Saturday, Semi-finals, Evening

:00:41. > :01:15.Good evening. It has been a record-breaking, history making day

:01:16. > :01:19.already here in Sheffield because earlier this afternoon, and Junhui

:01:20. > :01:26.became the first Asian player to go through to the final of the Betfred

:01:27. > :01:31.final. It was a superlative performance from the Chinese player.

:01:32. > :01:34.He became the first player ever to make seven centuries in a single

:01:35. > :01:42.match here at the Crucible Theatre to beat Alan McManus. And you never

:01:43. > :01:48.know, we could be in for an all Asian final. Hong Kong's Marco

:01:49. > :01:53.Frison is stuck like glue to world number one Mark Selby. We will be

:01:54. > :01:58.going into the deciding session. It has, in effect, become the best of

:01:59. > :02:03.nine. With the match Square, both players were looking for an early

:02:04. > :02:12.advantage. Selby got it. He produced a break of 125, racking up a 2-1

:02:13. > :02:23.friend lead. But Marco V has shown his resilience. He brought it back

:02:24. > :02:31.to a single frame deficit. -- Marco Fu. He made it 10-10 at the

:02:32. > :02:38.mid-session break. After the interval, Fu had a golden chance to

:02:39. > :02:47.make it three frames in a row, but the mist green let Selby in to pinch

:02:48. > :02:54.it. But back came Marco Fu again. Breaks of 71 and 77 saw the match

:02:55. > :03:00.swing once more. A man from Hong Kong led 12-11 with one more to

:03:01. > :03:07.play. And it was incredibly tense this last of the session. A safety

:03:08. > :03:09.battle began on the colours which eventually saw the Crucible record

:03:10. > :03:22.of a 76 minute frame. But more importantly, Selby gained

:03:23. > :03:29.the advantage. They are all square with 12 frames each.

:03:30. > :03:40.A fascinating encounter. Mark Selby looks a bit shaken. Yes, and it will

:03:41. > :03:43.be interesting to see if he can find the extra gear. No one has grabbed

:03:44. > :03:51.this match by the scruff of the neck. No. Marco Fu have against

:03:52. > :03:58.rattled out of him. It has been tough. We are supposed to be the

:03:59. > :04:06.experts. What scenarios could you see happening? More of the same. I

:04:07. > :04:18.don't think Selby is playing well enough. It could the biggest -- be

:04:19. > :04:27.the biggest test also for Marco Fu. The lads are ready backstage, so

:04:28. > :04:33.over to our MC. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is the last

:04:34. > :04:41.session of snooker ahead of the final. Who will be joining Ding

:04:42. > :04:42.Junhui? It could not be closer. Tonight, this venue is ready to rock

:04:43. > :05:07.and roll once more. Please welcome a player in merging

:05:08. > :05:14.for one of the most important night of his career so far. He is five

:05:15. > :05:18.frames away from a first appearance in a world championship final. He

:05:19. > :05:24.has shown composure under pressure. He will be ready to raise his game

:05:25. > :05:27.once again on the sport's Altima stage. From Hong Kong, please

:05:28. > :05:53.welcome Marco Fu. And his opponents, a player whose

:05:54. > :05:58.temperament is tailor-made for these massive sessions of snooker. Can he

:05:59. > :06:02.find the five frames needed to make it through to a third for

:06:03. > :06:09.championship final? He knows he is good enough to win this game. Ladies

:06:10. > :06:11.and gentlemen, please welcome the world number one comedy jester from

:06:12. > :06:44.less burp, Mark Selby! In has been a long, error strewn

:06:45. > :06:46.match. Mark Selby has his eye on the fourth championship win. Let us

:06:47. > :07:01.cross to be commentary box. Good evening, Hazel. Good evening,

:07:02. > :07:11.everyone. Frame 25. Mark Selby to break.

:07:12. > :07:19.It is a very focused Mark Selby who gets the first frame of this session

:07:20. > :07:27.under way. He really looks comfortable, didn't he. He did

:07:28. > :07:29.indeed, Dennis. He is glad he is still in the match. He has not

:07:30. > :07:47.played in a way he is capable of. Marco Fu was playing well, but they

:07:48. > :07:54.have not been playing as well as they could. It is a long haul, 17

:07:55. > :07:59.days at the Crucible. Sometimes you can end up with frames that take

:08:00. > :08:05.over an hour, but maybe not 76 minutes. Yes, that was a record. The

:08:06. > :08:14.longest frame ever made. He looks a little bit tired. It does drain you

:08:15. > :08:25.mentally when you get to this stage. That is a pretty good shots from

:08:26. > :08:36.Marco. -- shot. He never looks any different, Marco Fu. His temperament

:08:37. > :08:44.is superb. He could be 5-0 down, or 5-0 in front and his expression

:08:45. > :08:55.always stays the same. I think Steve used a very good word there during

:08:56. > :09:00.the introduction. The word rasp. -- grasp. It just needs one player to

:09:01. > :09:19.step up a couple of years and if they do, they will be the victor.

:09:20. > :09:26.Just a little bit short with the cue ball, but the black is tied up.

:09:27. > :09:31.Otherwise Marco would contemplate taking the red into the right

:09:32. > :09:39.corner. If there is a slight angle, he still might take it and play it

:09:40. > :09:44.up for the loo. Maybe he is just playing the safety shot. I am

:09:45. > :10:00.looking at the way he is cueing. Maybe he is. He has gone for the

:10:01. > :10:21.pot. That was a terrific opener and a great confidence booster.

:10:22. > :10:31.If that bounces... Okk, he was a bit unlucky. He was looking for an angle

:10:32. > :10:35.on the red. -- oh, he was a bit unlucky. Just a safety shot

:10:36. > :11:01.available to him. Played that safety very well. The

:11:02. > :11:11.cue ball was going very close to the middle when he played that. Please

:11:12. > :11:44.make sure your phones are turned off.

:11:45. > :12:02.Always annoying when you catch a colour when you are playing the ball

:12:03. > :12:08.short. -- baulk shot. If you take the one on the right and leave the

:12:09. > :12:12.cue ball on either side, he should block that off. Surprised he did not

:12:13. > :12:19.take the outside one. If he had left the cue ball down there, Mark Selby

:12:20. > :12:37.could not play the shot he is about to play.

:12:38. > :12:57.March two in -- that was much too thin. Once again, a couple of pots.

:12:58. > :13:04.A long, straight red. If he took it, he would be on the pink. There is

:13:05. > :13:11.another red to the right of that, but he is taking this one. This

:13:12. > :13:22.could get him right in amongst them. Well played. Just looking to see if

:13:23. > :13:29.the pink spot is occupied as we show you this very good long pot. Not

:13:30. > :13:36.sure if the pink is going to be tied up. I think Brendan Moore will have

:13:37. > :13:50.two get the marker out to check if the pink: go on its own spot. --

:13:51. > :13:57.pink can go on its own spot. We will find out shortly. If it doesn't, it

:13:58. > :14:04.will have to go on the brown spot. Looks as if there is plenty of room

:14:05. > :14:18.there. That is it out of the game now. The way these balls are, the

:14:19. > :14:28.two roads above the black spots, the one on the right is the key ball. I

:14:29. > :14:30.think he would like to have the pink again because that was the best

:14:31. > :14:55.positional shot. He tried a little sneaky Camembert.

:14:56. > :15:05.He needed to get that one right. It would always be difficult. -- a

:15:06. > :15:19.sneaky cannon there. It was never going to be easy. He will be a

:15:20. > :15:27.little bit disappointed that, Marco. That wasn't very good. It was not

:15:28. > :15:30.the worst chance, there was a little bit of difficulty there, but he

:15:31. > :15:54.should have got a bit more than eight.

:15:55. > :16:08.At first glance, there is no easy path back down the table for safety.

:16:09. > :16:27.Just going to leave the white somewhere near the jaws if he could.

:16:28. > :16:37.One of the best tactical players in the game, as well as one of the best

:16:38. > :16:42.break-builders. Of course, he is up against Marco Fu, who without a

:16:43. > :16:54.shadow of a doubt is right up there in the break-building department.

:16:55. > :17:12.Well over 400 centuries now. The highest break is 135, 125.

:17:13. > :17:20.Would have loved to have covered the red that is just above the ink spot.

:17:21. > :17:27.Then he had him lined up with yellow and blue. Might have a look at the

:17:28. > :17:31.one near the middle pocket. He has changed his mind. That is the red

:17:32. > :17:40.eye was on about. He could have played safety off of that if the

:17:41. > :18:00.yellow and Luke were lined up. -- yellow and blue.

:18:01. > :18:09.I think he is just about OK. That red still does not cut it into the

:18:10. > :18:21.middle pocket. Maybe it does from where the cue ball has finished. It

:18:22. > :18:26.is a thin one. Oh, it was a comfortable cut in. He did not hit

:18:27. > :18:35.it all that thin and still nearly potted it. So, another chance for

:18:36. > :19:16.the world number one. I think there are two or three red

:19:17. > :19:26.available into the left-hand corner. If he goes up past the pink, he has

:19:27. > :19:37.got a choice of red. That one to the left of the pink would be ideal.

:19:38. > :19:44.Yes, if he finishes on that one and plays a little stunner. Looking to

:19:45. > :19:49.see if he has the angle to stun force the red above, the one he is

:19:50. > :19:59.going to take. If not, he will screw out. He did not move it away,

:20:00. > :20:14.really. Being over six foot tall was a big

:20:15. > :20:28.help them to stretch over that read there. That initial positional stop

:20:29. > :20:33.from Green onto the loose red has turned this into a good chance. It

:20:34. > :20:41.did not look promising a few shots ago. If Mark Selby is going to win

:20:42. > :20:49.this match, that is definitely what he has got to do this evening.

:20:50. > :20:55.Improve his scoring. We know he competes, he always does. He is at

:20:56. > :21:02.his absolute best when he becomes a scoring machine as well. He did not

:21:03. > :21:10.get that one as well as he intended. He is having to play another little

:21:11. > :21:24.cannon here to get on the pink. He cannot avoid the other red. Still

:21:25. > :21:31.OK. It is noticeable that Mark is not moving around on the shot as he

:21:32. > :21:41.used to. It was a little mannerism he had for many years, where he was

:21:42. > :21:54.swaying around. It was noticeable, but he has honestly been working on

:21:55. > :21:59.that. Lost the cue ball slightly. He needs a number of points to make the

:22:00. > :22:08.frame safe. Losing the cue ball slightly has made his positional

:22:09. > :22:16.shot more difficult. Difficult to get out as well, Dennis, isn't it?

:22:17. > :22:17.There is just a gap there that he might be able to get through and

:22:18. > :22:38.slip past the red and pink. There is not much of a gap though.

:22:39. > :22:41.See what he is looking that there? He would not want the cue ball to

:22:42. > :22:45.finish at the end of the line, but that is the kind of gap he might be

:22:46. > :22:59.looking at to get up towards the blue.

:23:00. > :23:09.The cue ball is close to the middle. Very close to the middle. He found

:23:10. > :23:17.the gap, but forgot the middle pocket was there. Always was going

:23:18. > :23:32.to be a problem. He was trying to avoid the cannon.

:23:33. > :23:44.One consolation, he has not left anything easy for Marco. Trying to

:23:45. > :23:55.set this up to give himself a slight angle. There is the shot so well,

:23:56. > :24:02.but they are difficult. -- plays the shot so well, but they are

:24:03. > :24:06.difficult. Once he can and the other red, he could have left something

:24:07. > :24:21.little bit easier than this for Mark Selby. That was a tough read he was

:24:22. > :24:28.attempting there. -- red. He left himself a slight angle, but just

:24:29. > :24:32.overdid it. Players spent many hours practising those shots, but you

:24:33. > :24:38.can't practice them in the same way as you do in a club as you do at the

:24:39. > :24:45.Crucible Theatre. There is more pressure. And there is that

:24:46. > :24:51.wonderful Crucible Theatre as we zoom in on the table. Lots of room

:24:52. > :24:59.around the table when you get to the semifinal stages. All quiet. All

:25:00. > :25:12.quiet for the people watching at home. No applause from the other

:25:13. > :25:19.table. He has played a few poor safeties, it has to be in this

:25:20. > :25:27.match, John. Not like him at all. Usually very adept. Marco is getting

:25:28. > :25:36.chances. Just got to start taking a couple of them. He played that with

:25:37. > :25:46.a lot of Czech side. Because he did that, he missed the pot by quite a

:25:47. > :25:51.way. He has been fortunate again. When you play that sort of shot with

:25:52. > :25:59.that much side, it makes the pot that much more difficult. Yes. It

:26:00. > :26:08.throws the white off-line. You have two allow for it when you play with

:26:09. > :26:23.side, especially on these very fine cloth -- cloths. I think he can just

:26:24. > :26:28.get past the pink, but the only problem with that is he will send

:26:29. > :26:33.the red towards the right corner pocket. He can get the white around

:26:34. > :26:43.the table towards the green. He might go close to cutting this red

:26:44. > :26:49.in. He has hit it too thin. The cue ball is closest. Oh! He has not got

:26:50. > :26:56.away with it. I thought he had wobbled and gone behind the green.

:26:57. > :27:13.It is not dead straight, so Selby can get onto pink or blue here.

:27:14. > :27:20.A little worrying for Marco. He has played a couple of shots that looked

:27:21. > :27:24.like two in one shots. That one where he was trying to play in the

:27:25. > :27:43.corner and the snooker did not happen. And the red he played

:27:44. > :27:50.before. The red he played before, Stephen Hendry would have been all

:27:51. > :28:06.over it. He will not be worrying about the Czech side. -- check side.

:28:07. > :28:17.Didn't anticipate cannon ink into the first red. It is touching, which

:28:18. > :28:21.is a big advantage. All of a sudden, Brendan Moore declared touching

:28:22. > :28:32.ball, so he complained away from this black.

:28:33. > :28:39.Good old Sheffield boy, Brendan Moore. You have to nominate when you

:28:40. > :28:59.are touching. He has not nominated the black.

:29:00. > :29:07.Yes, this frame is taking shape that the rest of them played this morning

:29:08. > :29:10.where both players just can't get potting or into the break-building

:29:11. > :29:21.department. Nothing like we are used to.

:29:22. > :29:36.Looks like another hard-fought frame. If he gets through to the

:29:37. > :29:41.potting angle, he might play a cannon onto the two reds. Not sure

:29:42. > :29:47.what angle he can take to avoid the black. They have to start being

:29:48. > :29:52.positive. Whoever does that, they will win. Flick into the two reds,

:29:53. > :30:01.stay on the black. Could not have played it much

:30:02. > :30:36.better. I think he is good here, has just

:30:37. > :31:00.gone enough for the -- far enough for the cue ball.

:31:01. > :31:18.Just going to need a quick glance at the scoreboard, red, colour, red

:31:19. > :31:24.will be enough. And that red that is closest to the black is available,

:31:25. > :31:38.so he doesn't have to force that one in. That will be frame ball.

:31:39. > :32:08.He will play a snooker and if he gets the snooker Marco may stay in

:32:09. > :32:26.his seat. Marco has signalled to the referee,

:32:27. > :32:37.so a very focused Mark Selby takes the opening frame and he gets

:32:38. > :32:42.himself into the lead at 13-12. We have two world champions here.

