BBC Two, First Round Snooker: World Championship

This little lady is back and Ronnie is about to return as he goes for

three world titles on the trot. I hope you are in a comfortable

chair. The Crucible Theatre, home of the

world Championships since 1977. Just standing here is enough to give you

goose bumps. This year it has a lot to live up

to. It is an early start for us. The

first morning, the first session of the World Championships. 12 months

ago Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed a fifth world title and he returns as

the bookmakers' favourite. He is one of only 32 players who will pitch up

here in Sheffield going for this title. What is very striking as we

have new faces for you. There is a lack of some of the most established

names in the game. People who have been on this stage over the years.

144 players chasing 16 places at the Crucible during the qualifying

rounds which took place over a week. More famous as a swimming venue it

was all about the Green baize rather than the deep blue and some

slicker's most -- some of snooker's most famous faces struggled. The

final rounds so Mark Williams beaten by Alan McManus. Matthew Stevens,

twice a runner-up, lost to Tom Ford. Peter Ebdon, the 2002 champion, went

out to Robin Hull. Graeme Dott, when in 2006, lost to Kyren Wilson. This

means we have a six time world champion in Steve Davis all to

ourselves. We are not complaining about that. Have you had the chance

to digester consequences of your defeat? It was not just one defeat.

It was a season of defeats. I did not play to the level required. It

was general crud. So much so I do not think I have any credibility in

being in the studio or the commentary box talking about the

game in any shape or form. Self-effacing to the last. It is

going to hurt those players who did not get through. I think probably

the BBC have lost five viewers who will not be tuning in. They will not

want to see what is ahead. They will probably be watching by the end.

Everyone at home anticipating what could be a great Championship. There

is always excitement on the opening morning. Year after year the

standard of players gets better and better. We had the qualifying events

to get here that was it only event, so much excitement, the buzz around

the place was superb. The fans really enjoyed it. It starts again.

The top 16, being given the place to get here, have to justify their

position against the 16 best qualifiers standard wise we have

probably ever had. Let us show you who is here. The draw was made on

Thursday. Ronnie O'Sullivan going for a six world title against Robin

Hull. Shaun Murphy is keen to win a second world title. Barry Hawkins,

the runner-up last year. Ricky Walden made the semi-finals last

year. Ding Junhui having a good season. Ali Carter, double Crucible

runner-up. Stephen Maguire's build-up has been blighted by a bad

back. The world number one Neil Robertson gets ready to entertain

us. There are four new faces. Which of the ties is most appetising for

you? If you went back ten years or 15 years you would go, that one. It

would be - as Bechtel to any of the players to see any one time is

better -- disrespectful. We are here at 10am to watch Ronnie O'Sullivan,

but there are other names. Can Ding Junhui convert to make the winds he

has had this year on the circuit the final part of the jigsaw puzzle?

Kyren Wilson, a great possible champion in the making. There are so

many players. On table two, what a great match. Ken Doherty is trying

to uphold the honour of our commentary team. He is the oldest

man in the draw at 44. In terms of the men of the season, Ding Junhui,

five titles this term, which equals Stephen Hendry, but you have Neil

Robertson, Shaun Murphy, these men could shine. Anybody could. I think

it is the second week when somebody gets a role on. It is a bit like

watching the Grand National when everything is all over the place and

all of a sudden you see that one is running OK. You do not necessarily

know until the second or third round. It has to be said, the

burning question, can anybody beat Ronnie? It is hard pushed for any

player to hold him, but it depends how he turns up. Five titles so far

for Ding Junhui, but Ronnie's record is good, four trophies including the

Masters. Can anybody stop him? To come back in 2013 was pretty

unbelievable. I was just going, here is my name, I am back in the hat. I

did not really expect anything to happen at Sheffield. I am back

playing how I needed to play. Everybody wants to be world champion

and it is how you process that and deal with the pressure that comes

along with that. To go and win it was like a fairy tale. There are a

few things I have done in snooker, but that is probably one of the

greatest achievements I have ever done. I do sometimes think it is not

how good you are, it is how tough you are, how much old soul and

resilience you have. You have to have a bit of ball to -- bottle. I

try not to get sucked into beating Stephen Hendry's record. What is

important is having a good time while I am here. That record is

something that if it happens, it happens, but I am not sure I have

the motivation or the want to break that record. Ronnie is trying to

catch you and Ray Reardon's total of six and then after going for Stephen

Hendry's seven. You feel perhaps he has realigned his goals. For that to

happen, guaranteed six somewhere down the line, I think probable

seven. Two BET has to push the barriers of how old players have

been in the game. He will be one of the multi-champions in his 40s. That

does not usually happen. Ray Reardon was 45 when he won the Championship.

