Friday, 2nd Round, Afternoon Snooker: World Championship

Good afternoon, only 16 players remain in this year's Betfred World

Championship and at the start of the day after a first round that was

dramatic from start to finish on Saturday night I'm sure you will

remember, everybody in the Winter Gardens, defending champion Stuart

Bingham went out in a final friend decide and the last of the

first-round matches was concluded late last night as the clock ticked

towards midnight, the world No 10 going home at the expense of Kyren

Wilson, the 24-year-old from Kettering who went through to round

two. In all, seven seats given the elbow in round one but we are left

with quite a few of snooker's heavyweights, as we say seconds out,

around two. # I will make a promise

# To be true to myself # And always be honest

# I will do what's right. # We are touching the sky tonight.

# Yeah, yeah

# We are touching the sky tonight. # The second round draw is now

complete and it looks like this, two men who have done some damage,

Carter and McManus squaring up, 5-3 in front, Ricky Walden and John

Higgins is world's number nine and eight. The Trump- Ding Junhui tie is

the tie of the round, both waiting for a world title, Mark Williams

taking on Michael Holt. Anthony McGill up against Marco Fu, the man

from Hong Kong slightly ahead. Barry Hawkins playing Ronnie O'Sullivan

for the third time in four years. Mark Allen knows he will face Kyren

Wilson. And Sam Bennett, the lowest ranked player left in the draw at 59

takes on the man at the top, Mark Selby. Ken Doherty is with us for

the afternoon as we take stock of what has been a hugely eventful

first six days, losing seven seeds, just one shy of the record and in

commentary terms we are a man down. Dennis Taylor is nowhere to be seen

today. For old Dennis, he has appendicitis and if you are watching

at home, a speedy recovery because if you are not here, who will

mention 1985 again! He is in the recovery room, he's fine, no doubt

he is watching now. Dennis, a couple of hours, I'm convinced you will be

back for the evening session, get well soon. When it comes to looking

at the seeds to go out there was almost a record equalling eighth

yesterday because Judd Trump against Liang Wenbo found himself in all

kinds of difficulties. He was actually 3-7 behind when the Chinese

player took on a very risky shot. We have mocked it up on the table,

explain what was going on. Liang Wenbo was 7-3 head, we've created

the exact position. He's had a look at the green for the double here in

that position. I'm going to have a go to demonstrate it, 7-3 up, you

could try and keep the pressure on your opponent and player safety shot

on the green, but this green for us professionals is relatively

straightforward. If I go across the other side. Get into position, we

will have a look at what he did, here it is. This was a heck of a

risky shot to take on in the circumstances when there wasn't much

pressure on him being so far ahead. 7-3 ahead, you would say he wants to

keep his opponent under pressure, but is this a double you would

expect to get? OK, there is a little pressure on it, but if he gets it he

has the opportunity of this red and this red and possibly winning the

frame and going into a more or less unassailable 8-3 lead. He may have

put a bit of side on it and that is why he missed, but it is basically

just across the table just like that. A little bit of side, just

like I did. CHUCKLES

That is why he missed it. Sometimes when you are in that situation, if

you see the opportunity you've got to take it. If he plays the safety

shot he doesn't get another opportunity and he would be kicking

himself for a couple of frames and it may have cost him anyway. For me

it was the right shot to play but he didn't execute it, just like me, as

usual, in demonstrations. It was the turning point in the match because

from their Judd Trump went on to win seven of the next eight frames and

he goes through, and it was a very tenacious performance from the world

number five. And true to his word, he did keep his promise to buy the

drinks afterwards, he put ?200 behind the bar here in Sheffield on

a first-come first-served basis, while I was on the makeshift I'm not

sure what Ken chose for his free drink from Judd Trump. It will be a

costly habit if he keeps it up. I'm sure everybody who had a drink will

be delighted with the sore heads this morning but no woolly heads

here today because we have a lot to do on day seven.

Two-time champ Mark Williams hasn't got this far at the Crucible 4-for

years and his opponent Michael Holt waited even longer, over a decade!

Marco Fu knows he could be the first man into the quarters this evening

but there is a long way to go. He has stealthily established a 5-3

advantage. Twice a run-up here, the tenacious Ali Carter heading in the

right direction again, he has his nose in front against the veteran

Alan McManus, second session coming soon. World War I Mark Selby

prepares to face the biggest outsider left this year, what can

Birmingham's Sam Baird do to stop him cleaning up? Selby leads the pop

quiz standings but what can he do about that? Fine control, as you

would expect from a player still in the tournament. And maple or ash,

one Court 2, we will discuss the finer points of the snooker cue. But

first, at 10am this morning we were eager to catch a glint of something

we hadn't seen at the Crucible since 2012. Yes, a Welsh potting machine

in full working order into round two, to everyone's delight Mark

Williams is still with us. I call him my hero. You could not

possibly meet a more down-to-earth guy than Mark Williams. He's

probably the most relaxed player I've played. He just takes his

practice game into tournament and if he's good enough he wins and if not

he doesn't, he doesn't moan. Mark Williams, I love him. He is so calm

and laid-back. If he was more laid-back he would fall over. He

always just looks as if every game is so easy to him. He just floats

about the table and it makes you a little bit mad sometimes occurs you

might be walking around the table feeling under pressure and he

whizzes around as if he's out for a stroll. Funny, the one-liners are

always very good, very witty and he likes to get involved in social

media with a bit of banter with the fans, which I quite like as a

player, up there with the greatest ever. He takes live not too serious,

he takes his game not too serious but probably one of the all-time

greats of the game. Great player, yeah. His clothing isn't as good as

his snooker. The fashionista that is Mark Williams, what can you say?

It's a good thing he's a good snooker player because his dress

sense is just completely nonexistent!

He is always suave, isn't he? This man certainly is, Michael Holt, the

man who is taking on Mark today. Mark is one of his greatest admirers

in Michael, who achieved arguably his best result in his 20 year

career knocking at the world number four Neil Robertson in the opening

round and he is well up for facing Williams right now.

Amazing player, one of the greatest, nothing else you can say, he has won

the lot, for one reason, because he's brilliant. Like I say, again,

boring, just got to play the table and if I get my chances and take

them he will have to play well to beat me.

These two are great friends and fellow practical jokers, they are

legendary on the snooker tour and this match has provided them with

plenty of social media fodder, and indeed us, because this budding

Crucible bromance really blossomed over the last couple of days. See

you tomorrow, beautiful, love will. I will see my boy tomorrow, plenty

of hugs, and on and on it went. Snooker watchers were discussing

also on social media whether we would see a handshake, a cuddle, a

European style cheek kiss, or a full on snog when they came into the

arena. Shall we show you what happened? It wasn't far off, because

this is what happened. I think this is what could be described as an man

hug between them ahead of a huge match for both men. There was a lot

of love in the room, as he can probably tell, and a lot of it early

on for the fans of Michael Holt, because he strode confidently into a

3-1 advantage, as we pick them up now in frame five after the

interval. Commentary from John Parrott and Steve Davis.

REFEREE: Foul and in this. Mark Williams, four. -- and a miss.

This is a funny situation because if he puts Mark Williams back in he

more or less knows Mark will hit the thin clip this time, he will stick

him back down there, so not surprised he said to Mark, I will

play from here. He has missed one or two in the last frame. His cueing

has not been as good as it was initially, so let's see if it is

back on track here. It certainly is. Beautiful cueing.

Just a fantastic shot. He's got the cue ball down into a safe area as

well. Obviously he couldn't have guaranteed that, had he missed the

red, because the cue ball would have been travelling on a different path,

depending on how far he missed it by. But he looks to be just the

wrong side of the potting line for the yellow to get back up the table,

so he's going to have to leave a red from distance. Terrible kick. It

didn't make any difference to the pot because it was a straight pot,

the kick is more of a problem for the angled pot, but not only did it

destroy the path of the cue ball, it would have been afoot further

forward, if not more. It just destroys the trust the players have

on the table, the playing conditions.

Another marvellous pot, John. Yes, it went a little bit ragged, by his

incredibly high standards early on but he's got it back here, two

excellent shots already in this break.

Just checking whether he can play the thin blue and avoid contact with

the yellow on the way back up off the baulk cushion. Or whether he can

pot the pink, and play baulk cushion, side cushion, and come back

up into the area of the reds. He chose another gap but got another

flyer of a cushion. He absolutely whizzed off there.

These are both tough shots, aren't they? He had won earlier in the

frame as well, in the match, I should say, were it wasn't

guaranteed position command it makes it a little bit harder. This is not

an easy pot at all. Brilliant. Wonderful, wonderful touch to play

that and drop the cue ball in there, you deserve everything you get.