:32:43. > :32:45.The way these guys have approached this session, the level of

:32:46. > :32:54.aggression, what have you noticed, Steve? A couple of times Mark Selby

:32:55. > :32:58.eventually played the positive shot, the attacking shot, to stand to play

:32:59. > :33:03.for the black. He could have played into the bunch with the black. Marco

:33:04. > :33:11.Fu had a long red tom he could have played a cannon and opened up the

:33:12. > :33:18.frame. He had to get with the cue ball back up to baulk so they are

:33:19. > :33:25.rather containing themselves rather than being the aggressor. If you are

:33:26. > :33:32.not entirely comfortable with your game, it has been typed out there,

:33:33. > :33:36.you are on tenterhooks as to how the session has been going and you are

:33:37. > :33:42.not as comfortable, but then again Steve and does play a very attacking

:33:43. > :33:49.game. Marco is not known for being totally aggressive but I think as

:33:50. > :33:52.the session unfolds you might start to see him open up a bit. -- see

:33:53. > :34:07.them. COMMENTATOR: It is amazing the

:34:08. > :34:10.number of times a red goes next to the black and puts it out of

:34:11. > :34:21.commission straight from the break off. It just means that there is no

:34:22. > :34:22.point in attempting to roll this red in because there is no colour

:34:23. > :34:48.available. I don't know how this session is

:34:49. > :34:57.going to unfold but it is all about getting into the final. It is all

:34:58. > :35:03.about the W, sport in general, the win. If you can do it with a bit of

:35:04. > :35:05.style, great, but sometimes that doesn't happen, just make sure you

:35:06. > :35:29.beat the other fella. This next shot, if he can get

:35:30. > :35:33.through to one of the reds on the player safety shot, it might bring

:35:34. > :35:40.the black back into play. He doesn't have to play that one but you always

:35:41. > :35:50.want to get to that high valued colour into play. -- get that. And

:35:51. > :35:58.he has done, that has cleared the black somewhat to the right corner

:35:59. > :36:08.pocket. And the reds are opening up beautifully now, which makes this

:36:09. > :36:16.safety exchange so interesting. Because one mistake could be costly,

:36:17. > :36:24.the way the balls are. We have got a nice looking frame, haven't we? Full

:36:25. > :36:26.of options for Marco, he could push the red on the side up and down if

:36:27. > :37:11.he wanted. I like that shot, it gets the game

:37:12. > :37:16.back to normal. That red going up the other end of the table, we could

:37:17. > :37:25.have had one of those awkward frames, but Mark Selby has got it

:37:26. > :37:33.back up this end of the table. Where it's finished, that red, is pretty

:37:34. > :37:39.awkward, because you don't -- if you don't hit it very thin to get back

:37:40. > :37:51.into the baulk area you hit the jaws.

:37:52. > :38:00.Very good. That wasn't as easy as it looked. Acknowledged why Mark Selby,

:38:01. > :38:23.just tapping the table with his cue there. -- by Mark Selby.

:38:24. > :38:40.Well. Absolutely hit that all wrong, far too thin. The first mistake, as

:38:41. > :38:50.we show you, catching the other red, an early chance for Marco Fu here.

:38:51. > :38:51.This is where he has to go to work, stamp his authority on this evening

:38:52. > :39:01.session. He needs to score now, particularly

:39:02. > :39:46.after this chance. -- off this. Looks like one of the practice

:39:47. > :39:55.routines you do in the club, when you are in the club, few reds out.

:39:56. > :40:04.The only red you wouldn't put on the table for a practice session is the

:40:05. > :40:08.one to the left of the black. You can see where he has put the cue

:40:09. > :40:13.ball, he has left himself with a choice of three reds, one to the

:40:14. > :40:24.middle, one to the right-hand corner.

:40:25. > :40:41.I am just wondering if this is going to tie the pink up somewhat.

:40:42. > :40:54.Might still be available into the corner pocket. Hopefully into the

:40:55. > :40:59.left middle pocket, yes, it is in the clear, so it certainly goes into

:41:00. > :41:03.those middle and the right corner, and the angle he has on this red he

:41:04. > :41:16.might have to leave the pink for the left middle pocket.

:41:17. > :41:24.He has hit it too hard. That is a bit careless, little bit of

:41:25. > :41:36.adrenaline there, just overscrewed that.

:41:37. > :41:40.That is where he wanted to be, where the other white is there, and

:41:41. > :42:05.overscrewed it. So a bit of a let off there, as we

:42:06. > :42:13.show you the missed pink again, but the shot before caused the problem.

:42:14. > :42:18.And Marco will have to sit there and... He is looking at that tip

:42:19. > :42:24.which did come off yesterday, but Mark Selby, well, he will have been

:42:25. > :42:35.watching Marco missed that pink and it might give him a bit of a boost.

:42:36. > :42:41.The tip looks good. He lost the cue ball again, Marco. It caused trouble

:42:42. > :42:43.yesterday when it flew off, the tip, but they did a good job potting it

:42:44. > :43:03.back on. The cannon, hoping to bring the

:43:04. > :43:05.black into better player than that, and where it has finished he can't

:43:06. > :43:43.pot the pink either. It just shows you, if they touch

:43:44. > :43:52.that mere cushion they don't drop in, well some have been but that one

:43:53. > :43:59.didn't. There have been a few going in that shouldn't have done. It was

:44:00. > :44:18.a tough shot, very high tariff in difficulty, that one.

:44:19. > :44:26.He was looking at the pink there, Marco, because the black is right in

:44:27. > :44:29.the jaw of the pocket and it is slightly more difficult to control

:44:30. > :44:36.the cue ball when you are screwing over towards the reds. He has

:44:37. > :44:43.cannoned into them and it looks pretty good, he has won to the right

:44:44. > :44:50.middle. Good shot. It is the only way you can really control that

:44:51. > :44:58.shot, play into them and hope you get a bit of fortune. What a

:44:59. > :45:06.horrible kick that got, it jumped straight up in the air. Have a look

:45:07. > :45:11.at this. But amazingly this time it hasn't affected the shot. I

:45:12. > :45:25.mentioned before it was a good chance, and this one definitely is.

:45:26. > :45:33.There is one person may be watching this semifinal hoping that it goes

:45:34. > :45:36.to a deciding frame and that is Ding Junhui, who would be glad to see

:45:37. > :45:43.both of these players battle it out to a decider.

:45:44. > :45:49.He has the evening off. We get a bit selfish when it is like that, don't

:45:50. > :46:06.we? Mentioned earlier he has got a

:46:07. > :46:12.beautiful touch, Marco Fu. He has not been at his best in this so far,

:46:13. > :46:23.but the earlier matches, up the one against Peter Ebdon, absolutely

:46:24. > :46:30.fantastic. He was wonderful against Peter Seddon, Peter said and played

:46:31. > :46:33.very well but he didn't get a shot. The clearance against Barry Hawkins,

:46:34. > :46:45.one of the best clearances seen at the Crucible. When you have been 9-1

:46:46. > :46:53.ahead and pressed back to 12-11, that was very special.

:46:54. > :47:02.It seems to be the story of this semifinal, every time Mark Selby

:47:03. > :47:08.goes ahead Marco Fu comes back. 17-16 all over, do you think? Let's

:47:09. > :47:16.put it this way, I wouldn't bet against it.

:47:17. > :47:23.Already 54 in front, so just a couple more pots to get back to all

:47:24. > :47:39.square. DME! Well, luckily the pink is over

:47:40. > :47:48.the pocket, because imagine that it wasn't there and he had a tremendous

:47:49. > :47:51.kick like that. It has been twice in quick succession, hasn't it? He

:47:52. > :47:56.would want to see much more of that this evening. Just needs the pink,

:47:57. > :48:13.though, to put him 60 in front. He will want to make sure of this

:48:14. > :48:19.red because he knows what Mark Selby is like when he needs snooker 's,

:48:20. > :48:30.one of the best in the business. Full contraindication on this one.

:48:31. > :48:36.-- concentration. That looks good. It isn't underestimated part of the

:48:37. > :48:45.game that, getting well over the line so that your opponent doesn't

:48:46. > :48:50.get back. Sometimes a player will relax, miss a shot, and all of a

:48:51. > :48:57.sudden he has another 20 minutes or so in a frame. I did it against Fred

:48:58. > :49:03.Davis, he needed three snooker is, I thought I had one and he nearly

:49:04. > :49:05.pinched it. He got the snooker 's and I won the game on the black.

:49:06. > :49:35.Taught me a big lesson, that. Bit of an awkward red now but it

:49:36. > :49:45.doesn't really matter. Still expect him to knock it in but if he doesn't

:49:46. > :49:51.mark will stay in his seat. Safely in, and it wouldn't be bad to clear

:49:52. > :50:01.the lot here, just sends a message out. We were talking about being

:50:02. > :50:06.positive this evening and this is definitely that, make sure you clear

:50:07. > :50:08.off, take all the balls off the table and show that you are here to

:50:09. > :50:32.play. Just strolling around the table as

:50:33. > :50:35.if it were the opening frame. He has got a wonderful temperament, Marco

:50:36. > :51:07.Fu, he really has. What a beautiful clearance from

:51:08. > :51:12.Marco Fu. He is not going anywhere, you just can't put anything between

:51:13. > :52:22.these two players, we are all square again, 13-13.

:52:23. > :52:42.So Marco Fu looks on as Mark Selby breaks off. 13 frames all.

:52:43. > :52:48.An awful lot of people have been coming to the Crucible for many

:52:49. > :52:52.years but you always want into somebody knew who has never been

:52:53. > :52:58.here and they absolutely love it when they get in to watch one of

:52:59. > :53:04.these matches. It is so difficult to get tickets. You will see the odd

:53:05. > :53:12.empty seat but they are sold out for months and months in advance.

:53:13. > :53:27.Terrific. OK, he hasn't dropped on a colour but he had to swerve that to

:53:28. > :53:33.make the potting angle. A good shot, one you couldn't guarantee getting

:53:34. > :53:40.position off. That is why he has ended up where he has done.

:53:41. > :53:50.A clever little shot their, he tried. Split the pack up with a

:53:51. > :54:05.yellow. Couldn't quite get it where he wanted. Slight angle, so he has

:54:06. > :54:14.to head up to wards the blue border pink and black, awkward. -- or the

:54:15. > :54:20.pink and black. Terrific pot and he needs another one because he has

:54:21. > :54:38.knocked a red over the middle pocket.

:54:39. > :54:50.Good cueing from Mark, this. Confidence booster. Scrapping for

:54:51. > :54:52.position, it was a good look he knocked in, far from easy. -- good

:54:53. > :55:15.blue. Might be on nothing here. What is it

:55:16. > :55:19.they call it, he is on zilch. Amazing where you can finish, blue

:55:20. > :55:27.is the only possible ball he can pot. If you try to roll that red

:55:28. > :55:36.down the table and leave the white there, you couldn't do it.

:55:37. > :55:42.He must be going to take the blue, blue in the corner, finish on the

:55:43. > :55:56.red behind the black. Sounds easy. Oh, unlucky. I tell you what,

:55:57. > :57:19.though, he enjoyed the pot. One you would expect a professional

:57:20. > :57:27.snooker player to hit. First glance, I don't think Mark can get down the

:57:28. > :57:29.table off this. If it was slightly more to the Wright he'd be able to

:57:30. > :57:45.hit off the red behind it. He might be able to come down off

:57:46. > :57:52.that one even though he's going to be able to hit the pink. Just a

:57:53. > :58:15.containing shot. Could do with a touching ball to

:58:16. > :58:22.sort this out. And we have got one. He didn't want one, did he? Mark's

:58:23. > :58:24.face, he wasn't too enamoured with that. Makes it easy for Marco to

:58:25. > :58:32.play it down the table. Looks good.

:58:33. > :59:06.APPLAUSE Another touching ball? It is. So

:59:07. > :59:08.Mark can stay up that end, Marco can stay down this end, a bit like a

:59:09. > :59:36.game of tennis. That is a foul there. The red

:59:37. > :59:51.definitely moved there. It has not been called but that was a foul.

:59:52. > :59:54.Let's have a look at this. It's his finger moves the red. The referee

:59:55. > :00:19.has missed it, so has the player. There we go. Let us watch this

:00:20. > :00:26.again. Mooz it forward, touches the red. That is a foul. -- moves it

:00:27. > :02:01.forward. I am surprised they've both missed it. Marco Fu and the referee.

:02:02. > :02:35.Great length on that safety. Much harder because of it. Because of

:02:36. > :02:43.that, he hits it far too thin. Took a red towards the corner. At first

:02:44. > :02:50.look, he has got away with it, but it may be a very big pocket, that.

:02:51. > :02:55.He will have a look in a minute. He will come down and have a look at

:02:56. > :03:00.that. If he can't get direct to it, which I don't think he can, the red

:03:01. > :03:06.on the right-hand side definitely has a chance of going in, doesn't

:03:07. > :03:13.it, then is? It does. If the red was a little further away from the

:03:14. > :03:33.pocket, it would be unmissable. He has to be careful otherwise he will

:03:34. > :03:43.get the double case. -- double kiss. And he is on the yellow. So, one

:03:44. > :03:47.good positional shot here and Mark Selby could be right in amongst

:03:48. > :04:10.them. Could not have played that any better.

:04:11. > :04:23.What a chance this is. Balls are nicely spread, pink in the open.

:04:24. > :04:37.Just wondering whether or not one of the red is covering the pink spot.

:04:38. > :04:43.-- one of the reds. Could be a little bit of a problem. He could do

:04:44. > :04:47.with the red away from the corner pocket. It is blocking the path of

:04:48. > :05:00.the black. Just looking three or four shots ahead.

:05:01. > :05:23.I think he will pot the pink and play for that red will stop I

:05:24. > :05:37.mentioned the one near the pocket. -- plays for that red. The green

:05:38. > :05:44.spot is the only one available. Yes. My suggestion would be pink, red up

:05:45. > :05:52.to the top cushion. You could go for blue, come back and remove the loose

:05:53. > :06:01.red. Just wondering if the pink will go on the black spot. That was not

:06:02. > :06:07.part of my script. This is the red I would have thought he would have

:06:08. > :06:14.played for. The us check. If he plays that, it will make a big

:06:15. > :06:21.difference. A huge difference. That was looking like being a lot more

:06:22. > :06:29.straightforward than that. Gone of the blue, combat down. It was a

:06:30. > :06:37.great chance, but not now. -- come back. He did not play that well. He

:06:38. > :06:43.has come up a long way short of where he intended and that it will

:06:44. > :06:48.be a Mark Selby special, powering the white around the table here.

:06:49. > :07:06.That is pretty good. APPLAUSE Make sure there is a top spin to

:07:07. > :07:17.send the ball running around the angles. He is blessed with so much

:07:18. > :07:28.cue power, but once again, the wrong side of the blue. He has not got

:07:29. > :07:37.much of an angle on this one to power it around. This will take some

:07:38. > :07:45.shots. One of his power shots yesterday, the blue jump out of the

:07:46. > :07:49.middle pocket. Well, that one was never going to roll off. He is

:07:50. > :07:56.urging the white to run around, but as you said, it was not as easy this

:07:57. > :07:58.time, John. Think you can avoid the cannon on the other reds, so he can

:07:59. > :08:09.go back round off of this one. Someone moving in his eye line. He

:08:10. > :08:37.was just holding his hand up. Well played. He just can't get

:08:38. > :08:44.himself the right side of the blue. It is like someone said, be on the

:08:45. > :08:52.wrong side of the blue every time. It is a wonder he is still going.

:08:53. > :09:04.Brilliant shot. Absolutely brilliant. He can win this frame by

:09:05. > :09:20.just taking blues. Will he get the correct side this time? He might be

:09:21. > :09:21.dead straight. Looking at the way he is bridging, there is a slight

:09:22. > :09:40.angle. He is powering everything into that

:09:41. > :09:55.middle pocket. That blue is going to have a headache! At last, he has got

:09:56. > :10:02.the correct side of the blue! 43 the difference. So blue, red and one

:10:03. > :10:20.more blue would be enough. There you go. 48 ahead, 59

:10:21. > :10:30.remaining, and what a break this has been. Fantastic. He has been

:10:31. > :10:33.scrapping for position all the way through it. Wrong side of the blue

:10:34. > :10:40.three or four times. Wonderful contribution. This is why he is

:10:41. > :10:42.world number one. All players can make centuries when the balls are

:10:43. > :11:08.nicely positioned. He snapped his fingers there as if

:11:09. > :11:16.to say, spin, white. And it did. And another blue. He has already potted

:11:17. > :11:22.six of them. His seventh blue. Who sang that song? I never felt more

:11:23. > :11:28.like singing the blues? It was Frank Ifield.

:11:29. > :11:42.You could see him click his fingers, telling the white to spin. Another

:11:43. > :11:53.exhibition shop coming up, John? Yes. 13 frames all. Semifinal.

