:00:39. > :00:48.The Crucible. Home of the world championship since 1977. Enough to
:00:49. > :02:21.give you goose bumps. This year, it has a a lot to live up to.
:02:22. > :02:30.Welcome to one of the great British sporting venues. The Crucible has
:02:31. > :02:36.seen it all. Will we see another world title for Ronnie O'Sullivan?
:02:37. > :02:44.These are the men hoping to put an end to the domination of the Rocket.
:02:45. > :02:56.Ronnie is taking on Robin Hull, that is our live match. Joe Perry takes
:02:57. > :03:02.on Jamie Burnett. Marco Fu and Martin Gould go head-to-head. Barry
:03:03. > :03:10.Hawkins, beaten finalist last year, starts his campaign. World number
:03:11. > :03:19.12, Mark Davis, against Dominik Dale. Will this be the year for Ding
:03:20. > :03:26.Junhui. Mark Selby plays Michael White. He had a great run last year.
:03:27. > :03:39.John Higgins plays fellow Scotsman, Alan McManus. Stuart Bingham leads
:03:40. > :03:45.Ken Doherty 5-4. Steve Maguire and Ryan Day busy at it. Maguire
:03:46. > :03:57.trailing 3-6. And Neil Robertson starts against the time, Robbie
:03:58. > :04:00.Williams. -- debutant. The atmosphere is buzzing. In keeping
:04:01. > :04:10.with tradition, the defending champion opened up this morning.
:04:11. > :04:30.The atmosphere absolutely electric. That was a chance. The defending
:04:31. > :04:45.champion takes the first frame. Played beautifully. A sensational
:04:46. > :04:56.break of 124 from the Rocket. Roll it in, let gravity takeover. Robin
:04:57. > :05:11.Hull, with 102! It is 3-1. What a shot this would be. What a shot this
:05:12. > :05:25.is! Tremendous, to bring the reds into play. He reads 5-1. -- leads.
:05:26. > :05:49.Right in the heart of the pocket. Reduces the arrears to three. That
:05:50. > :05:57.is careless. He has left pot on. Ronnie O'Sullivan leads.
:05:58. > :06:05.Delighted to say I am joined by John Parrott. Last year we chatted after
:06:06. > :06:14.Ronnie O'Sullivan won the first round, we said, something is
:06:15. > :06:19.happening. Do you detect the same? He has played down the fact that
:06:20. > :06:29.Davis and Hendry have won six and seven. But he's getting close. There
:06:30. > :06:34.was one shot, from pink to black, as good as any you will ever see, it
:06:35. > :06:43.could win short of the championship, and we are only on day one. And
:06:44. > :06:53.Robin Hull? His long game let him down. It is difficult to explain the
:06:54. > :07:01.atmosphere in the Crucible. Especially when Ronnie O'Sullivan is
:07:02. > :07:07.here. It is electric. But all that when Ronnie turns up in town. They
:07:08. > :07:16.are here to watch the man himself, expect more fireworks. Let's join
:07:17. > :07:23.Rob Walker. What a line-up we have. Let's round
:07:24. > :07:48.of day one in style. -- round off. Please welcome a player who has
:07:49. > :07:55.twice reached the last eight of the grand finals, only the fifth Chinese
:07:56. > :08:08.player to appear at the world championship, a Crucible debut for
:08:09. > :08:28.Ju Dojung! And his opponent. A player who has
:08:29. > :08:38.repeatedly shown character and courage in recent years. Twice a
:08:39. > :08:43.finalist in 2008 and 2012. When he is flying high he is the captain.
:08:44. > :09:09.Ali Carter! On the table number one. Welcome a
:09:10. > :09:16.player who has turned back the clock 12 years to make a second Crucible
:09:17. > :09:20.appearance. Fully fit once again and here on snooker's big stage. Give a
:09:21. > :09:54.warm welcome to Robin Hull! Finally his opponent. An absolute
:09:55. > :10:00.genius with a cue in his hand. Having a brilliant season. Five
:10:01. > :10:05.times she has conquered the world at the Crucible. Welcome your defending
:10:06. > :10:26.champion, blink and you will miss him, the Rocket, Ronnie O'Sullivan!