Ronnie is 38 and seems to be getting better. The fact he is picking and

choosing his matches means he is fresh for everyone. That is an

important change in the calendar. It is not so bad when you lose a

tournament, you drop out of the tournament four points. This suits

Ronnie O'Sullivan. Let us tell everybody who he faces, this is a

huge moment for Robin Hull who was very much destined for great things

12 years ago. Robin was diagnosed with a heart condition and a

condition which affected his balance so much so that he had to give up

the game. We did not think we would see him in snooker again but he came

back three years ago and last year he won the Amateur. He has played

one Cor, 12 years ago and he came up against Graeme Dott. I was not happy

after words. I was pretty nervous. It was a tough old game, a tough

game to sort of relax. It is certainly different. It is wonderful

to be back. I fell ill. Looking at it, snooker wise, unlucky timing,

but that is life. That is the way it goes. I am back. You look at the

good out of it, a lot of things have changed for the better in my life

because of it, taking time out of snooker. I relieve enjoyed playing.

Anything is possible. Talking about sport, I think the tournament format

is meant to bring out the player who is the most solid mentally and on

playing form. If it is a qualifier, so be it, but whoever picks up the

trophy is tested to the max. It is about focusing on the game and

playing the next shot. It is a case of keeping your head down until

someone taps you on the shoulder and says, it is over. Dusty at it. I am

looking forward to it. It is great to see him back. World ranked 122,

he is the lowest ranked qualifier to make it to the final stages since

2002. He is asked with tethering the Rocket today. They will play the

best of 19 frames. They will come back this evening to finish it off.

Ken Doherty is aiming to uphold the honour of the commentary team. Ken

Doherty at 44 is the oldest player in the field so far. We are just

about ready to go with the opening morning of the 2014 World Snooker

Championship. It is a long way to go. We are full of excitement and

anticipation. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

What an atmosphere we have here. 17 days of world class action and it

all starts right now, so sit back, relax and enjoy. Please welcome

first of all, the player who describes himself as the oldest

swinger in town, coming through the last round of qualifying at the

tender age of 44, is 19th appearance at the world Championship, the last

time he returned he kissed the carpet, here comes the darling of

Dublin, Ken Doherty. MUSIC: "Paradise City" . Do not worry, it

was hoovered. A player who is getting better with age. He won his

first ranking title in 2011. When on the Asian tour last month, one of

the Premier League -- winner of the Premier League. Stuart Bingham. On

table number one, a player making his first appearance at the Crucible

for 12 years. What a story of determination. Illness forced him to

premature retirement before he decided to give it one last try.

Knocking out Peter Ebdon in the qualifiers, he is raring to go, he

is Robin Hull. Finally, the most naturally gifted player ever to

grace the game, it has been another great season for this mercurial

talent, when the Champion of champions, the Masters and the Welsh

Open. The defending world champion, the Rocket, Ronnie O'Sullivan.

It is good to be back, isn't it? We have John Bercow and John Parrott

commentating. -- Virgo. The atmosphere is electric. This man

has been through hell and high water to get back here. Let us hope he can

do himself justice against the defending champion, probably the

most talented player the game has ever seen, Ronnie O'Sullivan. As we

know, even though you come in defending champion with the odds

stacked in your favour, he will still be feeling the wobbles. He

certainly will. It takes awhile to get to sometimes. To get yourself

bedded in and used to the atmosphere again. He has have a lot of respect

because Robin Hull can play snooker, he is a very talented

matchplay. He was destined for great things before he was struck down

with his illness. He has done it the hard way, that is for sure.

He came through by knocking out Peter Ebdon, you do not do that

easily. Peter is still one of the toughest competitors in the game. It

depends how he approaches this match. Playing the defending

champion, if he can enjoy it, I think that will help him play

better. You feel that a good start is

imperative. The first chance here, classic

stands. Always knew it was going to be a shot to take the cue ball back

to baulk. That was half a chance. Beautifully cued. A great way to

start the match. That gets you going, gives you some momentum. If

there was one thing we kept saying about Ronnie, his long potting was

not as good as he would have liked. He will take a few shots to get the

pace of the table, although that looks inch perfect.

He did not really have the best angle to pot the black.

He brought a few interplay. The cue ball is not ideal. A bit too close

to the Grecian. -- cushion. The two reds are definitely pottable. That

is beautifully played. The movement he got on the cue

ball, he got nicely through it. That is the one thing about Ronnie, he

does not dare accelerate -- de-accelerate.

He decided to go into them, and I think he has been a little unlucky.

