:09.number 19, provisionally, in the world. Almost breaking the top 16. A

:09:09. > :09:14.win like this would give him a tremendous boost. And he dropped --

:09:14. > :09:18.knocked Jimmy White out in a qualifying round as well. What will

:09:18. > :09:21.be interesting is that Robert Milkins is getting near the winning

:09:21. > :09:30.posts now. He was the pretournament favourite before anything started.

:09:30. > :09:34.He's thinking, I am 8-7, I have the best chance to beat him. He hasn't

:09:34. > :09:39.had much experience at The Crucible whereas Neil Robertson house. And he

:09:39. > :09:48.has got to the end and lifted the trophy and that could play a factor

:09:48. > :09:58.as well. -- Neil Robertson has. is going to happen in this? We know

:09:58. > :10:01.

:10:01. > :10:04.he lost to Wally O'Sullivan 13-2. -- TERRY GRIFFITHS: You still have to

:10:04. > :10:12.think Neil Robertson would be the favourite even with what has gone on

:10:12. > :10:16.before. Because he's had quite a lot of success at The Crucible where

:10:16. > :10:21.Robert Milkins hasn't. But of course Milkins is playing a lot better

:10:21. > :10:23.now. His temperament is a lot better than it used to be and he has been

:10:23. > :10:33.getting a lot of wins in the last few years, which makes you

:10:33. > :10:46.

:10:47. > :10:56.would be a bonus if the two reds were on for the centre pocket. And

:10:57. > :11:19.

:11:19. > :11:28.see a player that takes a plant on and forgets about the cue ball. He

:11:29. > :11:38.is on the yellow but... We might just have to see the cue power of

:11:39. > :12:17.

:12:17. > :12:20.And, you know, we've been feeling for the last couple of friends Neil

:12:20. > :12:30.Robertson just has to move up through the gears. Cash Mac couple

:12:30. > :12:37.

:12:37. > :12:47.opponent, Robert Milkins, looks more relaxed than Neil does. A pretty

:12:47. > :13:11.

:13:11. > :13:21.the snooker. I've been so impressed good tactical player but Robert

:13:21. > :13:29.

:13:29. > :13:33.Milkins at 82% with his safety consider both these players are

:13:33. > :13:43.really good long potters and you have to take that into account when

:13:43. > :14:05.

:14:05. > :14:11.played there. Just tapping the table. To control that swerve shot

:14:11. > :14:21.and just glance off the red. Because if he had missed the red going up

:14:21. > :14:37.

:14:37. > :14:43.and left the red on. He had to be so might be a red that pops into the

:14:43. > :14:53.corner, just to the left and behind the pink. He could take that on. But

:14:53. > :15:11.

:15:11. > :15:21.it is a free shot for Neil Robert Milkins. He will have to hit

:15:21. > :15:42.

:15:42. > :15:49.the side of the pack and hit it Crucible Theatre to themselves now,

:15:49. > :15:59.with play finished on the other side of the table. No distractions. This

:15:59. > :15:59.

:15:59. > :16:41.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:16:41. > :16:47.reckless but he wanted to get the cue ball around the table. I thought

:16:47. > :16:57.he had fluked it! No, he hasn't. Has he covered it? And if he's covered

:16:57. > :17:00.

:17:00. > :17:10.that, has he covered the other red? Or can Neil not one onto the other?

:17:10. > :17:19.

:17:19. > :17:29.around the table when he took the pot on. You never know where the

:17:29. > :17:38.

:17:38. > :17:48.reds are going to go when you take this pot. But once the two reds can

:17:48. > :18:08.

:18:08. > :18:18.and the blue, they could go be available to the left-hand

:18:18. > :18:25.

:18:25. > :18:35.to pot the pink... Hmm... Maybe if it goes back onto its own spot, it

:18:35. > :18:54.

:18:54. > :19:04.might be tied up somewhat. He might know if it's available once it goes

:19:04. > :19:19.

:19:19. > :19:29.score. 913 against 700 finials Robertson. -- for Neil Robertson.

:19:29. > :19:35.

:19:35. > :19:45.And he's losing. It's not always the this pink to the right corner

:19:45. > :19:46.

:19:46. > :19:56.pocket. It's not even on the red. So he's out of position. He still looks

:19:56. > :20:31.

:20:32. > :20:41.goes but he's had a long, hard look bit quick with the delivery of the

:20:42. > :20:56.

:20:56. > :21:00.cue there, which is very unlike Neil as you say, is not the fluke. When

:21:00. > :21:03.you miss and don't leave your opponent anything, it can be quite

:21:03. > :21:13.upsetting for your opponent because he feels he deserves to have

:21:13. > :21:13.

