Day 1, Part 5 Snooker: World Championship

The Crucible. Home of the world championship since 1977. Enough to

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

Welcome to one of the great British sporting venues. The Crucible has

seen it all. Will we see another world title for Ronnie O'Sullivan?

These are the men hoping to put an end to the domination of the Rocket.

Ronnie is taking on Robin Hull, that is our live match. Joe Perry takes

on Jamie Burnett. Marco Fu and Martin Gould go head-to-head. Barry

Hawkins, beaten finalist last year, starts his campaign. World number

12, Mark Davis, against Dominik Dale. Will this be the year for Ding

Junhui. Mark Selby plays Michael White. He had a great run last year.

John Higgins plays fellow Scotsman, Alan McManus. Stuart Bingham leads

Ken Doherty 5-4. Steve Maguire and Ryan Day busy at it. Maguire

trailing 3-6. And Neil Robertson starts against the time, Robbie

Williams. -- debutant. The atmosphere is buzzing. In keeping

with tradition, the defending champion opened up this morning.

The atmosphere absolutely electric. That was a chance. The defending

champion takes the first frame. Played beautifully. A sensational

break of 124 from the Rocket. Roll it in, let gravity takeover. Robin

Hull, with 102! It is 3-1. What a shot this would be. What a shot this

is! Tremendous, to bring the reds into play. He reads 5-1. -- leads.

Right in the heart of the pocket. Reduces the arrears to three. That

is careless. He has left pot on. Ronnie O'Sullivan leads.

Delighted to say I am joined by John Parrott. Last year we chatted after

Ronnie O'Sullivan won the first round, we said, something is

happening. Do you detect the same? He has played down the fact that

Davis and Hendry have won six and seven. But he's getting close. There

was one shot, from pink to black, as good as any you will ever see, it

could win short of the championship, and we are only on day one. And

Robin Hull? His long game let him down. It is difficult to explain the

atmosphere in the Crucible. Especially when Ronnie O'Sullivan is

here. It is electric. But all that when Ronnie turns up in town. They

are here to watch the man himself, expect more fireworks. Let's join

Rob Walker. What a line-up we have. Let's round

of day one in style. -- round off. Please welcome a player who has

twice reached the last eight of the grand finals, only the fifth Chinese

player to appear at the world championship, a Crucible debut for

Ju Dojung! And his opponent. A player who has

repeatedly shown character and courage in recent years. Twice a

finalist in 2008 and 2012. When he is flying high he is the captain.

Ali Carter! On the table number one. Welcome a

player who has turned back the clock 12 years to make a second Crucible

appearance. Fully fit once again and here on snooker's big stage. Give a

warm welcome to Robin Hull! Finally his opponent. An absolute

genius with a cue in his hand. Having a brilliant season. Five

times she has conquered the world at the Crucible. Welcome your defending

champion, blink and you will miss him, the Rocket, Ronnie O'Sullivan!

The defending champion is in the building. Very noisy in the

Crucible. Sit back and relax snooker at its best. Let's join John Virgo.

Thank you, Jason. You can tell from the atmosphere that everybody is

looking forward to the conclusion of this match. What sort of fireworks

will we see? He overhit that slightly, just a

safety left. Don't want to catch it too thick. Once again, a bit of

pace. The highest break, and hundred and

24, from Ronnie. That was always a risk. And we had Robin Hull's first

century ever at the Crucible, 102. We are looking at the long pot

success, that is exactly what John Parrott was talking about. 27% is a

very low. But he has played a good safety.

The safety success always depends on whether your opponent pots. It looks

like he will take this on. Nicely played. He looks to have

control of the situation now. Playing fractionally lower one that

red, he knows he must open up with this shot.

Tried to open, develop a few, but it went the opposite way. Right into

the middle, possibly. He has used power. Nicely played.

Horrendous kick. Yes, it just went straight on. No fault of his own,

that. It is not always obvious from the slow motion action replay

whether there has been a kick, but you can usually tell from the sound.

Five foot for between cue ball and object ball.