Whenever you try to disturb reds you always need a little bit of good

fortune. Can he get through to this red on the left middle? It is the

only possible pot. He has missed it. It was one of those, you did not

have the cue ball, and it made it difficult.

He played that nicely. Nice confident pot.

A little bit low with the cue ball. He has come up short.

This break is getting harder by the minute. If you're having a good day

on this type of shot, the question is if he can get the cue ball in the

middle of the table. He did not can be yellow, but the

drop ten -- Lou dropped in. That was an excellent shot on the

blue. Really well played. If you could manage to win this

brain at this visit, it would be a statement of intent and like Ronnie

now he is here to play. -- let Ronnie know. Queues well. -- cues.

He can certainly score. He has a decision to make, what the

red to the right corner, does he nudge into the three reds? He did.

The only problem is with that option you are trying to bring reds

interplay, you are never certain, it is a little bit awkward. It was a

little bit thick. He played that really well. A lot of

players have been playing that left-hand side, so that was really

well controlled. Excellent shot. He looks nice and he relaxed. It

would be a boost if he can win this frame at this visit. He has two

awkward reds coming up. He just needs a bigger bounce. These are

tricky. This is a test. Points now, all square.

Excellent. Now, he didn't hit the front jaw, the father one is the way

to play those. -- file one. The position from here is the next big

hurdle. Just have to make sure you don't snooker yourself behind the

yellow. Kissing the brown has ruined that

idea. A tough read to keep this going. He has got an 8-point lead

now. He will have to be very careful here

that he doesn't believe Ronnie a chance. I don't think that was

particularly the right shot, to be honest. He should have played it

dead weight. Anyway, it's gone. It was a very good contribution from

Robin Hull, well done. He has gone back to his seat not

missing an easy ball. Nothing to feel bad about. There is a chance

here for a snooker behind the brown. He left themselves open to that one,

Robin. -- left himself. Well spotted. The age-old problem. It's

not going to be difficult to get this rate, but he needs to get it

safe. -- to hit this rate. That's really well played. Couldn't

have asked for much more than that. Good frame, this. Yes, good

standard. The chance of a snooker here for money. The pink might be

the snooker involved. It will be now, with that kiss on the blue!

Once again, easy to hit, got to get it safe. The one thing you don't

want to do is hit the road and have rated the brown, because the cue

ball will be up there as well. He has got to make sure this red

doesn't hit the brown. He needs the green to come to his

rescue and it hasn't, so here is the chance.

Wait for it! Well, he can't complain. He has had two chances in

this frame, this definitely the better of the two, really, but the

position from the black to the last red wasn't great and that was a

chance. No complaints, he has had his chances.

Rooney will settle for being on the brown. Not too badly hampered by the

yellow. -- Ronnie. Played it nicely. Three points

behind now. Needs up to and including the pink.

Just checking to see which side, I think I prefer the second one.

Screwed with a little left-hand side of the blue.

Only needs down to the pink, so ideal position here, he is going

back to the other side now to have a look. He is thinking about that way.

Which one would you like? He has come back a little bit too far off

the green. In an ideal world he would have played that short, Robin

just has to sit there and wonder if he is going to get another shot in

this frame. Odds against, you have to say.

This is the advantage for Ronnie, being able to play with his left

hand. And in it goes. So the defending

champion takes an excellent first frame. Robin Hull had his chances,

Ronnie didn't do a lot wrong. The defending champion takes the

first frame. We have moved over to our regular

home here in the Winter Gardens. When we look at that opening frame,

it just shows you the quality Robin Hull is capable of. He is very

underrated. What do we know about his game? We know he was knocking on

doors of the top echelons of the game before he had some ill-health.

He possibly is the best 122nd ranked player in the world currently

playing! His standard is excellent. I think we saw in that frame that he

has come here, effectively, he can win matches and frames. He was very

close to turning that frame around, if it wasn't for the fact that when

he putted the second last black, he then collided with the brown which

destroyed his position. Then it got into the safety battle and he did

miss our raid. I think that was an excellent frame for him. The problem

is that Ronnie O'Sullivan is a fantastic front runner, that will

have settled him down as well. When you consider he has already had to

win four matches on the spin to get here, including a 10-8 victory over

Peter Ebdon, it shows you the quality of the play he has.

I think he has got a safety down the right-hand side of the table. Just

the containing safety. The thing is about Robin Hull, he knows his way

around the snooker table. He's not going to make it easy for Ronnie by

just going for everything. I am quite a big fan of his demeanour

around the table, he looks relaxed and composed. He was saying himself,

he suffered a bit with nerves last time he was here at the Crucible.

But he is not giving off that vibe today that he's struggling mentally.

