Monday, 2nd Round, Evening Snooker: World Championship

Sometimes I look around and I think, it is where I want to be and I am

not going to complain about it. I am just going to get on with it. I have

a good chance as any. Usually when I watch the quarterfinals, I am in the

house. Definitely better than I was ten years ago. All are fine for the

world Championships, I am up for it. I came in here and I felt fresh, but

not as much as I wanted to be. That showed in my first two matches. The

one thing I need to do is keep it simple to play the shots. A lot

better than two years ago. To go on here, qualify and win two matches is

unbelievable. Good evening. We are past the halfway mark their in

Sheffield. We are hours away from the quarterfinals. What a sense of

anticipation here. Six places have been taken, two more will be taking

this evening. It's the last deciding sessions in the second round

matches. It's not just the crowd that are excited, it is our special

guest as well because I am absolutely thrilled to be able to

introduce to you the winner of off's eem jacket. Yes, indeed. Will you

please welcome Yorkshire and Sheffield's champion Danny Willett.

Wow! Danny, no jacket required to night. It is a day off, but can you

imagine, could you have anticipated your win at Augusta would impact

your life and everyone else's. You don't enter you get back. Thousands

of people in Yorkshire, it is brilliant to have sport flourishing

in this county. Has it taken some getting used to? Yes. We try to have

a quiet weekend. It is great to be back at the Crucible. When we look

at you receiving your green jacket and finishing off at Augusta, one

question I want to ask you, when you got to the 16th tee, you know you

have the lead. You did not show any panic. How did you keep it together

for the last three holes? Yorkshire greats. -- great. You do, you know?

You dig deep. There are a lot of people supporting you. All of a

sudden we were in the lead by a couple. Johnny was brilliant.

Fortunately enough we won by three. You have had a couple of weeks off

to get to know your baby son. When do you get back to work? Wednesday I

hit a ball, which will be interesting. You just enjoy it. If

it never happens again, it never happens, but we have taken the time

off to enjoy. When we come back we will hopefully be fitter and

stronger. We will prep for the next one and see what happens. I know you

are a big snooker fan. It is not the first time you have come to the

Crucible. What is the attraction? The similarities. It is just a

mental approach to everything that goes on. It is a difficult game. A

lot of Demons go on inside your head and on the golf course it is the

same. It is just appreciating how good these guys are at what they do.

I have tried to play a Fu shops and you realise how difficult it is.

These guys make it look easy. You sit back and enjoy. You sit back and

enjoy it. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of British commentary, thank

you so much for what you did. Let us remind Danny and everyone else what

a wonderful session running on Sun of all and Barry Hawkins gave us

yesterday. The second session is always the big one in my eyes. He

had missed it. Free ball. What a turnaround!

He will be wondering how he lost that one. Wonderful. Wonderful

visit. Very positive from Barry Hawkins. 8-5 now, Barry Hawkins. He

has reduced his arrears to one with one more frame to play in this

session. Stood up to everything that Ronnie has thrown at him this

afternoon. Ronnie will shake his hand and say, well played. Barry

Hawkins will be well pleased. He will take a two frame advantage.

Can't wait for the second session. We can't wait either. The players

are in position. These guys are going to try and tame the Greens and

book their place in the quarterfinals. We could be in for a

storming session on both tables. That will suit Mr Walker.

All yours. Good evening. How fantastic to have a sprinkling of

Yorkshire's sporting stardust on this arena to night! Danny, everyone

else knows, this is the hottest ticket in town. Welcome to the

climax of day ten, here at the Betfred Snooker World Championship.

Please welcome first of all a three-time ranking event winner who

stormed into the semis here three years ago. He arrives here in

cracking form, having made two major finals in the last month. Poised and

ready for a huge session snooker to night, he is quite simply Ricky

Walden! And his opponents, one of the finest

bolts men -- sportsmen the country has ever produced. Here he is three

frames away from an 11th win. John Higgins!

And on table two, please welcome a player bidding for a fourth

consecutive Crucible quarterfinal. This famous arena brings out the

best in him. His game has flourished since he won his first ranking title

down under four years ago. What an opportunity to night for Barry

Hawkins! And his opponents, 23 years after

his first Crucible debut he is still performing at a top level. Five

times a champion of the world, blink and you will miss him. Rocket Ronnie

O'Sullivan! Time to get going. On BBC Two we

will take you straight to table two and share this deciding session.