This didn't look a promising position but the shot before was a

beauty, lovely little shot, dropped it in, played the positive shot,

dropped the cue ball on a lovely spot on the black and he deserves

everything he gets. Yes, superb. And also he had a bit of insurance. He

got nicely on the black enough that he had covered the red if he had

missed it. He does look to be cueing very well. Excellent control. He is

a really busy player around the table. But I think he is controlling

his emotions better this season, this year. We used to call him a

bottle of pop, he was off fears around the table. We could probably

say now he is maturing and a bit flat, and he's probably playing much

better. Very well judged again. The amount

of experience that goes into knowing how to play that shot correctly is

white you practice every day around the black spot area, the little

nudges and cannons. This would be a lovely frame to win in this visit,

it really would be, re-establish command of the mini-session and get

your opponent on the back foot again. Going back to the start of

this break with the excellent long red that he took on, lots of players

may have put the opponent back into bat but he didn't and took a

positive approach and thought I'm going to take that long red and

knock it in, and he's had his rewards ever since all stopped a

couple of cracking shots at the start of the break. It all came from

that positive attitude towards doing something himself.

He didn't want to play that soft, the little deft screw across the

face of the black. It was open to miss judging so he played it firmly

and left himself more of an angle on the black and he would have liked.

But the black is missable. I think just play the ball, just concentrate

on the pot. He is playing it with back spin which makes it a little

bit more difficult. He is striking it so well, though. He really is.

The thing I like about it is his shot selection is extreme you

positive, it usually tells you that the man is full of confidence. There

have been no half measures in this break. If you think about it he has

been fully committed. He has given that I whack, big

bounce again. He did give it a whack but it came off quick, it came off

twice the pace it went in. As it has turned out, he's on the brown in the

middle pocket, which is a bit fortunate that he has the right

angle on the brown. There again, you could say he was unfortunate to get

the big bounce off the cushion. It does seem to be that section looking

at the table just to the right of the black spot between the black and

the corner pocket, right at the top of the table, that section of the

cushion seems to be really reactive. I don't know why it should be but it

seems like the worst bounces are coming off there. One thing that has

never really been explored is the actual rubber used and whether a

piece of rubber is uniform all the way along. I don't know anything

about the subject. I don't even know where the rubber is supplied from.

GROANS FROM CROWD Yellow mag if the cue ball had gone

in-off things might have been different. But there is every chance

that Michael Holt will be going 4-1 up.

He played it in a way like it was the only one he could leave. That

was quite a clever little shot. And as the red came off the middle and

came back he was praying it would pull up because it was nearly coming

into play. I'm saying he left it, what about this? This red is always

on, isn't it? In this situation this looks like an easy little shot,

doesn't it? But if you miss this you could be losing the frame. You've

just got to be careful. He needs to pot the ball.

Wow, that could have made a difference going on there, with the

foul Mark Williams would have had the ball-in-hand in the baulk area.

Lots of things could have happened there.

Barring snookers Michael Holt will win this frame. But he doesn't

necessarily need to try and pot the black, his opponent only needs one

snooker he could try and put the black safe. I think that's a good

choice. Yes. Perfect choice, twofold of course, puts the black on the

side cushion safe and stops it from being a scoring colour. Michael Holt

should be 4-1 ahead. 4-1 it was but Williams won a

scrappy frame six and to underline that this top break was 31 and it's

the Welsh double world champion to play in frame seven now, he's 11

points ahead. Mark Williams again, he's played

that shot a couple of times in this match and knocked them in. Very

impressive. Slowly but surely, Steve, he is

clinging on in this match. Yes, he looks like he is settling down. He's

got in his corner, Lee Walker, a professional qualified World Snooker

coach, good guy to have in your corner, on the practice room at the

interval. Just calmly going about their business. Not panicking. Just

get a bit of practice. It's nice to have somebody in your corner who has

been there. He is obviously a good pal, but also somebody you can talk

about the game with and you know the answers you will get your questions

are going to be spot on. As you say, he's been there and done it in this

venue. He is a good guy as well, good to

have in your corner, he has a very sensible head on as a coach. Mark

Williams was rubbing the cloth, but rubbing it in the wrong direction.

Having said that, there is very little nap on these clocks. That if

you were ever going to calm the nap down you want to rub it in the

correct direction -- cloths. He could only strike half of the cue

ball and it is easy to put too much side on this if you don't hit it

properly. Yes, not surprised he missed that. When you can only see

so much of the cue ball you know you are going to put side on it. No

guarantees, that he will be totally punished from this position, because

whilst the red is easy the black to the next red is not. I would think

an angle on the black and then screw into the pack would be ideal. Three

quarters ball angle on the black, perhaps leave it above the black

spot. It's amazing when you see that and people say to you the black is

over the hole and it must be easy but it's more difficult to get

position, sometimes the jaws are in the way. It is difficult to judge

that and the fact it is resting at the top cushion and not in them and

love the pocket is making it more awkward. It is risky to pop this red

and scatter the reds on this shot, it is an option but I don't think he

would play it. What's that? Oh my goodness. I can see what he tried to

do, just leave the cue ball to play the clip on the black and play it

back. He got the cue ball too close to the black, further away and he

would have had to cut it in still. He would like that one again. What

is he considering? Going across the table? Across the table and come

back and pot the black. With pace to try and get position, or just to try

and Nick seven points? I think he's going to do it to get position. I

don't think it is a guarantee. If he thinks it is guaranteed if he hits

it fair enough, but he still has no guaranteed to get position.

Excellent shot. APPLAUSE

At that his coach Terry Griffiths had his heart in his mouth there.

Fantastic opportunism. Grapeshot, hit the pack, and here is the best

part about it, the shot he has been left on the middle pocket, if he

stuns it over he is perfect on the pink to leave an angle, pot the pink

and leave the reds open. Everything good that could have happened on

that shot happened. He was a little bit hampered cueing wise. I think

he'd have preferred to play that with a fraction of left hand side

which he couldn't play because he was too close to the red. That was a

chance, wasn't it? Even the two reds at the bottom of the pink were

perfect. As long as he knocked that one in the middle and got any angle

on the pink it was a brilliant chance. But now it's Mark Williams's

turned. -- turn. Already has a 32 point lead. It is all about the

positional shot here from the green around the angles for the two bottom

reds. Which he has hit to absolute

perfection. Too much on that. I don't think he

can necessarily hold this, perhaps he can just get enough on the black

to get into the balls. Nothing about that was good, trying

to go in and out through the green and brown. He caught it far too

thin. Just for a split-second before then,

I was just thinking that was looking like the sort of praying Mantis of

old as he gets down to his shots, and the next minute, one little

small slip. That's the fourth black off the spot he has missed this

morning, which is really unusual at this level, but for him it is

unheard-of. It's one of the things that I think whilst there as players

around like a Ronnie O'Sullivan Beasley into his 40s now, --

obviously into his 40s now, I noticed unexpected errors started

creeping in around the 40-year-old Mark for me and Stephen Hendry. It

may just be coincidental but it destroys your confidence.

Excellent shot from Mark, that. Excellent. Only really got a push up

and down on the red on the left-hand side. All he can do, I think, is

push the red up and down and he's a bit close to canning the black with

the cue ball but you've just got to get yourself out of trouble. Well,

if he's playing the thin one, he needs to make sure there's not a

year. Good shot. -- make sure there's a black here. A high tariff

of difficulty. Could have easily gone wrong.

No problem getting to this red on the top cushion.

The choice he's got is that what speed to play it. Dead weight of two

cushions is nice. I'm not too sure it on from that direction. He went

as close as he could possibly have got. He's left marker chance. --

left Mark a chance. Despite not really having his

shooting boots on this morning, Mark Williams, his safety play in the

last frame also has pretty good. He's getting chances because of it.

If he gets out of this session for frames all, he'll think he's won the

pools. Yeah, and I think the great

champions of the game are able to forget the standard they play at in

a session and he'll be in a far more positive frame of mind coming into

the second session if he can get for- four. Mark Williams is the type

of player that doesn't worry about his form, not during the tournament.

He knows how it can swing and go through ups and downs. He's blessed

with a wonderful temperament, isn't he? He's got many qualities, Mark,

but that's one of the best ones. Being able to get confidence from,

bizarrely, paying badly but coming out of a session with a good result

sees a strange thing to do but you can. -- seems.

So he made 49, this black should see him safe in the frame. And it's

there. So despite not playing anywhere near his best and looking

like he was in serious danger in this match, he's clawed his way back

to only one behind at 4-3. And it could have been so much

better from Michael Holt's perspective. He's let a couple of

chances slip. Of course, the second round, best of 25. A race to 13.

There's a long way to go. A monster kick butt Mark Williams

with a break of 40 and despite not being his best in the scoring

capacity, he is clawing on in this match. It's packed any merit for-

praetor Michael Holt. HAZEL IRVINE: That's Mark Williams

adjusting to the referee that he wiped down the cushions with a damp

cloth to try to lessen the build-up of static being generated. There's

been a few concerns about that so let's see if it makes any effect as

we go into the last of the opening sessions. Williams 33 points adrift

in this one. JOHN PARROTT: And he does. And what

a chance this is for a steal. STEVE DAVIS: That's perhaps the most

authoritative hit Mark Williams has put on a long today. A crucial time.

Controlled the cue ball beautifully. And only one safe, semi-safe red.