If it is a six foot distance, that blue that Ronnie just played is

considered a long pot, but I am not sure if you could count that. Shall

we find out? Distance between ball? Yes, I think it is over six foot

four to qualify as a long pot. Or the distance between cue ball and

pocket. Ronnie O'Sullivan has decided against opening the pack.

Will he make Robin Hull pay for that kick? One thing we have noticed is

that Ronnie has not gone into the pack as soon as other players in

recent years. He is confident in his judgement of pace to get the perfect

angle on the black whenever he wants, and he seems to have done it

again. But that is the problem, no matter how much your talent, when

you go into the pack of reds, you're alive sun block. -- you rely on some

luck. That was one of the rare occasions when Ronnie O'Sullivan

misjudges a shot. The double kiss was always on but he did not seem to

give it much thought. Yes, he looked odds on for a double kiss. Unlike

Ronnie to make a mistake like that. Snooker chance for Robin.

Played nicely. He needs the cue ball too slow, and it has.

He could not hope for a better opportunity than this, a chance.

A very controlled, efficient to -- Q action from Robin Hull. Reminiscent

of Mark Williams. He carefully gets down into position, does not waste

much time. Just overrun that a fraction. Very fast at the moment.

I would be very surprised if he did not take the frame now at this

visit, 21 point lead. The colours would be more than enough.

As we always say, Ronnie played a careless safety shot, it does not

matter how good you are, sat in your chair you cannot pot balls. Unusual

for him, to not avoid the double this. -- kiss. It has almost

certainly lost him the frame. This will put Robin Hull 36 ahead with 35

remaining. Would you believe it? He cannot!

Trust the red . Oh dear. If Ronnie O'Sullivan can get a

snooker from this position it will really put the heat on. I think he

has got it. A big danger now for Robin. If he does not get this safe

we could have a new favourite for the frame. Who would have thought

that they moment ago? He needs to trust in block a bit. -- in luck. If

he plays the swerve he will not know where the ball will end up. I

preferred the two cushion, but let's see what happens.

I am not absolutely sure that is how he meant to play at all .

He struck that ball so well, crisp as anything. Not easy, you need to

get the weight right. It was a tricky shot. He is straight enough,

it should be OK. Just leave a nice angle on the black to come up for

the yellow, new favourite for certain.

You would be shocked if Ronnie O'Sullivan did not clean up from

here, it looks very much like 8-2. Can we assume he just put a little

bit of unwanted right-hand side that just pushed the cue ball into the

red? But still no excuse for missing that, and he will know that. Blue,

pink, like, for a real steal. He has just overhit that. Black

needed. And in it goes! Robin Hull will be absolutely am struck. --

dumbstruck. He was one shot away from taking the frame, missed that.

Now Ronnie O'Sullivan leads 8-2. John, you say this is the best place

to play, but with that, comes the pressure. He will be absolutely

mortified. You would not miss that 19 times out of 20. But something

has gone through his head, he has taken his eye off it, and lost a

frame he should have one. How much of that is down to the venue? He

would not miss that in practice. 8-2. It should definitely be much

closer. One careless safety shot from Ronnie O'Sullivan, a double

kiss, but he is getting away with it, if you don't punish Ronnie, you

are in big trouble. There is something to remind you,

when braking off, do not hit the blue! It can be very costly. And

that, I would suggest, could be just a little bit of afters following

that shot he missed in the previous frame. It will have put. You know

what it is like when you lose a frame like that, it does not go away

in your mind. He is not certain to get this safe. He has left a red

available into the left corner. Very hard to play that shot and guarantee

sticking on the line of four reds. Very hard to keep that under

control. This match has slipped away from Robin Hull. He had a frame in

the first session and that he should have sealed, and another one

tonight. Very hard to keep motivated, fully focused, when not

only are you playing against a great looks to be informed, but you make

your own elementary mistakes. -- a great who looks to be in form. Louis

Tomlinson from One Direction. They have taken the world by storm. Well

done, nice. Where is he in the rankings? Number one! Do you think

he could do a cover version of Snooker Loopy? Could Chas and Dave

write a new one? Don't be so loopy about that,

Ronnie! I think he has left it available into the middle.