:10:27. > :10:35.The defending champion is in the building. Very noisy in the
:10:36. > :10:48.Crucible. Sit back and relax snooker at its best. Let's join John Virgo.
:10:49. > :10:55.Thank you, Jason. You can tell from the atmosphere that everybody is
:10:56. > :10:59.looking forward to the conclusion of this match. What sort of fireworks
:11:00. > :11:26.will we see? He overhit that slightly, just a
:11:27. > :11:32.safety left. Don't want to catch it too thick. Once again, a bit of
:11:33. > :12:08.pace. The highest break, and hundred and
:12:09. > :12:15.24, from Ronnie. That was always a risk. And we had Robin Hull's first
:12:16. > :12:36.century ever at the Crucible, 102. We are looking at the long pot
:12:37. > :12:45.success, that is exactly what John Parrott was talking about. 27% is a
:12:46. > :13:02.very low. But he has played a good safety.
:13:03. > :13:19.The safety success always depends on whether your opponent pots. It looks
:13:20. > :14:42.like he will take this on. Nicely played. He looks to have
:14:43. > :14:50.control of the situation now. Playing fractionally lower one that
:14:51. > :15:00.red, he knows he must open up with this shot.
:15:01. > :15:18.Tried to open, develop a few, but it went the opposite way. Right into
:15:19. > :15:42.the middle, possibly. He has used power. Nicely played.
:15:43. > :16:04.Horrendous kick. Yes, it just went straight on. No fault of his own,
:16:05. > :16:11.that. It is not always obvious from the slow motion action replay
:16:12. > :16:30.whether there has been a kick, but you can usually tell from the sound.
:16:31. > :16:47.Five foot for between cue ball and object ball.
:16:48. > :17:00.If it is a six foot distance, that blue that Ronnie just played is
:17:01. > :17:09.considered a long pot, but I am not sure if you could count that. Shall
:17:10. > :17:12.we find out? Distance between ball? Yes, I think it is over six foot
:17:13. > :17:30.four to qualify as a long pot. Or the distance between cue ball and
:17:31. > :17:37.pocket. Ronnie O'Sullivan has decided against opening the pack.
:17:38. > :17:45.Will he make Robin Hull pay for that kick? One thing we have noticed is
:17:46. > :17:50.that Ronnie has not gone into the pack as soon as other players in
:17:51. > :17:56.recent years. He is confident in his judgement of pace to get the perfect
:17:57. > :18:03.angle on the black whenever he wants, and he seems to have done it
:18:04. > :18:07.again. But that is the problem, no matter how much your talent, when
:18:08. > :18:25.you go into the pack of reds, you're alive sun block. -- you rely on some
:18:26. > :18:31.luck. That was one of the rare occasions when Ronnie O'Sullivan
:18:32. > :18:39.misjudges a shot. The double kiss was always on but he did not seem to
:18:40. > :18:48.give it much thought. Yes, he looked odds on for a double kiss. Unlike
:18:49. > :18:58.Ronnie to make a mistake like that. Snooker chance for Robin.
:18:59. > :19:33.Played nicely. He needs the cue ball too slow, and it has.
:19:34. > :19:58.He could not hope for a better opportunity than this, a chance.
:19:59. > :20:19.A very controlled, efficient to -- Q action from Robin Hull. Reminiscent
:20:20. > :20:28.of Mark Williams. He carefully gets down into position, does not waste
:20:29. > :20:40.much time. Just overrun that a fraction. Very fast at the moment.
:20:41. > :21:16.I would be very surprised if he did not take the frame now at this
:21:17. > :21:31.visit, 21 point lead. The colours would be more than enough.
:21:32. > :21:42.As we always say, Ronnie played a careless safety shot, it does not
:21:43. > :21:50.matter how good you are, sat in your chair you cannot pot balls. Unusual
:21:51. > :22:04.for him, to not avoid the double this. -- kiss. It has almost
:22:05. > :22:06.certainly lost him the frame. This will put Robin Hull 36 ahead with 35
:22:07. > :22:14.remaining. Would you believe it? He cannot!