It was the only redeeming feature of that shot for Michael Holt, the fact

that when Mark Williams not that red, he can and the other one right

into the top cushion and they're hard to negotiate. -- knocked that

red. It's going to be the frame ball, isn't it, that one? If he can

get on it now, he might play it. Doesn't have to, of course. I think

because it's towards a pocket, rather than in the centre of the

cushion, he feels it is probably easier love to get. -- easy enough.

Worthwhile, perhaps, playing it now? Well, Stephen Hendry would always

advocate playing that earlier than later. Good position on that is good

position, whatever order its own. He's in a bit of a track now. He's

not come nice on the red and he's now got a comeback on the red from a

position that's more difficult. I never understood why players always

felt they had to leave that to be the last red. If you get good

position beforehand, take it. Anyway, we'll soon see. I don't

think he can get on it, where he was going to be for. He's now got to

screw off the side cushion and back across the face of the red or... Has

he got the right angle just to nudge the red out?

Well, you've got to say, John, wrong choice of positional shot on two

occasions. With three reds left and two reds left. It's not very often

we can sit here and criticise Mark Williams but there's a couple of

shots today, one right in the very first frame of the match, where he

is to get on the wrong cushion and then, why not play on the last red?

If you've got better position, play on it. Very strange.

Well, a poor shot and yet another chance for Mark.

It's amazing but it looks like he's going to get out of this 4- for and

I don't know how. Another big bounce of the cushion.

It's still OK. Stickability is what Mark Williams

has got. He's stuck around all day. Hasn't played remotely to his best

in the session and he's going to get away four each. The story of the

session is bounce ability as well. 4-4. Who would have believed that?

Nowhere near his best. Salvaged a session is the best way of putting

that. Outplayed for the most part. Michael has played pretty well,

certainly the first part of the session, but it's going to be all

square going into session two. The players shake hands. Michael Holt is

4-4 with Mark Williams. He will wonder how it is.

HAZEL IRVINE: They will be back tonight for that second session but

intriguingly Mark Williams also went round the table with that damp cloth

that we saw him hand to someone else. He was clearly frustrated

about the playing conditions. What exactly is going on here? Because

this is taking matters into your own hands. It is, doing a bit of

cleaning work! What it does, it takes a bit of the static and take

some of the chalk marks off the cushions. Sometimes the ball will

hit chalk mark. He is obvious the very frustrated because there's

nothing more frustrating than getting bad bounces. Sometimes you

accept kicks because kicks have always been there and you just go on

and you get the cue ball cleaned up by our very frustrating. But there's

nothing more than straight and bad bounces and it saps your confidence

because sometimes you might get a bad bounce and the next time you

might be expecting a bigger bounce and it doesn't happen and you don't

know whether to use the cushions, so it really frustrates the player.

He won't feel unsettled about his form. He's got out of that new merit

for- four. I think Michael Holt has missed a trick. He had the pink in

the middle to go 5-1 and guarantee the lead, keep the pressure on Mark.

Now all of a sudden it is knew X for- four. We will know the identity

of the first of our quarterfinalists by the end of today. And we will

know that it will be either Marco Fu or Anthony McGill of Scotland.

They're both cut from the same cloth, these two. They're modest,

unassuming, unflappable and both quietly brilliant. Let's see how

their first session worked out yesterday.

We've finally come up with an this guy. He is Anthony McGill. He is the

pride of Hong Kong. He is Marco Fu. That's a very good shot. Well

played. Takes the ultimate frame against Anthony McGill.

That's a really good shot. A tough spot. Pot. What a cracker! What a

beauty. It is Marco Fu who takes the frame and now leads 3-1.

That's a wonderful pot from Marco. He takes it. He beat Anthony McGill

4-2. -- leads. Can you believe it? A 5-3 bid. Lead. Marco Fu finishes

this session 5-3 in the lead. The man from Hong Kong 5-3 up

overnight and when they resumed with two more sessions to play today,

morning and evening, it started with frame nine being taken by the Scott,

Anthony McGill, with a break of 57. We're going to pick them up in frame

ten. It is Marco Fu to play an Stephen Hendry and John Virgo will

be our guides for this one. STEPHEN HENDRY: Taking this on to

drop for the black. There is a red to the left middle, though.

JOHN VIRGO: Just wondering, can you see enough of it from this angle?

He's going down to play it. Yes, comfortably. Good shot. There

is one more loose red to play on and I think that will probably be the

choice. And try, if you like, to leave yourself low on the red.

That's OK. He had to go into them there, John. He's got one loose red.

I think it's perfect and then the cue ball can go in the gap. I think

he's missed a chance there but his low on this red. He's played that

nicely. You can always leave the cue ball glued to that side cushion.

There's always two ways to play that, screw shot or top spin. I

always prefer the screw shot. There's a bit more control. Nicely

on the black. Shoelace! Do a double bow. That's

what I do. LAUGHTER

REFEREE: Thank you. Wright, Anthony, concentration,

100%. No careless shots. A chance to draw level.

This two reds to the right of the bunch. Might just be a little

cannon. Yeah, well played. A great opportunity now.

GROANING Well, careless. I can only assume...

Normally when you hit those shots, you think he's just put a little

trace of right-hand side and pushed the cue ball into the red. A bad

miss, it has to be said. This is not a good start this

morning, from Marco Fu. Considering he was 5-3 ahead, you'd think this

morning he'd really push on and get this much won in the second session.

You could have got 10-6, maybe an 11-5 lead. But he's not settled at

all. -- he could have got. Can he get to this red? It's very tight.

The reason, I think, he was looking there, he can maybe flick it over

with a trace of left-hand side of the cue ball but he's wondering...

He needs to separate the cue ball from three reds to be on the black.

No problem! He's on the black. And once again, he's got a chance.

Didn't make the most of it but immediately gets another one. Two

awkward reds on the right-hand side of the table. They won't bother

Anthony Forster he can win it with these reds in the middle of the

table. Got into that little bit too much.

He's got this red to the left corner but he missed a similar one when he

stunned it off the blue. This time, no problem. And he's just

about got perfect on the blue. Can't see him spurning this opportunity

now. It's looking like he's going to level the match. And a foreign

object on the table. So, 59 head, 75 remaining. Red, blue

and red needed. Again, he's needed more than one opportunity to get the

frame won but it's a great start. It's a start he wouldn't have

creamed dog last night. First two frames, back to level.

From the start, when you look at these two players, you wouldn't have

known who was in front and who was behind, really. You would have

thought maybe Anthony Watson one who was 5-3 ahead. That's a lovely

release of those two reds. So Marco Fu will not be getting back to the

table and yes, I agree, Stephen, he's looked very edgy this morning,

Marco. It's always very hard to tell from Marco's or the language -- body

language. But the lead he had coming into this session has gone. Yeah,

it's impossible to tell from his body language, the way he sits,

because he shows no motion whatsoever, it is perfect for a

snooker player, but just in the way he plays his shots, I've noticed it.

Very tentative. Purposely leaving himself the long

blue, just a bit of potting practice, to get the cue through

nice and smooth. He might as well have played for the blue. But

anyway, he needed two chances, it has to be said, but he got them and

my we're all square. HAZEL IRVINE: McGill won frame 11.

It was a scrappy one. It was 16 minutes before a ball was potted and

he would lead to 6-5. Back we go to frame 12. It's the Scott 19 points

behind here. JOHN VIRGO: He's very close to that

green. But he's got the plant and he's got a nice kiss on the blue and

that's a good kiss on the blue. It held the white to the middle of the

table. A good chance here to get right back in this frame.

Get himself a nice angle on the pink, should he so wished, to screw

back. Plenty of pace. He's got to be accurate with the pink.

Well, you'd always trust a little bit to luck. He couldn't have played

it much better. A tricky one to the left middle, possibly. Can't play

this with much pace. I would have played its lower than

that. A bit slow and lift the cue ball -- left the cue ball where the

roof was. Her group the red. I suppose he's thinking, if you try

to do it like that, the blue is a lot easier part than the pink. He's

now thinking, can he roll the blue in and leave himself a shot at this

red on the left-hand side? He's played with pace. Needs to Mr

brown. Has done. Good shot. -- needs to miss the round. -- brown.

Excellent cueing there. Careful one of them pinstripes

doesn't touch the green. I don't think he's got the best of

angles on the pink this time around. Back in front. Has he just got a

slight angle to screw off the side cushion? He did. He did. Well, he's

on this red to the left corner. A bit unlucky to be hampered as he is

and I think to reach it... Touching ball? Obviously not. If it was, the

referee would have told us. This is tricky. Can he reached it? Does he

need the spider? He wants to play it. Well, you can reach it like

that! APPLAUSE

Nice one. Yeah, that's right. Clean up after your mess! He wants to go

for it because the reds next to the black and from that angle it looks

like it goes to the corner. If he can pop this and go for the pink,

it's a chance to win the frame but I can't see him going for this with

the spider. This is very, very tricky.

Yes, it is, particularly when the cue ball is tight to be hampering

ball, be careful you do not foul it. Letting gravity take over, but as

Stevens said it was so difficult. -- Stephen said it was so difficult.