Can he put all of those bad thoughts after this mind? And just

concentrate on the ball in front of him? So far, this type of situation

has not been a problem to Robin Hull. He has looked very proficient

amongst the balls, very controlled. Nicely judged, positionally. As soon

as he can, he has got to start considering a main pack of roads

here, how he is going to resolve that. This ball opens up another

read into the opposite corner. There are two open ones, it is not enough

to get him near the finishing line. He has hit that a bit short. In this

situation, going into the pack is not so good. You have got to rely on

luck. I do not like this, you can catch to

red balls, which would send the cue ball to the top cushion. He decided

to screw back up to talk, I do not blame him. A wonderful cue action,

he got so much screw, very little power. After the green and loose

red, he has got to get the right angle on a colour. He has left it

late now. And now the wrong side of the red to get to the black. He has

got to use one of the baulk colours. Yellow would be nice. You can do it

with the green, but I used to favour the yellow.

He may just have the angle to screw direct from the yellow into the

cluster. This could be the key to the frame.

He has paid the price for not trying to go into the Reds earlier. A bit

unlucky. He struck the yellow very well. If he had more angle, he could

have gone more into the cluster. That is the problem when you leave

it until the last chance saloon. He goes back to his seat with a 23

point lead. He also played the safety shot by releasing the safer

of the side cushion fractionally. Debatable. What you do not want to

leave is Ronnie O'Sullivan a Smith. A great shot.

They talk about his great positional play and fast positional mind. But

he is also one of the greatest safety players I have ever seen.

Yes, and coming from you, that is a real compliment. There have never

been many better than you. I agree, he has got a snooker brain,

all-round, whether it is potting, brick building, safety... Yes, and

he does not take much time. He very rarely plays the wrong

shop, where he walks away from the table disgusted at his choice.

Robin Hull might be able to get through to the red that has bounced

off the top cushion. No, I do not think so. This one is a bit riskier.

That is a great pot. He deserves to be on a colour. Very fast cloth. It

is really running on. The players like fast conditions,

but there is one shot it makes harder, the role up behind the

colours. It is hard to roll-up dead weight on such fast conditions.

He was playing the double. He has got it!

Nicely stroked in. The cue ball has finished close with the cushion than

he would have liked. He does not have to do much to be on the pink.

Desperate to get the right angle to be able to open the Reds.

Perhaps he was too much concerned with the line of the cue ball, a

glaring error, it looks like. Another golden opportunity missed.

It is not in. It has got a bit scrappy. It is strange to say, but

in the last frame, I know you want to win every frame you play, but if

you feel you do not deserve to win it and your opponent has handed it

to you, it takes your concentration level down a notch. That is what has

happened with money. He will soon get it back, it might seem a strange

thing to say, but Ronnie wants to win off his own devices, not of the

mistakes of his opponent. The slightly wrong path of the cue

ball, he wanted to come the other side of the blue. Ronnie likes to

play and win, anything less than excellent, he gets frustrated with.

He has kept that under control recently,

seem so proficient on that shot. It was a jab. He has got the snooker,

and it is a good one. The chance of four questions. A long

way out. Even if he was to hitting, it would

be difficult to get it safe. What do you reckon? That is what he

attempted first time. I am not happy with that, Dennis would have done

far better! He is still nowhere near. He has

misjudged two of these so far, the points racking up for Robin Hull. 44

points in front. He needs another for mistakes! There was no way he

was going to play it from that position. I do not think Ronnie Wood

this this another four times! That was always going to be the

outcome. You would expect Ronnie to readjust.

The hit and hope. It has not gone safe. Surely Robin Hull will not

spurn this opportunity. Just! A wry smile from Robin.

Sometimes, it is tough to get over the line. He has overhit back. He is

catching the ball is very well, unfortunately there, too well. He

might be able to stretch over. To snooker is needed, and if this red

goes in, Ronnie will not bother coming back to the table.

He should have won the first frame this evening. He has definitely won

the second. Ronnie just needs to sharpen up again, but his focus

back. He has just lost it slightly. There were two frames in this match

that Robin Hull gave to Ronnie O'Sullivan. The school could be 6-4.