:11:54. > :11:56.Fabulous. Now watch this for an exhibition positional shot. The

:11:57. > :12:07.white going all the way around the angles. That was rubbish, wasn't it?

:12:08. > :12:22.Doesn't matter. The frame well and truly over. And building up nicely.

:12:23. > :12:33.That is to frames. One visit. Mark's wife Vicki there. We are back again.

:12:34. > :12:36.One in the lead, Mark Selby. 13-14. Much more decisive play from both of

:12:37. > :12:42.them. There is one incident we will have to show again. Happily, it did

:12:43. > :12:45.not affect the outcome, but John picked up what looked like a foul.

:12:46. > :12:48.Are there any settings dances where you would not know what is going on

:12:49. > :12:57.the finger touches the red and comes away. Everyone in the world of

:12:58. > :13:06.snooker probably would suspect that you could have felt that. There is

:13:07. > :13:09.no way of getting out of that. The see the referee missed it and he is

:13:10. > :13:17.the sole judge of play. Things like that do happen, but... Over to you.

:13:18. > :13:24.You don't want to stop pointing fingers at anyone, but yes. You know

:13:25. > :13:28.you have touched it. It's a never-ending. You know when you have

:13:29. > :13:32.touched something. You could say there is so much tension out there

:13:33. > :13:46.and he didn't give it a second thought. Game 20 eight. -- Game 20

:13:47. > :14:04.eight. Dimension singing the blues and

:14:05. > :14:12.Frank Ifield. It was Guy Mitchell, or Tommy Steele. I wasn't even

:14:13. > :14:15.close, John. I knew it was Guy Mitchell because my manager you

:14:16. > :14:20.supported on the tape in the car all the time. I didn't want to correct

:14:21. > :14:30.you because you are usually right on most things!

:14:31. > :14:39.There goes my chance as pop master. Can he get through to sneak this in

:14:40. > :14:53.the middle pocket? Does not fancy it. I don't blame him

:14:54. > :15:01.with the cue ball stopped up on the cushion. -- tucked up on the

:15:02. > :15:39.cushion. Well, that was an attacking safety

:15:40. > :15:54.shop there from the world number one. -- attacking safety shot. He

:15:55. > :15:59.played it as if to say, I am opening the shots and I am ready to score.

:16:00. > :16:04.This game is right for someone to take it over. If someone can step up

:16:05. > :16:25.a bit, they are going to win. Mid-session interval coming up after

:16:26. > :16:30.this frame. It has been a tough match of snooker. A feud century

:16:31. > :16:42.breaks. Look at that, coming up to ten hours of solid matchplay smooth

:16:43. > :16:53.curve. First that gets to 17 will go through to tomorrow's final.

:16:54. > :17:01.Sessions will be two o'clock and seven for the final. So whoever gets

:17:02. > :17:16.through and have a bit of a lying in the morning. -- a bit of a lie in. I

:17:17. > :18:05.don't blame him taking his time here. He is in a spot of bother.

:18:06. > :18:17.Just played that like a containing shot. Anything he does not want, you

:18:18. > :19:04.can play back. Avoiding that was all part of the plan.

:19:05. > :19:21.This will be good if it is any shot. Just glance off of that one. A huge

:19:22. > :19:27.frame with the interval coming up. Mark Selby can win it, take a two

:19:28. > :19:40.frame lead. He will be happy sitting in his dressing room. Marco Fu has

:19:41. > :19:43.come back, pegged him to all square. It has been a tough game for both

:19:44. > :20:24.players, this. The flick on the yellow was very

:20:25. > :20:39.nice. Cue ball tight on the bottom cushion. No straightforward escape.

:20:40. > :20:50.He is going to have two try and leave the white in the jaws of this

:20:51. > :21:12.corner pocket here. That is about as well as he could do. Another

:21:13. > :21:14.touching ball. Coming! -- come in! That was a strange knock on the

:21:15. > :22:02.table there. It was a loud knock. If he can't see a path back down the

:22:03. > :22:07.table, he might have to nestle on that one, off of a couple of

:22:08. > :22:21.cushions. He's just having a look, seeing if he can work a way out, but

:22:22. > :22:28.I can't see an easy route back down. He keeps looking at the red two

:22:29. > :22:35.down. He would have two hit that thick to go in the gap past the

:22:36. > :22:49.pink. I don't like that very much. I prefer your shot. Could get down

:22:50. > :22:57.side if played correctly. From in behind would have been better then

:22:58. > :23:00.to lee-macro there. Mark is looking at that one along the cushion. Would

:23:01. > :23:47.have been better there deletes back looking at it again. Just

:23:48. > :23:51.wondering if he will try to play in between the pink and the rate. He

:23:52. > :24:03.has got to make sure he doesn't cannon anything. -- pink and the

:24:04. > :24:15.red. He did not play the pots, did he? If he did, he could have

:24:16. > :24:19.cannoned into something. I think Mark Selby, with the interval coming

:24:20. > :24:24.up, he is not going to take any risks here. He wants this frame

:24:25. > :24:30.badly to open up a two frame advantage. There is a red going

:24:31. > :24:39.towards the pocket, but it does not look to be any path through to its.

:24:40. > :24:48.Surely there can't be a gap? Well, there is. He has got to find a path

:24:49. > :24:54.back down towards the blue. I don't know if he could get through just

:24:55. > :24:57.playing ball. If he squares it around the red, he would probably

:24:58. > :25:10.cannoned the other one on the way back. He could not guarantee

:25:11. > :25:23.position. What do you do here? There is the side. Why does the angle, had

:25:24. > :25:36.to hit that red. -- widens the angle. He is looking at the black,

:25:37. > :25:50.but he can't get back down the table off of that. So he may have won

:25:51. > :26:01.glowing at the baulk cover. Yellow seems a fairly big target. Off the

:26:02. > :26:07.side cushion, past the pink. There is the roads near the corner pocket.

:26:08. > :26:21.Think that is why he has over the green. -- there is that red.

:26:22. > :26:30.Perfect, absolutely perfect. Wafer thin contact. That is amazing. In

:26:31. > :26:37.fact, the green is still on its spot! A fourball contacts on the

:26:38. > :26:46.Green would have left a couple of possible pots. But to flick the

:26:47. > :26:56.green and leave it on its spot, that's quite amazing.

:26:57. > :27:06.That is a remarkable shop because not only has he got out of trouble,

:27:07. > :27:27.where he has left Marco, he is in serious trouble.

:27:28. > :27:36.He was looking a very, very thin contact on that red. He can count

:27:37. > :27:51.himself very fortunate he has not left anything. It could go anywhere.

:27:52. > :27:58.Mark is looking at it as if to say, what would I do? He says to himself,

:27:59. > :28:04.I would be in a bit of trouble, so let us face it. He does need a thin

:28:05. > :28:16.contact otherwise he would double-kiss that red.

:28:17. > :28:39.He was able to just see the edge of the red. That is where it was and it

:28:40. > :28:43.looks pretty good to me. Spot on. I mean, he does not have to pay the

:28:44. > :28:53.same shot again. He can change his mind, but I think that is near

:28:54. > :28:59.enough. Try number two. With any other contact other than a thin one,

:29:00. > :29:07.it will double-kiss the red and white. This will have to be a

:29:08. > :29:16.special shop because it does look double-kiss all day, doesn't it? --

:29:17. > :29:29.special shot. He nearly put the white into the pocket last time. To

:29:30. > :29:33.hit the green like that and leave Marco there, that was result. A

:29:34. > :29:52.change of plan. He has left one along the cushion.

:29:53. > :29:59.The only thing with this shot, to get on the blue he would have to

:30:00. > :30:03.play it with a bit of pace on it. Not even considering it. If the

:30:04. > :30:08.black was available he would roll this along the cushion. A good shot

:30:09. > :30:12.from Marco. Calculated he couldn't get on pink or black, Mark just

:30:13. > :30:24.tapping the table again. He is a bit concerned about the red

:30:25. > :30:30.near the left-hand corner pocket. If he plays it down the left-hand side

:30:31. > :31:00.of the table he has to try to get in behind the yellow.

:31:01. > :31:31.This is a very tough match of snooker we are watching. Mark Selby

:31:32. > :31:33.knows, with all his experience, he can go two frames up at this stage,

:31:34. > :31:55.he would be in the driving seat. That is an excellent shot from Marco

:31:56. > :31:58.but where is the red going to go? Hmm, the last little flick on the

:31:59. > :32:17.red has made a difference. You would have expected him to get

:32:18. > :32:29.it, but not like that. He had to take that on. But as you mentioned,

:32:30. > :32:30.very tough, against the cushion, could only see the top of the cue

:32:31. > :32:45.ball. But at the moment just the blue to

:32:46. > :32:48.play with. An excellent shot Marco played there, very easy to be the

:32:49. > :32:57.wrong side of the blue. It is perfect. Ideally the red over the

:32:58. > :33:03.right-hand side pocket is the one to get rid of fairly early so the black

:33:04. > :33:09.can pot in there. As we saw in the last frame, you don't have to. Mark

:33:10. > :33:13.Selby playing on the blues was perfectly adequate but in an ideal

:33:14. > :34:04.world you would like to get on the black fairly quickly.

:34:05. > :34:15.Has the opportunity to move that red now if he wants, just depends how he

:34:16. > :34:18.sees the break. Straightforward, the position, but he could hold it and

:34:19. > :34:25.play for the black in the middle, that would work.

:34:26. > :34:31.Decided to play out. Don't blame him. He couldn't have hit that any

:34:32. > :34:51.better, it was perfect. He has turned this into an excellent

:34:52. > :34:57.chance but he would have liked a bit further with the cue ball there, he

:34:58. > :35:01.is looking at the tip, he is not happy about it. He would like

:35:02. > :35:09.another six inches down the table just to pot that red.

:35:10. > :35:21.There is the cannon. He has tidied the tip up because the brass part

:35:22. > :35:26.was full of glue. He carried on playing yesterday with the look on

:35:27. > :35:33.it but you can see it is all cleaned away from the protector.

:35:34. > :36:03.He has roughened up the tip with a bit of sandpaper. Players like to

:36:04. > :36:13.see the tip like they always like it. But it was needs must yesterday,

:36:14. > :36:20.he had to get that tip of fairly quickly, he only had 15 minutes or

:36:21. > :36:26.something to sort the cue out. I was chatting to Martin Clark, former top

:36:27. > :36:30.16 player, one of the tournament directors, and he was saying it is

:36:31. > :36:34.15 minutes but there is a bit of leeway obviously if they are

:36:35. > :36:40.struggling to get the tip back on. They are not going to stick

:36:41. > :36:43.stringently to that 15 minutes. This is looking like following the

:36:44. > :36:50.familiar pattern, Mark Selby goes one in front and Marco Fu pegs him

:36:51. > :36:56.back. I just wonder if it is going to be one of those games where he

:36:57. > :37:04.never leads until the winning post, Dennis. You never know. It is

:37:05. > :37:05.amazing they have never played each other in the World Championship

:37:06. > :37:17.before. Mark Selby is well ahead in the head

:37:18. > :37:23.to head, 9-2. They have played each other twice in the UK Championship,

:37:24. > :37:33.one each. So the world number one is certainly not having this easy.

:37:34. > :37:48.Taking these very well so far, just getting big positional shots away

:37:49. > :37:53.now. Screwing up at 14-14 and the mid-session interval, 53 ahead, 75

:37:54. > :37:55.remaining so a couple of colours, couple of reds should see him over

:37:56. > :38:45.the line. There has been some terrific

:38:46. > :38:49.tactical play but there have also been frames, one here in this

:38:50. > :38:54.session, with just one visit, and this is another one. You cannot put

:38:55. > :39:35.anything between these two players. He has had eight centuries so far in

:39:36. > :39:43.this year's Betfred World Championship.

:39:44. > :39:55.If he could make one here, it would be 80 centuries, just six away from

:39:56. > :40:00.last year's record, 86. This is the tougher of the two reds.

:40:01. > :40:12.APPLAUSE The scoring and Stephanie improved

:40:13. > :40:21.in the last three games, plenty of 40s and 50s but these three have

:40:22. > :40:24.been excellent. This is how Marco has been playing earlier in the

:40:25. > :40:46.tournament. Very well played, Marco Fu. There is

:40:47. > :40:57.another century. And tonne up again, they love it. We all love a century.

:40:58. > :41:04.100. Tried a trick shot. Doesn't matter. The players go off to their

:41:05. > :41:09.mid-frame break, what a time to get a century. Marco Fu goes level,

:41:10. > :41:13.can't put a thing between these players.

:41:14. > :41:19.HAZEL IRVINE: Five centuries between these players, we have had the tip

:41:20. > :41:24.controversy, the finger controversy, but there was nothing between them,

:41:25. > :41:29.14 frames each, both requiring three more to book a place in the final.

:41:30. > :41:34.It is an interesting development for Marco, because I was speaking to one

:41:35. > :41:39.of the cameramen, who has watched a lot of Marco over the last few

:41:40. > :41:43.years, and he described his form is almost chameleon like at times, he

:41:44. > :41:49.almost seems to default to the style of play his opponent is playing. Do

:41:50. > :41:55.you recognise that a bit? It depends what kind of player you are to start

:41:56. > :41:58.with perhaps but if you play against a speedier player you might try to

:41:59. > :42:11.increase your pace instead of trying to dig Tate apace. They roughly 26

:42:12. > :42:14.players per shot. -- to dictate the pace. Marco's shots are fast but he

:42:15. > :42:24.is playing in the same style at the moment. 14 frames apiece and it has

:42:25. > :42:29.been like this, Marco was 7-4 behind, he won four in a row, that

:42:30. > :42:34.was his most devastating run of form and it coincided with the tip coming

:42:35. > :42:39.off his cue. You really sense that somebody will have to just take this

:42:40. > :42:48.game and have a good shake at it. I just don't see it changing, I think

:42:49. > :42:53.we are here till 17-16, it could be another hour-long episode. I don't

:42:54. > :42:59.see anybody being able to get the form to make frame-winning visits to

:43:00. > :43:06.or three in a row. It is interesting to see who comes out on top. -- two

:43:07. > :43:13.or three. Marco always looks more likely to win frames at one visit,

:43:14. > :43:18.so if he can get in clean then I fancy him perhaps to win the match.

:43:19. > :43:25.Sometimes the way to do that is to up the pace a bit, go around the

:43:26. > :43:29.table on autopilot, but these players don't change their pace. It

:43:30. > :43:34.is hard to do, Ireland were doing it myself a couple of times in a match

:43:35. > :43:40.where I was getting bogged down. -- I remember. Would you change your

:43:41. > :43:45.pace around the table? If I was playing a Mark Selby type player I

:43:46. > :43:50.would want to get into the balls as quickly as possible. You can't make

:43:51. > :43:58.it easy for him. You have to put players on the back foot and perhaps

:43:59. > :44:03.do something they don't expect. It is beautifully poised, a long way to

:44:04. > :44:09.go, a complete contrast to the first semifinal, decided this afternoon

:44:10. > :44:15.with plenty of cut and thrust. 11 centuries, the greatest novel ever

:44:16. > :44:19.made in a match at the Crucible. It had a lot more besides, do Ding

:44:20. > :44:47.Junhui and Allen McManus served up a Crucible classic.

:44:48. > :44:55.In the 27th frame, Ding Junhui was 15-11 instead. Ding has already made

:44:56. > :45:05.six centuries in this match. Stephen and Dennis were watching.

:45:06. > :45:18.COMMENTATOR: That is a good shot from Ding Junhui, an early chance

:45:19. > :45:35.his he can get into the bunch. McManus shakes his head. That will

:45:36. > :45:42.do nicely and less... He is OK, the red came off the cushion, I thought

:45:43. > :45:46.it was going to cover things. He gets the cue ball clean, he wouldn't

:45:47. > :45:56.do that if he was going to play a safety. A good shot from Ding Junhui

:45:57. > :46:10.into the pack, he had to hit that from the outside of the bunch.

