Day 1, Part 4 Snooker: World Championship

We have been channel hopping since 10am this morning. At the world

slipper Championship in Sheffield. -- snooker Championship. Shaun

Murphy won the title in 2005. He is involved in a cracking match with

Jamie Cope. It is great to see Jamie Cope back playing.

They have just come back for the fifth frame. We have Dennis Taylor

and Stephen Hendry in the commentary box.

You joined us as Shaun took on a very difficult plant indeed. We will

show you that again. That would have been some shot if he pulled that

off, but the standard has been superb in this match. Jamie opened

up with a 75 and had a 40 Break and just the one long third frame which

got a bit scrappy. This red will cut in. Even if he

cannons the red next to it, it is all about getting the pot and if he

gets round the back of that red he might cannon the bunch, so he would

be very unlucky not to finish on a colour.

He might be able to miss the other red. He has not missed that red. I

think he played to cannon into the bunch, but he did catch it. He

thought he was going to get round the back of that and open the bunch.

That shows you what these pockets are like. Watch the black before it

gets to the pocket, it does touches the cushion. -- just touches. At

least he blocked the pocket along the cushion. This would be a nice

one to slot into the middle pocket. He needs the pink to come to his

rescue, and it has not. An excellent transfer Shaun Murphy. -- chance

or. He was covering the red to the pocket. That was virtually the only

way he was going to leave that red, if he overcut it.

He will be looking to play the red to the left of the black spot. He

may have a little bit too much angle to start with.

The pink is in an awkward position. Normally you report the red and get

onto the blue. He cannot do that now. He has the red just above the

black that he can play to get on and that will free up after get through

to the black. Is there a possible plant as well? Yes. I like that.

There was the plant. He knew it was there. If it had gone a little

further, the other end would have been available. I am not sure if

there is another plant possible. You can see the other plants as well

as the red above the black. It is all looking good for Shaun.

It will be interesting to see if he plays off the black. I do not think

the plant goes. I think the other red is in no way. I think you are

right. He has a plant to the other pocket. I have never seen so many

plants. It is looking like another frame won

on one visit for Shaun Murphy. One visit virtually winning the

frame. It is a great feeling when you are

playing at the Crucible role of confidence. There is no better place

to play snooker. When you are playing like this, the noise on the

other side of the arena does not put you off. It is only if you are

struggling you noticed the noise. That has a bit of a quick bounce. He

has to hit it as hard as he can and see what happens. Nothing happens.

Once again, Shaun Murphy just needed one chance and he made that break of

70 and he leads the-2. -- 3-2. It is hard to believe it is nine

years since Shaun lifted the world title here at the Crucible. Where

does the time go? Nine frames to be played in this

session. Very good. Always nice to knock

those in. He is not on a colour, but if you can get tight in behind

yellow or brown... That is not bad because any escape

route into the side of the reds could leave a possible hot on. This

match will be played to its conclusion tomorrow evening.

Trying to block that path off, and he did not get tight enough in

behind the brain. -- brown. I think there are only two people in

the Crucible who appreciated that good safety shot. It was a good

safety shot. That is a good opener and he is

perfect on the blue. It is worth another look. That is a good chance

and he can start to clear the black spot area. He has let that one a bit

too far. He did not want to play that one,

but it will do. He overhit that. I thought the cue

ball was going to end up awkward as soon as he struck it. It is care

less. He had so much margin for error. Anywhere just off the

collision would have left the reds lining up just to be potted. When

you play a shot like that you are trying to force yourself into taking

a pot on that is not there. Shaun will be looking to win three.

His target will be a six - three lead going into the second session

tomorrow night. You always want to win your first ground as easy as

possible. -- round. The first round matches are the best of 19 but you

always felt your World Championships started when you got to the second

round and you have three sessions. It is a marathon 17 days, but it is

the best player in the world who always comes out on top.

It is going to be a fascinating World Championship this year.

Already Ronnie O'Sullivan is a strong favourite but there are five

or six players playing well and there are no easy halves, it does

not matter which half you are in, they are as difficult as the other.

We might have another awkward frame. Although the reds are OK, the pink

and black, you cannot do much about that. That happened in the third

frame which ended up lasting 40 minutes. The rest has been very

fluent. He does not look happy with

themselves. He was having a bit of a chat. That is probably the worst

shot he has played in this match. He has given himself a bit of a telling

off for that. Did he get heavy contact? Maybe that caused it.