:21:13. > :21:53.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:21:53. > :22:01.with that black being knocked over to send the black over the corner

:22:01. > :22:11.pocket. Last time he was going to wobble the red and knock the black

:22:11. > :22:11.

:22:11. > :23:05.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:23:05. > :23:15.he should, because he's been taking too long, I feel. Once he's in

:23:15. > :23:15.

:23:15. > :23:57.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:23:58. > :24:07.amongst the balls, he has a very you how a little bit of a run of the

:24:08. > :24:19.

:24:19. > :24:29.ball can help. Neil missed that red frame and get himself back all

:24:29. > :24:29.

:24:29. > :25:37.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:25:38. > :25:42.comfortable now, Neil Robertson. But break is enough, and once again, we

:25:42. > :25:47.are back level at 8-8. Well, we will discuss that frame in

:25:47. > :25:55.a moment but we thought we'd entertain you with a little game as

:25:55. > :25:58.we wait. Spot the real John Parrott! How many have we got? Five of them!

:25:58. > :26:08.In fact, the best looking one is in the checked shirt! We were going to

:26:08. > :26:09.

:26:09. > :26:15.get a Ken asked but it would have frightened the kids! -- mask.

:26:15. > :26:23.21 today. Happy birthday! That picture must have been taken quite a

:26:23. > :26:30.while ago! Actually, you can take your mask off now! Anyway, let's go

:26:30. > :26:35.back to the serious business -8 - eight. Yes, all to play for. They

:26:35. > :26:39.will just be looking for a really good chance here. It's in the

:26:39. > :26:46.balance. Experience may tell apart but it may not. It's a bit better

:26:46. > :26:52.from Neil Robertson, playing a bit better in that frame, but still a

:26:52. > :26:59.long way to go yet. DENNIS TAYLOR: Yes, a long way to go

:26:59. > :27:09.yet, but who is going to get themselves at 9-8 and just need the

:27:09. > :27:16.

:27:16. > :27:26.one frame to get through to the Once again, he has had a great run

:27:26. > :27:47.

:27:47. > :27:57.Crucible. Might be able to take the pot on. They are loving every minute

:27:57. > :27:57.

:27:57. > :29:34.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:29:34. > :29:44.cushion by the black spot area. The way Neil reacted there. Just come

:29:44. > :30:06.

:30:06. > :30:16.off the cushions so much quicker magic figure of ten is coming close

:30:16. > :30:54.

:30:54. > :31:01.best frame in the last one, so he points. Talking about the more

:31:01. > :31:11.experienced player, and that is Neil Robertson, who has won more matches.

:31:11. > :31:21.

:31:21. > :31:31.21 here at The Crucible and he has -- shot. And at first glance, a bit

:31:31. > :31:31.

:31:31. > :32:15.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:32:15. > :32:22.of a problem for Robert Milkins Not quite as he intended. This red

:32:22. > :32:32.does not pass the blue. It will pot into the right middle Pottle --

:32:32. > :33:11.

:33:11. > :33:17.It is a similar situation for Robert. He has got to give it could

:33:17. > :33:27.cue ball, or he could lead some on. That was a bit thick. He didn't

:33:27. > :33:45.

:33:45. > :33:55.want to hit the job. He can get on He didn't like the ankle to hold

:33:55. > :34:20.

:34:20. > :34:25.He has a slight angle to work with He could get on the black this time.

:34:25. > :34:35.He is coming round once again to have a look to see if he can leave

:34:35. > :34:50.

:34:50. > :35:00.Neil Robertson doesn't make a lot of mistakes, that is what he has

:35:00. > :35:13.

:35:13. > :35:23.The black cannot go back on its own spots, which will put it out of

:35:23. > :35:43.

:35:43. > :35:53.Has he left himself on this read? He can't stand it in, get a nice

:35:53. > :36:19.

:36:19. > :36:29.angle on the blue and then play the If he gets on the blue in such a

:36:29. > :36:48.

:36:48. > :36:58.way, he can get the pink, black and I think he had a bad contact on

:36:58. > :37:11.

:37:11. > :37:17.that plants. He didn't get the I don't know about you, Dennis, but

:37:17. > :37:23.I'm getting sick and tired of talking about it kicks, people must

:37:23. > :37:28.think it is an excuse, but, no, it is happening. Some people say it is

:37:28. > :37:38.chalk on the ball, some people say it is static. No one has come up

:37:38. > :37:45.

:37:45. > :37:51.The Bulls were slightly heavier in the old days and it didn't happen.

:37:51. > :37:56.-- the balls. Now they're playing with brand-new balls all the time.

:37:56. > :38:01.That is something that didn't happen years ago, Terry. The balls

:38:01. > :38:11.were played with for quite some time. The tables never got

:38:11. > :38:20.