:46:11. > :46:22.No break is today so far for Ding. Is this the day when he is going to

:46:23. > :46:30.step up a gear, when the frame in one visit? As you well know, you

:46:31. > :46:33.have done it so many times, he will want to win this semifinal as

:46:34. > :46:39.quickly as possible and watch the other two gladiators battle it out,

:46:40. > :46:44.it will be a tough semifinal between Mark Selby and Marco Fu, and Ding

:46:45. > :47:37.can relax this evening, if he wins the match, that is.

:47:38. > :47:48.Lots of left-hand side check side on the cue ball to square up the angle

:47:49. > :47:59.when it comes off the cushion. Wants to avoid this red going back up and

:48:00. > :48:04.he has not. He wanted to miss that. Today he is not in complete control

:48:05. > :48:08.of that cue ball at all. Might be worth taking this one on because he

:48:09. > :48:13.won't leave anything, only the red. You would think he would take it

:48:14. > :48:18.into the left corner pocket and quickly run through for the blue,

:48:19. > :48:23.could screw back if he wants, the pink might be available also.

:48:24. > :48:42.That looks good to me. Right in the centre of the pocket. Seems to have

:48:43. > :48:46.got his focus back. It has been a feature of Ding's play in this

:48:47. > :48:49.championship, when something has gone wrong he has come back right in

:48:50. > :49:15.the next frame with a break. He is stuck on that red, which... He

:49:16. > :49:21.is just looking to see if that red would go there. It is so difficult.

:49:22. > :49:31.I mean, we are this side of it, he is the other side of it. He could

:49:32. > :49:33.play it for the blue, I mean... He is a couple of shots ahead but he

:49:34. > :49:46.would love to take that one. So it is the outside one he is

:49:47. > :50:04.playing to cut in. Terrific. I say terrific and not only for the

:50:05. > :50:17.pot but what he did with the cue ball.

:50:18. > :50:23.Coming up a little bit short. He didn't want to risk snooker ring

:50:24. > :50:39.himself with the pink. Not only the cut was very thin but

:50:40. > :50:41.the pace he played it at, he found a gap between the yellow and brown and

:50:42. > :51:01.played that one to perfection. Another tricky part to negotiate.

:51:02. > :51:06.That is just about perfect, it is going past the line. I say just

:51:07. > :51:14.about perfect, he has got a slight and you'll -- slight angle, as we

:51:15. > :51:17.show you there he is just one side of that blue line, but he might have

:51:18. > :51:30.to come off the cushion with top spin.

:51:31. > :51:43.Is the plant on? Must be. That is a bonus. Dead set plant. He can screw

:51:44. > :51:48.the cue ball off the other five reds as well, this could turn out to be

:51:49. > :51:53.the frame-winning shot if it turns out right. Get on the pink for the

:51:54. > :52:17.same pocket or up for the blue. I will tell you what, that jumped,

:52:18. > :52:22.he got a tremendous kick. It didn't affect the plant but we might be

:52:23. > :52:31.able to show you that. Just have a look at the red here. The first red

:52:32. > :52:33.tried to jump over the other one, that is how bad a contact that was.

:52:34. > :52:58.But everything is OK. You would have to say now, the way

:52:59. > :53:01.the balls are situated, odds on the seventh century of the match. It

:53:02. > :53:23.really has been savage scoring by Ding Junhui.

:53:24. > :53:32.Very impressive the way he has come out in this frame after the last

:53:33. > :53:36.one. He got himself back into it and he would be very disappointed to

:53:37. > :53:44.lose it but great attitude, great focus coming back into this frame.

:53:45. > :53:52.Sign of a true champion, that is. You would have to give Terry

:53:53. > :53:56.Griffiths huge amount of credit. In the first round Ding Junhui lost a

:53:57. > :54:04.frame where his opponent needed two or three snookers anti-came out with

:54:05. > :54:09.-- and he came out with a few in a row. Terry has just helped him

:54:10. > :54:27.mature as a player. Every chance that Ding Junhui can

:54:28. > :54:35.make a seventh century in this match.

:54:36. > :54:47.That will be the most by any player in a match at the Crucible. A record

:54:48. > :54:52.-- the record number of centuries was 16, achieved by the gentleman

:54:53. > :54:57.sitting next to me. Stephen Hendry did that and he didn't know he held

:54:58. > :55:08.that record. John Higgins has had 14.

:55:09. > :55:15.If he keeps going like this and gets to the final and plays the same way

:55:16. > :55:26.there is a chance he could beat that in two matches.

:55:27. > :55:37.As you said, this is so impressive, after almost a 50 minute frame. All

:55:38. > :55:42.of the tactical play and he has come out, he has got one chance and he

:55:43. > :55:50.has taken it, in style, it has to be said. Another superb century break

:55:51. > :56:07.from this Chinese sensation. One more frame to be played before

:56:08. > :56:28.the mid-session interval. If Ding Junhui takes it he is in the final.

:56:29. > :56:40.Absolutely superb. He only needed one chance, and didn't he take it!

:56:41. > :56:44.He won the frame with another magnificent century break and is one

:56:45. > :56:51.frame away from eight place in his first-ever final at the Crucible.

:56:52. > :56:58.16-11. HAZEL IRVINE: His seventh century, a

:56:59. > :57:12.new record for a single match by one player. He is through, 17-11 against

:57:13. > :57:16.a very, very game Alan McManus at 45 years of age, the oldest player in

:57:17. > :57:24.the drawer, who acquitted himself beautifully, as did this man, his

:57:25. > :57:30.first Crucible final. I did very well, started good, 9-3,

:57:31. > :57:38.and after Alan came back he got his chances to make a few centuries. I

:57:39. > :57:45.played quite good set -- safety shots and he played some good shots

:57:46. > :57:50.and punished me so the pressure comes. Through a number of reasons

:57:51. > :57:54.it was a good match, I think Ding was most of those reasons. He is a

:57:55. > :58:00.good player, isn't he? He knows how to string breaks together, as he has

:58:01. > :58:06.shown, and the right man won the match. Everybody is dreaming of

:58:07. > :58:13.winning the world titles, every professional wants to win the title

:58:14. > :58:19.is. I just want to join them and lift up those trophies and it will

:58:20. > :58:24.stay with me for a whole year. He has been touted as a future world

:58:25. > :58:28.champion for such a long time, he has been around for 13 years as a

:58:29. > :58:37.professional, the first player from Asia to make the final of the World

:58:38. > :58:41.Championship and I guess the question is, why has it taken him so

:58:42. > :58:48.long? He has been touted for so long. It is hard to win it, stupid

:58:49. > :58:53.thing to say but it is, so many good players. Regardless of how it -- how

:58:54. > :58:59.many people are willing him to win it in China, any player of whom it

:59:00. > :59:04.is predicted that they will win the World Championship has extra

:59:05. > :59:08.pressure on him. People say that Judd Trump will win, it might get

:59:09. > :59:12.harder and harder every year. Perhaps it has taken him a long time

:59:13. > :59:17.to get to the final just for that reason. We have all been saying from

:59:18. > :59:24.the moment Peter Ebdon predicted he was the mode start of Snoqualmie --

:59:25. > :59:32.the Mozart of snooker, he would take the game by storm. It doesn't mean

:59:33. > :59:37.he is a certainty to win the title no matter who goes through tomorrow.

:59:38. > :59:41.How big an occasion, at the Masters final he crumbled a bit, he was

:59:42. > :59:46.considerably younger than Ronnie O'Sullivan but he has let big

:59:47. > :59:51.occasions get to him, do you think he is a different man now? I think

:59:52. > :59:55.he is much more mature, and Perry has to take a lot of credit for

:59:56. > :00:04.that. He is a lot more level-headed in terms of taking control of his

:00:05. > :00:10.emotions. -- Terry has to take. Who is he going to play? It is now a

:00:11. > :00:20.best of five, Marco Fu the Mark Selby.

:00:21. > :00:30.Started at the best of 33, now it is the best of five. The players are

:00:31. > :00:45.getting their water, ready for battle. A long, hard battle.

:00:46. > :00:57.Three of the last four frames have been one with one visit. Where as

:00:58. > :01:04.the average frame time is around 22 minutes. Matchplay of over ten

:01:05. > :01:11.hours. One hour of that was one frame. What about the referee?

:01:12. > :01:15.Talking about players having to concentrate, what about Brendan

:01:16. > :01:25.Moore? He has had to keep his concentration.

:01:26. > :01:37.That was a big risk, and he has got away with it somewhat. There might

:01:38. > :01:45.just be a possible cuts to the right corner, but Monty missed that

:01:46. > :02:02.potted, Marco felt he was going to leave something. -- that pot. A bit

:02:03. > :02:15.of good fortune to get away with that one.

:02:16. > :02:28.Lots of pace on the cue ball. About as well as you can do there. That

:02:29. > :03:30.was all about judging the cue ball pace, which was excellent.

:03:31. > :04:01.High-quality safety. All the time putting pressure on his opponent.

:04:02. > :04:15.Just gone past the brown. Might be able to have a go with this red in

:04:16. > :04:20.the right-hand corner. Screw across on the pink. He has had a look at

:04:21. > :04:26.that. It will all be about the red he is taking on. If it goes in, he

:04:27. > :04:35.will give himself an early opportunity here.

:04:36. > :04:51.He cued that beautifully. Excellent pot, wonderfully controlled.

:04:52. > :05:00.Experience might play a big part in this semifinal. Make sure your

:05:01. > :05:08.phones are off, please. Mark Selby won it two years ago. Please make

:05:09. > :05:16.sure they are turned off. That's the third time. An unbelievable final

:05:17. > :05:34.against Ronnie O'Sullivan, and will experience BB telling factor. -- BD

:05:35. > :05:36.telling factor. Just run through and cannoned the other red at the back.

:05:37. > :06:18.Lovely. What is the pot 's success rate for

:06:19. > :06:23.this session? Over 93%. The last session they were below 90%, but it

:06:24. > :06:40.has certainly increased, that is for sure. That is the match.

:06:41. > :06:51.Crew-macro interesting the way he has gone about the break. He has

:06:52. > :07:04.gone about it a different way. If he is playing the top spin, it needs to

:07:05. > :07:08.land on the black. Not only do you need to get the right weight, you

:07:09. > :07:15.have to judge the cannon. It could not have played that any better. --

:07:16. > :07:42.he could. I can't believe it. The next phone

:07:43. > :07:51.that goes off, you will be asked to leave. How many times the boot -- do

:07:52. > :08:05.they have two be told to switch off their mobile phones?

:08:06. > :08:23.Whoever's and that was must be relieved that went in. -- whoever's

:08:24. > :08:28.phone that was, must be relieved that it went in. Is this another

:08:29. > :08:49.frame to be one in one visit? -- won. That is the magic number for

:08:50. > :09:03.this frame -70 two. Just a little awkward for bridging. -- 72. Played

:09:04. > :09:16.it well. Timing was perfect for that one. Quite easy to underhit or

:09:17. > :09:22.overhit. Well played. And what a kick that was. That was horrendous.

:09:23. > :09:29.Look where the cue ball has finished. He is 48 in front. If he

:09:30. > :09:35.runs through onto the blue, have a look at this. The White House

:09:36. > :09:50.finished so short of where it should have been. -- the White House

:09:51. > :10:00.finished. He was well on his way to winning before that horrendous

:10:01. > :10:08.click. Having to bridge over, or stretch over the black and red, he

:10:09. > :10:13.is putting the extension on to make it slightly easier. The way he is

:10:14. > :10:19.looking at the yellow, he is going to take it on. It looks as if he

:10:20. > :10:41.have come out after the mid-session interval with all out attack on his

:10:42. > :10:50.mind. Very well played he could very well have been disappointed with

:10:51. > :11:05.that kick, but he did not let him -- but it did not affect his shot. Do

:11:06. > :11:11.you know who's phone that was? If you find the person, would you ask

:11:12. > :11:20.them to leave, please? Out of the Crucible and cry it -- and quite

:11:21. > :11:33.rightly as well. It is getting silly now. He needs a good cannon here.

:11:34. > :11:47.Very difficult to hold the cue ball without playing a cannon.

:11:48. > :11:56.Well, this break has been superb, and he looks to have quite a bit of

:11:57. > :12:12.purpose, the way he is moving around the table, John. He's good power Bob

:12:13. > :12:29.is -- he's good friend Bob was probably in the dressing room. He is

:12:30. > :12:37.a wonderful Matchplay is Mark Selby. -- match player. What he always does

:12:38. > :12:42.is to compete. Always top drawer. He applies himself, even when he is not

:12:43. > :13:01.firing on all cylinders. He missed the last couple of

:13:02. > :13:05.tournaments. I don't think he has quite been working as hard as

:13:06. > :13:27.normal, but I tell you what, he is getting better by the frame now.

:13:28. > :13:38.That is what great champions do. They can produce the best. This has

:13:39. > :14:06.been a superb break. Top-class. Chance of a century now that he has

:14:07. > :14:13.removed that red. He has made six centuries so far in this year's

:14:14. > :14:21.Betfred Snooker World Championship. He can pop this and flick the red

:14:22. > :14:43.off of the side cushion. When it back into play with either the pink

:14:44. > :14:49.or the blue. Pot red, move red. I like that, John. As he rolls the

:14:50. > :14:58.blue in, that is the 85th century in this year's championship. Another

:14:59. > :15:21.game. Just five centuries away now from last year's called 86 -- 86.

:15:22. > :15:26.Does not matter about the pink. Mark Selby has the Jews a fantastic

:15:27. > :15:35.century break and he is back in the lead. It is now 15-14.

:15:36. > :15:48.And the quality of this contest has started to rise. It was the 85th

:15:49. > :15:52.century. Just talking about the scoring, getting better and better.

:15:53. > :15:59.In the last few frames we have had and 98 from Marco.

:16:00. > :16:06.Mark always seems to find something with the finishing line rearing now.

:16:07. > :16:10.He is a great competitor. In long session matches like these,

:16:11. > :16:14.sometimes you can lose your way. There is a bit of the middle game

:16:15. > :16:22.where there does not seem to be an end to it. But towards the end, your

:16:23. > :16:26.competitive in sticks kick in. You start to up the pace. It seems they

:16:27. > :16:40.have both done that. Good on them. When you think back to Marco Fu last

:16:41. > :16:43.match, he was 9-1 up. It was a fantastic comeback from Barry

:16:44. > :16:49.Hawkins, but he also found something when he needed it. Therefore you are

:16:50. > :16:56.anticipating a grand finale. The form they have shown in the last few

:16:57. > :17:06.frames has shown they are classy players. Going back to Mark Selby,

:17:07. > :17:16.we have talked poorly how -- how poorly he has played, yet he is 1514

:17:17. > :17:30.up. He is finding that extra gear. -- 15-14. Marco Fu has had 16

:17:31. > :17:38.attempts, since 1999. It is a huge moment for him. When it gets closer

:17:39. > :17:42.to the finishing line, it's about who will crack first. Let us find

:17:43. > :18:04.out. Frame 30. Marco Fu to break. I have just had word that some of

:18:05. > :18:10.the Chinese journalists have said that for Ding Junhui, there were an

:18:11. > :18:18.estimated 500 million people watching. That is incredible.

:18:19. > :18:25.Phenomenal viewing figures. I don't know what it will be like if he goes

:18:26. > :18:30.home after winning. That is another story, but we need to think about

:18:31. > :18:37.this one. Who will he be facing in the final? What will the viewing

:18:38. > :18:47.figures be if it is an all Asian final? I do think Mark Selby will

:18:48. > :18:56.have a big say in that. He is looking for two frames to get

:18:57. > :19:14.through to the final. Marco needs three. Just a thin safety. Oh, what

:19:15. > :19:43.a flick. What a lovely notch off of the brown

:19:44. > :19:54.bear. -- what a lovely nudge off of the brown. Not straightforward. You

:19:55. > :20:08.can't play off of the site cushion and drop it into the pack. It takes

:20:09. > :20:15.a bit of thinking about. It is a bit awkward.