:22:15. > :22:47.Trust the red . Oh dear. If Ronnie O'Sullivan can get a
:22:48. > :23:00.snooker from this position it will really put the heat on. I think he
:23:01. > :23:07.has got it. A big danger now for Robin. If he does not get this safe
:23:08. > :23:15.we could have a new favourite for the frame. Who would have thought
:23:16. > :23:25.that they moment ago? He needs to trust in block a bit. -- in luck. If
:23:26. > :23:33.he plays the swerve he will not know where the ball will end up. I
:23:34. > :23:45.preferred the two cushion, but let's see what happens.
:23:46. > :24:07.I am not absolutely sure that is how he meant to play at all .
:24:08. > :24:21.He struck that ball so well, crisp as anything. Not easy, you need to
:24:22. > :24:33.get the weight right. It was a tricky shot. He is straight enough,
:24:34. > :24:36.it should be OK. Just leave a nice angle on the black to come up for
:24:37. > :24:47.the yellow, new favourite for certain.
:24:48. > :24:53.You would be shocked if Ronnie O'Sullivan did not clean up from
:24:54. > :25:06.here, it looks very much like 8-2. Can we assume he just put a little
:25:07. > :25:14.bit of unwanted right-hand side that just pushed the cue ball into the
:25:15. > :25:22.red? But still no excuse for missing that, and he will know that. Blue,
:25:23. > :25:50.pink, like, for a real steal. He has just overhit that. Black
:25:51. > :26:00.needed. And in it goes! Robin Hull will be absolutely am struck. --
:26:01. > :26:05.dumbstruck. He was one shot away from taking the frame, missed that.
:26:06. > :26:19.Now Ronnie O'Sullivan leads 8-2. John, you say this is the best place
:26:20. > :26:29.to play, but with that, comes the pressure. He will be absolutely
:26:30. > :26:35.mortified. You would not miss that 19 times out of 20. But something
:26:36. > :26:43.has gone through his head, he has taken his eye off it, and lost a
:26:44. > :26:52.frame he should have one. How much of that is down to the venue? He
:26:53. > :27:01.would not miss that in practice. 8-2. It should definitely be much
:27:02. > :27:11.closer. One careless safety shot from Ronnie O'Sullivan, a double
:27:12. > :27:13.kiss, but he is getting away with it, if you don't punish Ronnie, you
:27:14. > :27:26.are in big trouble. There is something to remind you,
:27:27. > :27:35.when braking off, do not hit the blue! It can be very costly. And
:27:36. > :27:43.that, I would suggest, could be just a little bit of afters following
:27:44. > :27:50.that shot he missed in the previous frame. It will have put. You know
:27:51. > :27:59.what it is like when you lose a frame like that, it does not go away
:28:00. > :28:09.in your mind. He is not certain to get this safe. He has left a red
:28:10. > :28:19.available into the left corner. Very hard to play that shot and guarantee
:28:20. > :28:25.sticking on the line of four reds. Very hard to keep that under
:28:26. > :28:32.control. This match has slipped away from Robin Hull. He had a frame in
:28:33. > :28:40.the first session and that he should have sealed, and another one
:28:41. > :28:46.tonight. Very hard to keep motivated, fully focused, when not
:28:47. > :28:58.only are you playing against a great looks to be informed, but you make
:28:59. > :29:13.your own elementary mistakes. -- a great who looks to be in form. Louis
:29:14. > :29:23.Tomlinson from One Direction. They have taken the world by storm. Well
:29:24. > :29:34.done, nice. Where is he in the rankings? Number one! Do you think
:29:35. > :29:42.he could do a cover version of Snooker Loopy? Could Chas and Dave
:29:43. > :30:08.write a new one? Don't be so loopy about that,
:30:09. > :30:27.Ronnie! I think he has left it available into the middle.