Looks really composed. The trouble is, as you well know, you don't get

many chinks of like when you play against O'Sullivan in matches and

frames. And that was a big chance in the last frame.

Excellent safety from one either. Problem is, of course, he's up

against the yellow. He just underhit it. The possibility

of this red to the left middle now. I think the raid in the middle of

the table is the one Ronnie will like to play but he is not in

The cue ball has gone a little wondering, if he does put it,

The cue ball has gone a little further than he would have liked. A

good shot required here. And a good shot was what it got! His

cueing off the question is just fabulous, it really is. -- off the

cushion. Allied of course to everything else

being fabulous! Yes, we were talking earlier about how he's now 38, but

it's like he has not got that many miles on the clock. They say you

reach a peak in the mid-30s, maybe a bit earlier now but no sign that he

is dropping his level or standard of play. Of course, he is incredibly

fit, with all the running he is doing which is a major help.

Especially the way the scheduling is now, if you can pick and choose your

tournaments, there is every reason for you to turn up fresh. He is

world ranked number 33 at the moment but at the end of this tournament,

the rankings will be based on a money earned list. So his

performances in last year's World Championship and his performances in

tournaments this season, he will be shooting up the ranking, definitely

in the top eight. I think it's a common sense thing,

can't be travelling round the world and be expected to produce your best

game but some players have to do it. He has played a great shop there.

He's making these look very easy. There is the split. Come back, screw

back, perfect. Almost a repetition of the first frame, really.

Just got enough angle on the blue to come down for one of the red! .

As ever, when you play against Ronnie, the schoolboy just changes

so quickly. He has been at the table for 30 seconds and you are 50

behind! -- the scoreboard just changes so quickly. Good recovery.

But he is not on the black, I don't think the pink goes to the middle,

so a good leader is needed to the far corner. One loose positional

shot and it's amazing how it snowballs, so a good part is needed

here. This is a tricky shot, as well. This

pink will put in 68 points in front with just 67 remained in. --

remaining. This has been a fabulous break.

No sign of rustiness here. A lot of people say, which Ronnie is going to

turn up, I don't think you can question him in the last 18 months.

He has come to play and he has entertained everybody with his

performances over the last 18 months. You couldn't question his

attitude by any means. He could play to flick the other one

out now if he wants. He feels that red is pottable, so we

could be seeing the first century. This further century, and it has

been superb, brilliant play from O'Sullivan. -- this for the century.

Got a little bit of trouble but pulled out some wonderful recovery

shots. Stephen Hendry still holds the

record of the number of century breaks here but Ronnie O'Sullivan is

slowly but surely closing the gap. And in goes the black, a sensational

break of 124 from the Rocket. He now leads 2-0.

What is new is our new toy, we are excited about it! Our beautiful

screen here can show us the luck of the draw. Robin Hull, 39 years old,

from Finland. He has come out of the ether. Not done a great deal in the

last ten months. He has only one one match, then he won four on the trot,

if you look at his head-to-head against O'Sullivan, they met once in

1997, Ronnie won that, and again this season. Is he capable of giving

Ronnie again? He's capable of playing to a higher standard than

his ranking. Whether he can play in the Ronnie's office with little

match experience over the last few years is the biggest question of

all. He has done well as the season has unfolded, he has shown some form

which has commented in him getting here, he has picked a perfectly, but

he is against a peak player. There is a long way to go in these

matches. This is the best of 19. First to 10 goes into the second

round so back we go. That was a decent break of shock. --

break-off shot. He has not left anything on here.

Far too thin with that safety. He may have got away with that. At

first look, it was nothing particularly appetising. This would

probably be played with an element of safety in mind.

If you play at that speed, if you miss it, odds-on you are going to

leave it, that's what he has done. Sometimes you play one of the worst

shots in a match and end up getting in amongst the balls for the next

one. Didn't play a good safety, Robin Hull, but he is in now.

Can't miss blacks off the spot at this level.

You were saying how composed he looks around the table and relaxed,

but unfortunately, he goes and does that. As I say, you don't get many

chances at this level but you get even fewer against the man he is

playing. When they come, you do have to make the most of them.

I think there are a couple of loose rates, he has a nice angle on the

blue but identity will want to cannon into them. -- I don't think

he will want to. Maybe the red just above the pink goes to the left

middle or maybe the plant, more likely to be the red to the left

middle. I don't think he was trying to pinch

a bit. I suppose the good news was when he

missed the black, he left it awkward. So a good blue is required.

You have got to make the most of this opportunity.

Not the best angle on the blue. He still has the red at the left

corner, I'm not sure if there is a plant... He has been loose red to

the left corner. -- has the loose red.