:20:16. > :20:22.If they come off of the left side cushion and nestle on those two, it

:20:23. > :20:27.would not leave anything easy, but it would have to be dead weight. He

:20:28. > :20:35.is looking at the other side of the table. He is going to come twice

:20:36. > :20:44.across. Twice across to get to a similar position. He is coming into

:20:45. > :20:54.the back of them. He has hit that cue ball terrific. He certainly

:20:55. > :20:56.knows his way around a snooker table. That is why I christened him

:20:57. > :21:50.sat nav Selby! There are a few shots like that that

:21:51. > :22:04.he has hit the net than intended. He has left a tree called to the left

:22:05. > :22:10.corner. Can Marco knock this in? There is more pressure now than

:22:11. > :22:23.there has been cheering the in tyre match. -- there is more pressure now

:22:24. > :22:39.than there has been during the in tyre match. -- in

:22:40. > :22:56.pretty straight. Widen the angle. Beautifully played. He could not hit

:22:57. > :22:58.this any better. You can see it spinning off, up the table and into

:22:59. > :23:55.the perfect spot. It has gone wrong. No guarantee it

:23:56. > :24:02.would come out. Fortunately for him, the cue ball has buried itself. That

:24:03. > :24:09.would be end of break, I would think. And no easy safety shot for

:24:10. > :24:21.him. All he can do is just nudge into them. Might need a touching

:24:22. > :24:43.ball to resolve this. Well, that is not touching.

:24:44. > :24:57.I think he has got to be a little bit careful with this.

:24:58. > :25:44.I don't blame him for playing to the cushion there.

:25:45. > :26:10.That cannon on the brown has left a chance for Mark Selby.

:26:11. > :26:27.Just off straight, this red, as you can see.

:26:28. > :26:34.Played it in such a way, you would be on the blue. Did not want to risk

:26:35. > :26:36.rolling it in for the black because he knew he could have left a couple

:26:37. > :27:12.of reds. Nice target down in that baulk area

:27:13. > :27:14.behind the brown. He campaign a positive safety if he wants. He may

:27:15. > :27:36.play the loose red above the pink. This is really close to the brown. A

:27:37. > :27:41.spot of bother for Marco. He has a couple of ways of getting there. He

:27:42. > :27:45.can come off the cushion or swing it around the angles and still get it

:27:46. > :27:57.towards the brown. It depends how he feels. It is in the safety area, but

:27:58. > :28:02.the bonus would be if he could get in behind the brown. Yes. That was a

:28:03. > :28:17.slight mis-hit, wasn't it? He has stuck the read up to was that

:28:18. > :29:17.pocket. -- towards fat pocket. Funnily enough, he missed both rates

:29:18. > :29:27.by a fraction. He needed a thin contact, but just overdid it.

:29:28. > :29:38.This is a good... He is not on it. He has slipped up. He should have

:29:39. > :29:45.been on the red to clear the path. Is he on it? Just about. He can turn

:29:46. > :29:47.it over with a little trace of left-hand side, but nearly messed up

:29:48. > :30:17.there. Went to swerve it slightly. Don't know whether he actually hit

:30:18. > :30:22.that one little bit too hard, leaving the cue ball more half-ball

:30:23. > :30:32.for the red that is loose against the pocket.

:30:33. > :30:45.Had to play lower to guarantee he was on for this. -- low.

:30:46. > :30:52.There is a red at the back of the bunch that will go but he has a

:30:53. > :30:57.great angle if he wants to go straight into the pink full ball and

:30:58. > :31:06.open the game up. He doesn't have to do so. There is one at the back of

:31:07. > :31:12.the pack available, as I say, but after this there might be one more

:31:13. > :31:17.just this side of the pink and to the right of it that goes into the

:31:18. > :31:23.left corner. He is coming around to have a look at that. Still a couple

:31:24. > :31:25.of reds available here. There is the one that will part in a couple of

:31:26. > :31:40.shots' time. -- that will pot. That is just about perfect to roll

:31:41. > :31:52.the blank in and leave that red that we showed you. Once he has rolled

:31:53. > :31:58.this in it leaves an angle, he can just stand into the side of the

:31:59. > :32:02.reds, hopefully promote one into a pottable position. It is a bit

:32:03. > :32:10.tighter than it looks on our screen but it definitely goes.

:32:11. > :32:23.APPLAUSE As you predicted. The standard in

:32:24. > :32:37.this semifinal has gone up so much, frames being one now with one visit.

:32:38. > :32:45.-- being won. It looks like it is finishing the familiar pattern, Mark

:32:46. > :32:50.goes one ahead, Marco comes back immediately. Looks like we are going

:32:51. > :32:54.to go all the way. We have had back-to-back centuries, one from

:32:55. > :32:54.either players, and this is turning into an absolutely cracking

:32:55. > :33:28.semifinal. Just a couple of reds that are still

:33:29. > :33:33.available, but they are not easy. I think he might take the pink here,

:33:34. > :33:40.looks like a natural angle to knock this in the middle and keep position

:33:41. > :33:47.with the loose red. The blue is a bit more tricky to power it round

:33:48. > :33:54.the angle. Those four reds that are together seem to be covering each

:33:55. > :33:56.other but he has two more reds that are available, this one, the one

:33:57. > :34:13.just off the cushion there. Well, if those four reds are tied

:34:14. > :34:19.up, what is he, 65 in front, the blue to follow, 70? He is not far

:34:20. > :34:27.away from securing the frame. Playing for the loose red as he'd...

:34:28. > :34:33.Oh, that flew off the cushion behind the black, it really did. He can't

:34:34. > :34:42.believe the paste that it came off the cushion. Yes, that was weird,

:34:43. > :34:51.wasn't it? We haven't had many of them tonight but that was one.

:34:52. > :35:02.Amazing. He is just looking for that one more red. That is why he didn't

:35:03. > :35:08.can into the four, he wanted to make sure and get nicely on the loose

:35:09. > :35:12.red, and look where the cue ball has finished.

:35:13. > :35:44.Yeah, he didn't fancy risking that very difficult pot. Very unlucky

:35:45. > :35:51.there, with the loose red, big bounce off the cushion. I am pretty

:35:52. > :35:57.sure that if he hasn't covered it Mark Selby will be trying to get

:35:58. > :36:01.that red off the cushion immediately, because if you are

:36:02. > :36:21.going to make a clearance that has to come off from there.

:36:22. > :36:27.He got half of a double-kiss there, didn't he? Still off the cushion,

:36:28. > :36:46.still better than it was. The other thing, Dennis, no colour

:36:47. > :36:50.is safe in this frame as well. Marco should really have been over the

:36:51. > :36:55.line if not for the bounce and if it does happen there is no wall safe.

:36:56. > :37:12.-- ball safe. That is a pretty good cue ball he

:37:13. > :37:16.has got there. Having said that, after this next shot, everything may

:37:17. > :37:22.be in play. One good safety shot here off the right side of the red

:37:23. > :37:28.as we look at it and the red will be heading off to at the other five and

:37:29. > :37:38.even though he is 70 behind all of a sudden it is frame on again.

:37:39. > :37:49.He would dearly love to get this cue ball in behind that round. Yes, it

:37:50. > :38:00.has been a big target all the way through this frame.

:38:01. > :38:18.It is not a bad effort. Oh... It is awkward, though. He would have to

:38:19. > :38:26.bridge over the brown. There is a possible snick into the right corner

:38:27. > :38:37.pocket, we are just over the 11th hour for this fascinating final.

:38:38. > :38:43.Striking down, very easy to put a bit of side on this. Not a

:38:44. > :38:51.straightforward shot anyway, pink being where it is on the top cushion

:38:52. > :39:06.is a problem for the four reds. If he gets the left of one of those he

:39:07. > :39:09.will probably cannon into the pink. If he plays the black thing he could

:39:10. > :39:18.probably promoted into the corner pocket. So that is not on. No wonder

:39:19. > :39:31.he is taking a bit of time. -- if he plays the black thin.

:39:32. > :39:44.Foul. I think he fouled the brown there, did he? He just caught the

:39:45. > :39:52.brown with the side of his cue. He was cueing so close to the brown

:39:53. > :39:57.there. He just nudged the brown with the side of the cue.

:39:58. > :40:12.Just enough remaining, some Marco looking for one pot here. -- so

:40:13. > :40:14.Marco. Now he has got behind that brown, we have mentioned a few

:40:15. > :40:39.times. The only real shot Mark can play is

:40:40. > :40:44.side push on and try to come in behind, drop in behind and try to

:40:45. > :40:51.get the pace right. He has hit it on thick. That should

:40:52. > :41:26.be end of frame. And once again Marco Fu has got

:41:27. > :41:46.himself back all square. Turning out to be an amazing

:41:47. > :42:02.semifinal, the standard has improved dramatically in this session.

:42:03. > :42:14.After everything they have gone through in these sessions it will be

:42:15. > :42:16.down to a best-of-3. Started out the best of 33, and now it is the best

:42:17. > :42:37.of three, as you say. But it is great to see these two

:42:38. > :42:47.players playing to this standard in this session. The world number one

:42:48. > :42:58.against Marco Fu, looking for a place in his first Crucible final.

:42:59. > :43:02.Yes, the scoring standard has been far removed from what it was this

:43:03. > :43:16.morning, both players struggled a little. This evening, top quality.

:43:17. > :43:29.He will want to clear them up here, make sure... Well, Mark won't come

:43:30. > :44:31.back to the table, he hasn't scored a point in this frame.

:44:32. > :44:59.Well, he started off with a break of 50 but didn't he finished the frame

:45:00. > :45:07.in style with that magnificent 73 break and it is 15-15, best-of-3

:45:08. > :45:15.now. And that was caused by a shot that Mark Selby laid. He hit it very

:45:16. > :45:19.thin and he missed the red completely. Watch the one on the

:45:20. > :45:25.left-hand side of the table as he misses this all together. He wanted

:45:26. > :45:29.a thin contact and he overcompensated. Look, it almost

:45:30. > :45:34.flicked that other red but when it came back up the table Marco took

:45:35. > :45:39.full advantage and looked like he would clinch it with one visit. He

:45:40. > :45:42.ended up playing onto the blue. He only needs one more red so he

:45:43. > :45:47.decides to play for the loose one, hits this what you think is perfect

:45:48. > :45:54.but watch the reaction of the top cushion, comes off twice the speed

:45:55. > :45:59.it went on and of course it lands in a position that is so awkward to pot

:46:00. > :46:03.the red and all he can do is play safe and he ends up in brother in a

:46:04. > :46:07.frame he should've already won and thankfully he did because he didn't

:46:08. > :46:27.deserve that. -- he ends up embroiled.

:46:28. > :46:37.Once again a red goes right next to the black. Quite incredible hammy

:46:38. > :46:49.times that has happened. -- how many. Yes, and every frame is

:46:50. > :46:56.massive at the Crucible. This really is. If you can get yourself one up,

:46:57. > :47:04.have a couple of bites at the cherry... Look at the standard, 95%

:47:05. > :47:12.and 93% pot success for this fourth session. Yes, fabulously high.

:47:13. > :47:20.That will do. Marco was doing that to try to get them back in play and

:47:21. > :47:26.a positive safety but a handy little fluke. Not only the fluke but he has

:47:27. > :47:34.landed on the green. He was playing and attacking safety, getting the

:47:35. > :47:44.reds up. Got a fluke but look where he has landed.

:47:45. > :47:55.This might be in no man's land. He has the one long red up into the

:47:56. > :47:57.right corner. That wasn't the red he intended to be on. This is a bit of

:47:58. > :48:14.a test. He has definitely over that one. I

:48:15. > :48:24.think he can screw this back a bit to leave the pink and he wouldn't

:48:25. > :48:30.leave anything should he miss it. I said he wouldn't leave anything. In

:48:31. > :48:35.fact a bit of adrenaline because he screwed back further than he

:48:36. > :48:43.intended. He has left that one, it was so close to the pot, I thought

:48:44. > :49:00.it was in at this stage. Well, he has loose reds to play for

:49:01. > :49:04.here so I don't blame him if he does but he also has a fantastic angle if

:49:05. > :49:09.he wanted to go into the packed off the side cushion. He has another

:49:10. > :49:14.reds to play for, I would understand entirely if he does that. It all

:49:15. > :49:16.depends how he feels. John mentions the angle he has on the brown, this

:49:17. > :49:34.is what he could do. And of course he does. How is your

:49:35. > :49:42.luck, Mark? Well, it could have been better. The black wind got into the

:49:43. > :49:55.right corner otherwise he could roll this one in near the left corner. --

:49:56. > :49:57.the black won't pot. He has to force this one, a bit of a stunning shot

:49:58. > :50:11.to leave himself on the black. -- a stun shot. That was a lot

:50:12. > :50:35.better than it looked. Well-controlled.

:50:36. > :50:41.Every credit to both players, the standard they are producing at the

:50:42. > :50:50.business end of this semifinal is terrific. Yeah, their best stuff

:50:51. > :50:56.when they need it the most. Good combination, that.

:50:57. > :51:28.Every player's ambition when they turn professional is to become world

:51:29. > :51:34.professional champion, Mark Selby has done it all couple of seasons

:51:35. > :51:41.ago. Marco Fu yet to get to his first Crucible final.

:51:42. > :51:49.High stakes, and he has left it awkward. As he turns away from the

:51:50. > :51:53.table, how is he going to get to this one? He has played a cannon to

:51:54. > :51:58.nudge the red away and get to the cube will but now he will be

:51:59. > :52:04.hampered. He played to come onto the side of the red and he has gone

:52:05. > :52:10.behind it. He won't be able to play the shot -- see the shot if he gets

:52:11. > :52:17.the spider out. He won't see how he is cueing the ball. He is in a

:52:18. > :52:21.horrible position, one of those you probably can't reach with your cue

:52:22. > :52:23.anyway, he will probably need an extension, so there is no good news

:52:24. > :52:46.with that shot. He has a touching ball, but he is

:52:47. > :52:51.still looking at the potting angle. Now he's looking at where he wants

:52:52. > :52:56.to put that cue ball. There is a gap around the ankles, he would have to

:52:57. > :52:59.hit one, two, three, possibly for cushions to get in behind one of the

:53:00. > :53:16.baulk colours. It just goes to show that in this

:53:17. > :53:20.game you have to be so precise, simple cannon looked like it would

:53:21. > :53:22.be perfect for Mark Selby, just whether cue ball finished.

:53:23. > :53:41.Fractions. -- just where the cue ball finished.

:53:42. > :53:44.A mistake from Marco. A possible pot to the middle pockets, certainly one

:53:45. > :53:46.into the left middle pocket, and he can get on pink or black from that

:53:47. > :54:31.one. Got to be precise with these. Just looking to see at some point

:54:32. > :54:39.whether he is going to flick that red out and leave two. He could play

:54:40. > :54:44.that can now. Doesn't have to but he would love to. He has looked at

:54:45. > :54:52.laying the black and flicking that away. That would open up five reds.

:54:53. > :54:59.He has four reds in a good position that he is definitely looking at

:55:00. > :55:06.that shot, delicate little cannon. -- but he is. He has hit the other

:55:07. > :55:13.red but he is OK. He didn't cannon the red he wanted but he knew there

:55:14. > :55:14.were a few more available. He knew the outside red would be there for

:55:15. > :55:20.him. A little bit too far from the blue

:55:21. > :56:25.but he can take the green. It is a bit closer to the cushion

:56:26. > :56:37.and he would have liked. That he is OK. -- then he would have liked.

:56:38. > :56:48.Lacking for that 66 points there to leave Marco at the snookers required

:56:49. > :56:53.stage. -- looking for. What kind of an angle has he got on this? Close

:56:54. > :56:56.to the cushion, one of those awkward little angles. If he is away from

:56:57. > :57:15.the cushion he just punches it in. He knows the importance of this

:57:16. > :57:21.shot. It looks nothing on your screen but he can easily bounce this

:57:22. > :57:42.off-line and get any side on this when he bigs down. -- bigs down. --

:57:43. > :57:52.digs. Well played. Up in the balcony there, she has been there with her

:57:53. > :57:59.little girl, she was dancing around in the -- dancing around with

:58:00. > :58:06.Marco's little daughter, they have a creche there. It is the modern-day

:58:07. > :58:22.thing to have your family at events, the golfers to it. -- do it.