He was cueing so well you would not have expected him to have missed

that. It was a long pot, but maybe the kick caused the problem.

If Shaun is going to win this frame he is going to have to do it with

mainly blues, you would say, which is not a bad thing, it does not

matter. He has overhit that. He was playing

for the red next to the blue and he has a slight problem. If he gets

straight on the black it is not a problem. It could turn out to his

advantage. As long as he does not finish

straight on the red after popping the black, that would really open

things up. That time he played the red enough.

We have seen so many times if you touch the other jaw it will drop in.

He is looking good, building up steam. He has already had breaks of

112, 70, 87 and 50 and counting at this visit. The frame already safe.

There is a possible 59 on the table. This was the shot that Jamie felt he

had heavy contact when he was muttering to himself. We talked

about Jamie and the way he dresses the cue ball to the right hand

side. I think he finds the left pocket consistently difficult to

get. Yes, because applying that side

throws the ball off line. He has to apply that to the way he has always

played. The secret is who can strike it in the centre. As soon as you get

a touch of side, it can be difficult. Very difficult to make

the century. He would be better to play the cannon of the pink of the

blue. Not much chance of the century.

Once again, Shaun Murphy just needed one chance and he took that chance

with a break of 87. He extends his lead to 4-2.

Breaks of 112, 70, 87, full of confidence. He looks it. I am

wondering if he had a mental breakthrough because we have watched

over the past few years, Neil Robertson, John Higgins, those types

of players have made it truly tactical and hard and have been

better than him, but he won the World Open a month or so ago beating

Mark Selby in the final. I am wondering if he thinks there may not

be any barriers for him to go on and win more tournament is. He also beat

Ding Junhui and she has beaten Neil Robertson in the grand finals of the

players Championship as well. -- he has beaten. What are your

observations about Shaun so far? I think it goes back to, you cannot

beat a bit of winning confidence to change a season. If we go back to

the Masters when he was really down in the dumps in the way he played,

he felt as if he was not getting anywhere and all of a sudden fast

forward a little bit of time and he is more positive. It is arguable

whether form comes from the practice table or from the match table. It is

tough to play yourself into form. He has certainly been working hard.

He said sport is about six inches between your ears. It is about your

brain, your confidence. It is all about confidence and confidence

breeds confidence. Nobody knows that better than

Stephen Hendry sitting next to me. The king of the Crucible. Seven

titles. Chants of potting this brown. I

thought for a moment he was going to cover everything. He played it

perfectly. He could not have hit that much better. He would have been

really unfortunate if God. -- not. He needs to start making the most of

these opportunities. I think the black is available into

the right-hand corner pocket but it is all a bit congested. There is a

red near the pink so if you bought ink or black it might tie it up

somewhat. We will find out if the pink is available. If he can get the

red away from the black and get on the black that would be ideal but I

do not think he has the angle. He needed to be a little further up

the table. Almost straight. He might be able to

force the angle. If he is straight, he can leave the

pink for the left middle pocket. He is having to work hard for this

break. A bit of excitement from the next

table. They are just in between frames, Michaela setting the balls

up. What a shock. Without doubt, the

best of the match. And the championship so far. There have not

been many hit better than that. Just cannot get into ideal position.

He has got a slight angle on the red, so he can Faucet Inn.

Can he get the right side of the blue? No. He does not half make it

hard work, when you keep coming up short. It is slightly the wrong

side. He is looking at the yellow. That is too hard. He could not get

himself into the ideal position. He has to be careful if he tries to pop

the one near the blackspot, that the white does not go into the right

near pocket. Another good pot to keep the break

going, but it is not getting any easier. He has pulled a few cracking

once out here. And again, he has hit it too hard. A

little smile to himself, no pot available this time.

He has got to be careful he does not let Shaun Murphy back in.

This is quite an important frame for Jamie. Either 4-3 or 5-2. He has

left that chance. I do not think he will can be read to the left of the

three nearest the cushion. He will find the gap, he should drop on a

colour. Well! Well then! I do not know whether he tried to pot it, and

just hope for the best as regards position. He did not even get close

to the pot. The chances there now. Jamie can get back to just one frame

behind. A bit careless to finish straight on

the black. Every now and again, he puts in a

bit of movement, as if he is time to force the ball into the pocket. It

is the sort of thing you can do under pressure. He is pretty safe,

if he just takes these two reds, it does not matter about the three

awkward ones. Just the colour to leave Shaun Murphy needing a

snooker. The red to make absolutely sure. Shaun Murphy won the previous

two frames in one visit, and was starting to dominate the match.

