Day 10, Evening Session - Pt 1 Snooker: World Championship

What an atmosphere once again here in the Crucible Theatre. It is

something special. That is beautiful shot Marco. It is

there. The 47th century of the tournament. We are still all square,

now at six apiece. Absolutely fascinating stuff between these two

world-class exponents of our beautiful game. Nothing can separate

Marco Fu and Neil Robertson at eight apiece. Good evening, Neil Robertson

and Marco Fu have got the Crucible stage all to themselves and that is

because of an earlier finishing one of our second round matches

yesterday. It is entirely appropriate that we have an

unrestricted boot of the classy Australian and the perfectly

polished player from Hong Kong because there are matches perfectly

poised at eight frames apiece. One of them will become the last man

threw into the quarterfinal draw in the World Championship. We will see

that live shortly. Earlier today, another two men by their place in

the quarterfinal draw and no surprise that the defending champion

was one of them. Mark Selby's progress was slowed up yesterday by

his opponent. Today he sprinted away with his first century of this

Championship to win 13-6. I am over the moon with that. I wanted to do a

forward roll. I have been playing OK, I am breaking down. It was nice

to start the match off with a century. Barry Hawkins did not hang

about, really not the last three frames he needed to barge past

Graeme Dott. His top break was 98 and he will face Stephen Maguire in

the last eight. I am delighted to beat someone of the quality of

Graeme Dott and to get through. I am really pleased. I cued better today,

the big breaks are not flying in, I have the -- had a few 90s but I was

pretty solid all-around. I would not say I am in top form, but I am

playing and I am happy the way I am playing and hopefully I can do

better. We are joined by Stephen Hendry. You are well used to

starring in one-table set-up, but how much can you enjoy this, Central

curtain up, all eyes on you and your opponent? It is great atmosphere.

Both players have to enjoy it. It is surreal, there is another table

there, it is a bit strange. No noise from the other side tonight, so they

can concentrate on their own match. Mark Selby awaits the winner of

this, Neil Robertson, Marco Fu, how would you characterise this so far?

Neil Robertson took an early lead but since then no one has been able

to stamp their authority on it. No one has been able to get more than

one frame ahead. It is difficult to pick a winner. Neil knows what it

takes to win, he was a champion seven years ago, Marco has twice

been a semifinalist. Marco is the highest rank, who is your pick? I

would possibly side with Marco. Over the season, he has had the better

results, he has been at the semifinals business end more often

than Neil Robertson. Neil Robertson, he is not scoring as heavily as

normal. I would shave with Marco. That is how you like it, all the

world is the state and belongs to to bed tonight, three men, actually,

because first all here comes Rob Walker. Thank you, good evening

ladies and gentlemen. We find ourselves temporarily down to the

one-table set-up tonight at the World Snooker Championship for the

epic climax between two men who have made a huge contribution to the

global game. The trouble is there is only room for one of them in the

quarterfinals. This could be absolutely huge.

APPLAUSE. Please welcome, a player who arrived

from Australia just over a decade ago with a head full of dreams and

barely a penny in his pocket and how he has since taken the game by

storm. Twice a UK champion, a world champion, a Masters winner, bidding

for a seven Crucible quarterfinal, can you hear the Thunder from Down

Under, here is the Robertson? -- Neil Robertson!

And his opponent, a player whose achievements have helped promote the

game in Asia for decades, bidding for his fourth world quarterfinal,

14 years after his first and from 4-1 down he is right back in this

match, an absolute gentleman of the modern game, from Hong Kong, here

comes Marco Fu! MUSIC: 'Superhero - The Script.

Eight friends all it is the straight best of nine tonight for the last

place in the quarterfinals and already on the edge of their seats,

we say good evening to John Parrott and Dennis Taylor. A very good

evening and good evening everyone and what a reception for both

players here this evening, a real international match if ever there

was one. Australia versus Hong Kong. 17 frame, Neil Robertson to break.

It is the former champion who's going to get this first frame under

way. Not a bad break, he has left a

tempter for Marco to look at it, but whether he takes it on, that is

another matter. Tough to pick a winner here, isn't it?