:58:23. > :58:32.But he has looked so solid since the mid-session interval. There is a bit

:58:33. > :58:41.of purpose in that stride around the table. Just got to be a bit careful.

:58:42. > :58:47.He is looking at the red, if he could pot them blue and cannon it he

:58:48. > :58:55.would be on the bottom red cluster of five.

:58:56. > :59:09.He just needs the cannon. And he has missed it. Not as planned, that.

:59:10. > :59:15.Yeah, just show you it again. If he had got the 4-ball cannon he would

:59:16. > :59:18.have had an easy one at the bottom of those reds. This is slightly

:59:19. > :59:33.trickier. He knew straightaway that he hadn't

:59:34. > :59:38.potted that. Just 43 in front, because of not getting that cannon

:59:39. > :59:50.he has missed this long one. So he is far from safe in this frame.

:59:51. > :00:02.Marco immediately removing that difficult red.

:00:03. > :00:10.Just what the player who is behind always wants to do, isn't it, get

:00:11. > :00:43.the balls is are in potable positions.

:00:44. > :00:53.This will go up into the corner and he can play through for the pink or

:00:54. > :01:05.the blank -- black. A big shot coming up.

:01:06. > :01:21.He went all out for the blue there. He was pretty close. The reason we

:01:22. > :01:25.thought he might play up for the pink or the black was that he

:01:26. > :01:33.wouldn't leave a shot like this, or it would be more difficult if this

:01:34. > :01:38.goes in. Someone just got out of their seat to go out of the arena

:01:39. > :01:57.there and Mark got up off the shot, quite rightly so.

:01:58. > :02:10.That is a beauty. That was such a tough shot with the rest. Excellent,

:02:11. > :02:16.wasn't it? Wonderful cueing that. We has to get right through that. If he

:02:17. > :02:22.can screw back pass the blue where he is cueing up now, that Red Bull

:02:23. > :02:34.port. It is all about the judgment here on the screw back.

:02:35. > :02:50.Pretty good if you ask me. That is absolutely spot on.

:02:51. > :02:56.I say spot on because he could develop the other ropes, so this is

:02:57. > :03:08.the key shot to clinching this frame. That will put him one up with

:03:09. > :03:17.two to play. Oh, he has missed the cannon. Can you believe it? He got

:03:18. > :03:23.the main pot of the shot, he potted the black, but missed the red

:03:24. > :03:31.completely here. Well, Dennis, that could be crucial, it really could.

:03:32. > :03:35.It just looked at simple stun up. Well, there is a pot on here. He is

:03:36. > :03:46.not looking at a plant as well, is he? No. He would need a blue office.

:03:47. > :03:55.He is 54 in front. A red and blue would put him 60 in front, with 59

:03:56. > :03:59.on. If he goes further up the table and he doesn't put this and he

:04:00. > :04:03.doesn't finish on the blue he will need another read. This is not easy.

:04:04. > :04:18.Now, straight in the pocket. But he is not perfect on this

:04:19. > :04:29.yellow. The yellow and one more grateful. -- the yellow and one more

:04:30. > :04:34.bread are needed. It must've been disappointing to lose that simple

:04:35. > :04:48.positioning shot but right in the middle of the pocket. Great cueing.

:04:49. > :04:54.He has a couple of choices here. 55 ahead and the yellow is tricky, do

:04:55. > :05:00.you take the pot on? The yellow is tricky but the white is the other

:05:01. > :05:05.side of the ball which makes it quite thin so a colour safe would be

:05:06. > :05:10.the order of the day. He will want a good cue ball also but a little bit

:05:11. > :05:16.of insurance with the way the balls are sitting here would help. Yellow

:05:17. > :05:26.on to the side cushion and a good cue ball.

:05:27. > :05:32.Firm favourite now that he has pushed that safe in this frame.

:05:33. > :05:39.Marco is looking at the possible plant. He was thinking about it

:05:40. > :05:44.before but Mark had the loose read there that he knocked him. This can

:05:45. > :05:45.be made. The problem is that even if he pot it he needs a high value

:05:46. > :06:15.colour. Well, he put all his eggs in one

:06:16. > :06:20.basket there and tried a very difficult pot and he has more or

:06:21. > :06:24.less gifted the frame to mark. Yes, there was always the problem that

:06:25. > :06:27.the plant was no good because he couldn't take position. Even if he

:06:28. > :06:35.knocks it and it went down to the baulk area. Once again Mark Selby

:06:36. > :06:41.looks like he is going that frame ahead again, Dennis. He was tapping

:06:42. > :06:45.the table there, trying to get the white to pull up and it just about

:06:46. > :06:51.house, to leave him a cut on the brown. This is to make absolutely

:06:52. > :07:22.certain of the frame. So you would have to say at the

:07:23. > :07:25.moment that the experience of being a former champion is just telling

:07:26. > :07:42.slightly here. We know that Marco Fu will never

:07:43. > :07:49.give up. We have seen that in the clear had against Barry Hawkins.

:07:50. > :07:55.That was something very, very special, one of the best we have

:07:56. > :08:00.seen at the Crucible. It doesn't matter about the double. Marco

:08:01. > :08:05.signals to the referee, so Mark Selby is in the driving seat. He

:08:06. > :08:13.needs one more frame to get through to tomorrow's final. He leads 16-15.

:08:14. > :08:18.What value experience for Mark Selby at this point? He has been in two

:08:19. > :08:21.previous finals, is he making that count? He looks like he has timed

:08:22. > :08:25.his run to perfection. He looks in good form but it is just a role on

:08:26. > :08:31.the ball in the right or wrong direction but he looks strong all of

:08:32. > :08:36.a inasmuch as so much of the game looked really turgid stuff. He has

:08:37. > :08:39.found something from somewhere. Yes, I question whether he was capable

:08:40. > :08:44.with the way he has been playing to find that extra gear. Marco has as

:08:45. > :08:47.well. For the last hour dispatch has been very good quality. Mark Selby

:08:48. > :08:54.has proved why he is the world number one. He is a fantastic match

:08:55. > :08:57.snooker player. He has battled through three sessions are playing

:08:58. > :09:03.poorly and being low on confidence and down on himself and he has come

:09:04. > :09:06.through the other end and that long run he potted when he got in

:09:07. > :09:11.position, he looks more relaxed now than he has at any point in the

:09:12. > :09:14.match. They don't call him the Brinkman for nothing because he

:09:15. > :09:20.always seems to wait until the last minute but he always finds

:09:21. > :09:23.something. You must praise Marco Fu because he has shown admirable

:09:24. > :09:27.composure and he has kept his cue-action shorting compact and he

:09:28. > :09:30.is very much in control of himself despite the pressure. They have got

:09:31. > :09:34.very close to the finishing line and natural instincts have kicked in.

:09:35. > :09:38.Expect at some stage that if you have got to the semifinals you are

:09:39. > :09:42.playing well, so you don't get there by being lucky so you would expect

:09:43. > :09:45.that they were going to up the pace and it is a worry when they cancel

:09:46. > :09:49.each other out, but the fact that Marco Fu had done so well to get

:09:50. > :09:56.through with a brilliant clearance against Barry Hawkins was just a

:09:57. > :09:58.marvellous effort under the severest tests, after the guy has come back

:09:59. > :10:03.in which shows he is cueing very well so it is all set up very

:10:04. > :10:09.nicely, but it is not luck but just the role of a ball now. You great

:10:10. > :10:12.champions had been in this situation late on Saturday night, Saturday

:10:13. > :10:15.afternoon, getting through to finals, does it start to bring back

:10:16. > :10:20.all those memories and feelings for you? Yes, you would love to be out

:10:21. > :10:24.there right now. It is such a close match and the pressure is intense

:10:25. > :10:28.but at the time you don't thing, I am loving this, but looking out

:10:29. > :10:34.there now, you would love to be out there playing it the atmosphere is

:10:35. > :10:36.fantastic. What do they need now? A bit bravery and just to keep in the

:10:37. > :10:55.moment. Here we go. Marco Fu breaks off in what he hopes

:10:56. > :10:59.will not be his last frame in this year's BetFred World Championship. A

:11:00. > :11:04.little bit pacey with the break-up shot but isn't it great to see those

:11:05. > :11:08.two players in the studio, seven times world champion, six times

:11:09. > :11:11.world champion, won dominated the game throughout the 80s and the

:11:12. > :11:21.other dominated throughout the 90s. I think they know what they are

:11:22. > :11:25.talking about. Yes, sadly they knew what they were doing on the table as

:11:26. > :11:30.well. I had been on the end of a few of them and, as you say, two

:11:31. > :11:37.fabulous champions. They know what this is all about. All the way

:11:38. > :11:45.through this match, when Mark Selby has gone one frame ahead, he has

:11:46. > :11:56.been pegged back. Is Marco Fu going to take us into a decider?

:11:57. > :12:03.Well, we said before this ceiling is that this had 70-16 written all over

:12:04. > :12:07.it and that still might be the case but the standard has been superb in

:12:08. > :12:22.this session. They really have upped their game, both of these players.

:12:23. > :12:29.That confirms that 94% and 93%. Marco Fu has got a chance here.

:12:30. > :12:34.Having said that the black is tied up and the pink is tied up but he

:12:35. > :12:36.has got an easy starter if he could get up on the blue and he could get

:12:37. > :12:51.into the pink and reds. It needs to keep going and it needs

:12:52. > :12:55.to keep rolling. There are a couple of reds above the black that are

:12:56. > :13:01.unavailable so he does not have to go into the pink, that is what he is

:13:02. > :13:06.looking at there. It is not easy to develop the black from the way they

:13:07. > :13:09.are sitting here. No, he would have to finish absolutely perfect on

:13:10. > :13:12.those two reds that are above the black. If he could finish on one of

:13:13. > :13:17.those and run through and then flicked the ball above the brat --

:13:18. > :13:21.black, that is how we could make the break go a bit further. I am not so

:13:22. > :13:25.sure he could do it off that one. He would have loved to be on the red

:13:26. > :13:32.that was higher up of both the bunch and run through unfit to read away

:13:33. > :13:44.but that is not on now. He has got a clear path back to the blue again.

:13:45. > :13:47.He is coming up short this time. It is going to be straight by the looks

:13:48. > :13:51.of things and he is the wrong side of things and that will make things

:13:52. > :13:58.very difficult as we show you use the wrong side of the blue line. He

:13:59. > :14:08.is immediately looking at a baulk cover but nothing easy there. There

:14:09. > :14:11.is a loose red on the right-hand side by the pack which if he ran

:14:12. > :14:16.through the blue and left the mid-range pot he might be able to

:14:17. > :14:21.potted and move the blackout. He is just having a look at that now. If

:14:22. > :14:24.he leaves the cue ball where is he could put it and play the cannon

:14:25. > :14:31.into the red and the black and that is the only hope I can think of to

:14:32. > :14:38.keep break going. I think that is what he is playing. He is taking

:14:39. > :14:40.your advice. Can he execute this very difficult pot and positional

:14:41. > :14:57.shot? Well, he put everything into the

:14:58. > :15:11.positional side there but he did not get close to the pot.

:15:12. > :15:27.I think the pink and black are still tied up. It all depends whether that

:15:28. > :15:32.reds next to the black is available into the right corner of looking at

:15:33. > :15:35.three or four shots ahead, there are three easy reds available and look

:15:36. > :15:37.that red is going to be available somewhere down the line and if he

:15:38. > :15:50.pots that he can get onto the black. He has got a couple of ways of going

:15:51. > :15:54.about this, hasn't he? Because the loose red below the black is

:15:55. > :15:58.obviously potable and if he takes that one away and got position on

:15:59. > :16:08.that then the Blackwood pot and he has got options here.

:16:09. > :16:15.As I mentioned, he has got a couple of loose reds. Fascinating to see

:16:16. > :16:40.how he is going to go about this. I think it will be red, back for the

:16:41. > :16:51.blue, and then leave that red that is almost touching the black.

:16:52. > :16:57.That looks good to me, he may have to leave the top cushion with a

:16:58. > :17:08.little bit of traced to the side but this is the shops to freeing

:17:09. > :17:12.blackboard. -- that black ball. There is the pace on it. If it is

:17:13. > :17:16.straight it is perfect. It pinged a little bit off the cushion but, yes,

:17:17. > :17:23.a little bit to the left would have been ideal. Yes, if he had been a

:17:24. > :17:26.touch a shorter he would pot this one with a little stunned into the

:17:27. > :17:31.back of the pack and he could have left himself on the black. He has

:17:32. > :17:35.had a little look at the pink so if he doesn't fancy holding for the

:17:36. > :17:39.black and he is too close to it, he has looked to see if the pink is

:17:40. > :17:48.available if he screws back off the cushion. Well, the pink one go, so

:17:49. > :17:52.he will have to be precise. Failing that it will have to be the blue he

:17:53. > :18:03.screws back four. He was a fraction away from being perfect.

:18:04. > :18:12.Oh, that has kicked, and look where the cue ball has finished. He slams

:18:13. > :18:21.the slate. That contact has ruined things. Why does it always happen

:18:22. > :18:26.when you needed to happen the least? That is just ridiculous how that has

:18:27. > :18:30.kicked. It has finished in No Man's Land so even if you have a shot on

:18:31. > :18:35.the blue you would have something but where he has finished, I am not

:18:36. > :18:42.so sure he can see the green either, can he? He has got to compose

:18:43. > :18:45.himself again because he was very unfortunate there. He knew that was

:18:46. > :18:54.a great chance to clinch this semifinal. He can see the green, so

:18:55. > :19:01.randy angles for the blue next to the red and the black.

:19:02. > :19:07.Has he composed himself enough? He is checking to see if he can push

:19:08. > :19:12.the blue through. He will need his extension on this. This is a big

:19:13. > :19:13.extension he is taking on, but he has been so positive in this

:19:14. > :19:38.session. Oh, well, what a result? He had very

:19:39. > :19:41.bad luck with the cake and I suppose he deserves a little bit of good

:19:42. > :19:46.luck, the fact that the green careered into the cue ball and kept

:19:47. > :20:08.it in a safe position, but, boy, was that a costly and heavy contact.

:20:09. > :20:16.Meanwhile Marco Fu still looks the same. His temperament is

:20:17. > :20:19.unbelievable. You would think it was the opening frame in this year

:20:20. > :20:26.Posner World Championship for him, but what a test for this player from

:20:27. > :20:36.Hong Kong. He has got to forget about that

:20:37. > :21:36.kick. So we are in for a little about of

:21:37. > :21:50.safety and tactical play. Who is going to make the first mistake?

:21:51. > :21:56.It just makes the safety shot a little bit more difficult weather

:21:57. > :22:01.readies on the right-hand side. You must make sure you avoid the cannon

:22:02. > :22:11.on the way back. A good shot from Marco there. He played it really

:22:12. > :22:24.nicely. And that really has opened the frame up. The pink and black are

:22:25. > :22:27.now up on the open. There are four reds in potable positions. He is

:22:28. > :22:31.looking at cutting this back into the left corner. There is a path

:22:32. > :22:35.back around the table but if he doesn't catch it right, he can catch

:22:36. > :22:47.that red on the right side of the table but he is taking the spot on.

:22:48. > :22:57.That is brilliant. How is the kiss on the blue? It is not bad. That was

:22:58. > :23:05.a terrific read, wasn't it? A fabulous pot. Absolutely fabulous.

:23:06. > :23:08.He has come around the table and cannons the blue and he is straight

:23:09. > :23:12.on the pink and I think if he pot this and just leaves the cue ball

:23:13. > :23:17.more or less where it is, he should be all right to be on the red on the

:23:18. > :23:21.right-hand side. He just has to avoid, obviously the pink will be

:23:22. > :23:38.back on its spot so he has to make sure he holds the position there.

