Monday, Final, Afternoon

:00:33. > :00:37.Good afternoon, 900 seats are being taken here inside the Crucible

:00:38. > :00:41.Theatre and I hope you have cleared the decks and are settling in for

:00:42. > :00:46.one of the great days in sport, it is the 17th and final day in our

:00:47. > :00:53.annual snicker marathon. What a story is unfolding in a Crucible

:00:54. > :00:59.final. The world number one, Mark Selby, he does like to do things the

:01:00. > :01:03.hard way and he will have do, again because John Higgins is bidding for

:01:04. > :01:12.a fifth worth title, some 19 years after his first is in vintage form,

:01:13. > :01:21.again. This is it, the big one welcome to the final of the 2017 bet

:01:22. > :01:27.Fred Welt -- welcomes the final of the 2017 Betfred World Championship.

:01:28. > :01:30.And man of immense college and determination, John Higgins.

:01:31. > :01:35.Defending champion unbowed number one, the Jester from Leicester, Mark

:01:36. > :01:39.Selby. There is nothing like the final of the World Snooker

:01:40. > :01:45.Championship. You do not give Mark Selby anything. The defending

:01:46. > :01:53.champion goes ahead. He goes to clear, now. That is a huge frame

:01:54. > :02:02.with John Higgins to pinch. He is leading by six frames to two. He

:02:03. > :02:07.looked a bit nervy, can the defending champion take the second

:02:08. > :02:13.session? Keeping it tight and it just gets worse for Mark Selby. He

:02:14. > :02:21.is now six frames behind. What a brilliant shot, the last two shots

:02:22. > :02:26.of them superb. Still behind but he has a foothold in the match. He will

:02:27. > :02:31.not be happy with that. The match was beginning to slip away from Mark

:02:32. > :02:41.Selby, he is still three frames behind and there was all to play

:02:42. > :02:46.for. A fascinating first day. I do nothing anyone could foresee what

:02:47. > :02:48.would happen to Mark Selby by not coming out of the starting blocks,

:02:49. > :02:54.John Higgins was looking the better of the two the same in the evening.

:02:55. > :02:59.Think Mark Selby would be pleased to come out only 7-10, behind. Giving

:03:00. > :03:03.John Higgins missed a trick last night? I think so, a couple of

:03:04. > :03:13.colours, pink especially into the middle pocket, you have to save them

:03:14. > :03:17.John Higgins multipack blue'... You Frisbee inexpert, give as a

:03:18. > :03:22.prediction. Yes I am, and I defy anyone to predict what will happen

:03:23. > :03:28.today. John Higgins is featured here for the last 22 years, took in only

:03:29. > :03:34.four times to land the title, 22 years of age in 1998, then came the

:03:35. > :03:39.longest ever wait between victories at the Crucible, nine years, until

:03:40. > :03:44.he did it again, in the final decade later against a young Mark Selby,

:03:45. > :03:49.two more titles followed in 2009 and now six years on he is bidding to

:03:50. > :03:54.join Ronnie O'Sullivan with a fifth world title. Now, as the Mark Selby,

:03:55. > :03:58.that front of the 2007 final where he would will back it Higgins after

:03:59. > :04:04.a bad start served notice of his promise and his grit, and seven

:04:05. > :04:08.years later in 2014, Selby rebranded in his final to overtake Ronnie

:04:09. > :04:14.O'Sullivan and this time to win. Last year came a second success. He

:04:15. > :04:22.is going for a third world title today. And Mark Selby will have to

:04:23. > :04:26.stage a dramatic comeback if he is to join Bonnie O'Sullivan and others

:04:27. > :04:29.to successfully defend the world title here inside the Crucible

:04:30. > :04:37.Theatre. In fact only another couple of guys have got close to doing

:04:38. > :04:42.that. Yes, this place has thrown up some fantastic comebacks in its 40

:04:43. > :04:47.year history, can Mark Selby become part of that history or can John

:04:48. > :04:52.Higgins win his fifth world title at the age of 41, this place was like a

:04:53. > :04:59.marketplace only five minutes ago bustling, now it is just the players

:05:00. > :05:02.and it is so quiet you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. We got the

:05:03. > :05:06.smell from John Higgins yesterday and we might get a thumbs up to

:05:07. > :05:14.date. I read it Rose John is ready, Marcus ready, the players are ready.