:38:20. > :38:30.Robert has gone a bit ragged at the moment. He can play at a very high

:38:30. > :38:49.

:38:49. > :38:59.standard, but he does go missing Neil Robertson is starting to grind

:38:59. > :38:59.

:38:59. > :39:42.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:39:42. > :39:52.him down at its. 29 minutes since That was what we call a basic error,

:39:52. > :40:02.

:40:02. > :40:08.He may have an angle, a slight angle. The table seems to be a

:40:08. > :40:12.little bit slower than usual. We always talk about how fast these

:40:12. > :40:22.tables play. I will have to have a word with the players, but they

:40:22. > :40:26.

:40:26. > :40:33.don't seem to be as quick as normal. That seems to have jumped a little

:40:33. > :40:39.bit. If he had got on the blue bear in such a way, he could have gone

:40:39. > :40:49.into the pink, black and reds. He had at kick which didn't help the

:40:49. > :41:17.

:41:17. > :41:25.He didn't feel comfortable on that, Going back to the kicks, the only

:41:25. > :41:31.thing that has changed at the Crucible this year are the balls.

:41:31. > :41:36.The Crucible never changes. Sometimes the atmosphere can change

:41:36. > :41:46.slightly, but they have the table he does with that thermostats, so

:41:46. > :42:13.

:42:13. > :42:19.There is the thermostats, which I know they changed the clock last

:42:19. > :42:29.night. They changed the three practice tables and these two match

:42:29. > :42:34.

:42:34. > :42:39.tables. The truth of the days, it is costing players out there. Or

:42:39. > :42:49.would it be like if you're playing football and it took a penalty and

:42:49. > :43:29.

:43:29. > :43:39.a football burst? That would soon That is a Neil Robertson special!

:43:39. > :43:56.

:43:56. > :44:06.With the reds as they are, he can I can't see a path through to the

:44:06. > :44:29.

:44:29. > :44:39.red nearest the left corner. He has There might be a way around three

:44:39. > :44:45.

:44:45. > :44:55.cushions, but even that is so risky. The blue is in the way it goes into

:44:55. > :45:13.

:45:13. > :45:23.So, you can see that escape is not available to him because of the

:45:23. > :45:53.

:45:53. > :46:03.blue. Brilliant it! What an escape He made a mess of that one, and the

:46:03. > :46:03.

:46:03. > :46:52.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:46:52. > :47:02.Robert, if you can hold yourself Am not sure if he wants the thing

:47:02. > :47:16.

:47:16. > :47:26.to go back on its spots. It might The referee is looking to see if it

:47:26. > :47:58.

:47:58. > :48:08.It looks as it goes for reds were not in a straight for position,

:48:08. > :48:16.otherwise he would have been in amongst them. He has had another

:48:16. > :48:21.kick. Both players have had a lot of kicks today. It is very

:48:21. > :48:31.difficult to play out there. You get so tense you almost frightened

:48:31. > :48:32.

:48:32. > :48:36.to hit the ball. Sometimes I think the way you cued the ball. Some of

:48:36. > :48:44.the great American pool players reckon you can actually create a

:48:44. > :48:54.kick with the way you cued the ball. That is a beautifully controlled

:48:54. > :49:08.

:49:08. > :49:18.cannon. Where does the black go? On Does it pot into the red middle

:49:18. > :49:25.

:49:25. > :49:35.pocket? Maybe it dulls. -- it does. Even the pinkos! -- pink goes. What

:49:35. > :49:47.

:49:47. > :49:57.He was 14 points behind when he came to the table. He still has a

:49:57. > :50:30.

:50:30. > :50:40.Well, well, well. He took his eye off the pots and he gave an sup the

:50:40. > :50:49.

:50:49. > :50:56.good rap on their heads. -- he gave I tell you what, he is under

:50:56. > :51:06.pressure, Neil Robertson. I have never seen him miss so many pots.

:51:06. > :51:17.

:51:17. > :51:27.Not for one of the best potters we RobertHett -- Robert knows he has

:51:27. > :51:27.

:51:27. > :52:12.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:52:12. > :52:16.Neil Robertson under all sorts of Red and black would be enough.

:52:16. > :52:26.Playing for the pink means he would mean -- you would need that read,

:52:26. > :52:34.

:52:34. > :52:44.Things are really hotting up here at the Crucible. It has been a

:52:44. > :52:45.

:52:45. > :52:48.fascinating match. We have had all sorts. We had the magnificent 143

:52:49. > :52:58.break from Neil Robertson. We have also had an awful lot of misses

:52:59. > :53:13.

:53:13. > :53:23.from him. We have had brother 48 the difference with 35 on the

:53:23. > :53:23.