A great effort, so much side on it to try to move the red. After what

Shaun Murphy did, breaks of 87 and 70, this is a great response. It

does not matter about missing that. Shaun Murphy is coming to the table,

but barring stickers, Jamie Cope is just one behind.

Every credit to Jamie Cope. Shaun Murphy threw everything at him for

three frames, and he has responded. That gives him just one frame the

difference now, well played, Jamie. A quick check on the other table,

the last we heard, the Welshman, Ryan Day, 3-2 in front. He went 4-2

in front, and it looked as though the Scottish player was going to win

the seventh frame. But Ryan Day, the former world number six, has got his

potting boots on. He is clearing up. A steal 46 points to win three on

the trot. This will hurt Steven Maguire. 5-2

ahead. Steven Maguire, the semifinalist in 2012 and 2007, has a

lot of work to do. What kind of form but you say Ryan Day has brought?

Much better, that is for sure. He is scoring heavily. He would not put

him down as one of the great tactical players, he wants to get

the ball is open and score heavily, and he is queueing pretty well. You

mention the back situation. At the, it has given him grief. He appears

to be fully fit, but that sort of injury, how commonplace and

debilitating can it be? There are not bundles of players who have had

problems with their back or neck, but it does happen. You are spending

a lot of time in practice, which can become debilitating. I would imagine

everybody is an individual case, you would have to be that person to know

how much it was affecting you. This much has been hard-fought, it could

have gone a few different ways, a view mistake. Early on, Ryan Day

missed a ball, it ended up snickering Steven Maguire. For the

sake of that, it could have changed the way the match has progressed. He

has got away from him now, so let's see what Ryan Day can do. Steven

Maguire started out at world number five at the beginning of the season,

at an alarming slide in the last few months, he is now 13, it is not the

kind of thing that you want to come here with. The healthy, first, but

you are not coming in with any momentum. You just want to have a

good result. If you reach the latter stages before you come here, have a

bit of form, because you cannot come here with no form. The scoring

system here has frozen for the moment, they are just trying to fix

it. Let's consider how this match is going, as we have mentioned Jamie

Cope, the commentators alluded to it, every time Shaun Murphy hit a

blow, this youngster, 26, has hit back. Yes, it is nice to see him

playing some decent snooker again. When he first came on the scene, he

played caution to the wind, blasting opponents of the table, and it

looked like he would go a lot further up the rankings. He hit a

brick wall, it is nice to see him back, competing, and he is holding

his end up very nicely. He is up against one of the great players in

the game. For a while, it looked as though Shaun Murphy would get away,

but he has got it back. Shaun Murphy, we have talked about

confidence and being up for the fight, when you consider a few

months ago, he said he might think about doing something else for a

living, how quickly things change. He was indeed practice room with his

friend, he said, do you miss playing? I said, you are in the

semifinal of the Masters, if you cannot get a buzz from this, one of

the great sporting occasions, there is something wrong. You need to get

your head sorted out. It is a bully and spectacle. He was down. An

absence of confidence. It seems to have returned, and so have the

scoring system, so back we go to Dennis Taylor and Stephen Hendry.

An excellent long pot that Jamie knocked in. He is pretty confident.

So he should be. Just one frame behind. His opponent has made wrecks

of 112. Nine frames to be played in this session. It will be played to a

conclusion tomorrow evening. Just overcooked that slightly. He has

pulled out some great ones, that he has not got the cue ball on a string

so far. If both of the red at the bottom of

the pack pot to the right corner, that makes the positioning easier.

He needs to be pretty exact with this one.

He has over screwed it. He can still pot it, but he has overdone it

again. It is all about trying to keep it as simple as possible.

Now, he has got a good position. He needed it to run a bit further. He

still has the red to the back of the pack, but if he had run further, he

would have taken the green and gone straight into the bunch. He has not

got the angle to do that. He is overheating everything. This

is a test. The pupil will be following into the pack.