What a night. Lots of snooker left this evening.

What a pleasure it is to see Danny Willett watching this game. We have

the worlds greatest ever player and who has won the Masters. Last

session, first of 13 wins. The pot success rate is important.

Harry Hawkins is to frames in front. That is so high for 16 frames of

snooker over two sessions. The success is pretty close to. You

would think he would be closer than that. First mistake from O'Sullivan,

but he does not appear to be able to get onto the black from here.

He has had a look at the plant into the right corner. Just getting past

the top rate, I think. -- top red. It is a touchy one at the start of

the match. You have got to play that shot, but

on the other hand you wish you did not have two at the start of a

match. They are both a bit edgy, but they will be settling down and they

will be OK. Very difficult to pot this. You can't see enough of the

ball. Very difficult also to get onto a colour. It is a telling

safety shot from Harry. He will do well to get away with this.

Just trying to play a containing safety. He may be able to cut this

in. A bit surprised Barry did not play a

little bit harder than that. He knew he was running into balls. That is a

reprieve for Ronnie O'Sullivan. Sure he felt ready to score a few points

there. It is quite a thin cut there. Barry Nice to give attention to the

pink first. Hoping to get onto the pink, but it is in the worst

position. It is a good hit. Very good. It clicked off of the green,

but still a good hit. The pack of five reds just behind the pink. He

has be careful he does not push that one towards the corner pocket. That

is what he is going to be playing off of, the gap on the right-hand

side. Slightly misjudged it through the gap. I'd then think so. -- I

don't think so. Barry may be forced to go for this

red because it is not great playing safety down that side of the table.

I think he can play off of the one next to the pink and leave the cue

ball further down near the pocket. He would have two do something with

those three reds. That will take it a little bit wider towards the brown

area. He won't go off of this red unless there is no other shops. On

the pink. -- no other shot. It is important to get the red. That is

how the game goes. Playing that shot, you would think he is

guaranteed to be on the pink. Once again, he has got nothing. You can

only see the pink. He has got to get this right.

First chance then for Ronnie O'Sullivan. Big close on the

cushion. You can see he is bridging there with his fingers. Holding him

steady. If he played the gap, he did very well. This time Ronnie is

unfortunate not to get onto a colour. Look at the gap he has

through there. There wasn't a lot of room. There have been two excellent

pots, one from each player. Both with a bit of misfortune. They had

to play safe off of. The red Barry would like to get out

here is the one directly behind the black. Can't see that there is any

path to that. He has hit three cushions and gone a

little bit wide. They will be the ex-gay of a lifetime -- it will be

the escape of a lifetime. The first clear-cut opportunity.

Little bit short of pace. He may decide to play the pink and go round

the back of the green. He generates so much spin, Ronnie, with precious

little power. That shot could have been played a lot harder this week.

His timing though, Ronnie, is exceptional.

He must be one of the best strikers we have ever seen. He is really

into. Unlike most players, Terry, who tend to be parallel, Ronnie is

cueing quite high on the ball. It amazes me how he gets the spin on

when he plays a run-through. That is how he has always played,

even when he was a youngster. He gets the spin on all right. He pots

the balls very quickly. There is no perfect player and there never will

be. I think Murphy and Mark Selby are

similar in that respect. But they don't strike the ball the same as

Ronnie. They are trying to do the same thing, but they do it

differently. I saw Ronnie wins there. I think you try to brush away

the two reds below the pink. He just missed the kiss and was not happy

about it. I think the one above the black will pot now. In a matter of

moments, Ronnie is up to 34 ahead and counting. Now the black is in

play. This is a framing opportunity. This red puts him in the snooker

required stage. He may decide to storm off of the cushion and put one

of these two reds into play. I don't think there will be any heroics here

with this red. He has the perfect angle to drop it in. He is the best

in most departments. I don't think there is a better player playing

along the top cushion than Ronnie. One else other than has already had

for centuries in this tournament. -- four. Five leading as an individual

player I think is John Higgins. 57 tournament centuries this year, so I

am sure the record is going to be smashed. Considering the players

have been complaining about the tables and they are making all these

centuries. Just the start O'Sullivan was looking for.