Is there a three-ball plant below the pink? I think there is.

Cue ball needs to slow up a little bit. It's OK. You don't really want

the cue ball to be travelling up and down the table, he would rather have

been on the blue there. So now, back at the business end.

Forget about the black. Just concentrate on pink and blue.

I think he is on one to the left middle, which if you just stuns in,

he can play nicely for the pink or he can just keep this one. -- cue

this one. He is slowly but surely developing

these nicely. A bit of a funny contact there, but it still worked

out pretty good. Ideally he would like to play

position on the bottom red here. Can you believe that. He had the balls

in good positions and he goes and does that.

Just didn't bring the cue back far enough there. Just a bit of a nervy

one. I think he was just trying to hold that cue ball and sometimes you

take the eye of the pot when you do that. You can see the next four

reds going now. He could not do that, so there was

an angle there anyway. Just a quick glance at the

scoreboard. He is going to need these three remaining reds. The one

closest to the left-hand cushion is not going to be easy. Whenever you

bought a red and bring another one interplay, you are never guaranteed

to be on the colour -- into play. It could not have worked out much

better than that. He might have the perfect angle on the pink. He played

it absolutely delightfully. Those are such hard shots. The best shot

of this break. He floated it in no problem. 32 ahead, 27 remaining.

124 break. He left Robin Hull a few Jan says -- chances. He will be

disappointed. When you look at Ronnie's season as

a whole, four major titles, one of them was a minor title, it is that

major return on investment. He said it would be a marvellous title even

without the World Championship. Do you believe him? I think the icing

on the cake for every player is the World Championship. I remember

saying number one in the world is more important than the World

Championship but everybody knows it is the most important thing in the

game. We sometimes think it is tough on the players to be judged only by

World Championships and we do like to have four majors so that Ding

Junhui is not considered to be failing because he has not won the

World Championship but he has won everything else. This tournament is

so far up on a pedestal that we get so excited about it. Such a contrast

for Ronnie compared with 12 months ago. He turned up on the first

morning, hardly having played, a different frame of mind for him this

season. A different frame of mind for him and the fans and the

bookmakers. Last year they were saying, can Ronnie win it? Now the

question everybody is asking is, can anybody old Ronnie O'Sullivan --

beat Ronnie O'Sullivan? They have accepted he does not have to play

constantly, they now he is a genius. He is so strong mentally. All the

other players have started to look pedestrian.

Ding Junhui was outplayed in the Welsh even though he has won five

events this year. So far, no glitches in the engine that we can

see. When Steve was ruling the roost, it

is like you have that little bit of advantage, Stephen Hendry the same,

and Ronnie has that about him when he comes into tournaments.

He is obviously at the peak of his power. I knows he has had a lot of

help from a sports psychologist who is in the audience. He has worked

closely with him and is a massive fan of his. He has also been working

with Liverpool Football Club, so he has done something right!

The other thing, we do not give them as much credit as we should do,

because when everything is working properly, his safety play is

immaculate. Not only does he score heavily, you do not get many chances

and you know there is a good save to coming back if you play one. He is

pretty formidable to play against. If he can keep up that hot success,

I can see another world title in the bag. He can get 60% and above, of

the long pots, he will be doing well.

He has found the gap. A little unlucky. I think he may have left a

pot on here. He just went through the gap. The red on the left-hand

side is no good. The two reds that are on our not much good. This will

be an interesting shot. He is going to cannon into something else. If

you can get the cue ball out of this, he will be doing well. Even

the great Ronnie O'Sullivan had to trust to luck.

I wonder if he will keep it nice and tight and keep him away from the

table. Playing safe, off the brown. When

you have your man down, if you can, keep him there.

That prudent safety shot from Ronnie O'Sullivan looks as if it is going

to play dividends. It is difficult for Robin, under intense pressure,

3-0 down to the tournament favourite.

Not a straightforward break. The black is out of commission. There is

a bit of work to do. He usually manages to clear up.

It is always made more difficult when the black is not on its spot.

There are certainly reds that go to the right corner. The pink spot

looks as if it is not available. He normally does not miss a trick.

He is closing in on Stephen Hendry's career centuries. With that

century break in frame two, that puts him on 132 principal

centuries, Stephen Hendry had 127, but career-wise Stephen has made 773

and Ronnie has 736, so he is closing. You would not want to play

for the black. He overscrewed it so he did not

fancy playing the positional shot. He is looking at the two reds that

are together. He will be kicking himself. It reversed, the second red

reversed to stop if you hit the first red, the second red pushes to

the right, and that is what has happened.

The cue ball is a bit short for Robin in this break. It looks as if

it is top spin around the ankles. -- angles. Well played.