:23:39. > :23:50.He has got a bit more angles than I thought. He played the cannon. How

:23:51. > :23:53.was your luck? At first glance it is not very good and that expression

:23:54. > :24:04.tells you he has not been very lucky with the cannon. He couldn't have

:24:05. > :24:14.played much better. It just ran awkward. It all adds to the tension

:24:15. > :24:18.here at the Crucible. You could play that shot another ten times and nine

:24:19. > :24:30.out of the ten it would drop nicely on a read. -- a red. Can he cut this

:24:31. > :24:31.back in? He could finish on yellow, brown or blue but it looks very thin

:24:32. > :24:50.to me. He is looking where he wants to

:24:51. > :24:52.place the cue ball. He had another look at the cut but it is just too

:24:53. > :25:10.thin. What has he done here? It is safe.

:25:11. > :25:16.That is amazing. That is the last thing we expected there. Quiet down,

:25:17. > :25:26.please. Everything perfectly safe though.

:25:27. > :25:33.Yes, I don't blame him being a bit frustrated in his chair there, this

:25:34. > :25:37.frame has gone funny for mark a couple of times. The cannon there

:25:38. > :25:44.and you thought he would be on the red but he wasn't and there was the

:25:45. > :25:48.kick earlier on. All you are really looking for in these situations is a

:25:49. > :25:55.really good chance, isn't it? He just can't quite get on the balls

:25:56. > :26:00.like once. He has had a couple, he was very unlucky. Marco hasn't had a

:26:01. > :26:06.chance yet in this frame, a frame that he badly needs to keep himself

:26:07. > :26:12.in this year's World Championship. Is he looking at the back double

:26:13. > :26:15.here? Surely not. He is looking about sending it down the table

:26:16. > :26:20.towards the reds but you have to be careful here. That is a good cue

:26:21. > :26:29.ball. He has opened some more reds up.

:26:30. > :26:35.Well, if he can see the one to the left of the black it is a thin cut

:26:36. > :26:52.and the White would be heading towards the pink.

:26:53. > :26:59.Just as safety, I don't blame in one little bit but he has it the blow.

:27:00. > :27:05.He has left one to the right corner but the white will cannon into those

:27:06. > :27:09.two reds. This is a very big shot. Knock it in and he could have a

:27:10. > :27:11.great chance. Miss it and it could be the last shot in this year's

:27:12. > :27:27.World Championship. A good pot. A brave shot, and he wasn't sure

:27:28. > :27:32.what was going to happen to the cue ball but he knew the pink and black

:27:33. > :27:38.were in a nice position, and he deserves to drop on the pull-back

:27:39. > :27:41.here. This is not a nice shot here under the circumstances, you have to

:27:42. > :27:47.play this nearly dead weight. He wants to stay on the red so he wants

:27:48. > :27:51.to play this very slowly. No wonder he is shaking his head. It looks a

:27:52. > :27:52.simple but if he plays it with any weight he could lose the cue ball

:27:53. > :28:10.for the next red. Well, where is the cue ball? It is

:28:11. > :28:15.going in the pocket I think. Not quite. He decided to punch it in ink

:28:16. > :28:19.and in the red to the right side of the table but he mis-hit it. He

:28:20. > :28:22.didn't fancy just dropping it in dead weight. He tried to use the red

:28:23. > :28:29.as a stopper to leave the one to the left of the pink there. That's

:28:30. > :28:33.definitely was a nervy one. Quite understandable under the

:28:34. > :28:57.circumstances. Trying to get himself into his first-ever Crucible final.

:28:58. > :29:13.Looking at the potting angle, can he avoid the reds on the way back?

:29:14. > :29:19.Another brilliant shot. What a pot! Fabulous. Absolutely fabulous. Two

:29:20. > :29:24.brilliant long red Sea has potted in this frame already. Once again he

:29:25. > :29:29.can't quite get position. This is a fabulous pot. Unfortunately for

:29:30. > :29:33.Mark, the cue ball has come up a little bit short. Another six inches

:29:34. > :29:36.and he would be on the blue with a great chance but where he is, very

:29:37. > :29:51.risky to take the blue on. Well, he is calling on all of his

:29:52. > :30:03.experience here. He is playing the snooker backing behind the blue.

:30:04. > :30:16.He has potted some balls in this frame to be only eight points ahead,

:30:17. > :30:17.hasn't he? This red will go close to the right corner pocket as he

:30:18. > :30:38.doubles it across the table. Played it well. But you can see the

:30:39. > :30:43.target is only the brown and blue there. The yellow and green up this

:30:44. > :30:45.end of the table. So, the target is to try and get in behind that blue

:30:46. > :31:10.and close to the cushion. The safety shot off the side of the

:31:11. > :31:15.two reds next to the green isn't a problem. But of course tts red the

:31:16. > :31:19.second one, when that cannons off, going to probably promote one of the

:31:20. > :31:24.reds on the right-hand side, so he has to avoid

:31:25. > :31:37.Couldn't do much with that one, just contain the safety. Look at the cue

:31:38. > :31:42.ball yet again. Brilliant. Well, this Crucible crowd enjoying this

:31:43. > :31:49.tactical bat we have seen some and quite a few frames won by one visit

:31:50. > :31:52.but this is tense tough now. -- stuff now, these frames. These

:31:53. > :32:09.frames sometimes can be more exciting.

:32:10. > :32:25.APPLAUSE It's a battle of nerves at the moment.

:32:26. > :32:34.A slightly easier shot now, as you can see. As I mentioned before, he

:32:35. > :32:38.can play this now because he will only be cannoning into the green. So

:32:39. > :32:46.that shouldn't knock a red towards the corner.

:32:47. > :32:57.Oh, it looks good, he is swinging it right around. Not quite hard enough.

:32:58. > :33:08.Well... There is a pot on for the right corner. But, it would cannon

:33:09. > :33:15.into the green and reds. That really would be far too risky.

:33:16. > :33:22.I don't think he can pot the one near the yellow. So it is just a

:33:23. > :33:28.safety shot. Find the gap. Oh, can you believe it. He has potted the

:33:29. > :33:33.yellow and it might be a free ball when the yellow comes back on its

:33:34. > :33:35.spot. No, not a free ball. But I'm sure Mark Selby will put him back in

:33:36. > :33:49.from where it has finished. Having a look around, but, yes, play

:33:50. > :33:52.it from there. The funny thing is, Denis, the spread that is two up

:33:53. > :33:56.from the cushion, if Marco clips that on to the green, there is a big

:33:57. > :33:59.targeted behind brown and blue here. OK, it is asking a lot in the

:34:00. > :34:09.circumstances but there is a chance. Well, he maybe behind the brown.

:34:10. > :34:26.APPLAUSE I thought that was very risky. Well,

:34:27. > :34:31.he did look long and hard at t Mark Selby and thought - I don't fancy

:34:32. > :34:33.it, but now he wishes he had played the shot. Look where the cue ball

:34:34. > :34:52.has finished. He is just playing off the right

:34:53. > :35:01.side of this red as we look at it, to leave the white up this end of

:35:02. > :35:10.the table. He has missed T he has missed it altogether. Foul, miss.

:35:11. > :35:14.Probably striking down on t got a little touch of side. But there is

:35:15. > :35:19.very little available to Mark Selby. He may have another go at the same

:35:20. > :35:25.shot. He is just trying to glance off the right side of the red as we

:35:26. > :35:36.look at it and trying to leave it up near the corner pocket here.

:35:37. > :35:43.Well, we know he could definitely see that red. He might just put it

:35:44. > :35:50.up on the screen and have a quick look. Let's see it. Bang on, yes?

:35:51. > :36:05.That's where it was before and let's have a look now. Absolutely spot on.

:36:06. > :36:25.Will he have one more go at this shot?

:36:26. > :36:34.Try number two. Look how close he has go the the cue to that blue.

:36:35. > :36:43.Better. That will do. That will do. The white is in the pocket. He was

:36:44. > :36:48.hoping to get it in the jaws. But he will settle for the white going in.

:36:49. > :36:53.I mean if you were to try to go in of a off from that position, there

:36:54. > :37:02.is no way you could play t if you were playing a billed a shot.

:37:03. > :37:21.-- if you were trying to go in-off from that position.

:37:22. > :37:40.Wow, this is a hard frame. There has been some play in this. Hard, but

:37:41. > :37:57.fascinating. Well, it is not a sitter he is faced

:37:58. > :38:00.with, but it is a half chance. I think he can avoid the cannon on the

:38:01. > :38:10.red that's near the cushion there. It looks like a plain ball pot,

:38:11. > :38:12.doesn't it? He will come up and hopefully miss the pink on the way

:38:13. > :38:32.back. He is just coming around to look, if

:38:33. > :38:38.he dropped the pink in, would that red be available?

:38:39. > :38:42.It would have been better without the kiss on the pink, that's for

:38:43. > :38:54.sure. Yes, he would have had a choice of

:38:55. > :38:56.pink or black, wouldn't he? That nudge on it just made such a

:38:57. > :39:04.difference. He is just seeing if he drops the

:39:05. > :39:09.pink, in it comes off the side cushion and leaves the cue ball. The

:39:10. > :39:20.way he was looking, that might be the only chance he has for the red.

:39:21. > :39:29.That was the best he could do, has he gone far enough? He drops his

:39:30. > :39:34.head. That tells you, he is snookered when the pink is

:39:35. > :39:44.re-spotted. So things really hotting up at the Crucible. This frame not

:39:45. > :39:49.far away from getting to the half hour stage. The last frame of this

:39:50. > :39:56.morning's session, well, the longest frame ever played in the history of

:39:57. > :40:13.the Crucible. 76 minutes. And it's tense times in the Crucible now.

:40:14. > :40:39.Well, Mark Selby has potted fantastic balls in this frame. He is

:40:40. > :40:44.looking at the cutting angle. If he takes this one he is going to cannon

:40:45. > :40:48.into the right, one of the reds against the cushion, you would feel.

:40:49. > :40:52.So maybe this time it is not as straightforward, if he takes the pot

:40:53. > :40:57.on. No, the safety shot, and did well to avoid the red on the left.

:40:58. > :40:59.He couldn't risk trying to pot that, but he has played a terrific safety

:41:00. > :41:12.shot. He might get close to the pocket if

:41:13. > :41:16.he goes across the face of this, playing the safety.

:41:17. > :41:29.Not quite but worth a shot to nothing. Great cue ball again. Very,

:41:30. > :41:33.very good. It's a very high-quality, low-scoring, tense frame.

:41:34. > :41:46.A big sigh. A few deep breaths needed.

:41:47. > :41:55.The same here. That would go close to the other corner pocket. But look

:41:56. > :41:56.at the cue ball he has this time. He is right in behind the blue.

:41:57. > :42:04.Fantastic shot. APPLAUSE

:42:05. > :42:10.Twice across the table to try to land on the red to the left here.

:42:11. > :42:12.What a shot he is faced with her. He has to pick the angles out and

:42:13. > :42:27.nestle on that red. Nowhere near the lines, and he could

:42:28. > :42:38.get to the red. Can he judge it? It is coming a bit narrow. Well-played.

:42:39. > :42:47.Touching ball. Excellent shot but I think it may be touching ball. Match

:42:48. > :42:54.time just goes past, just the 12 hours, Denis. The winner of this has

:42:55. > :43:00.to come out tomorrow at 2.00 and contest the final against the

:43:01. > :43:24.Chinese sensation, Ding Junhui. A good shot by the way. He has in

:43:25. > :43:27.the played behind brown and blu. He has played into a different area

:43:28. > :43:35.where he thinks it is more trouble and he is right.

:43:36. > :43:46.If Marco is clipping this one, this needs good cueing, and good eyes.

:43:47. > :43:50.Well, the eyes have it. That was a good shot he has played there.

:43:51. > :43:56.Although having said that, Mark Selby it is mucked in a few cracking

:43:57. > :44:00.long reds. This is a bit of a chance.

:44:01. > :44:13.You would think he could finish on yellow, brown or blue, if it goes

:44:14. > :44:21.in. It's there again. But he is going to be close to the cushion.

:44:22. > :44:29.He has been so close on a number of occasions of being in the perfect

:44:30. > :44:31.position. It seems an awful long time ago since he got that bad kick

:44:32. > :44:56.when he was right in amongst them. He is not going to make it easy for

:44:57. > :45:11.Marco Fu. He is keeping things so tight.

:45:12. > :45:16.This is granite snooker, isn't it? Absolute granite safety play. Yes,

:45:17. > :45:30.Marco tapping the table. He faces a problem every time he

:45:31. > :45:36.turns up. Yes, a lot to think about here, has Marco. If he comes off the

:45:37. > :45:40.side cushion and tries to nestle on the two reds behind the black spot,

:45:41. > :45:42.if he doesn't get it right, he'll leave the other one on, as we zoom

:45:43. > :45:53.in from the back of the Crucible. Well, that would be very precise. If

:45:54. > :45:57.he plays that shot, he has to hit the red full ball and knock it safe.

:45:58. > :46:08.. Anything but full ball, he can push this red on.

:46:09. > :46:18.He has played it well. Absolutely excellent. Well thought out and

:46:19. > :46:30.really well played. He is looking at the path to get in

:46:31. > :46:42.behind the blue again. It's not bad. Not quite. Just come

:46:43. > :47:08.up a little bit short. It's been fabulous safety. It really

:47:09. > :47:39.has, in this frame. All little thin safeties at the

:47:40. > :47:47.moment. Anything on the thick side and you are going to bring the reds

:47:48. > :47:50.into play. Mark's just a little bit low to play the one on the

:47:51. > :47:56.right-hand side because of the green. He can clip the side of it,

:47:57. > :48:00.no problem but he just wants to make sure that he avoids cannoning the

:48:01. > :48:05.groan on the way back. That's the one he ideally would like to play,

:48:06. > :48:09.so he has to switch and go the other side. You have to be a little bit

:48:10. > :48:13.more careful here you don't promote the red to

:48:14. > :48:21.I'm in the surprised he missed that, Denis, he was trying to feather it.

:48:22. > :48:28.No free balls, so it will be replaced.

:48:29. > :48:33.He He doesn't mind missing it with the first attempt. He'd rather do

:48:34. > :49:03.that than hit it too thick. Where is the cue ball? Where is that

:49:04. > :49:08.white? It's OK. It has blocked the path down the left side. So he is

:49:09. > :49:13.going to have to come down the right side here. Any thick contact will

:49:14. > :49:17.promote the red. That's why he is just rolling to it. The only problem

:49:18. > :49:25.with that shot is he could put himself in trouble. Every chance for

:49:26. > :49:27.Mark Selby to get twice across the table and in behind the blue and

:49:28. > :49:48.brown. Played it well, if he has covered

:49:49. > :50:01.this red. But maybe it has come up a little short.

:50:02. > :50:36.Can he hit this thin enough to avoid the reds on the cushion?

:50:37. > :50:46.What a shot. Absolutely great shot. But he can't get into the reds

:50:47. > :50:55.anywhere. There has been some brilliant

:50:56. > :51:13.individual pots in this frame, Denis, for very little reward.

:51:14. > :51:20.The way the three reds are here, highly unlikely that he would leave

:51:21. > :51:35.one on, just off the side cushion. Just nestling into them.

:51:36. > :51:45.Well, nail-biting time at the Crucible.

:51:46. > :51:57.Just coming up to 41 minutes. A frame that could keep Marco Fu in

:51:58. > :52:04.this year's World Championship and at the moment we've got a little bit

:52:05. > :52:14.of a stalemate but how is this going to get resolved?

:52:15. > :52:22.In this sort of situation, you would make Mark Selby slightly favourite.

:52:23. > :52:28.He is so good at working out the angles and picking out something

:52:29. > :52:32.just that little bit more difficult. Like if he hits the cushion first,

:52:33. > :52:34.he can send the white over towards the green and black. Is that what

:52:35. > :52:40.he's got in mind? Just a thin one, but that's a great

:52:41. > :52:52.shot. APPLAUSE

:52:53. > :52:56.straightaway he has ended the stalemate.

:52:57. > :53:04.Marco just has it make sure he doesn't cannon one of the two reds

:53:05. > :53:08.with this one. That's why he went wide.

:53:09. > :53:18.Well, look at this shot. Have a look at this little beauty. Fabulous. The

:53:19. > :53:27.quality of match play in this game, absolutely superb.