Exceptionally, Dennis. Both absolute class acts. Neil Robertson, champion

in 2010. And that was a big shot for your first one of the evening. He

has made a mess of it. These top boys now, when they get a chance

like this, when you see the cueing, it was not easy from under the ball

commission, when they get a chance like this, they know how important

it is to stamp their authority on this final session. The type of shot

that Marco just mess, I was doing the Barry Hawkins match, so many of

that type of shot, it is shot the players practice because they know

it will come up during the game and sometimes the start of a frame, he

is doing a little survey of the table. He has got plenty of reds, it

is a good chance, it has to be said. He does seem to be taking a bit of

time with this one, but the one in the middle...

All right. But I would have liked a little bit more on the cue ball. The

pink would actually be taking him slightly away. From the reds he

would want to play. Those two towards the right-hand side are

pottable for the middle but the cue ball angle he has God would go

pretty close to those two reds after pots the pink.

Just managed to get in -- inside. Just to hold position. Fabulous

chance. He has been pretty consistent with

his breaks, he has had a couple of 60 plus breaks and 90 plus breaks

and of course that 105. He has been very steady indeed, but Marco has

also had a century and quite a few breaks over 50, so they are very

evenly matched. You can see him striking the cue

ball on the left side of the cue ball there, get a little bit of side

to swing it over for the black. Two reds on the left in pottable

positions, there is the one that Dennis was on about, the cue ball

wide of the angle to come back for the black. The reds are in the

clusters, they are not great at the moment. He will have to move a few

of those in the middle, the bottom one will not even pot, it is the

outside one foot in the middle pocket. Which he has not hit very

well. In fact, that was all caused really by the red on the top cushion

because he would have liked to have played the black and came around the

angles to get the reds in the middle, but that red was in the way.

If he has lost position, that is a chance gone and it is.

He has got such a great temperament, the Australian. He played a bad

positional shot there, but he never bothered. He accepted it, just got

down and played a very good safety shot. And played it properly as

well, lots of times you can be disappointed with losing your

position, lose a bit of cool and do not play the right shot, but not

there. It happened the other day during the match with John Higgins,

he lost positions, a rare occurrence, but he lost position and

played the best safety shot afterwards and came back and won the

frame. An example to any young player playing, make sure you play

every shot correctly and with attention.

That is so good, there is no easy way back down the table. The one to

the right is not even a double book sometimes you can spot a double,

have a go at it and not leave anything. It has left him with very

little choice of shot. That was all Neil could do there.

That was very interesting, Neil Robertson set a little chat, tapped

into the reds and said what will you do and probably Marco should have

trapped back, but he tried to play the more positive safety and got the

double kiss. How costly will not be? -- how costly will that be? If he

had played it thin, it got the old dreaded double kiss.

That is OK. I am saying it is a choice, the one on the right

certainly goals in the middle and it looks like the one that goes on the

left as well, so he does have a choice. One good shot here, just a

little run through, he might be able to flick off the reds.

And this may look nothing on your screens, but this is quite a good

little cut in the middle this, it is not absolutely straightforward.

But if he knocks it in, the frame could be at his mercy.

Well, it was not an easy pot by any means but I expected Neil to knock

that then but he put it onto the other pocket. We will show you it

again, it touches the jaw of the pocket, it will not go in. He just

left himself with a little bit to do, didn't he?

He has got a 29 point lead, Neil Robertson, but he will be kicking

himself that it is not more and Marco must have been thinking he

would be a lot more behind as well. What is his scoring like this

evening? First chance. An awkward little shot, once you put

the top spin on, it gets trapped by the cushion and reverts into back

spin, that is the way -- why the cue ball went the way that it did. The

good mid-range pot here. Excellent pot, just in between the

positional play, not ideal on pink or blue.

One good shot, with the rest required.