:53:23. > :56:15.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:56:15. > :56:25.That is one of the snookers. That Robert will be feeling very

:56:25. > :56:25.

:56:25. > :57:08.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:57:08. > :57:13.confident, but this will be slowing Maybe Neil Robertson is thinking,

:57:13. > :57:23.three stickers, it has been -- it has been done before, but maybe he

:57:23. > :57:31.

:57:32. > :57:41.is giving Robert something to think He is giving Robert more time to

:57:42. > :58:00.

:58:00. > :58:07.think about what he has achieved so Make no mistake, this will be the

:58:07. > :58:17.biggest win of his career, a career that has spanned over 18 years. He

:58:17. > :58:28.

:58:28. > :58:38.Another good shot. Very good. I could just hear Robert saying, good

:58:38. > :58:41.

:58:42. > :58:51.But brown is in the way. The black is in the way of getting round the

:58:52. > :58:53.

:58:53. > :59:03.back of the yellow. Is there a gap between the pink and the black. He

:59:03. > :59:30.

:59:30. > :59:40.could swerve around the yellow, but Neil Robertson has played some

:59:40. > :59:53.

:59:53. > :00:03.He was never going to get that. should have given that a bit more

:00:03. > :00:07.

:00:07. > :00:17.thought. Now, just two stickers required. Just use because! -- just

:00:17. > :00:47.

:00:47. > :00:51.another chance. I was felt you should try to snooker your opponent

:00:51. > :00:55.when you are in this position so Robert should be thinking about

:00:55. > :01:05.snookering Neil rather than going for a pot, unless, of course, it is

:01:05. > :01:19.

:01:19. > :01:24.That's probably why some of your games lasted so long, Terry! If you

:01:24. > :01:34.were snookering and your opponent was snookering... It is the name of

:01:34. > :01:41.

:01:41. > :01:45.think. When you've got to go, you've got to go! So both players leaving

:01:45. > :01:54.the arena. I think it happened yesterday with Neil Robertson so we

:01:54. > :02:04.That's what happens when the pressure mounts! I tell you what I

:02:04. > :02:08.

:02:08. > :02:15.want to pick up on. Do you think Neil Robertson has a problem with

:02:15. > :02:25.the tip of his cue? I don't know about you, but sometimes you can

:02:25. > :02:28.

:02:28. > :02:32.miss long balls with my bash back by miles with a new tip. -- by miles.

:02:32. > :02:37.He's been looking at his tip quite a bit and maybe he feels there might

:02:37. > :02:45.be a bit of a gap. Sometimes you hear a clink as well. But the way

:02:45. > :02:52.he's been striking the ball. We are just going to see some of the misses

:02:52. > :02:57.he has had during this second session. Some that you would never

:02:57. > :03:03.expect Neil Robertson to miss. this isn't surely down to the tip

:03:03. > :03:09.exclusively? He was taking his eye off the ball as well. Well, it can

:03:09. > :03:15.certainly affect you if it is on your mind. I'm not making excuses...

:03:15. > :03:18.But for him to be playing the way he is today. His long game... It is so

:03:18. > :03:21.unusual for somebody that good because, honestly, he is definitely

:03:21. > :03:26.somebody who could win this World Championship but from today's

:03:26. > :03:33.performance, you wouldn't think so. I've been looking at how would you

:03:33. > :03:39.been studying Robert's performance, but you've been applauding his

:03:39. > :03:42.safety play as well as his potting. I think it has improved. He's got a

:03:42. > :03:47.couple of young children with mouths to feed. That will make you play

:03:47. > :03:54.better! He has always been a good potter, though and a break-builder.

:03:54. > :04:00.And he can score. He doesn't have to turn into Terry in the commentary

:04:00. > :04:05.box. You just got to be competent. And I think he's competent but a bit

:04:05. > :04:10.more now. And I think he's a bit more experienced and a bit battle -

:04:10. > :04:17.hardened as well. We saw a classic example. He was an awful lot of

:04:17. > :04:25.trouble and tried to come off a 2-cushion escape. He clipped to the

:04:25. > :04:29.red and went back up to baulk. Earlier this afternoon, you said

:04:29. > :04:35.Neil needs to just get into his rhythm. And if anything, Robert has

:04:35. > :04:41.found his rhythm better than Neil house. Yes. He spotted some good

:04:41. > :04:46.balls and kept his composure. I don't think Robert Milkins is going

:04:46. > :04:51.to bottle it or be afraid of the chance if it comes along. It is just

:04:51. > :05:00.that Robertson has two up his game to what we normally see from him. --

:05:00. > :05:07.has two. As I say, if Robertson pulls himself together... One thing

:05:07. > :05:14.he would get, you will definitely get chances because that is the way

:05:14. > :05:24.the game has gone all afternoon. He has had chances all along. Could

:05:24. > :05:24.