:30:28. > :30:33.Can he put all of those bad thoughts after this mind? And just
:30:34. > :30:40.concentrate on the ball in front of him? So far, this type of situation
:30:41. > :30:43.has not been a problem to Robin Hull. He has looked very proficient
:30:44. > :32:30.amongst the balls, very controlled. Nicely judged, positionally. As soon
:32:31. > :32:33.as he can, he has got to start considering a main pack of roads
:32:34. > :32:47.here, how he is going to resolve that. This ball opens up another
:32:48. > :32:55.read into the opposite corner. There are two open ones, it is not enough
:32:56. > :33:04.to get him near the finishing line. He has hit that a bit short. In this
:33:05. > :33:07.situation, going into the pack is not so good. You have got to rely on
:33:08. > :33:20.luck. I do not like this, you can catch to
:33:21. > :33:27.red balls, which would send the cue ball to the top cushion. He decided
:33:28. > :33:38.to screw back up to talk, I do not blame him. A wonderful cue action,
:33:39. > :33:47.he got so much screw, very little power. After the green and loose
:33:48. > :33:54.red, he has got to get the right angle on a colour. He has left it
:33:55. > :33:58.late now. And now the wrong side of the red to get to the black. He has
:33:59. > :34:08.got to use one of the baulk colours. Yellow would be nice. You can do it
:34:09. > :34:18.with the green, but I used to favour the yellow.
:34:19. > :34:24.He may just have the angle to screw direct from the yellow into the
:34:25. > :34:35.cluster. This could be the key to the frame.
:34:36. > :34:45.He has paid the price for not trying to go into the Reds earlier. A bit
:34:46. > :34:50.unlucky. He struck the yellow very well. If he had more angle, he could
:34:51. > :35:02.have gone more into the cluster. That is the problem when you leave
:35:03. > :35:10.it until the last chance saloon. He goes back to his seat with a 23
:35:11. > :35:18.point lead. He also played the safety shot by releasing the safer
:35:19. > :35:29.of the side cushion fractionally. Debatable. What you do not want to
:35:30. > :35:39.leave is Ronnie O'Sullivan a Smith. A great shot.
:35:40. > :35:49.They talk about his great positional play and fast positional mind. But
:35:50. > :35:57.he is also one of the greatest safety players I have ever seen.
:35:58. > :36:08.Yes, and coming from you, that is a real compliment. There have never
:36:09. > :36:12.been many better than you. I agree, he has got a snooker brain,
:36:13. > :36:18.all-round, whether it is potting, brick building, safety... Yes, and
:36:19. > :36:37.he does not take much time. He very rarely plays the wrong
:36:38. > :36:48.shop, where he walks away from the table disgusted at his choice.
:36:49. > :36:53.Robin Hull might be able to get through to the red that has bounced
:36:54. > :37:07.off the top cushion. No, I do not think so. This one is a bit riskier.
:37:08. > :37:16.That is a great pot. He deserves to be on a colour. Very fast cloth. It
:37:17. > :37:47.is really running on. The players like fast conditions,
:37:48. > :37:52.but there is one shot it makes harder, the role up behind the
:37:53. > :38:05.colours. It is hard to roll-up dead weight on such fast conditions.
:38:06. > :38:21.He was playing the double. He has got it!
:38:22. > :38:35.Nicely stroked in. The cue ball has finished close with the cushion than
:38:36. > :38:42.he would have liked. He does not have to do much to be on the pink.
:38:43. > :38:51.Desperate to get the right angle to be able to open the Reds.
:38:52. > :38:55.Perhaps he was too much concerned with the line of the cue ball, a
:38:56. > :39:17.glaring error, it looks like. Another golden opportunity missed.
:39:18. > :39:25.It is not in. It has got a bit scrappy. It is strange to say, but
:39:26. > :39:29.in the last frame, I know you want to win every frame you play, but if
:39:30. > :39:33.you feel you do not deserve to win it and your opponent has handed it
:39:34. > :39:40.to you, it takes your concentration level down a notch. That is what has
:39:41. > :39:48.happened with money. He will soon get it back, it might seem a strange
:39:49. > :39:50.thing to say, but Ronnie wants to win off his own devices, not of the
:39:51. > :40:11.mistakes of his opponent. The slightly wrong path of the cue
:40:12. > :40:20.ball, he wanted to come the other side of the blue. Ronnie likes to
:40:21. > :40:24.play and win, anything less than excellent, he gets frustrated with.