He has the problem now that pink and black have not moved so it is only

really the blue he can play on, unless he plays a cannon onto the

black. It was as if he hedged his bets, he

did not fully commit on the cannon on the black. That would have been

advantageous. Well played. He knew more than

likely should he mess that pink he was going to lose the frame, so that

was a brave shot to take on. If he is going to have any foothold

in this match, this is the opportunity.

If he goes into the interval 4-0 down, he is right under it.

You never count your chickens, but he would be very disappointed if he

does not win this frame at this visit. Two reds on the right-hand

side are absolutely perfect. He deserves this break after that

excellent paint. -- pink. Well done to Robin Hull. He looked a

little bit shaky, at the beginning of the session, but this was very

well played. You are always saying you are not

settled until you win your first frame. You do not feel part of the

match until you get that first frame on the scoreboard. Slowly but

surely, he is getting there. He has to guard against coming low on the

pink. That is why he screwed it as much as

he did. Hopefully that will be OK. Straight is worse than being low. If

he had been a little bit further down the table, he would have been

able to play for any of the three, but he is OK. He has taken these

very well, under the circumstances. I bet Ronnie is kicking himself. The

two reds were close enough together so they could be reversed and he did

not take that into account that the one on the left pushes the one to

the right, and that was enough to cause him a problem. Let us hope we

can see a century from Robin Hull. We have had one from Ronnie.

The last time he was year, 12 years ago, 91 was his highest break. If

you can finish these colours, he will finish up with 102, his first

Crucible century. If you had any doubts about whether

this boy can play, they have been put to rest. He needed to make the

most of the chance and half way through this break, that very brave

pink, he knocked that in, this could be his first Crucible century. That

is perfect. Well played, Robin Hull. Very well played. A marvellous break

for the man from Finland. It is great to see Robin Hull

responding and looking comfortable. That is his fifth century of the

season. We saw one earlier. What are the hallmarks of the way he goes

about breaking? What it is about Ronnie O'Sullivan is he is such a

great break-builder and that is the difference. The other great

break-builder is Stephen Hendry. What makes winners is converting

your opportunities and when you look at Ronnie O'Sullivan he has a great

conversion rate once he gets in amongst the balls. I am going to

give you an analysis of what we are going to be seeing over the next

couple of weeks. You are going to be seeing this a thousand times this

week. We are going to be playing this shot so often. The white ball

is going to be going into the pack and the black is going to be ported.

There are two situations. When the balls are open a player has to make

the most of the opportunity. The other type is when they have to open

the pack themselves. When you do this this is probably the most

important shot you are ever going to play. The white ball is going to be

travelling in this direction towards the black, but the white ball will

be spinning in this direction. Remember the white ball is moving in

this direction but is spinning in the opposite direction. That is a

screenshot. He smashes into the pack. The ball is going into the

pack, it has started to shift reds around, but it is spinning in this

direction. The white ball hits the reds. Roy Sullivan did not get

enough backspin -- Ronnie O'Sullivan. Somehow a player has to

open them without sticking into the pack. This was in the first frame.

Robin Hull nearly got back into it here. This shot is going to be

happening all the time. It is not something you can teach as much as

it is years of expedience. You have to work out how to make sure you can

read those reds apart. Too much backspin and you do not know what

you are going to do. You have to work out how much backspin, the

strength to hit it at, to get the best split. Marks out of ten? A

great attempt. I think the second frame he did it perfectly. The

players who make the most positional decisions correctly and can split

the pack the best are the ones who convert more chances. Do you like

your new toy? I cannot wait for John Parrott to get involved with it. We

are going to talk about the new situation on the other side of the

arena and the match featuring Stewart then -- Stuart Bingham. The

best he has managed was a quarterfinal place last year. He is

having one of his best seasons. The last couple of years he has gone

striding up the world rankings, he is currently world number six. I

think you can look at someone like Stuart Bingham who has every shot in

the book, he can play the deep screws without any effort and that

is because he has room to get the cue through. It is a good technique.

Hard work on the practice table. Stuart Bingham has every shot in the

book and is a rising star. He is blessed with a great amount of self

belief. He has broke into the top 16 for the first time. He is a very

heavy scorer when he gets in, but he is one of those players if he does

not have a lot of time at the table, just seems to have a problem

picking up the red again. A few seasons back someone said Stuart

Bingham did not have the bottle, and that kick-started his professional

career as he was out to prove he has plenty of bottle and he went on to

win in Australia and he is a force to be reckoned with and he can win

any tournament he played them. He tends to play a little bit of side.