:05:25. > :05:28.this be the biggest scalp of the Championship so far if he loses?

:05:28. > :05:33.know Robert Milkins has only been in the second round in the whole of his

:05:33. > :05:40.career in this Championship so that would make play hard, but it remains

:05:40. > :05:47.to be seen. He still has it all to do here, Neil Robertson. You did

:05:47. > :05:57.ruin my gag for the end of the programme! Having said "bottling".

:05:57. > :06:02.

:06:02. > :06:12.Given he is The Milkman. Let's see DENNIS TAYLOR: I don't know about

:06:12. > :06:31.

:06:31. > :06:35.bottling it, it looks as though he snooker, as we have seen on some

:06:35. > :06:45.occasions. The green is out of commission and the yellow is

:06:45. > :06:57.

:06:57. > :07:01.probably best placed. But there's no the table and you see where the

:07:01. > :07:06.pink, black, blue and yellow are, there is huge coverage over the

:07:06. > :07:16.table if you are to get behind. So not just behind one colour. You've

:07:16. > :07:16.

:07:16. > :08:06.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:08:06. > :08:12.the table. Always the chance of a free ball and having an extra red,

:08:12. > :08:22.so to speak. This time he's decided to put it. And it's going to be

:08:22. > :08:22.

:08:22. > :10:07.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:10:07. > :10:13.could tie with one snooker. -- pot from the cushion, as we show you

:10:13. > :10:23.this snooker again. But there is enough room to slip around the back

:10:23. > :10:55.

:10:56. > :11:01.cushions. And if he tries to come four to one. About 15 minutes ago, I

:11:02. > :11:11.thought Robert was thinking, I only need one more frame to get into the

:11:12. > :11:16.

:11:16. > :11:26.second round and beat the former safe... That's the main thing when

:11:26. > :11:26.

:11:26. > :12:31.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:12:31. > :12:38.pocket. Can he got in behind the moment. He would have to be very

:12:38. > :12:48.precise with this. If he could push the brown onto the side cushion and

:12:48. > :12:52.

:12:52. > :12:55.get behind the black, you would do got to get the brown safe. No point

:12:55. > :13:05.taking a high risk at this stage because he has fought his way back

:13:05. > :13:05.

:13:05. > :14:31.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:14:31. > :14:40.very close. Robert Milkins will put though it was going to be a quick

:14:40. > :14:46.frame. In the end, it was just over 44 minutes! -- in goes the pink. He

:14:46. > :14:51.only needs one more frame, Robert. What a victory this would be. That

:14:51. > :15:00.was a fascinating little parcel there. Robert Milkins thought he had

:15:00. > :15:08.won. Ten, 15 minutes ago! But Neil Robertson has played some fantastic

:15:08. > :15:13.shots. Great snookers. He landed right in behind the black and that

:15:13. > :15:23.was a great effort. It was worth carrying on because I thought he was

:15:23. > :15:50.

:15:50. > :16:00.going to concede when he needed four Robert Milkins will be delighted.

:16:00. > :16:12.

:16:12. > :16:20.the other, the crowd will always go for the underdog. That's how it is

:16:20. > :16:30.with the British. And they would love to see a deciding frame but he

:16:30. > :16:34.

:16:34. > :16:44.might have other ideas, Robert thick. But having said that, the

:16:44. > :17:19.

:17:19. > :17:27.White has rebounded and he has left at the chance he would have had. --

:17:27. > :17:32.had he. He played a great aggressive shot, didn't get the run-in. But you

:17:32. > :17:42.can't really complain with that. There's no certainty you will be my

:17:42. > :17:56.

:17:56. > :18:06.last shot opening up the frame and the reds. He wants to get a good cue

:18:06. > :18:14.

:18:14. > :18:19.ball here. Just working it out and with a safety. You just have to put

:18:19. > :18:29.them in the most difficult position you can. -- you can't trap your

:18:29. > :18:29.

:18:29. > :19:31.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:19:31. > :19:35.perfect. -- absolutely perfect. The pack of red there. A bit risky but

:19:35. > :19:45.when you look at the shot he has on, it is not easy to go to a single

:19:45. > :19:52.

:19:52. > :20:02.that cannon, and he played it exactly as he intended. What a

:20:02. > :20:28.

:20:28. > :20:38.restricted over this side of the table to get the potting angle on

:20:38. > :20:41.

:20:41. > :20:51.He could play for the pink in the centre but it doesn't look as though

:20:51. > :20:58.

:20:58. > :21:08.he has an angle to get onto the Very, very good shot. A risky shot

:21:08. > :21:17.