If he makes this entry here, it will be equal to his record of two years

ago. We still have a week to play yet.

Just a little overrun. It might be the end of the century. Oh, what a

shame. No century. Barry Hawkins unluckily, but Ronnie O'Sullivan did

what he needed to do. He took the opening frame.

And Ken Doherty joins us to look at this match and it looks as if he

means business this evening, Ken. That is just what he needed.

When he came to the table, the pink was tied up. His cue ball control is

fantastic. Should mention that the standard of this match has been

extraordinary. When you look at the percentages, I think it was 98 for

Barry Hawkins and 96 for Ronnie O'Sullivan. It was incredible.

Incredible from both players. Barry stopped with him. He had a chance,

but was a bit unlucky. It is NIP and tuck. It will be a fight to the

line. Barry has upped it against Ronnie O'Sullivan and his safety

have been tiptop and it has to be to keep Ronnie O'Sullivan at bay. It

has been excellent so far, as we expected it to be. O'Sullivan, one

behind. Ronnie O'Sullivan starting the

second frame left-handed. I wonder if he will stay there and play

left-handed all the time. He has done that before, I think, with

Peter Ebdon. Played left-handed all the way through.

Up and down the end, the double-kiss is in the way. He has to be careful.

Avoided it. Just played at a pace. A chance for the red to get out of the

way. That is twice Ronnie has played a

shot like that. Both times very close to the middle pocket. He is

having a look here. I don't think there is anything on, is there? I do

think there is a good safety on. Coming back towards the reds. He has

not got a pot or a tidy safety to play.

The second time Barry has hit ball on the way down. Makes a difference.

Comfortable safety shop. He has options. Looks good.

It is amazing. Ronnie O'Sullivan is in front on every single statistic.

It shows you how well Barry has had to play to stay with him.

Behind the ball line. He's very pleased to have knocked that in. The

ball is not on its spot. No problem getting into at least one of the

pockets. He went for the pack. O! It looked

perfect, but a red kissed another and blocked his way. It doesn't

matter how good you are, Terry. You've got to have a bit of fortune

now and again when playing a shot my cat. Barry has gone into the reds

already on one or two occasions this evening. If he isn't leaving

anything onto the left corner, he can roll this red into the middle

pocket. But if he is leaving anything on... And it goes into the

middle as well. He's a little bit thick on that.

It's very rare that a player plays it slow to get onto the blue from

here. It is very dangerous. In a club match, you would be trying to

get the cue ball behind the blue, but it is far too risky at this

level. If you don't get the snooker, you leave the red.

Should give him one point for that, he got so close to it!

The safety shot, swing it around three cushions to get it behind

Green and yellow, is better than taking the long pot on.

A very strange set of reds there, this early in a frame. All on one

side of the table. Another tester for Ronnie O'Sullivan.

He went for the six side of that. I thought it would be thin. He's

brought the red down this end of the table again. Not sure if he going

for the pink into the middle. Saying probably two cushions. Try to get

somewhere near a straight pot into the middle pocket. I don't think he

can play it slow enough to hold for the pink or blue to the right-hand

side pockets. That was the problem. You couldn't

really play in slow enough. He had the ball into the corner that he

didn't play for. It made the pot a little easier at that speed, I

think. To power off the side cushion. Maybe made the shot 20%

more difficult. Rest success. Barry Hawkins is

exceptional. One of the best players in the game with the rest. What an

angle on this red to play a cannon into the two reds just behind the

black. Or he could screw across to the pink. He's playing the deep

screw, so playing for pink or blue. You could see Ronnie O'Sullivan and

then 100%. Of course, he has only played seven. Barry Hawkins has

played 15, and got 14 of them. You would have taken two out of 15,

would you, with the rest? I wasn't too bad with the rest! Obviously,

the middle read of these will pot. -- the middle red. It doesn't look

like it from this position. You can see that middle red will pass the

black. Maybe enough to stay on the black.