:53:28. > :53:31.Just seven points the difference. How do you pick a winner in this

:53:32. > :53:35.frame? Advantage Marco Fu. Just at the

:53:36. > :54:05.moment. Around the back of the green, trying

:54:06. > :54:11.to get dead weight but that's come up shy and he may have left the red

:54:12. > :54:16.into the middle pocket. Well, Marco doesn't come around and have a look

:54:17. > :54:20.at it but look at the white off the cushion, the angle may not be there,

:54:21. > :54:27.because it is skimming a little bit. It might be a change of plan.

:54:28. > :54:34.Well, I don't think he can get twice across the table, not the left side

:54:35. > :54:38.of the table as he look at it. He would have to go twice across the

:54:39. > :54:45.right side of the table because the other shot that he tried wasn't on.

:54:46. > :54:53.And that's skidding a little bit as well. That's not Mark Selby, that's

:54:54. > :54:59.just the cushion skidding slightly. So it will be a big readjustment. He

:55:00. > :55:00.is now 15 ahead. So these are valuable penalty points for Marco

:55:01. > :55:17.Fu. Can he readjust? That's nearer. But it is still -

:55:18. > :55:22.see, when it comes off the side cushion, it is taking a totally

:55:23. > :55:34.different angle. So he is going to have to readjust again. Simply bus

:55:35. > :55:41.it is skidding slightly. -- simply because.

:55:42. > :55:50.Looking at the way it is skidding, he is going to have to get closer to

:55:51. > :56:00.the yellow. Somewhere like that, to get to the reds.

:56:01. > :56:09.Now will it skid this time? It has. Foul. Marco Fu, four. He is now 23

:56:10. > :56:35.points behind. He is now looking back at the third

:56:36. > :56:40.shot he played but I'm with you, Denis, I'm not sure that's on. He

:56:41. > :56:44.might just have to play for the red near the pink. The white is skidding

:56:45. > :56:54.off the cushion. That's what he is doing this time.

:56:55. > :57:04.APPLAUSE I mean he didn't want to risk that shot but he has played it

:57:05. > :57:07.well. The other shot, it was just the cushion that was skidding

:57:08. > :57:14.slightly but definitely advantage Marco Fu now.

:57:15. > :57:20.I suppose he could play the last shot he played on that loose red. He

:57:21. > :57:25.knew at least there wasn't going to be a clearance.

:57:26. > :57:28.There was no black on the spot. I mean, mission impossible to clear

:57:29. > :58:49.up. Oh, if he had of missed the pink he

:58:50. > :58:56.was heading in behind the green and black there. Marco doesn't want to

:58:57. > :59:01.be promoting any of the colours. That blue, next to the red, is in a

:59:02. > :59:09.good position for him. Having that 23-point advantage. The green's a

:59:10. > :59:14.little bit awkward. It's clear the black.

:59:15. > :59:22.He can play thin on the red if he wants and clip it towards the blue.

:59:23. > :59:27.Decided to play down, top cushion, side cushion. That will do as well.

:59:28. > :59:36.Good shot. APPLAUSE

:59:37. > :59:50.Coming up to 49 minutes in this fascinating frame. A frame that

:59:51. > :00:34.would get Mark Selby into tomorrow's final.

:00:35. > :00:43.Well, he jumped up there. He thought the white drifted slightly. I wonder

:00:44. > :00:59.if Mark Selby can play a snooker in behind the black? A little thin one.

:01:00. > :01:26.Has he gone a little too far? Just a fraction.

:01:27. > :01:37.Slowly but surely, the reds are going into more pottable positions.

:01:38. > :01:44.Five minutes or so ago, they were all jammed on the top cushion. Could

:01:45. > :01:48.not pot any of them. Gradually with the safety play, they are becoming

:01:49. > :02:06.available. One mistake could be very costly.

:02:07. > :02:27.Look at this shop. -- shot. Have a look at this shot. Marco has played

:02:28. > :02:34.one and now Mark Selby has played one to get the snooker in behind the

:02:35. > :02:39.brown. As John mentioned, now that the reds are slightly open, it is

:02:40. > :02:47.even more difficult to land on one. We see Mark struggling with the

:02:48. > :02:52.cushion skidding a little bit. Ordinarily you would look at the

:02:53. > :03:05.site cushion. Side cushion into the red at the back. The way they are

:03:06. > :03:10.sliding, it's nearer to the pink. That is very risky. He is going

:03:11. > :03:22.twice across. If you come off of that side cushion, you could quite

:03:23. > :03:30.easily promotes a red. It is the second one. How is he going to throw

:03:31. > :03:40.Westren Mark well, here it comes. And that has skidded off a little.

:03:41. > :03:56.He might give away a Fu penalty points. He might get a feedback

:03:57. > :03:59.here. -- a few penalty points. Can he make the readjustment that is

:04:00. > :04:13.needed. Try number two. No, it has gone again. This time he

:04:14. > :04:25.might leave the red near the pink. Can he cut this in? There are not

:04:26. > :04:31.many colours available if he can cut it in, but if he could add up to the

:04:32. > :04:41.baulk area, he could gain a big advantage here. Can he hold this? He

:04:42. > :04:51.can. And now the chance is there. The black will pot. That was really

:04:52. > :05:04.well played. He knew the black was there. Now, not behind the spot,

:05:05. > :05:14.surely? We will find out. As he left it short? Well, he has. Look at

:05:15. > :05:19.that. Another couple of inches. Marco looking up at the monitor. It

:05:20. > :05:27.is a tough cut he is faced with. He will be playing it as a shot to

:05:28. > :05:35.nothing. It might go way up the other end of the table. It is there,

:05:36. > :05:40.and he is on the brown. Well, I say he is on the brown, but what a shot

:05:41. > :05:46.he has got to play here to get on that last red. He has looked at the

:05:47. > :05:52.yellow, it is to thin. He snickered himself with the black the last

:05:53. > :05:56.time. Kenny get on the red? He has a little bit of a margin for error.

:05:57. > :06:01.Anywhere near the corner pocket is fine. This is a brilliant positional

:06:02. > :06:21.shot he is playing. But still, an awful lot to be done.

:06:22. > :06:30.Yes, he is a long way from being out of the woods here. This will be some

:06:31. > :07:00.clearance. The green is not great. Taking his time. He knows the

:07:01. > :07:07.importance of this visit. He is looking to see if he can promote the

:07:08. > :07:15.green. If the pink was not where it was, it will be a fair shot. Is that

:07:16. > :07:26.pink in the way? It was. That is why he elected to

:07:27. > :07:45.just play on the brown. I think that Green will pot into the

:07:46. > :07:46.middle if he gets that far. I think it is pottable, but he can't do much

:07:47. > :08:14.with the cue ball. APPLAUSE He looks to be almost sure rate on

:08:15. > :08:23.this yellow. In these the green, but brown -- the brown and the blue to

:08:24. > :08:28.get himself into tomorrow's final. Is he tried to play the yellow and

:08:29. > :08:35.screw back and get the green off of the cushion? Does he have the angle.

:08:36. > :08:38.He is at the side of the shot he is attempting. Has he got the reverse

:08:39. > :08:57.side. He sure has! But... It's not the correct side. As

:08:58. > :09:03.we show you that reverse side to develop the green, he is the wrong

:09:04. > :09:10.side to get on the brown. He has to get onto that difficult blue. If he

:09:11. > :09:20.powers this around, the angle of the green could jump out of the pocket.

:09:21. > :09:26.If he rolls it in, it is a very difficult brown he is faced with.

:09:27. > :09:34.Tense times for Vicky his wife there, and his friends. I don't see

:09:35. > :09:39.how he can make the clearances. He has virtually no angle on the green.

:09:40. > :09:44.If he leaves the white there, he would not risk playing the brown

:09:45. > :09:54.dead weight. I just know how he is going to get onto the blue. He has

:09:55. > :10:00.gone for the power shop. He has hit the black. There is no value in

:10:01. > :10:06.potting the brown now. You might plate on the thin side. Not to take

:10:07. > :10:20.the pot on and get up back behind pink or black.

:10:21. > :10:29.That is what he has done. Is he behind the pink? It is close.

:10:30. > :10:45.Another brilliant shot from Mark Selby.

:10:46. > :10:56.Well, this is tough. If it nestles on the brown, he will put himself in

:10:57. > :11:02.trouble. He has missed it, and he is game to hit the blue, and he is

:11:03. > :11:18.going to... I thought he would stick to the brown. He is having it put

:11:19. > :11:28.back because he still needs the brown and blue. He could have played

:11:29. > :11:41.the brown, screwed in behind the blue. Even if the misses it, it will

:11:42. > :11:46.be hard to get the snooker. Everybody looking at the monitor to

:11:47. > :11:55.see where it was. Let us have a look where it was. That is where it was

:11:56. > :12:00.before. Spot-on. What does he do here, John? Does he land on it dead

:12:01. > :12:09.weight, or pay if to hit it and knock it safe? Neither choice is

:12:10. > :12:16.particularly appealing because as you say, he will need some luck

:12:17. > :12:34.either way. What is he going to leave. -- leave?

:12:35. > :12:38.This would be a terrible way to go out of this year's Betfred Snooker

:12:39. > :13:01.World Championship. 17 behind now. It has been over and over, this

:13:02. > :13:13.frame. There has in some unbelievable safety and tactical

:13:14. > :13:20.play in it, but it is all about the miss rule. In fairness, it is not

:13:21. > :13:28.hard. You would have expected someone of Marco's the two to have

:13:29. > :13:32.hit it in the first two goes. Hopefully he will get the brown

:13:33. > :13:38.saved, or is he trying to land on it again? As I said, the cushions seem

:13:39. > :13:54.to have been skidding a little bit. And now it is a must hit because if

:13:55. > :13:58.he does not hit it this time, he needs a snooker. 21 the difference.

:13:59. > :14:27.It is a must hit situation. He has hit it, but where is he going

:14:28. > :14:33.to send it to? That is about the best he could have got out of that.

:14:34. > :14:44.Not absolutely guaranteed to get snooker, but it is about the best he

:14:45. > :14:53.could have got. It is a delicate little flick he needs to get the

:14:54. > :15:02.snooker behind the blue. He has got it. Now it is just one shot. If he

:15:03. > :15:06.comes off of the left side crush on, he can get the snooker in behind the

:15:07. > :15:15.blue. This is a chance. Has he judged it. He has hit the blue, but

:15:16. > :15:22.that was a chance to get the snooker back. That is unbelievable what he

:15:23. > :15:30.has done there. He just did not have enough pace on it. Definitely had a

:15:31. > :15:31.chance to do what you said, Dennis. The cue ball sneaks past the brown

:15:32. > :15:54.and hits the blue. Well, 26 points the difference. He

:15:55. > :16:04.needs once new: curve to time. It is looking good for Mark Selby now. And

:16:05. > :16:10.that could be Mark Selby. The chance he has been waiting for. Marco Fu

:16:11. > :16:20.has had an unbelievable world championship. And what a frame of

:16:21. > :16:34.snooker this has been. One good straight piece of cueing. It is

:16:35. > :16:36.there. Well, Marco Fu, you have played unbelievably well. Try to get

:16:37. > :17:00.into his first ever Crucible final. 30 points the difference and the

:17:01. > :17:08.blue is going over the corner pocket. It might be a handshake

:17:09. > :17:12.here. Well, Marco will wait until Mark Selby knocks the blue in. It

:17:13. > :17:18.has been a fabulous semifinal. It has been a fantastic session, John.

:17:19. > :17:28.This final session has been superb. Two wonderful players. What a player

:17:29. > :17:37.and what a competitor Mark Selby is. Marco Fu has been fantastic, but

:17:38. > :17:43.Mark Selby has got it. Smiles all round from both players. In the end

:17:44. > :17:52.Marques be's experience seems to tell and he has got himself into the

:17:53. > :17:56.final. The world number one will contest his title against Ding

:17:57. > :18:02.Junhui. The world number one is their!

:18:03. > :18:11.The world number one in deed. Mark Selby is on his way to the studio.

:18:12. > :18:17.When he needed to be good, he came good.

:18:18. > :18:27.What a brilliant shot maker he is. In that last frame he was superb. He

:18:28. > :18:33.put so many great balls. The tactics were amazing. Mark Selby as hard as

:18:34. > :18:41.nails. Absolutely. You have to feel a little bit for Marco Fu. This is

:18:42. > :18:47.his second semifinal. He has come so close again. He gave everything. It

:18:48. > :18:56.was a fantastic match. It will and built and built. Here he is. You

:18:57. > :18:59.really ground that out there. Fantastic frame to clinch it, but

:19:00. > :19:07.how have you produce that was the end? I don't know. The last session

:19:08. > :19:14.was probably the best I have played, although it was not pretty for the

:19:15. > :19:23.majority of the match. I just hung in there and clung on to Marco. He

:19:24. > :19:28.made all the big breaks. How tough will you finding it earlier on,

:19:29. > :19:34.particularly in this match? You seem to be giving each other to, three,

:19:35. > :19:42.four chances. Normally my safety is one of my strengths. He is one of

:19:43. > :19:47.the best scorers in the game and you want to leave him long and make him

:19:48. > :19:53.work for it, but I wasn't doing it. In the last friend you just could

:19:54. > :19:56.not get on the ball. You have the big kick, he had to use the

:19:57. > :20:09.extension. You potted some great read. Everything was going wrong. --

:20:10. > :20:15.you potted some great reds. I try to free the black and as you said, I

:20:16. > :20:24.have the kick. And difficulty getting out of snooker 's. The more

:20:25. > :20:31.I played it, it seemed to be pinging off of one question on to the other.

:20:32. > :20:37.There were a couple of great shots to get behind the brown, but looking

:20:38. > :20:41.ahead, you have done it. You will be playing in June way. It is ten wins

:20:42. > :20:45.a piece. That is not much between you at all over the years. You have

:20:46. > :20:50.not played him in one of the big matches for three-year 's, and he

:20:51. > :20:57.has been knocking in centuries for fun. How would you cope with that? I

:20:58. > :21:00.need to up my game and score better. I probably have played three or four

:21:01. > :21:05.good sessions in the tournament and the others have been just like

:21:06. > :21:17.digging them out. It was a great semifinal between Ding Junhui and

:21:18. > :21:24.Alan. You are paying against Marco, a considered player, but Ding,

:21:25. > :21:31.different players interacting, it could be to your benefit. Who knows.

:21:32. > :21:36.I have to score. I can't just go out there and get frames out because

:21:37. > :21:45.Ding has proved his rate building. It will be tough. Experience counts

:21:46. > :21:51.for a lot. How will it hope you? It is a new experience for Ding. I

:21:52. > :21:57.suppose a little bit, but even that session, it's probably the best I

:21:58. > :22:01.have felt. It was all a bit nervy and twitchy and it showed. And we

:22:02. > :22:12.got to the nitty-gritty, it is the most relaxed I felt. It is strange.

:22:13. > :22:19.It would mean a lot to win a second championship? It would. People have

:22:20. > :22:22.said if you would it again, it is something special. I am in the

:22:23. > :22:29.final, I have got the chance, so we will see. It's also a big day

:22:30. > :22:32.potentially for Leicester City tomorrow. You are carrying the

:22:33. > :22:42.fortunes of the whole town. Leicester looked as if they have

:22:43. > :22:50.more or less won the league. I am just one game away. The foxes shirt,

:22:51. > :22:59.could you sport it at some point? Maybe after the final? They said

:23:00. > :23:03.that Gary Lineker was going to present match of the day in his

:23:04. > :23:13.boxer shorts if Leicester one, so we'll see. Congratulation. Good luck

:23:14. > :23:18.tomorrow against Ding Junhui. It has been a brilliant day of semifinal

:23:19. > :23:22.action. We have seen Ding Junhui make seven centuries to get into his

:23:23. > :23:27.first final. We have seen this man craft his way into a third final and

:23:28. > :23:36.second in three years. Canned in clish man win it again, or will be

:23:37. > :23:43.man from China when it at last? -- candy Englishman win it again or

:23:44. > :23:47.will the man from China win it at last? Join us tomorrow to find out.

:23:48. > :23:58.Good night.