:21:17. > :21:27.Mean I, that was awkward bridging and he played that to perfection. --

:21:27. > :22:01.

:22:01. > :22:05.get it as he intended. -- he has played for cannon. He didn't get it

:22:05. > :22:15.as he intended. It just shows, when playing the cannon you have to be

:22:15. > :22:50.

:22:50. > :23:00.slightly harder than he intended, think he's just OK. He thought he

:23:00. > :23:12.

:23:12. > :23:22.but I couple of red is available there. You want to keep close

:23:22. > :23:49.

:23:49. > :23:53.control of the cue ball under these little triangle is available into

:23:53. > :24:03.the right corner, he's got enough reds to secure this frame without

:24:03. > :24:03.

:24:03. > :24:46.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:24:46. > :24:53.corner but he would have to work for has taken his eye off the pot. He

:24:53. > :24:59.can't believe the ball he has missed there. He was playing a cannon again

:24:59. > :25:09.and he just hadn't quite made up his mind and took his eye off the pot.

:25:09. > :25:25.

:25:25. > :25:35.Surely we couldn't have another turn He's got the experience. Can he find

:25:35. > :26:08.

:26:08. > :26:18.the technique that has been letting 19 blues off the spot. -- has

:26:18. > :26:20.

:26:20. > :26:24.ported. Missed the most important one. And that's too far. He's going

:26:24. > :26:30.to have to take a long red up into the corner pocket. He is looking to

:26:30. > :26:35.see if the pink would be available. It's a bit of a shot he can take on

:26:35. > :26:45.because he won't leave anything easy. But what an important part,

:26:45. > :27:04.

:27:04. > :27:08.plant in the centre. It isn't straight but it can be made. So it's

:27:08. > :27:18.not just the pot he's thinking of. He might be thinking about putting

:27:18. > :27:27.

:27:27. > :27:32.was seeing little problems and looking to see, if I leave the white

:27:32. > :27:42.here, what will I leave in terms of problems? That's not what you got to

:27:42. > :27:53.

:27:53. > :28:03.be thinking. You got to get it into because you can't guarantee to take

:28:03. > :28:35.

:28:35. > :28:43.the one he's going to play, I think, play a safety shot down the

:28:43. > :28:47.left-hand side of the table towards the pink. He's going down to have a

:28:47. > :28:57.look now to see where is the best place to leave it. The cue ball, I

:28:57. > :29:13.

:29:13. > :29:23.two long ones on for Robert Milkins. I can see why now. He might play the

:29:23. > :29:29.

:29:29. > :29:35.knock it safe but if he did that, doubled it onto the side cushion,

:29:35. > :29:45.and you see where the tip of the cue is, so if you can get the white

:29:45. > :29:54.

:29:54. > :29:58.played it very well because he had to cover the red up towards the

:29:58. > :30:08.green pocket on the top right. If he had left that on, Neil Robertson

:30:08. > :30:17.

:30:17. > :30:27.would have gone for it. It's been a one point. Then Robert Milkins came

:30:27. > :30:27.

:30:27. > :31:07.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:31:07. > :31:17.If he gets this in and get summer colour, it could be the last shot

:31:17. > :31:35.

:31:35. > :31:43.that Neil Robertson plays in the This will be the biggest win in the

:31:43. > :31:49.career of Robert Milkins. He has been a pro for 18 years. Neil

:31:49. > :31:54.Robertson made the highest break of the tournament at 143, looked good,

:31:54. > :32:04.but he hasn't looked good in this session. He just seemed to get

:32:04. > :32:06.

:32:06. > :32:12.himself under pressure. It is not going to be his year. That

:32:12. > :32:20.absolutely secures it. Every credit to Robert Milkins. Be still looks

:32:20. > :32:27.as cool as you like. He has played well. He has only won one match

:32:27. > :32:33.here at the Crucible. It is his 5th time here. What a win he has

:32:33. > :32:40.achieved here. He must be so excited. Neil will come and shake

:32:40. > :32:45.his hand. He scratches his head. It is time to shake hands, you feel.

:32:45. > :32:55.64 the difference, 43 on the table. He doesn't want to leave the

:32:55. > :33:00.

:33:00. > :33:08.He needs 64. Snookers at the moment. Robert be shaking his head. He was

:33:08. > :33:18.expecting the handshake there. never know. Never say never in the

:33:18. > :33:28.Cristobal, that is my saying in the Cristobal now. If Neil Robertson

:33:28. > :33:54.

:33:54. > :33:59.this could be the end of it keeps on running. He has decided to shake

:33:59. > :34:03.hands with Robert Milkins. Neil Robertson looks so good early on,

:34:03. > :34:09.but in the end it was Robert Milkins who was just too strong for

:34:09. > :34:16.him. What a victory. He beat the current fear for it, he is no

:34:16. > :34:21.longer there. He beaten 10-8. What a win!