I'm sure the red next to the black pots to the left corner, we will get

a chance to look at it in a minute. When he played the red with the

spider I had a quick glance and I didn't think it did. I trust you as

the more experienced commentator. I just looks at it and now I've looked

again I think it does go. Who is right and who is wrong? We will

never know. We will never know. It did just go. Is he on the red when

the black is re-spotted, that's the question. He is, he's down quick. He

needs this frame badly, does Marco. Clumsy shot. Clumsy shot. Yeah, very

unlike him, usually so meticulous around the pink and black spots.

Again, you can see they're his lack of confidence, he had the angle

toucan and the red on the black cushion, just trying to get the

points on the board. What about that green.

Perfect on the black, but the red along the top cushion, they are

tricky. Again, maybe just an inch too far

off the cushion for comfort. Bigshot. -- big shot.

He will need a good shot here, I think he has a good angle so he

doesn't have to hit it too hard. Well played. Or is it? He cued that

nicely, he's 18 points in the lead now, he needs yellow and green. That

would leave Anthony needing a snooker, and he will have got

something out of the morning so far. He's lost the first three frames.

Mid-session interval after this. Twice across, but to get on the

green he needed a trace of side, didn't want to risk the yellow, he

will have to play safe here. Blue, pink and black there if the brown

doesn't get the snooker. But the brown has come to be involved in the

snooker. Back to his seat, Marco. 25 points remaining. The old story, it

looks easy enough to hit the green, one-cushion escape. Can he put it in

a safe position? Paine he's playing the top cushion first. They wouldn't

be my choice, I would play side cushion, this way I think you are

knocking it towards the corner pocket. You could send the green at

the table and white stays up this end from the side cushion.

That would be my choice. The only thing about coming this way is if

the green were to run into the pink or the black. But if it doesn't

connect with the pink or the black and you hit it foolish it should go

up the other end of the table and the cue ball stay at this end.

Obviously you need a bit of luck. -- hit it fullish. Don't play it that

hard, he now needs the snooker, he's now 26 points behind with 25

remaining. Snooker needed. Marco Fu looks as if

he's got his first frame on the board this morning.

Relief for Marco Fu who had taken it to frame advantage into the morning

session and relieved to get to be interval at 6-6 -- two frame

advantage. What good would be interval do for the former Crucible

semifinalist? Let's find out as we join them made frame 13.

COMMENTATOR: He went full-blooded for that and couldn't have played it

any better. You say he is limited in his cute power but he showed plenty

there. Tremendous pot and position. -- cue power. With that fantastic

opening shot we see here, will it inspire Marco to play his normal

game? We already said this morning, this is his strong suit,

break-building. He is straight on this red. From his

body language I assume he is. Again, that is a poor shot. Yes, it is

careless, isn't it? And if he is straight, which he looks to be, it

begs the question, where does the colour come from? From that angle

you think, can he force the red into the right-hand pocket? As he looks

at it, a lot of top and right-hand side. That is what he has done. He

got a lot of right-hand side on it and at least he has a pot on the

black. Yes, he did well to make that angle.

The obvious red he wants to get rid of is the one to the left of the

black. It looks like it will be a few shots before he can do that.

He would love to get the red that is just to the left of the black away

from there, so you may play on the red now in the same pocket as the

black. That is what he has done and that will clear the black for both

corner pockets and give him a frame-winning chance. He looks to

have come out with a little bit more purpose now, Stephen. Yes.

He will have had a good long hard look at himself in the mirror in the

dressing room because he was 5-3 up and to come out this morning way he

has played, very tentatively in the first session, was very surprising

for a player as experienced as Marco Fu.

He has looked strangely flat in the first four frames, he wand the

fourth, but it wasn't convincing. This looks a lot better. -- he wand

the fourth. In a lot of these matches,

particularly the long ones, he's probably come out this morning

thinking I have a two frame advantage, if I keep sharing the

sessions I will still have the lead but you've got to push on when you

get the opportunities and this is a lot more like it. These 3- session

matches, you can win them into macro sessions, maybe not necessarily get

to 13, although that is possible, but you have to have it in your mind

to get such a lead. We have seen him play another careless positional

shot. 68 points is the lead, 75 remaining and he only needs the red

and he has got one to the middle. He has a choice of reds to the corner

but he would be badly hampered for those. One more red would put him 69

points in front with just 67 remaining. It shouldn't be a

problem. Now, if he was to come he has a

black here, if he took blacks with the remaining reds, there is a

possible 143 on. That would become the leader in the high break. Of

which there is a ?10,000 prize for the highest break of the tournament.

Now he has gone up for the blue, he can only get a 141, and that would

equal the front runner at the moment held by Barry Hawkins.

So, back on track to make a century. He can't get the high break now.

There has been 36 centuries already in the championship this year. Marco

has already made two. The red and the blue, the red and the brown, the

red and the green, would all be 100. APPLAUSE

37th century of this year's bet fair World Snooker Championship.

We have not been here for a week yet, so plenty of opportunities for

the record this year. That is more like it from Marco Fu, he came out

with a lot more purpose and regain the lead, 7-6.

That is Marco's third century of the championship so far this week and he

regains the initiative as John said, in this match, in what is a race for

a 13 frames winning post rather than the ten we had in round one. Back we

go into the next and it is McGill 30 points behind. He's just got to stun

the cue ball over. Could he get snooker behind the pink or the blue?

The pink would be preferable. Get out of that.

APPLAUSE The pink is in the open. If he

wasn't snookered by the Pinckney would say possibly a new favourite

for the frame. The blue and the pink make it not an easy clearance. I

suppose the only thing from Anthony's point of view is if Marco

was to miss getting out of the snooker he would have control of the

table, Anthony, he could pot yellow, green and brown and play a snooker

on the blue, or maybe play it safe and bring the blue and pink

interplay. Does he hit the yellow? He has hit the yellow, he will be

mighty relieved. Good hit, fair play. That was an excellent escape

from Marco Fu. I thought he had forgotten about the

yellow for a minute. They are a big target, the blue and pink, to play

snooker is behind. That's what he's thinking of, pot the yellow and come

thin off the green of the top cushion in behind the blue and pink

again. No, he needed to get back further to play a

thinner contact on the green. That shot is not on now. The reason being

he will have to play the green bit thicker and more than likely it is

going to bounce off the side cushion. The only way to play this

is to go all out for the snooker, play it with pace and make sure you

get tight behind. He has gone for that but he caught the jaws of the

pocket. He needed to catch the green a lot thinner. He couldn't because

he didn't screw back far enough off the yellow. Opportunity missed.

Well, here is a snooker. Leave distance between cue ball and object

ball. He's made that too easy, for me. You've got to try and avoid

leaving your opponent the one-cushion escape. Yes, I think he

was trying so hard to keep the green in the middle of the table he forgot

about the cue ball. Wow. It's the easy ones that he's missing, the

seemingly easy once. Absolutely amazing. So, now, Anthony McGill can

win this frame. At the moment it is the second longest frame of the

championship so far. It will be memorable for Anthony McGill if he

can win it, needing two snookers. He finished up playing the Part. And

now he's got it would could have a new favourite for the game. I'm

surprised he took this on but it rattled and rattled and on it went.

Just caught the bumper, tried to disturb the pink and the blue. He is

right back in it, he has an easy safety shot now. If he had just

missed the bump he would have had the cannon. It is easy to knock the

blue to the top cushion behind the black and the cue ball up to the

baulk end. I wouldn't try to get too clever with this. I know he'd like

the pink away from the cushion. But not to sacrifice a good safety. I

wouldn't. But he has played it well, he took

the risk of losing the initiative, but he played it well. Coming from

the left-hand side, which he didn't want to do. Where is the cue ball

going? Where is the blue going, more importantly? This blue is on and

it's a nice angle if he pops it to be back on the pink. -- pots it.

Only 44% long pot success so far in the match, not been the strongest

part of his game. GROANS FROM CROWD

That was a long way off. Yes, it was a nice angle. Well, he could have

left the pot easier for Marco, this is one of those frames that could

turn a match on its head, I thought for all money Marco was going to

regain that to frame advantage. Now it's all about this blue. Very

fortunate, Anthony McGill. This cue ball is getting very close

to the corner. It's in. And now Anthony McGill is favourite for the

frame. Marco has just thrown away this

frame. Even with that shot, he could have potted blue in the right

corner. Pink and black for a frame. He could never have expected to win

it. He looks certain to go two frames behind again. This is to

level at 7-7. A big frame and a big blow to Marco Fu. It's there. Two

snookers needed, the second longest frame of the tournament so far and

it went to Anthony McGill by surprise. Marco Fu leaving the

arena, he must be disgusted, it is 7-7.

Two snookers required, there is no shaking this young Scotsman, Anthony

McGill, who had a stunning victory over Shaun Murphy in round one. In

we go to frame 15 and Anthony has already had a break of 62 at Marco

has it all to do, 37 behind. COMMENTATOR: He covered the two reds

to the left corner. He can get through to the red on the top

cushion but he doesn't really want to move this red from the top

cushion. So what do you think? That's one choice he will be

thinking about. Mainly because he doesn't want to move the red off the

top cushion. Even if he came off the two cushions as I indicated, he

might still leave a red. But that's what he's going to do. He wants to

go off the top cushion first. It is a good line. Is it hard enough?