He has worked the percentages out, and he has thought, I have got back

to just one frame behind, and he is thinking, it is too risky, I could

just handed on a plate to Shaun Murphy. The safety was the correct

choice. Yes, as a neutral, I would like to see Jamie win the frame,

because there would be pressure on the final frame, going into the

second session. Better missing it altogether than

missing it -- than hitting it too thick. He will have it but back.

Going to your point about the way he strikes the cue ball to the right,

it makes this type of shot quite difficult, really, if you have got a

bit offside on the cue ball. A change of plan, play the other

one. Not bad at all. He looks very fit, Shaun Murphy, he

has lost quite a bit of weight. He is always immaculately dressed, he

likes to be a model professional. Always has been like that. He came

through the school of excellence as a young player. He always takes

great pride in his dress sense and interviews.

It has cost him four points, but it is one of those situations, he is

pleased the White has gone in the pocket, because he would have been

in amongst the Reds, and it puts a bit of pressure on this shot for

Shaun Murphy. If you take this on, you have to get it.

It would have been easier to play for the black. Yes, if he had got

the cannon on the read correctly, the pink would have been easier. He

is going to have to take it up into the corner.

A disappointing end to this visit for Shaun Murphy. He desperately

wants to be on the read. Both players are overheating a lot

of positional shots. Yet -- yes, which is an indication that the

table is playing quite fast. That is probably the worst safety

shop that Jamie has played so far. His safety has been pretty good. He

hit that far too thin. A bit of work to do with the cue ball to get a

good position. That is not a good position by any

means. He conceded that -- he can see the

black. He is not looking at a plant, he is

just making sure that he can put a red over the left corner pocket.

Almost. Just needed another fraction to the right. This will bring the

pink and black into play. He thought he could pot that one. He

stuck it up. Once again, pink and black tied up, a wry smile from

Shaun Murphy. The fact that the red is so close to the pocket, it is

difficult to control the cue ball and get up to the blue.

That is about the best he could manage from that position.

He took his eye off the blue, he was more concerned about where the cue

ball was going. It is amazing, the number of times that happens.

He was just having a look to save the black goes to the centre.

Perhaps a little bit too much angle on it. It looks as if it does pot.

This is going to take some shot to pot the blue and end up on a red.

That is near the corner pocket so he may not be on a red. It was not a

bad effort. Jamie could open the pink and black

up here if he can see enough of the red. If not he will have to play the

red near the cushion. Good choice. Not as intended. It looks as if

there is one red that will pot. There it is.

As we show you that shot again, the indication of the cue powered Jamie

has. A little bit noisy, the session has come to an end on the other

table. This is where you have to focus and forget about the movement

around you. That is so unfortunate. You cannot

believe that could happen. He is bound to be on a colour or a red,

sorry, but look at where it has finished. That was a smile that did

not mean happiness. I think the frame was at his mercy there. He

just finishes on a red. Still nine points behind. That

little bit of bad fortune. He knows it was a great chance to draw level.

He still might do. We'll Shaun leave him another chance? That is the

question. Shaun is faced with quite a

difficult safety shot. They will be waiting for a break in

play then the screen will be lifted. They might leave it until the end of

the frame, but there's no reason why they could not have worked with the

players and raise the screen. There are still a few people on the other

side hoping will happen. -- hoping that will happen.

All of a sudden it is very quiet, no distraction from the other side of

the curtain. Play has finished, as you can see.

He could have done a little bit further across the table. He cannot

quite reach that, but he can play a cannon onto the red.

These are tricky shots. You have to give them 100% concentration. If you

touch that near jaw, they will not go in. A little bit of head movement

there. He knows he is going to be bang in

trouble here. He might be able to go twice across

the table and land on the red that is near the cushion. I do not think

the blue is in the way. He might have to play with a touch of side to

avoid the blue. That is the sort of angles he would

be looking at. He has stuck a red up, that could be costly.

I am wondering if you can follow through the cue ball in between the

red and the black. That is what he has done. You always want to get to

five frames when you are playing a two session match.

He played to cannon that red out and he only just flicked it.

That is either a big bounce or a careless positional shot. It is all

about this red. We have to leave it there. It

continues on the red button and online. Table two has finished 6-3.

They will return tomorrow night. That is it for the opening morning

and afternoon on day one at the Crucible. There will be plenty more

at 7pm. Goodbye for now. In 1750, two visionaries

were brought together This was a benefit concert

on a massive scale. This evening was about

to make history.