:34:21. > :34:26.What a win, given the fact he was 5-2 down yesterday afternoon. The

:34:26. > :34:33.bigger shock of the tournament so far. By far the bigger shock and

:34:33. > :34:43.the biggest day in his career. Neil Robertson, he will probably let us

:34:43. > :34:53.know what his thoughts were. Robert Milkins showed tremendous fighting

:34:53. > :34:56.spirit. He played some great shots and it very cool under pressure. I

:34:56. > :35:00.know few missed the blue when the pressure came on, but I'm delighted

:35:00. > :35:06.for him. The biggest win of her career. I think it was well

:35:06. > :35:12.deserved. Let's hear from him. He is what Rob Walker. Many

:35:12. > :35:16.congratulations! That is the biggest win of your career so far.

:35:16. > :35:20.What a way to come back! Neil played really well first session

:35:20. > :35:25.and I did well to stick with him. The last two frames were vital in

:35:25. > :35:33.the end. Today was a bit scrappy. I think it got him twitching a bit. I

:35:33. > :35:38.was twitching as well. I was maybe luckier or stronger, I don't know.

:35:38. > :35:41.How did you manage to keep yourself together mentally? He is such a

:35:41. > :35:49.strong player and you are never there with him until you're

:35:49. > :35:54.actually over the line. The first session, think he was unlucky, if

:35:54. > :36:01.he had been playing the majority of qualifiers he would have been 8-1

:36:01. > :36:06.up. We stuck with him. In the end I was gutted to go in 3-1 behind, but

:36:06. > :36:14.when I came out 5-4 behind come at a Likud victory, something to build

:36:14. > :36:21.You have started to put some good snooker together over the last two

:36:21. > :36:25.or three seasons. What has been the key to that? There has been a lot

:36:25. > :36:34.of things. I have turned by lifestyle around. A lot of people

:36:34. > :36:41.have helped me. My manager, good friends, my wife. The last couple

:36:41. > :36:51.of years, Terry has been the main reason why I have turns my game

:36:51. > :36:57.around. Any of the players to work with Terry, they all do well. I

:36:57. > :37:00.would like to say thanks to Terry. Many, many congratulations. We will

:37:00. > :37:06.see you again here on the big stage and will be looking forward to that.

:37:06. > :37:13.Thank you, cheers. Hopefully we will hear from Neil

:37:13. > :37:17.Robertson as well. It is a big story. Very interesting to your

:37:17. > :37:21.Robert Rock about his personal issues. Not only has the snooker

:37:21. > :37:31.improved, but he has turned his life around. It is a game you can

:37:31. > :37:34.

:37:34. > :37:37.play and has everything upstairs is working properly. Everything you do

:37:37. > :37:45.out there you have got to do yourself. This autumn's up by the

:37:45. > :37:48.way from the table, with young mouths to feed night, that will

:37:48. > :37:53.make a difference! The one thing about snooker, when you're sitting

:37:53. > :37:57.in your chair you have a lot of things that can cloud your minds, a

:37:57. > :38:02.lot of time to think about things. John is right and what he is saying,

:38:02. > :38:08.if you have problems of the table, it is hard to have a clear mind.

:38:08. > :38:18.With other sports, does all instinctive. Neil Robertson won the

:38:18. > :38:20.

:38:20. > :38:25.China Open, top-class players beaten. Something has come to light

:38:26. > :38:32.to it. That performance today is so far removed from that. I thought we

:38:32. > :38:37.got a monkey off his back against Mark Selby. He turned appear

:38:37. > :38:42.magnificent foreman didn't perform. Let's bring you up to date would --

:38:42. > :38:45.with what has been happening on the other table. Shaun Murphy to con

:38:45. > :38:55.Graeme Dott. Would join it at the start of the third frame. Graeme

:38:55. > :38:58.

:38:58. > :39:08.Graeme Dott breaks off. We're all square. Both players can relax and

:39:08. > :39:24.

:39:24. > :39:34.There is an example of Shaun Murphy's cueing. The cue ball needs

:39:34. > :39:45.

:39:45. > :39:55.to slow up, and it has done. He is I assumed the black will go into

:39:55. > :39:55.

:39:55. > :40:36.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:40:36. > :40:46.'STEPHEN HENDRY: It will be a bit disappointing for him to have to

:40:46. > :40:46.

:40:46. > :41:27.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:41:27. > :41:37.JOHN VIRGO: he did not catch the pink as well as he did in the last

:41:37. > :41:37.