Just! Judged it to perfection. COMMENTATOR: Foul and a miss? I

don't know who said "re-rack". It was funny. He missed the red. Miss

called. Have it replaced. Here is the miss. " re-rack"

if he was in such a situation he could not get near the ball wide as

he play it again? I think he is asking him to play it

again from there. I called it a miss. I wouldn't have let him play

that, he could get back to the baulk end. I know he will take a risk but

Marco is in a position where he has to take risks, he could possibly get

a snooker. Even if he doesn't and forces and Anita take on a long pot

from the baulk cushion. -- Anthony to take on. He took a long time to

think about that. Trying to get in behind the pink and green, he has

not got in behind, but he has left it awkward cueing. But that shot

wouldn't have been on if he had had the ball replaced.

And now Marco with a chance, OK it's not a frame-winning opportunity

because of where the green and pink are, but certainly a chance to get

right back in the frame. There has been some strange happenings this

morning, hasn't there, Stephen? Yes, both players taking a very long time

to think about shots and at the end of it playing strange ones. They are

trying to think of good ideas, and as you say, in the end, come up with

nothing new. It is like they are seeing problems that aren't there a

lot of the time. Yeah. Not the best angle on this. He wants

to make certain he doesn't miss this red. He used all of the pocket. But

in it went. If you were playing in practice he would play a cannon of

the pink of the cushion with a touch of right-hand side. I don't think

for a minute Marco will play it here. Pot the yellow and he can play

a good snooker behind the pink. And then he would have control of the

table. Does this green pot? It may do, you know. It did do. All of a

sudden Marco Fu is favourite to win the frame. And after what has gone

on before in this match that was an excellent pot on the green. Making

sure he was low on the blue he has come too far. If he has a slight

angle he might be OK on the blue. Stun for the pink. He still needs

blue, pink and black. Not the cleanest of pots and that's

why the cue ball has run two or three inches too far but.

APPLAUSE This is not a gimme, the way this

match has gone this morning. But it's there and the last frame

Anthony McGill won he needed to Snickers and Marco Fu would have

been disappointed but he'll be happy to have won that. Never looked like

the winner until he potted that good green at the end and he's now back

in front. One friend to play in this session and Fu leapt eight sevenths.

HAZEL IRVINE: After that frame in the 15th, the 16th, the clock was

ticking here, as we join it. Marco Fu 40 - 30. The best effort from

McGill, 13. And, in fact, the clock is ticking so much that they've

actually had to delay the afternoon session by this point by 15 minutes

to allow a change of audience a bit later on. Meanwhile, this one is

very tense. An important frame. JOHN PARROTT: Anthony had but a good

chance of that yellow but he hit it far too is slow. This is a very good

performance from him. They both won frames they shouldn't have won.

Anthony McGill won one with two stickers and Marco Fu nicked the

other one so it's honours even in that respect or stop and you got to

admire the way Marco Fu has come back in this session because McGill

was very much in the ascendancy early on. Even in the first session

I commentated on, Marco started off well and he seemed to lose his way

for a couple of frames and couldn't pot a ball. But somehow he managed

to recover. He's done that again during this session, from having a

lead, losing it and then going back into a lead, and he'll be very happy

coming out winning this frame and particularly having the lead going

into the final session. That interval certainly seemed to come to

his aid and he's thrown in the third century of his week on the way and

Marco will take a 9-7 lead into the final session this evening. First to

13 will go through. We always thought this one was going to be

pretty hard to call. Are you now thinking it could go Marco's way?

The experiences got me just stand him in good stead for this evening

but as Ken said, he's a very funny player sometimes. I think is one of

the best writers of the ball but occasionally he can blow a bit hot

and cold so you never know but his experience might just come out on

top. However, we could say a lot of great things about Anthony McGill,

not least his composure, and when he's been down in matches before at

the Crucible, as we've seen to quite dramatic effect, he's come back and

caused some big studies. The scoreboard doesn't really affect

him. It's a good attribute to have. He plays with a smile on his face.

He walks around the table very composed. He seems to really enjoy

the Crucible. A lot of players come here and Oliver Roberts in the

headlights but he really enjoys the atmosphere, playing fluently and

fast full top -- they are like rabbits in the headlights. I think

it could be a cracking closing session tonight. If Marco Fu is

going to win that, he will have to play well to do it because McGill is

a very good match player, very competent, and he's not worried

about being in the auditorium. They've got a few hours to think

about what faces them. Before they get into that final session. But the

contestants in our challenge have been getting progressively faster

and faster. Mr Selby leads at the moment but what can Mr Alan do to

change that? Welcome back to Pot Quiz and today's

contestant is the newcomer to the Premiership level. Sorry about that!

Mark Allen. Your five questions. Everyone you get right, you take a

red off and you put all the reds, finishing off with a black. Your

first question... Who did you play in your first-ever Crucible much?

Ken Doherty. And for an extra point, what year? 2007? Correct but you

don't get extra point. Just one red. You scored 146 of the Crucible, the

equal highest that year. Which of the player got the 146? Graeme Dott.

Correct for two points. At you been studying these? Have you seen these?

Who was the World Championship runner-up the year you were born, in

1986? World champion runner-up? That's not fair. I know who won it.

Who won it? Joe Johnson. I'll have to hurry you. Who did Joe Johnson

beat in 1986? You haven't got a clue, have you? I'm going to go with

you because you weren't quite a lot of files back then. You're right.

Congratulations. Three out of three. Ewan The Players Championship finals

last month but who won it last year. -- you won. Joe Perry. Correct. This

is astonishing! For a clean sweep of the balls, the multiple-choice final

question, which player have you met most times in tournaments in your

career er is it Ryan Day, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams or Judd

Trump? Who were the options? Ryan Day, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams

or Judd Trump. Ryan Day. Judd Trump, 22 times for stock still, a

fantastic effort. You can take any for reds of the table, whichever

ones you want, and then put the cue ball wherever you want. The most

difficult bit is deciding which reds to take off.

He's gone for the middle red. Three more to take. I can see the brain

worming away. An interesting choice, that one. I don't think there's any

rhyme or reason to this. He's taking off the ones on the left-hand side

of the table. Basically, he can't be bothered to move them around! One

more. This is fascinating. That is so lazy! OK, your time will start

when you hit the ball. You've got one minutes, 14 seconds to beat Mark

Selby and the embarrassing thing would be if you get more than two

minutes and 11 seconds. That's me! That would be embarrassing. That

would be embarrassing! And he's off and the clock is running.

Fine control. As you would expect from a player still in the

tournament! Just missed it, and that's going to cause problems. It

is. 20 seconds gone. Still nice timing, though. The speed of the

man! The speed! He's got his trainers on for this particular

event, as well. Fantastic. 30 seconds. It's going good. This is

good. Bose four reds have helped him. Watch that camera! Just two

reds left. 45 seconds. It's not bad! If this goes in... Fantastic play.

This has got a chance! He's rolled it towards the pocket. And it's in!

CHEERING Congratulations. Fantastic!

Absolutely marvellous! And the time... And the time... One minute

exactly. One minute! You've slaughtered the field, as you

would expect from a premiership player. You'd expect that! You've

slaughtered it all, Mark. Congratulations. That was

impressive. Twice as fast as me, and a bit more.

Yes, Mark Allen right at the top of the charts and, guys, that was with

one miss, 1-shot hampered by our camera but four out of five on the

general knowledge for stock that's the way to go. That's the key.

That's why it's called Pot Quiz, because if you get the questions

right, you can take the reds of the table. I think that was the first

time we had four. Ken, you're under pressure. When are you doing it? I

don't know. I might need a bit of practice. I might need to know the

questions. Do a bit of research. For a small fee... And other quiz

question for you. You is the only man to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in a

final? Mark Selby. Correct, and it was a couple of years ago. He came

back here to try to be per Crucible Curse. He got around two. It all got

to him but after five weeks' rest, he's back, fresh as a daisy and

ready to try and win it. The Jester from Leicester. Behind

that funny mask is a player that's very clever and very shrewd. A bit

of a streetfighter. You have to scrape off the table and as a

person, one of the nicest guys you will meet and very funny.

Determination, gripped. You have to drag him off the table. A complete

desire to win. He's funny, very hard-working, I think, and always

tries his best. He's got so much bottle. He's got about eight

players' were. Funny, witty, slow, safety. Very talented, works hard,

great ambassador. When Mark is playing well, he's mentally

extremely strong, not fearful of any player that he plays, and that makes

him a very tough opponent. A class act on and off the table. Will be

one of the smartest rest players. A dry sense of humour. He likes having

a wind-up, like myself. We get on very well. Top large, top player. He

can grind out a victory from playing badly or getting way behind and I've

been on a few of them. And all-round... Probably the best

player in the game just now. He's currently the world number one

and the top-ranked player meets the lowest ranked player to get through

to this second round. Its Birmingham's 27-year-old Sam Baird,

the Blade, that's what they call him. He's moved up from 69th to 46th

in the provisional world rankings after a first win here against the

15th seed Michael White and, boy, did you feel him sprint across the

line? Two centuries and he won the last four frames in a row. This is

going to be a very big moment for Sam because it's the first time in

his professional career he's ever played in a best of 25 frames match.