:40:25. > :41:02.He has kept that under control recently,
:41:03. > :41:02.seem so proficient on that shot. It was a jab. He has got the snooker,
:41:03. > :41:15.and it is a good one. The chance of four questions. A long
:41:16. > :41:45.way out. Even if he was to hitting, it would
:41:46. > :41:50.be difficult to get it safe. What do you reckon? That is what he
:41:51. > :41:52.attempted first time. I am not happy with that, Dennis would have done
:41:53. > :42:14.far better! He is still nowhere near. He has
:42:15. > :42:21.misjudged two of these so far, the points racking up for Robin Hull. 44
:42:22. > :42:29.points in front. He needs another for mistakes! There was no way he
:42:30. > :42:32.was going to play it from that position. I do not think Ronnie Wood
:42:33. > :42:53.this this another four times! That was always going to be the
:42:54. > :43:04.outcome. You would expect Ronnie to readjust.
:43:05. > :43:14.The hit and hope. It has not gone safe. Surely Robin Hull will not
:43:15. > :43:32.spurn this opportunity. Just! A wry smile from Robin.
:43:33. > :43:44.Sometimes, it is tough to get over the line. He has overhit back. He is
:43:45. > :43:55.catching the ball is very well, unfortunately there, too well. He
:43:56. > :44:01.might be able to stretch over. To snooker is needed, and if this red
:44:02. > :44:13.goes in, Ronnie will not bother coming back to the table.
:44:14. > :44:22.He should have won the first frame this evening. He has definitely won
:44:23. > :44:33.the second. Ronnie just needs to sharpen up again, but his focus
:44:34. > :44:39.back. He has just lost it slightly. There were two frames in this match
:44:40. > :44:46.that Robin Hull gave to Ronnie O'Sullivan. The school could be 6-4.
:44:47. > :44:56.Yes, I remember one of them, Ronnie needed a snooker. In that frame,
:44:57. > :45:06.Robin made it too easy for Ronnie to get back in. We saw that in the last
:45:07. > :45:11.frame. It has not been all Ronnie O'Sullivan, even though the
:45:12. > :46:05.scoreline is nearly over the line for Ronnie O'Sullivan.
:46:06. > :46:11.That was enough. He should have won the first frame of the evening, but
:46:12. > :46:23.he has got that one under his belt. An excellent second frame from Robin
:46:24. > :46:28.Hull. Ronnie O'Sullivan has just nipped out. We will bring you up to
:46:29. > :46:35.date with what is happening on the other table, Ali Carter lost to
:46:36. > :46:43.Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2012, he is playing Xiao Guodong, who is making
:46:44. > :46:48.his Crucible debut. Ali Carter took the first frame, and then Xiao
:46:49. > :46:56.Guodong bounced back. We were talking about Robin Hull's nerves
:46:57. > :46:59.earlier. He was nervous earlier, but some people thought he was a
:47:00. > :47:05.seriously good player in the qualifiers. Ali Carter might have a
:47:06. > :47:10.match tonight. He has had good results. Although Ali Carter has all
:47:11. > :47:15.of the experience, he is a good player. Especially given the fact
:47:16. > :47:23.that Ali Carter took the first frame so easily, and Xiao Guodong. The
:47:24. > :47:31.second one. As for Robin Hull, a couple of marvellous pots. He is a
:47:32. > :47:34.good match player, he was ill, he came back in 2011, he has won four
:47:35. > :47:43.matches to qualify, including Peter Peter Ebdon. He has just been a bit
:47:44. > :47:50.careless in part. This could be a 6-5 match. It is a remarkable story.
:47:51. > :47:57.I played him in 2003, he has been around a long time. He is a cracking
:47:58. > :47:58.player, he has just been careless today in certain parts, it should be
:47:59. > :48:14.closer than 8-3. One thing is for certain, you would
:48:15. > :48:19.not say that Robin Hull has been outclassed in this match, which is
:48:20. > :48:24.something that happens to a lot of players who play Ronnie O'Sullivan.