APPLAUSE. It has finished just a little awkward for Marco here. He

might just be OK with this one, if it is straight come, he could follow

it through. If he is heading towards the pink with the cue ball, it is

not ideal, that is why he is looking at the cutback, that is not a good

angle, if he ran it straight, he could leave the pink on the left

corner. He can stun it in and leave the pink on the right middle. He

feels they can get through, to leave at the thing on. -- to leave the

pink on. That was a bad shot from Marco, he was convinced that he

could run that through and get on the pink. It did not look like it

and then it took his concentration from the pot. I feel a little bit

for him, he played a decent shot and where he finished, he was not plumb

on any of the three reds he could have been on. He normally manages to

sort that one out. Slightly worrying signs in this opening frame for

Marco, this is the third chance that Neil Robertson has had. They don't

usually get that many. They have been sharing frames for quite some

time since they 4-1 lead for Neil but I feel if someone can open up a

two frame advantage now, it will be huge for them. First to 13.

Totally different from the crowd in the Crucible this evening and

totally different at home because there is no noise coming from the

other table. Yes. It is a slightly strange atmosphere when you are the

only table there. When you get to the semi-finals and the final, you

are the only table, but it is in the middle of the room. It is slightly

different witness happens. That middle pocket. A few easy ones

missed in there. Neither player has settled down here. Settle down

please. In a few shots time, if he could get

on that red to the right of the black spot, he could roll it in and

leave the black for the other corner. All, Marco! You cannot be

hitting the green full ball in that situation. I don't know whether they

are a little bit edgy. He completely misjudged that. Big gap to get

through. We give the players plenty of praise but at the moment, it is

like a club handicap. Both of them, the chances they have had.

Obviously, the tension, I think it is that psychological thing of

getting 9-8 in front getting on your way to the magical 13, but both

players have had three chances are not made anything of them.

I have to say, it is pretty good sometimes when you get frames like

this, we are so used to seeing them make 80s, 90s and hundreds, a few

shock misses arrive and it is no less entertaining. Just makes the

game look what it is, pretty hard. Is all he is going to get really,

for a good shot. Just a matter of where he can leave the most trouble

for Neil Robertson. Nicely played. Have a little

shocked. -- shot. It signs like there is an alarm

going off, someone's phone or something. -- it sounds like.

They are going to have to wait. Trying to find out where it is. It

is as if someone has set an alarm on their phone. If he has done it, he

must work shifts. Well... Looking up the stairs, there

is a security man and they are looking to see, he is in everyone's

handbags. Well, he is not in his own handbag! It is like a Mexican wave!

Nice shot at, a little bit of swerve and just clipped the red. And the

way these balls are at the moment, they are awkward. Not easy to

promote one over a corner pocket if you're not careful.

That is why Marco is going down the left side of the table so he does

not do what John said there. And this looks pretty good. Very good

shot from Marco Fu there. That is absolutely brilliant. Best safety

shot this evening by a long way. The referee having a good look at this

because he might be able to clip that red that he is pointing the tip

of the cue at. That is just in case he does foul and the ball has to be

replaced. Don't blame him for taking his time,

I'm struggling to see what shot he has. I think he could hit that red

past the blue. I think he is playing a two cushion escape trying to hit

that red on the way back on the right-hand side. He will settle for

that. Yes, he was not snookered there, but

he didn't want to try and play safe off the red just give. Marco would

normally go down and send this red right around the angles but the

green is in the way of doing that. The safety shot with the two reds

steered the black spot is awkward, he cannot play the one closest to

the spot because it would come in on the red and he does not want to clip

the bottom one towards the corner. This takes some thinking. Which is

what he is doing. GROANS FROM CROWD. It would make you

wonder if he did not attempt that. He certainly did, he thought he

would get it safe, but this red that is closest to the cue ball will go

into the left middle pocket, it is a bit of a free shot and he would be

nicely on the black. I think he is trying it, in the

middle, is he? Yes. Great shot. Very good shot. He has missed a few in

this frame already, but that was superb.

He has got a slight angle on the black but he cannot power the black

in and come off the cushion and get in behind that difficult red as you

can see there. What he was thinking about was just potting the black and

attempting to get the snooker and send the red back up the table. 40

years doing here, John, he is certainly not rushing things, is he?

No. He said to be, he was certainly playing a little bit sore -- what he

is doing here. He is not in the best of form. A little bit of grinding,

trying not to make a mistake. We do not know how he is feeling at the

moment. It is not the usual fluent Neil Robertson that we see scoring

so quickly. As I say, we do not know how he is feeling out there.