That's the problem with those shots. A little bit tricky. The focus

normally is about, for these players of this standard, is probably 70% on

position and 30 on the pot. That changes when the pot is a bit

difficult. Then you lose position, and have to play another good shot

to get back into it. That doesn't look great. May be able to pot the

red that is quite close to the baulk. He cannot do a lot with the

cue ball, because he is hampered slightly. Barry is doing his best to

create an opening, but as yet has not had a good case. Screw through

the gap to get onto the pink opposite the middle. That's gone

wrong! REFEREE: Foul. Barry Hawkins, 19.

Ronnie O'Sullivan, four. Barry admitted to the foul. I don't think

Brendan spotted it. Did you? All players, well, most of them, would

admit to a foul. Like footballers! He may have touched the red coming

back. The real bonus for Ronnie, to come

back to the table so soon. Barry was in the balls there. He thought he

would be facing a large deficit. As it is, he is favourite to win this

frame. That is unusual. O'Sullivan

misjudging the line of the cue ball therefore position. He just got into

it slightly too low. Still on it. We'll have to play a good shot to

get on the next red. Lovely shot. Just slightly hampered.

It was a good shot. Had to play the thin cut, rather than what he wanted

to play. Looks like it's going to be

straightforward for Ronnie, when that foul came from Barry for --

Barry Hawkins. He's played some very good shots to keep this effort

going. You can see the red left of the

black is the one he's looking at. But where will the cue ball go from

there? Doesn't fancy it, so he's looking at

this three-ball plant. Taking the white behind the brown and green at

the same time. Fabulous shot! Very good plant, when you consider that

all of those balls... He was concentrating more on the white,

though, than the pot, probably. That is one of those one month type of

plants! You are right. You can see where the cue ball has finished up.

It will not affect the brown. Ronnie seems a bit reluctant to try and

roll up behind the brown. Even if he leaves this read on from where the

brown is, he needs a pot. And this is a straight forward type

of safety shot. With this red just a foot out of the left corner, this

certainly could go wrong. He had to fit it -- to hit its thin. He hit it

much too thick. He hasn't been lucky. That was a poor effort from

Barry. He will know that. Six points in it. You feel that he

can't make a mistake again. He's going to somehow need at least

two of these reds. With the black not being on the spot, getting onto

the pink or blue from these last few reds in a few moments' time could be

difficult. He is not guaranteed to win the frame at this visit. He

would like to bring one of these into play. He's so good left-handed,

he may be able to screw behind it off one cushion. He will play this

as a shot to nothing, I'm sure. 26 in it. He does need the red as well.

Where is the red going? He will not be happy with that. He called it. A

big difference if the black was on its spot. Barry is looking to get

the black onto its own spot straight away, which makes the last red a bit

easier. This is a chance to pinch the frame.

He's on it, if he wants to play this pot. It's got to be dead weight, I

should think. Doesn't need the black to go on and clinch the frame, but

you just feel he's got a better chance with this red going in if he

plays it gentle. If he misses it, he will guarantee to lose this frame. A

really tough shot for Barry. A bit of positive cue action on that, that

takes some doing. If he can get nicely on the yellow, the green

really isn't a problem for a left-handed player. It would be for

a right-handed player. Is that a bit short of pace? That was a poor shot,

Barry. He will be distraught with that one. The problem is there, he

had to put a touch of stun on and a lot of running side. Sometimes you

feel a bit frightened of the running stun -- the running side going too

fast and you would be up near the green or something. If he doesn't

win this frame now, he will be disappointed. Just ten points behind

now. It's just a matter of how he will

get on the green. There you go! Will he get the reward for playing the

safety? It looks like it. The only unfortunate thing with that

shot is that it has pushed the green leather brown. Should Barry leave

the yellow on, it will be tough to get onto the green. I fancy he might

miss this a couple of times before he hits it.

The three-cushion escape. Absolutely lovely. He will be pretty pleased

where the green is. Can Ronnie manufacture an angle to get onto the

green? He's going to look where he can pot it directly. Doesn't look

like there's a lot of angle on the pot. A bit unlucky there from Barry.

When he hit it with a lot of pace, because he's given a free ball

away... You can see the yellow is almost straight.