Unless you are playing regularly that can affect you, but the fact he

is playing all the time, his record is going to improve. As for Ken

Doherty, we thought he would be on duty with us this morning. This is

his 19th appearance ends 1991. It took until 1997 to get to the final

where he won it. He was back in the final and lost to John Higgins in

1998. 2003 will always be remembered for some amazing snooker played by

the Irishman who just fell short in the final. The best run since then,

the quarters in 2006. He gives the carpet in 2010 and again this

morning. He was like a kid at Christmas when we spoke to him

yesterday. It is great to be back. I am very excited. When you come to

the end of the season you want to be at the Crucible and as much as I

love doing the BBC work, it is much better playing here. The punditry

will have to wait. It is great to be back. I am really excited. I might

be the oldest player in the tournament but mentally I feel like

a teenager. I cannot wait for it to start. You have to play the best if

you have any aspirations of going any further. I wanted Ronnie

O'Sullivan, to be honest, but I have got Stuart Bingham. He is a good

player. Hopefully I will try to make it tough for him as well. Let the

pressure be on the rest of the guys. I am going to go and enjoy it. Play

as well as I can. I do not know what is going to unfold, but let us see,

do your best. These two met in the first round in 2002.

Now the roles are reversed, Stuart Bingham is on the up and Ken Doherty

is battling to keep pace. Ken Doherty hasn't prevailed over Stuart

Bingham since 2008. Stuart Bingham took the first to settle himself

down, in we go to frame to. He's usually very good in the

escaping of snookers. You can see him sitting down there, shaking his

head because he knew that no way in the world should have got near that

pink. A little under hate, that. --

underhit. He's going to have to go through the blue.

Until he gets rid of the red, it would be difficult to win the frame

at this visit but he's such a great break-builder, Stuart Ingham. It

won't be too long before he gets on that one.

He was thinking of leaving the red at distance which is making it

difficult. What angle has he got, if any? This is where we will see his

cue power. How good has he hit that? Amazingly,

too good. You can't cue much better than that. A little wry smile,

knowing he got a bit too much into that cue ball.

He needs a good angle now on the blue. Once again, a little slow.

Maybe dead straight. Couldn't really go wrong if he went a few inches up,

even if he went for a full colour. You must get that red away from the

black. Amazing how much trouble that red to

the left of the black is causing Stuart Bingham here.

He is not guaranteed to get perfect on a red.

He can pull this red, I think. -- pot this red. If it goes in, chance

to win the frame now. With the black available into the

two corners, 47 points in front. It doesn't matter how good you are,

that bit of fortune from the ball, the cue ball went in behind to

brown, he misjudged the snooker, hit the pink and this has all come from

that. No matter how good you are, you have to have that bit of good

fortune now and again. You can see now that Stuart Bingham

is safe. A contrast to the 21st and second frames. The first frame took

28 minutes, this frame has just been going seven minutes so far. Never

know. He has become one of the game's top

break-builder is now, Stuart Bingham. -- break-builders. It will

be interesting to see if he gets close to 100 centuries this season.

We all knew this match was all about how well being scored, if he wasn't

scoring well, Ken could win this match, but if not, it is tough to

see Ken winning this match. Slight kick there, but it hasn't made too

much difference. Excellent break there from Stuart

King, he is now 2-0 in front. Nearly the opening time for him, but

this was much closer. Only one point in it, Ken needs this to snatch the

frame, nearly Alex Tait but leaves it. -- macro nearly flicks it.

Can probably would have gone back to his state thinking, it cleared the

pocket, a chance that Stuart will miss this but by no means a

certainty. But Stuart Bingham has just slotted this in, made it look a

lot easier than it actually was. It's not ideal for Ken. I had dinner

with him and his friends last night, he was in good spirits, looked very

relaxed. The trouble is, you can be relaxed but you get off to a bad

start in the first frame and it can get away from you. So Ken has a lot

of what to do to get back into this match against an inform player, more

informed than Ken has been in the last few years. 66 points in the

fourth frame. But it looks like it could be a mirror image of the match

we have been enjoying so far live, Ronnie O'Sullivan up against Robin

Hull. A great effort from Robin hole in the final frame, to get his first

century and say, I'm determined to make a fight of it. He looked

comfortable in the first frame didn't convert that frame and that

just shows you, he has had lots of match practice to this far, so given

opportunities committee is going to score but it's how many

opportunities he gets against Ronnie O'Sullivan.

The defending champion's much always concludes in the evening so they

will be coming back for a second session. Plenty of snooker today as

they will be for the next 17 days here in Sheffield. -- there will be.

Certainly is a marathon for everybody. A wonderful event. The

Olympics of our sport. If you win here, you deserve every bit of it.