So this whole best of three sessions thing is all new and it's a whole

new learning experience for him. Yet, fantastic. You forget that

because you just get used to players playing in this event. Best of 25 is

totally different. He did really well to beat Michael White, who has

health problems, but nevertheless he sprinted over the line and he's very

attacking. He gets on with it. At will interesting to see how his game

matches up to Mr Selby, who is tactically very adept. Very, very

adept. What did you make of Mark Selby's performance against Rob

Milkins considering he had that five game gap? When Milkins came back at

him, he looked very shaky, looked a bit rusty, but the great thing about

Mark Selby, as the lads said in the piece about him, he's got great

matchplay instincts. He's got a great heart, he never gives up and

even when the chips are down and he doesn't have his a game, he has his

B game and his see game and his deep game can sometimes be good enough.

He is such a tough player to play against and he is never knows when

he is beaten. The thing that interested me in this match is, the

other day he was with a little bit rusty, hadn't played for five weeks

competitively at this level so, in racing terms, has the run brought

him an? He'll be expecting to improve from the first round. He was

in eco-mood as the Hoover the other day, he wasn't quite there, but I'm

expecting him to step it up. It'll be interesting to see how Sam Baird

copes with this as if this is tougher, playing Mark Selby ester 25

is at others it's going to get. There is Mark Selby, the world

number one, and there is Sam Baird, his opponent. We wish Sam well today

in a brand-new adventure for him, a best of 25 frames match.

Interestingly, the likes of Mark Selby is officially still number one

but is moved down to provisionally number seven in the rankings. Selby,

Walden, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Higgins, Mark Allen and Trump know that a

victory here in the World Championship will mean they will

finish the season as world number one, so there's an awful lot of

issues over the coming days. Right. We. Talking and let them play. So

it's over to MC Rob Walker. Thanks, Hazel. Good afternoon,

ladies and gentlemen. It almost nonstop snooker here on day seven at

the beck Tredwell championship. We've recovered after those two

marathon matches this morning and we are poised and ready to go again.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Please welcome, first of all, a

player bidding for his third appearance in the quarterfinals the

Crucible, three times a ranking event winner. He's made two finals

here and let's not forget, he knocked out the defending champion,

Stuart Bingham, in round one. There is no one on tour with more

determination than this guy, so raise the roof for the captain, Ali

Carter. And his opponent, a player who first

appeared here 25 years ago, bidding for a fifth Crucible quarterfinal,

here after knocking out his good mate Stephen Maguire in the first

round, twice a ranking event winner, he takes it all in his tartan

stride. He's Alan McManus. And on table to, here comes a player

emerging for the biggest match of his life so far but appear after

knocking out Michael White in the first round, he has improved

immeasurably since a slightly nervy Crucible debut three years ago. What

a moment for the man from Devon. They call him Sam" The Blade" Baird.

And his opponent, making a ninth appearance in the second round here,

he came through a tricky match against Rob Milkins in the first

round. World champion two years ago, multiple Masters winner. He is the

world number one. He's the Jester from Leicester. He is Mark Selby!

GABBY LOGAN: And that's what it's like inside the crews will be at. We

will keep tabs on Ali Carter against Alan McManus. -- Hazel

For the moment, we are heading to table two to watch the world number

one in action in the company of Willie Thorne and Terry Griffiths.

Good afternoon, gentlemen. WILLIE THORNE: Good afternoon,

Hazel. Good afternoon, everybody. Sam Baird has won his first-round

match so he's going into this match as a victor. It's the first time

he's won a match at the Crucible against the legend that is Mark

Selby, world number one, who's struggled a little bit, to be fair,

against the Milkman in the first round.

Robert Milkins played very well against Mark Selby in the first four

frames and struggled a little bit after that. That's the tournament

pot success, absolutely level, as you can see, 90% each, after the

first match. Sam Baird's potting a few more long balls than Mark Selby

but I would imagine the next stat, the safety, should be in favour of

Mark Selby. No, amazingly enough Sam Baird is a little better at safety

successful stop if he wins this safety battle, he's done very well

against this young man. With me in the box, Terry Griffiths. Terry, I

know you worked a bit with Sam Baird a few years ago. He's a very good

break-builder, isn't it? TERRY GRIFFITHS: He is. He's come

here and won around. That will settle him a bit. He's played Mark

Selby a few times. He had a chance to beat him in the Welsh Open one

year, Mr blue in the final frame. He lost the two matches.

He was and that best, really, in their match against Rob Milkins.

As we see the black again, I thought that was shot you can't afford to

miss at any stage in any tournament but when Mark Selby had missed the

green in the middle pocket, I thought that was a for Sam and he

might kick on in the first frame to stay calm the nerves but that won't

do anything for his nerves. That can only make it worse.

Not great, this. Can only just get to the side of the cue ball.

The fact that the blue and pink are both out of play at the moment... He

might play a little slow cannon into the pink. Not bound to go right,

though, cause there's no reds available into the middle pocket.

He'd love to get the pink in open play. The black pot similar hand

corner but it'll be to get on. Not necessarily going to play the cannon

but Mark Selby usually plays the aggressive shot. Decided the blue

looks a bit too thin. Playing the green in and out Balcombe, over the

green spot, the cue ball will be travelling. -- in and out of baulk

A little surprised he didn't play for the cannon, to be honest.

A strange shot, wasn't it, that, for Mark? Refused it when he had a

perfect angle before. But it's finished very nicely. Good to have

split better, as long as this ruse goes in. -- couldn't have split

better. We would expect to score quite heavily now.

Mark Selby fully aware that if you can get a good break, it will

unsettle him in his chair for a while.

Play through the gap of the pink and the red and try to get down the back

of the black. Could play the cannon on the two reds but that's a little

dangerous. The red one up from the back pots in the corner. He will be

playing off two cushions. That might not be hard enough. Just

about OK. Just having a look now and he can

play the cue ball out for the blue. If he can't reach this, of course,

it's a bit more difficult. Just about travelled enough to give

it a little nudge on the two reds. He'd probably like to hit them both

together because that will push one towards the middle and one towards

the corner. If he hits either one of them, he might not be on the red,

amazingly enough. Just trying to make sure you can get the joint of

the two reds that maybe he can just run through and just click them.

That will leave them both in the middle pocket. The pocket where his

handers. Played the flick and it's not

worked. That's not like Mark Selby. The poor positional shot.

It's still early days, although he's played one round. He's resettled

himself down. The table doesn't play the same all the time, that's for

sure. APPLAUSE

It all depends. Perhaps the table next door might run a lot faster.

You never know. Well, he played the pot with safety

in his mind. He's 49 points behind now. Good angle on this brown. He

may be able to get close to one of those three reds. If it's dead

straight, it's hopeless. Just had a bit of an angle. This

could be good. Straight on this red to stun through a few inches or even

drop it in. It'll be on the black. Leaves the black on the spot for

that red there. He's cueing quite deep. That's given him a chance to

win the frame that this visit. Excellent positional shot from brown

to red. Another good one from red to black. If this black goes in, he's

right back into this frame. You need the black on its spots to make that

an easier red. Another excellent positional shot.

Good break-builder, Sam. He busy hasn't had the experience in the big

time. Essential to be high on the pink or

high on the black, whichever he decides to play for. High on the

black is good because then he's got half a chance of bringing the red

into play. He's going to have to play this speaker now. Can't get on

this last red. He'll be disappointed he has left himself a better angle

than this. One of the only places he didn't

want to go. Should have been more careful.

OK, he has cleared up but he's certainly back in the frame.

APPLAUSE As usual, Mark Selby, one of the

greatest players in the world tactically. What a great shot that

was. Keeping the red safe was a problem. But as you can see, he has

done it perfectly. Just Elizabeth of safety going on

for a second. I would like to wish Dennis Taylor a speedy recovery. He

was taken to hospital with an appendicitis last night and hopes to

be back with us early next week. I am missing the lines already!

Big shot here. Think he's got to take it on. A big boost for Sam if

he wins this first frame after that black he missed earlier on. If he's

got a weakness, he hits the ball and little too hard when he's under

pressure, but who doesn't? Yes, that's one he could have stroked in

would have helped the for the green. Being hampered over the green, I

would be surprised if Selby tries to get this in. He'll be playing the

safety shot. Make sure the reds doesn't make contact with the rent

to make it around the ankles. Made sure of the good white.