Yes, I remember one of them, Ronnie needed a snooker. In that frame,

Robin made it too easy for Ronnie to get back in. We saw that in the last

frame. It has not been all Ronnie O'Sullivan, even though the

scoreline is nearly over the line for Ronnie O'Sullivan.

That was enough. He should have won the first frame of the evening, but

he has got that one under his belt. An excellent second frame from Robin

Hull. Ronnie O'Sullivan has just nipped out. We will bring you up to

date with what is happening on the other table, Ali Carter lost to

Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2012, he is playing Xiao Guodong, who is making

his Crucible debut. Ali Carter took the first frame, and then Xiao

Guodong bounced back. We were talking about Robin Hull's nerves

earlier. He was nervous earlier, but some people thought he was a

seriously good player in the qualifiers. Ali Carter might have a

match tonight. He has had good results. Although Ali Carter has all

of the experience, he is a good player. Especially given the fact

that Ali Carter took the first frame so easily, and Xiao Guodong. The

second one. As for Robin Hull, a couple of marvellous pots. He is a

good match player, he was ill, he came back in 2011, he has won four

matches to qualify, including Peter Peter Ebdon. He has just been a bit

careless in part. This could be a 6-5 match. It is a remarkable story.

I played him in 2003, he has been around a long time. He is a cracking

player, he has just been careless today in certain parts, it should be

closer than 8-3. One thing is for certain, you would

not say that Robin Hull has been outclassed in this match, which is

something that happens to a lot of players who play Ronnie O'Sullivan.

He played the first round of the World Championship, that is the

potential banana skin for any top player. Even though Ronnie

O'Sullivan does not look particularly tense, I am sure he has

felt the butterflies in the build-up. Yes, I have been impressed

by Robin Hull, his demeanour around the table.

That is a poor safety shot. Catching the blue in the middle of the table.

He has just lost that competitive edge, to me, at the moment. He just

needs to be fired up, a good shot or a decent sized break. I would not

think he would be concerned with the result at the moment.

Very nice. Nicely controlled. He did not overhit that.

Once again, he could have panicked and tried to open up the reds, but

he played a controlled positional shot.

A superb shot. That is a shot we will see an awful lot in the next

two weeks. You will not see a nicer split than that.

He is having a go up for the blue. The blue not being on its spot...

How many times have we done that? New issue and the blue is on its

spot. He does not have the right angle, so a good shot is needed to

get back amongst the reds. This is what happens to the cue ball

when it goes into the pack, it is spinning backwards, it hit the

balls, and then it continues spinning in the direction, and if

you do not have the right shot, it can disturb the other Reds.

Robin Hull is gaining in confidence. I have been impressed with his

demeanour, as I mentioned earlier. He is getting chances. If he had won

the first frame of the evening, we could have been looking at a very

close match, a bit worrying for Ronnie. If he wins this frame, he

will definitely take us past the mid-session interval, that in itself

is something he would have been looking for. He has the cue ball

nicely under control. He just got past the pink. He gets

some action on the cue ball. Hitting the right part of the cue

ball gives you the backspin. He hit it really well. Looking for the

colour and one more red and a colour.

That is not the best positional shot. That is where you hit it,

below centre. As soon as it hits the object ball, it comes back. Get your

cue out of the way! I did! We have not seen much of one day,

and the only frame he has won this evening, he was gifted. The easy

frame ball red was missed by Robin. Robin Hull's pot success is good,

giving Ronnie a bit to think about. Only one snooker required, though.

An excellent break. One snooker required. He has lost one frame in

this match when Ronnie needed a snooker.

Ronnie has overhit the safety. Not vintage Ronnie so far this evening,

it has to be said. But it does not have to be vintage,

it is just about winning, especially in the first round, get it under

your belt. What an error! Ronnie can now win

the frame. Unbelievable! We are all gripped by this match,

but that is where we leave it on BBC Two. But you can continue to enjoy

Ronnie O'Sullivan against Robin Hull on the red button. You can also

watch it online, connected TVs, mobiles and tablet. Ali Carter

against shampoo Dong, Ali Carter leads to-1. You can catch up with

the highlights tonight at the night. Goodbye for now.