And that is a very clever shot. He has knocked the red around and put

it in a really pottable position. This is a problem. I am just

wondering if Marco came off the bottom decent and landed on that red

near the baulk line, if he would leave the red over the right corner

pocket. He would need the pink and brown, look where he is cueing, that

tells me he will come off petition and land on that red and hopefully

not leave the one the pocket. -- come off that cushion.

Looking to try and clip it on the way back. That is fraught with

danger. I think I prefer your shot. Drop it on

The opponent knocks one in from there. Fair enough.

Very clever. I say very clever, because I think

if he had landed on the red he might have left that one. Neil's got this

red up the cushion. There's so much pressure on this because of the one

that's near the pocket where the green is.

One of the best potters in the game and has been for a number of years.

Now, this will test his skills. He 's playing the safety shot. He

hasn't made a good fist of that. That red shouldn't have been

anywhere near that left corner pocket.

He was obsessed with the one on the right-hand side, wasn't he? Just to

make sure the yellow and blues doing its job and forgot about the one he

was playing. This is not a gimme. He may have gotten away with it.

Wow! Amazing, isn't it? The other one

might cut in. That's what he's looking at now. It's a very thin

snick. He might just be able to cut this in. I don't think the white

will go anywhere near the left middle pocket. I think the brown's

in the way. He may attempt this. That was a clever positional shot,

wasn't it? The only thing with this pink, it's

so close to the pocket, it's difficult to control the cue ball.

Would you be tempted to play cushion first? I think I would hit it

thinner. It doesn't matter what contact, it will go in.

He may be thinking about cushion first. We'll see.

It is a personal preference this one, I would think. Just the way he

cued over there, maybe that's what he's doing. He has to be careful he

doesn't go in the right middle pocket, then. He'll also have to be

careful he doesn't snooker himself with the green.

Well, he's on that red. It wasn't, as he played it.

Brown would be enough. 32 in front.

With 35 there. He looked at the scoreboard on the way around.

Make sure you knock this in and any position on the red is good.

Not quite safe yet. But barring that one snooker, Neil's got himself in

front again. Marco just checking the scoreboard,

seeing whether he can take the blue or the pink, instead of taking

black. Of course he can.

That green is not in a bad position for snookers here. OK you can get a

snooker lining one other balls. If you can get in, the green is the one

near the cushion. Get somewhere in behind there, might make it a bit

more difficult. You could also play him behind the black as well.

Tried to play behind the black. Be careful with that one.

Sometimes you just have to play a decent safety. You have to keep the

object ball safe and wait for a better opportunity.

I'd be tempted just to roll this in or over the pocket.

Definitely would have just rolled the yellow to try and make sure of

the pot. Even if he left it right over the pocket, as I say, no harm

done if Neil was to get Marco to pot the yellow. Then he'd have to move

that green away because it's the best ball, as John was saying, to

get the snooker behind. But not from this position.

This frame itself is over half an hour.

Certainly not been easy. Might have got the snooker behind

the blue and pink, but the green is a far better place now, if Marco

ever gets a chance. If you get in behind that green, it would be

sufficient a tough snooker to escape -- such a tough snooker to escape

from. He's not knocked it safe. One can

pot and he'd be off with the second frame of this session.

Hasn't really had many decent opportunities to play snookers yet,

Marco. As you mentioned before that, knocking in that green for Neil was

pretty dangerous. Obviously doesn't really want to pot

this. If this has gone behind the green,

that is brilliant. What a shot! That was wonderfully controlled.

Well, I mentioned if he did get behind the green, it would be

difficult to escape from. That is a big square of what he'd have to

play. There's enough room to go around the

back of the yellow as well. I think to actually get out of this

snooker, the easiest way is off two cushions. Of course if you don't hit

it and leave firmly you could leaf three balls and everything, so --

leave three balls and everything, so... You prefer to play the swerve,

but, it's a big one. No miss called because he needed a

snooker. Really, as it has turned out, Marco can win, but he flicked

the black into a safer position and the blue into a safer position.