Nobody flukes a World Championship. Match time is pretty quick, 58

minutes. The average frame time will be longer than this in some of the

matches. Just misjudged that slightly. He

left the red to the left middle here. Just slid off the pack.

Took a chance, thinking, if you played this red you couldn't leave

anything but he has given Robin hole and opportunity. -- Robin hole.

Nice kiss on the Green left him nicely on the brown.

This is actually quite a decent chance here now. He has an easy

opportunity to play on a colour, he could play on the brown, the yellow,

the blue, to leave himself an angle to split this pack.

Has he left is of an angle to do that? He has come down a little bit

too far there. -- has he left himself an angle?

He might have enough angle. Full ball on the pink would be great if.

Didn't have it. Or chose not to play it, one of the two.

He has had a look there, you can play position for the bottom rate,

maybe split the pack up that way. Whatever happens, got to get moved

in the next couple of shots. He has come up a bit too far and he

knows it. Is he on it? It's tight, isn't it.

No, can't get enough of the red. That's a series mistake, I'm afraid,

to not leave yourself on that red. Pretty poor by his standards. The

worst thing he could have done there. He seems to play a little bit

too hard, didn't he? He left himself low, there was no

problem in being lower than you needed to be, because at least he

would have been on the red. Just his positional play let him down.

I don't know if he can play this as a shock to nothing but he's coming

back to have a look. If he can do that, he will take it on.

Quite rightly, fully committed to that pot.

He would have been nicely on the black, of course.

You mentioned earlier that one thing that doesn't really attract the

attention in Ronnie O'Sullivan's play is his safety. That is the

problem. He is a great part, a great builder, but his safety play is

absolutely excellent. He wants that cue ball to slow down! Gravity

didn't take over! I think he can get past that to play

this safety pot. He can get past that knuckle. Just about.

All things being equal, that's a pretty good attempt from there. He

will be very happy with the cue ball after that shot. We can see,

bridging in the jaws of the pocket as he was, good cueing, he was

concentrating. Not a lot of room for the cue to go back and go through.

Nice kiss on the yellow. He has put the cue ball in an awkward place,

tight against the baulk cushion. Needs a good safety now, does Robin

Hull. Kissing the green doesn't help, but

possibly the blue has come to his rescue.

So, maybe nothing to tempt Ronnie to go for a pot here.

It was never easy to get back up to that yellow there, it was always

going to leave a possibility of this long red to the left-hand side. But

these are far from easy. Especially 3-1 down.

If you're feeling very confident, you/that in, and just bounce the cue

ball off the top cushion, but he made the pot more difficult playing

it as he did. As he left it safe? Obviously there are reds that will

pot, but Ronnie will be eyeing up the possibilities... He can play for

the black. He played the snooker. If he has covered the red to the

left-hand side of the table, that could be a telling snooker but if he

hasn't, it's an escape for Robin Hull.

He could play back in the same area, Robin, but it would be some shot to

judge. Always difficult of the one cushion, to get the perfect pace.

All the time, just trying to get the cue ball tight on there, and screw

the cue ball back to the top cushion. Ronnie has done that there.

It's not absolutely tight but it's close enough.

It's very difficult to get down and give the backspin on the cable to

bring it up to baulk end, if you can't do that, all he can consider

is how not to leave a pot on for your opponent. The red he's looking

at by the middle pocket, ideally you would like to push that up and down

but it has double-kiss written all over it. You can leave the cue ball

to the right hand side of the blue, that might be OK but this red has

double-kiss all over it so if he is playing the shot, he has to be very

careful. Well, he could not have played that

better. He has played that inch perfect. A little tap on the table

from Ronnie. Well played. Looking to see if he can avoid the

red running into the black. It doesn't look on. I don't think

eating get the cue ball to flick behind it either. -- I don't think

he can. A bit of cat and mouse with this frame.

Which you have said is right, we has to get some sort of contact on the

black. It was very difficult, that was.

Just as he was about to play it, big cheer from the other side of the

wall, that is the thing with the Crucible, it's a cauldron. That war

can just happen when you are playing one of the most important shots of a

frame. # River War. Something you have to get used to.

They were showing that clip early on when Cliff Thorburn made the first

maximum and we saw somebody peeping round of the screen. It's a unique

atmosphere, it all adds to it, though.

I was just about to say, that is virtually perfect but that red going

across, can it be cut in? It's very fine.

We have had an opening taster on this opening morning of the World

Championship. We have to go but only for about an hour. If you want to

continue to watch, it's available online or on the red button.

Don't forget to join us again at 1pm when we will return with more from

these opening-round matches. They dig, they sow, they plant,

they water,