:41:37. > :42:20.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:42:20. > :42:25.That was a good shot. He is not out Lots of noise from the other side

:42:25. > :42:31.of the wall. Shaun Murphy did well to pot that red. It just put him

:42:31. > :42:40.off slightly. I think he has run out of position. Maybe he should

:42:40. > :42:44.have just stopped. He is looking to see now it there is the possibility

:42:44. > :42:54.of a plant. There was so much noise in the arena when he was playing

:42:54. > :43:15.

:43:15. > :43:25.He was that concerned about the pot, he has pushed the cue ball through.

:43:25. > :43:27.

:43:27. > :43:35.Well, he was. From all the world it looked as if he had won that

:43:36. > :43:45.fraction too far. I was watching Graeme Dott, you always look at the

:43:45. > :43:53.body language of your opponents. looked at Sean murky's body

:43:53. > :44:03.language and I thought he had run through too far. It is all about

:44:03. > :44:22.

:44:22. > :44:32.fractions. And the fractions Can Shaun Murphy make this visit

:44:32. > :44:32.

:44:32. > :47:23.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds

:47:23. > :47:31.It is hard to see what he can go visit. And this is what he needs to

:47:31. > :47:35.do occurs he is quite an open player, is Shaun. -- because he is.

:47:35. > :47:39.He just needs to open up all the balls at the first opportunity and

:47:39. > :47:49.if he doesn't win the frame in one visit, he leaves himself open for

:47:49. > :48:21.

:48:21. > :48:29.Shaun Murphy. The 14th of the Championship so far and Shaun the

:48:29. > :48:39.first man to make three. This is more like him. When he gets in,

:48:39. > :48:41.

:48:42. > :48:51.winning the frame in one visit. But form, then obviously a major player

:48:52. > :49:27.

:49:27. > :49:33.in this year's will Championship. -- long red to get it in and he kept

:49:33. > :49:39.his opponent in his seat thereafter. 2-1, Shaun Murphy.

:49:39. > :49:45.Yes, it was an excellent afternoon's work for the 2005 world

:49:45. > :49:49.champion. Murphy then stretched his lead to 5-2, making breaks of 112

:49:49. > :49:55.and 99 along the way. And then into frame eight leading with a 6-2 lead

:49:55. > :50:00.over Graeme Dott, and that match is continuing at 10am tomorrow. Just a

:50:00. > :50:10.gentle reminder, it is now the best of 25 frames over three sessions.

:50:10. > :50:13.

:50:13. > :50:23.Excellent performance from Shaun Murphy this afternoon. What we think

:50:23. > :50:24.

:50:24. > :50:27.of this one? He played really excellent against Martin Gould. A

:50:28. > :50:33.big help because Graeme Dott had chances in there and he will be

:50:33. > :50:39.kicking himself. Shaun Murphy will be delighted. Great to watch because

:50:39. > :50:47.he is the best Key West we have on the circuit. Great to watch,

:50:48. > :50:53.fantastic. Could he win it? Absolutely. No reason he couldn't go

:50:53. > :51:03.all the way. And a reminder that another top seed has gone out. Neil

:51:03. > :51:09.

:51:09. > :51:16.break and the table was really disappointing. You either got a kick

:51:16. > :51:20.or a bounce of the cushioning and it was obvious that everybody to see.

:51:20. > :51:29.With the very good players, it is the clinicalness with the Bulls.

:51:29. > :51:33.They bounced out of position and Robert was too good for me. His

:51:33. > :51:37.safety was fantastic. Some of the best I have seen all season, if not

:51:37. > :51:45.ever. Really good. He put me under pressure and I just lost my with a

:51:45. > :51:51.bit through the match. And midway through today's session, anyway. --

:51:51. > :51:57.I lost my way. He put me under pressure. It is or was tough for the

:51:58. > :52:07.seeds in the first round and they never feel comfortable until they

:52:08. > :52:15.

:52:15. > :52:24.can play the best of 25. A disappointing ending to an otherwise

:52:24. > :52:28.fantastic seeding. He is blaming the tables? Sometimes you need the heat

:52:28. > :52:34.on the table, nice and quick. I think it is warm enough in The

:52:34. > :52:41.Crucible. They should just shut the heaters off and let them play.

:52:41. > :52:48.were debating whether Robertson had a problem with his tip? But he was

:52:48. > :52:54.talking about the tables. He just didn't you well today. -- he just

:52:54. > :53:03.didn't cue. I just want to look ahead to this evening when we will

:53:03. > :53:09.see Michael White taking on Poomjaeng. He is also known as Jack!

:53:09. > :53:16.It will be worth watching and it won't be boring or quiet! I think

:53:16. > :53:21.you should do what he did the other day. Applaud yourself. A round of

:53:21. > :53:26.applause for this afternoon? Give yourself a clap, Jason. And, Ken,