A good chance here for Sam if he fancies this red into the top left

pocket. A tough pot, but he could also placement behind those three

top covers. He's very tempted to play snooker. He may have still got

one behind the pink. You can just see the edge I think of the red. I

would need a set of binoculars to see that one. These top players have

excellent eyesight. He'll need it here. I think Sam was unfortunate to

get the snigger behind the pink. He has forced the opening. If it goes

in, he can finish the frame. He needs to play for the brown or

green. He shouldn't really play this because he's very close to it. Don't

play for the top cushion. He has the pot, but where's the? He may have

missed trick there. He made pot the brown and clear up that he should

have played for a colour. A lot more difficult out there, of

course. Mark Selby has been here many times and been through most of

the things that you've got to put up with when you're playing in the

Crucible. Starting off badly, starting off well, your opponent

starting well. It all goes on out there. Foul. That's the worst I've

ever seen from Mark Selby. Shouldn't have been anywhere near the brown or

blue. Unless the cushion played a few tricks, I don't know. Not easy

to fit these back I don't think either. It was in a straight line

with the brown and blue spot. That's where they were. Just in my

mail with the blue. He's moved it about 21 times already! Now then...

It's the worst place for the referees when the balls in the

middle of the table. I think he would have expected Mark Selby to

miss either. He would have hit it, it would have been OK. Just looking

at it from the side, Terry, how on earth did he kissed the blue from

here? These cushions did come off quite quickly and that might have

come off strangely so that could have happened. The thing is, is he

going to alter the place on the cushion he is going to hits now

after that? It has put him in two minds now after the normal escape.

That's if it ever happens, that is! I can forgive the referee for not

getting the yellow and blue in the right place but the white, he's just

seen the play. I don't think it will make a huge difference whether white

is. Unless you can't get to it, otherwise it will make a difference.

There is no games here for either player. -- gain for either player.

It's not about hitting the yellow, it's about getting it safe. Bush

took to the side cushion. A brilliant shot. Very good.

Well played. Didn't push the boat out there, just a good distance

between the two balls. Seems like Mark Selby has dominated this frame,

but not a lot in Israeli. -- not a lot in it really. He would like to

play up and down, but the blue and green are in the way. He can't play

a half bowl because the yellow will go into that right corner pocket.

He'll have to try and find a shot and he has found one, an excellent

shot. He has not got a snooker, but to get the yellow safe, that was the

main thing. The first mistake really. That's got

to be careful here with that balloon. -- blue. Not the line he

would be normally. And that's the reason he overdid it, because that

balloon made it a bit awkward. OK, he's got a bit of a chance with the

green in the centre. Yes, 22 points in front. And that's

a settler. Mark has had a couple of chances in this frame.

That put him 26 in front with eating left, so barring snickers, Mark

Selby will take the opening frame. -- 18.

This is closer. Not quite hard enough. It slid off that cushion.

Well, it's paid to put that blue right in the jaws of that pocket.

One machines it has slid off slightly.

50 break early on from Mark Selby was more than enough to take this

first frame. Sam Baird stays in his seat. Mark Selby is delighted to

have taken the opening frame and beads 1-0. Some interesting points

there, Terry. Mark plays an unbelievable safety shot and left

Sam Baird in a tricky position. How would you have played this? Would

you have over the side cushion? Yes, I would have. That's what he did

play but it caught it slightly wrong. The fact that he cottage

thick and left it on, Terry, you were commentating and saying that

the blue was in the way. Yes, it's in the line where Mark Selby wanted

the cue ball to go after potting the yellow. And as it turns out, I can

see it now, he puts too much power into the shot to avoid being

slithered by the blue and is a bit fortunate to beacons of the green in

the centre. He rolled the green into the middle pocket and went on to do

enough damage to the Sam Baird in his snookers. Sam had three chances

in that frame. We know it is best of 25, but when you are playing against

a top player, this is how it's all starts. He did very well to get into

the frame after missing the black. He's trying to hit the one behind

that cluster. The choice of two reds. But he has flicked the other

red and did not get into the cue ball as he hoped. But he can't be

disappointed about how he got into the frame again that he will be

disappointed about missing that black early on. Mark Selby leading

1-0. Lining up for frame to. -- frame two. It's half a break off

anyway! Pass that baulk line. He'll still have to come right away

from the black. Excellent shot from Sam. Absolutely brilliant, wasn't

it, Terry? He took the bull by the horns there. Bit of news that cue

coming off the cushion. The tables have been recovered since his

first-round match and having played some 19 or eating frames on this

table, you would expect that wait to move higher and it's surprising how

it finished though there. He has to play that read. With the screw back,

it would be unlucky not to be near black. Getting the screw into the

cue ball here, it's quite a thin red back when he was leaving the run

them through. It might end up in your the pocket here. But no, he's

played it lovely. He hasn't got a lot of weaknesses. You can score

heavily. So far, he hasn't really got what I thought. He's a very

talented player, Sam. He hasn't really had that out in the big

tournaments he has played in. He has played a lot of qualifying rounds of

course and in the end it starts to affect you, thinking you are more in

the qualifiers then you are in the late stages of the determinants. --

big turnouts. There is no doubt that Mark isn't at his best. He wasn't in

the first round as you mentioned but he hasn't started great here either.

He missed to tournaments as well. He missed the last two to try and get

himself mentally and physically right for what is a wrong 17 days.

He was very rusty I thought in the first round. I thought it was 17

years! Just got an angle. He didn't have to

play the cannon into the three reds, he could get in the gap. That's how

you play cushion first. Lots of reds and so he does not have to worry

about those three either. A bit more time playing, he has a strange

rhythm. He takes quite a while to decide even the easiest of shots

sometimes and then he hit the ball very quickly. Those don't seem to

match for me, but it works well for him. He will be disappointed not to

get the top side of the blue. The yellow will be a problem here. He's

going to have to hit the yellow of the two cushions. That's the yellow.

The missed it nicely so he should be OK.

Another good recovery. Twice on the wrong side of the blue and twice got

out of trouble. That one was a lot better. He goes to 45. Three more

reds and three colours. His target is 69 so he needs another 24 points

from here. Three reds, three colours to make sure that he leaves Mark

Selby in a snooker. That's not his best. Very awkward. He needed to be

another six inches further on. He's left himself to choices and

both in the centre pockets. He would certainly have preferred something a

bit better than this, a bit easier. It takes quite a while for him to

take the shots and then it's gone. GROANING

Well well. That was an absolute case of what you were talking about,

Terry. He got down and pull back on the cue and then hit it. He hit it

very poorly. I think it happens when he needs a bit of power. He goes a

bit faster there and it was a blink of the eye, wasn't it, the blink of

an eye for the delivery? He missed the black like that in the first

round, with a similar type of shots. He's going to play the shot, gets

down, one to three and off it goes. I've noticed when he plays screw

shots, his bridge hand seems to be closer to the wire then a lot of

peoples of he doesn't have time to get out of the way. A surprise that

Mark didn't attempt apart there. Decided to wait for a better chance.

Sam Baird holding his hand up there. He played a pot, is red. Miles to

thin. As you can see, looks to have got away from. He will get back to

baulk if he attempts this red. You won't get back to baulk like that.

A long way off there from Mark Selby.

Not the best case for Sam Baird there.

He's playing the pink. This is a lot more difficult. Well played.

APPLAUSE A bit of a round of applause. He is

playing a bit games to Mark Selby, one of the circuit, so if you want

to truly finish it off. Bowl, Mark Selby stays in his chair.

A break of 53. One frame each. We've got to shut up so that you can win

it to us. When Sam was in his position, he could either play back

spin and screw back for the black but he played top spin. Tell us how

they generate so much spin to push through the pack. You see the top

spin working. As it goes through the reds, it opens a three reds out. You

can hit the shot easier with the top spin. You see the striped bold here

going round. You see the spin now is taking the secondary spin after it

has hit the ball. It stops or more or less stops and then rolled

through the reds but if you play your back spin shot and it will hit

with a lot more pace and of course, the pocket will take it until it is

accurate. But it is easier to generate more spin with top spin?

With back spin, the ball is propelling itself backwards on its

way to the object ball, but when it hits it, it's still going forward

and then it has to start to come back. So, Sam Baird breaking. Relax

now with his eight frames in this session. As we will see, you can

never win a match in the first session but you can do a lot to lose

it. So if you are going to lose in the first session, don't do it more

than 5-3. GROANING

Another folk from Leicester player! Goal, you can count on one hand,

Terry. 26 years a professional. Never had one. Swinging round from

the red which is on the black spots. He would love to finish low on it.

He has a choice of reds. Two shots away from making this a

chance to break into the pink and black but he needs to be straight on

this next red and screw top side of the blue, half bowl and straight

onto the pink. That is what he is thinking of here, three shots in

advance. If he gets about a foot past the middle pocket, he will be

happy if he pops this red. He's not doing great at the moment.

A long time to go. You'd expect him to make this. By a long way, a

player of his class. As it turned out, if this doesn't go

past the yellow, he hasn't left one to hit either.

Hawk-Eye shown that half the pocket. -- showing us. If there is

competition for the safety shot of the tournament, that would be high

up. He has put himself in trouble with

that last safety shot. Knew that he'd be bringing black and pink to

play so he decided to play the containing safety. He will be in

trouble in a minute. It is touchy. Just letting the leathery look so he

can see the centre of the plaque on the map pack, so if he wants to play

the same shot as before, he can do. -- on the pack. APPLAUSE. This is

excellent. JV would have been shouting his

heart out there. Oh! Would have lost his voice there, even before 10-0.