:48:25. > :48:28.He played the first round of the World Championship, that is the
:48:29. > :48:32.potential banana skin for any top player. Even though Ronnie
:48:33. > :48:44.O'Sullivan does not look particularly tense, I am sure he has
:48:45. > :48:51.felt the butterflies in the build-up. Yes, I have been impressed
:48:52. > :48:58.by Robin Hull, his demeanour around the table.
:48:59. > :49:06.That is a poor safety shot. Catching the blue in the middle of the table.
:49:07. > :49:13.He has just lost that competitive edge, to me, at the moment. He just
:49:14. > :49:19.needs to be fired up, a good shot or a decent sized break. I would not
:49:20. > :49:31.think he would be concerned with the result at the moment.
:49:32. > :49:51.Very nice. Nicely controlled. He did not overhit that.
:49:52. > :49:57.Once again, he could have panicked and tried to open up the reds, but
:49:58. > :50:18.he played a controlled positional shot.
:50:19. > :50:30.A superb shot. That is a shot we will see an awful lot in the next
:50:31. > :50:42.two weeks. You will not see a nicer split than that.
:50:43. > :50:51.He is having a go up for the blue. The blue not being on its spot...
:50:52. > :50:57.How many times have we done that? New issue and the blue is on its
:50:58. > :50:59.spot. He does not have the right angle, so a good shot is needed to
:51:00. > :51:15.get back amongst the reds. This is what happens to the cue ball
:51:16. > :51:20.when it goes into the pack, it is spinning backwards, it hit the
:51:21. > :51:31.balls, and then it continues spinning in the direction, and if
:51:32. > :51:57.you do not have the right shot, it can disturb the other Reds.
:51:58. > :52:06.Robin Hull is gaining in confidence. I have been impressed with his
:52:07. > :52:17.demeanour, as I mentioned earlier. He is getting chances. If he had won
:52:18. > :52:20.the first frame of the evening, we could have been looking at a very
:52:21. > :52:26.close match, a bit worrying for Ronnie. If he wins this frame, he
:52:27. > :52:32.will definitely take us past the mid-session interval, that in itself
:52:33. > :52:39.is something he would have been looking for. He has the cue ball
:52:40. > :53:42.nicely under control. He just got past the pink. He gets
:53:43. > :54:18.some action on the cue ball. Hitting the right part of the cue
:54:19. > :54:27.ball gives you the backspin. He hit it really well. Looking for the
:54:28. > :54:39.colour and one more red and a colour.
:54:40. > :54:52.That is not the best positional shot. That is where you hit it,
:54:53. > :54:54.below centre. As soon as it hits the object ball, it comes back. Get your
:54:55. > :55:27.cue out of the way! I did! We have not seen much of one day,
:55:28. > :55:42.and the only frame he has won this evening, he was gifted. The easy
:55:43. > :55:53.frame ball red was missed by Robin. Robin Hull's pot success is good,
:55:54. > :56:24.giving Ronnie a bit to think about. Only one snooker required, though.
:56:25. > :56:35.An excellent break. One snooker required. He has lost one frame in
:56:36. > :56:47.this match when Ronnie needed a snooker.
:56:48. > :56:54.Ronnie has overhit the safety. Not vintage Ronnie so far this evening,
:56:55. > :57:09.it has to be said. But it does not have to be vintage,
:57:10. > :57:10.it is just about winning, especially in the first round, get it under
:57:11. > :57:27.your belt. What an error! Ronnie can now win
:57:28. > :58:09.the frame. Unbelievable! We are all gripped by this match,
:58:10. > :58:15.but that is where we leave it on BBC Two. But you can continue to enjoy
:58:16. > :58:22.Ronnie O'Sullivan against Robin Hull on the red button. You can also
:58:23. > :58:26.watch it online, connected TVs, mobiles and tablet. Ali Carter
:58:27. > :58:32.against shampoo Dong, Ali Carter leads to-1. You can catch up with
:58:33. > :58:38.the highlights tonight at the night. Goodbye for now.