He's just looked at the green into the black pocket, so whether he will

do a stun run through... That tells me that the green will probably pot.

It is a certain snooker, but he wanted to be dead straight on the

green. I think the pot is a bit risky. That's why he played the run

up. He's so disappointed he didn't finish straight on the green there.

Not the first time in this frame that he's put too much spin on the

ball. Something we are not used to seeing with Ronnie O'Sullivan. It is

tense out there. This is one of those where you have to hit it half

ball and hard. He's got the distance. He's got the

safety shot. Very good. Well played. Didn't put Barry in any trouble

there with that safety shot. It was just a case of gaining the

initiative. I was just about to say, he would do

well to get this faith. Not only has he got it safe, he's snooker at him,

I think! There's been some great safety shots in this frame.

Not quite. Has he got behind the pink? He was playing for behind the

black. He hit down the bottom of the ball

with a touch of left-hand side. We'll hope to cover it with the

blue, which he hasn't won. So half a chance for Barry Hawkins.

Good starter. Means he's slowed down a bit. This will be a bit of a steel

if he gets this one. He's had a few in this match so far, hasn't he?

He's pinched a few. Absolutely. There's four frames I can think of.

Looks a certainty to clear up now, and take that to frame advantage

again. He would be -- Ronnie Wood be a bit aggrieved that he's lost this

frame. He hasn't done a lot wrong. Steady as a rock on the shot. A

great frame to watch. They have both played well. He has his two frame

advantage back again. It looked as if O'Sullivan was going to level up.

Such a test of resolve for Barry Hawkins, who hasn't beaten Ronnie in

14 years. He's certainly had a fuse thrashings from The Rocket over the

last few New Year 's. But he is keeping himself together. A great

frame from Barry, just to steady the ship a bit. A mistake from

O'Sullivan when he was on the yellow. He should have put a lot of

distance between green and brown when he was laying at the snooker,

but didn't, and Barry got out of it. That will help Barry. And a

wonderful piece of sportsmanship as well. Indeed. We see this a lot in

snooker, but it always gladdens your heart, when someone says, it was me,

guv. I am not sure what the referee saw, but certainly Barry Hawkins

owned up to it, and it was a nice gesture. That is one of the great

things about our sport. You were telling me how difficult it is in a

best of 25 frames match. You have got to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan not

just once, but in effect, over three sessions. And he has stood up to it

so far, Barry Hawkins. He has been amazing, very self assured and shown

a lot of confidence. To be honest, all of those other matches, over

those 14 years when he hasn't beaten him, he probably isn't thinking

about that. You have to go out as if it is your first time playing him,

and enjoy the challenge of the World Championship. This is why you want

to play snooker, to play the best players in the world on the big

stage. He has certainly put his game up there with O'Sullivan. Frame 19

on the way. COMMENTATOR: That is a very good

shot. Had to swing it round the book colour there. Ronnie would be a bit

frustrated. He had two or three chances in that first frame, and

then that shot where he didn't quite play the green right, as Ken

mentioned. He is cueing very well. Very positive. When you are playing

Ronnie O'Sullivan, when you are going for those, it is in the back

of your mind, if I miss this, I could sit down while. It does put

pressure on. At the end of the day, you have to play the right shot who

ever you are playing. As long as you are confident, you've got to go for

it. He would have preferred the cue ball

to be a few inches over to the right. Then you can go across the

blue to get position. He played that well. One red is definitely

available in the left corner. Two up from the black, there's two read and

then the one above that is available.

If he can get through for the black here, he's in business.

Just not quite straight. He can just flick off the red and get nicely on

the black. Not too sure if he is straight on the black, if he can get

onto a red now. He can play for the red to the left

of the pink into the green pocket. I think that's about all! Got a cut

on. Baulk colour available. Well, our hour-long taste of this

session is coming to a conclusion, because we have to leave you on BBC

Two. On table one, John Higgins is now leading 11-7. They have shared

the opening two frames between them. The concluding sessions continue

online. Just go to the connected TVs. I will be back on our

highlights programme at 11:35pm. We will leave you at the Crucible on

the night that the green jacket star approached the green Bay 's. It

would appear that Danny Willits is pretty handy with club all cue!