He has gone from playing the worst safety shot so far to the best one

there. Fair play. Will need a few more of those against Mark Selby, of

course. Wow! That's certainly didn't come off at the natural angle Mark

Selby was expecting, came off very narrow. His face tells you that.

Ray, it is impossible to come off at that angle. Where the cue ball is,

it is not on. Mark Williams took a towel on and wiped all the cushions.

I have never seen that before. Davis was waxing lyrical that he was

pushing it the wrong way in the commentary. He decided because that

was a completely different throw than he thought, they are going a

different way. -- he is going a different way. I think he has left

this red. That is very unlike Selby. There are not many better in the

game at judging the angles than Mark Selby. Big crowd in here, that at

times can change the atmosphere out there. Cushions playing a little

different because of that. Could play off the black here, going

behind the blue. Would loosen atop a little bit, probably bring a couple

of reds. He will be very close behind the blue if he plays the

black, that is what he is playing. Good choice, this.

Worth trying to get behind yellow and brown here. He has hit that one.

I was going to say he would have only left one read on and the pink

and black were tied up, but he has made a bit of a mess of that. Still

need a good shot here. Has long game has not been good. Let's see if he

can cue this one nicely. Cue dipped well. And it has a very,

very good case. -- cued it well. -- good kiss.

When you get a bit of good fortune you have to make it pay.

Overdid that slightly, trying to arc down there with back spin. Did well,

let's have a look at that. You can see it arcing round, but it got too

much spin on. APPLAUSE.

The one leading the reds just below the pink there. You can see the

three down from the pink. I think you can see the red I was

talking about, down from the pink, that corner ball. In his position,

he can't see enough of it. You can see that one, can't you,

from that angle. That is what he's playing. The pace he's going to play

at... He has played the other way round, but... I was about to say you

cannot afford to push reds, always get a good cue ball, that is the key

thing, then even if you play a bad safety you can get away with it. His

turn to have a little bit of good luck there. Selby had a good shot.

Totally missed it, I think he hit the wrong red, he was trying to pop

that read, knowing the track of the cue ball would have been in line

with these two reds on the right-hand side, but he hit the

wrong red. . A good part from Sam, but no reward

-- a good pot. Done without touching the brown.

He played to catch that on the left-hand side and left the red on,

but he has done the job. Again, given Sam Baird a chance to play a

good safety. I thought four minutes it hit the

ball. Played it very well, that one. Make sure you don't kiss the ball

colours on the way down. He is having a look at the red, is

he? To the right of the pink there. Might change his mind, the red by

the black now, just a safety shot. The one Mark Selby was looking up

before, onto the right of the pink, he will swing it around two cushions

and playback in the fork. The cue ball was going to watch the

cushion. It was a great pot. How much trouble can he put Mark in? If

he wanted to brisket, the slow roll up to the blue would be harder to

hit snooker. -- wanted risk it. Terry put the line-up that Mark

Selby was going to play. Just misjudged it.

Good pot, good case. Their -- good kiss.

He can play it quite safely just past the middle pocket and get onto

that loose red. Needs that white to slow down. Just hasn't got the pace

this afternoon so far yet. It is early days, he will get the pace

soon. He would have liked to have been on

something here that was easy to part occurs with the red it is two sets

of two balls together so quite easy for Mark Selby to possibly escape

from a snooker. Cushion first, onto the blue. Oh, dear.

That was difficult to miss, that one. He couldn't fail to get the

snooker. Probably try and bring the black

into play with his safety shot. That is what he has done. Where is the

cue ball going? That is unlucky. He thought he had played the shot

perfectly. That white looked to be kissing the

brown for second, didn't it. -- for a second. Needs to play a telling

safety shot. Whether it is a plant on here marked

looks like he is going to take on, I think the black will still be out of

play. He may even risk screwing back-up to the brown.

Has he got it? No, he hasn't. The Greene or brown is on, but plenty of

work to do. The pink is on as well if he wants to cut it in. Maybe hit

it back round the red. He is playing to screw it in. The pink going to

the black spot will help because those two... He couldn't have done

it with the pink in its own spot. That is the angles left. Trying to

push those reds along the cushion. He doesn't want to knock another

read in. -- another Red Bull. Played everything, played both

shots, played it lovely. Had to move the two reds and get onto that red.

He has done well to make this a possible frame. There was nothing on

when he came to the table. Had to do three or four kisses to get balls

into play. 29 points in front. Just one more red needed after this

black. This will put him 37 points in front

with 35 remaining. Without playing anywhere near his

best he's managed to scramble Watts looks like it will be a 2-1 lead. --

what looks like. Some certainly looked better so far

-- Sam. 40 point lead. Snicko's Sam Baird

will be trailing 2-1. -- snooker's. Good shot. Slight double case that

we will give it the benefit of the doubt. -- slight double

needs to pot the pink for any possible chance in this frame.

It looks quite straightforward to keep the white in behind the blue

but if you push the yellow back into the middle of the table you are not

bound to get this shot right. There would be a gap and all sorts of

things here. He has played it OK, though, well done.

APPLAUSE That puts the frame beyond any

doubt. Quite a scrappy frame, Bis, marked

it well to get the 29 break. A little exhibition shop there. Where

is the black going? Breaks of 33 and 29 were enough. Just testing the

cushions, trying to pot the pink down the rail. Sampaio had will not

be happy at the moment -- Sam Baird will not be happy. He is trailing

with Mark Selby not playing his best.

We have been chatting in the studio about fluency and how much more

difficult it seems to be able to be for Mark Selby to come by fluency. A

couple of seasons ago he was winning the Masters every year, we make down

-- nicknamed him the Hoover because they were all gone if you gave him a

chance. He is not as fluid while he is scoring. I don't know why that

should be because he is world number one and has the confidence but he

has lost fluency when he scores. Why'd you think that is? I don't

know, maybe confidence. Not quite sure. A run of victories, matches he

has won lately, I don't know when his last tournament win was but it

seemed a long time ago when he was winning tournament at tournament but

only a couple of seasons ago he was doing that regularly so maybe it is

upstairs in the head. He is not the most confident, as he should be. He

is still world number one but doesn't betray that confidence as

much as maybe some of the other players might do around the table.

Maybe that is something to do with it, maybe it is just in the mind but

maybe he's a run of good form. We have seen him play himself into good

form before, haven't we? He will have two. Bassey currently stands,

it is scrappy, it is only the start of the match, but there is a good

chance he could play himself in. The level he is playing at the moment he

probably will not win the championship so he will have to find

something. The last before the interval.

Very good from both lads there. Mark Selby doesn't look himself.

A long way to go yet. I am sure he can find better form than he has

shown so far. If he cannot the skill he has in the

break game to that, if he will be a tough one to beat -- can add the

skill. Safety has never been his strong suit, really. Like most of

the younger players on the circuit, he is more aggressive these days.

We'll go for long shots and leave the safety is to the other players.

-- the safety shots. You don't see that shot played very often but boy,

has he played it well. Unless this hits the cushion. His body language

was like he might not see this thread. -- this red. That picture,

what you think, Terry? Looks like it didn't catch the other read first.

Just thinking, because he could play it slow or risk playing it off the

left-hand jaw. It is a possibility. Sam, when he is playing, he doesn't

care, he sort of swaggers onto the table very slowly. We know he cannot

hit it full ball to play it in the centre of the pocket but he may be

able to squeeze it into the left-hand jaw. The cue ball will get

a bit closer to the black. I think it is worth the risk. You can see

where he is aiming. He couldn't see it. He convinced

himself he could see it! You see, it moved the other read. It

was with his cue. I think he hit the red with his cue.

So it looked for a split-second that sounded really good shot into the

back of the reds. Now he is sitting down, thinking, what 's happening?

He's pointing to the red on the rate of the pack there. He struck it

well, but he's got a pot to go out. I would've liked to be a bit closer

to the reds. He plays that shot so well, Terry, along with the top four

players in the world. A lot of them don't go in with enough pace. He

didn't want the unwanted side to go further up the but that's a good

recovery. He will be disappointed if he doesn't score a well now.

A lot of the players who practice with Mark Selby tell me that you've

got to take a book with you because he doesn't miss. He's an excellent

player. Not bad on the match table either. Yes, just recently had a

table put in his house which is a couple of villagers away from myself

in Leicestershire. Snedeker was finished and he has been playing on

a table which apparently is very tight. A lot tighter than these. --

snooker was finished. He didn't get into the cue ball enough there is

hence he is very close to the occasion. -- percussion Mac. The

cushion. I don't think that kicks. I think he mis-hit it. If you look at

the back swing, look at the length of it when he pulls the cue back to

drop red Kim. He has to do celebrates their and that can push

it off line a bit. I don't see why he pulled the cue so far back then.

He is a bit disappointed with his shot previously. Sam is back in.

Looking a bit disappointed in the chair, but here we are. Mark will go

back to his chair thinking, well, that was a frame-winning

opportunity. I think if your opponent has more confidence than he