It is the sort of it is where you can possibly gain an advantage from

playing. Would he attempt to get behind the green again? Got to keep

the yellows safe also. He's making sure that he gets a good

yellow here Played the full-length shot. Very

well played it was, too. And this is very dangerous now for Neil

Robertson. As ever, it's not hitting it, it's what you leave.

He's left him a good chance here. Good cueing required. Don't have to

do anything with the cue ball. The green's over the corner.

He seemed to hit that a little harder than he needed. It wasn't a

straightforward pot, but when you hit them at that pace it's much more

difficult for the pocket to accept the ball. Neil having this cleaned

here, because he's going to try and just chip the yellow in. He doesn't

want to be getting a kick. Good pot under the circumstances.

He's missed a chance there, Marco. He really has to get that wonderful

snooker behind the green and then have a shot at the yellow.

Marco had a very good chance on that yellow there.

Coming up to 39 minutes of this opening frame of the session.

The Australian will be delighted. He won't care about that. He's got

himself back into the lead. 9-8 to Neil Robertson.

It really has been evenly balanced between the two of them. And

Stephen, there's a shot in there that might reveal a little bit of

Neil's thinking. It wasn't the most confident of starts. This brown, I

am very surprised he didn't play position on the red. A little bit of

right-hand side. He's just birdied the brown, I know he's gone for the

red. It was a negative shot and shows me that he's not 100%

confident, Neil Robertson, that sometimes what we are used to seeing

two or three years ago. It's not the way I expected both players to

start. They've had a lot of chances each. I expected one player to come

out firing. Very nervy. Very nervy. A huge amount of respect. They have

actually moved up in the provisional rankings, but five and six teen

them. They are very cagey. Very well aware of each other's strengths and

weaknesses here. Very close to the third session. You think, before you

go out, I am going to win this match. I am going to out attacking.

Neil doesn't look the attacking force. Sometimes he gets bogged down

in matches. His shot time is not, doesn't inspire me with a lot of

confidence. The thoughts of a seven-time champion. Back we go to

gentlemen who know what it takes to win this title as well.

THE COMMENTATOR: Thank you, Hazel. It is interesting, mentioned from

his body language, he's certainly taking his time, Neil Robertson.

He's grinding a little bit. Thinks his game is not 100%. He's

got to find a way to win. Maybe that's what he thinks is needed this

evening. The yellow might be in the way of

Neil coming off the side cushion. He wouldn't leave that red. If he

landed on the side of the reds, wouldn't leave that.

I don't know if the yellow is preventing him from doing that.

That was a very delicate operation. He was trying there just to roll at

that pace and just glance off the red.

How close was that! I don't think that was the table. That was just a

really good attempt. As ever, when you play that shot,

it's in the middle of everywhere. Can pot the black, but it's much

more difficult than it looks. Never even got it in the jaws of the

pocket. It was a tough one. Plenty of cue power to get this

around the angles here. Oh, he got the power into it, but

cannon on the red was always going to spoil that positional shot.

I'm not sure what he was looking around at. Maybe it was because of

how he played the shot. That's an excellent safety shot. It

really is. The only way he could get back into

the baulk area. You do that, you make sure you get a good white. And

that's exactly what that was. The percentage for your safety

success. I think Neil's got a similar shot

that Marco played. Maybe rest on that right-hand side. That's the

only thing he's got, really. This is really, tough, hard match

snooker that we're watching here. As I mentioned during the first

frame, the player who can get a couple of frames ahead at this stage

will be at a huge advantage. That was an excellent safety shot from

Neil. Obviously yellow and blue are

stopping the right-hand side escape. They couldn't have played that much

better. The reason they're being so careful

here is the way the reds are situated. One mistake and it could

be very costly. ??FORCEWHITE

STUDIO: A lot of drama. You can share the rest of this match with us

when we move now to the red button coverage. We are staying right here

to enjoy it all with you. Prepare to press red and we shall see you on

the other side. Otherwise, I'll be back with the highlights here for

you on BBC Two at 11. 15pm. The choice is yours. Either way, you

don't want to miss it. Who will be the last man to the quarter finals?

We will find out soon enough. Goodbye

This is all Roz, she's trying to frame me!

This is the final push, we cannot fail.

He sent you, didn't he? Are you expecting someone else?