:05:15. > :05:19.-- are you ready? Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen this is the day

:05:20. > :05:22.we crowd the 2017 Betfred World Championship, we know both men have

:05:23. > :05:27.won it before and are both desperate to get their name on the famous

:05:28. > :05:32.trophy once more. This without doubt has the makings of one of the

:05:33. > :05:33.all-time classic last days here at the sport's spiritual home, the

:05:34. > :06:05.Crucible. Please welcome a player who has been

:06:06. > :06:09.at the top of his sport for more than two decades, he is already

:06:10. > :06:14.regarded as one of the all-time greats will stop his form yesterday

:06:15. > :06:21.was the perfect reminder of why he has amassed 28 ranking titles. One

:06:22. > :06:22.of Scotland's finest sportsmen. He comes the Wizard of Wishaw, John

:06:23. > :06:32.Higgins. MUSIC: Iron Sky

:06:33. > :06:46.by Paulo Nutini And his opponent, plays Jenny has

:06:47. > :06:50.taken him from humble beginnings to the top of the world and he has done

:06:51. > :06:54.it all with humour, humility and sheer class. Last night the final

:06:55. > :06:59.three frames proved just how good he is under pressure, and huge day for

:07:00. > :07:02.the defending world champion, the Jester from Leicester, Mark Selby.

:07:03. > :07:23.MUSIC: Eez-eh by Kasabian

:07:24. > :07:30.Settle in, the aid frames play this afternoon and we will share the

:07:31. > :07:35.first part of that in the company of two men who know what it is like to

:07:36. > :07:41.win one of Snooker's three majors, in fact read between you, I believe.

:07:42. > :07:57.COMMENTATOR: Thank you, Hazel, and of course...

:07:58. > :08:05.The buzz around the hotel last night, everyone was saying who was

:08:06. > :08:14.the favourite? A lot of people said Mark Selby was. I find it hard to

:08:15. > :08:25.believe, being three frames behind. These four frames could be the key.

:08:26. > :08:34.An awful lot of frames have been played this year. And John Higgins

:08:35. > :08:42.has played his 100 frame, believe it or not. -- is playing his 100th

:08:43. > :08:49.frame. 41 you are old, looking for a fifth world title. At one stage it

:08:50. > :08:55.looked as if we might not have an evening session away John was going.

:08:56. > :08:57.But the defending champion came right back. It is difficult to

:08:58. > :09:05.predict a winner. If John Higgins can share the mini

:09:06. > :09:20.sessions you will become champion. So, just having a look here at the

:09:21. > :09:28.situation. There is attentive to the left corner but with the black and

:09:29. > :09:36.the pink being out of commission. He has to avoid the red.

:09:37. > :09:50.He courted very thin. Catching the yellow, not a good safety. -- he

:09:51. > :10:14.could it thin. A risky pot. Hard to see a reward for it.

:10:15. > :10:21.A good length of the cue ball. APPLAUSE

:10:22. > :10:27.It has gone towards the corner pocket. Brilliant tactical play

:10:28. > :10:37.between these two players. It really was. In the Huybrechts when they get

:10:38. > :10:43.a chance, at that magnificent 141, and Mark 121. -- in the high breaks.

:10:44. > :10:49.They are even in that apartment, now. That is for the whole

:10:50. > :11:01.tournament. For this match, they are so evenly matched. John, just ahead

:11:02. > :11:08.in this much. Yes and maybe that is why Mark Selby is free frames

:11:09. > :11:15.behind. I was thinking the parting and the safety, you have got to be

:11:16. > :11:20.90% or above. -- I was thinking the parting macro and the safety. This

:11:21. > :11:27.is what Mark is looking at and read near the corner the problem. He's

:11:28. > :11:31.frightened to leave it. Can he nestle up to it? Can he get in

:11:32. > :11:40.behind it? Kenny get back to baulk and not leave the red?

:11:41. > :11:47.Played a thin one. Left the red barn. I am looking at it as we show

:11:48. > :11:58.you the shot again... The red is almost straight, the pink

:11:59. > :12:11.and black tied up. Mark will realise that as he sits down.

:12:12. > :12:22.Now he is catching the other red. It was not quite as bad as we first

:12:23. > :12:29.thought when Mark missed the red completely going up.

:12:30. > :12:33.It is a tricky little blue with the rest. If it was straight you would

:12:34. > :12:57.not expect him to miss it. We will would have known whether it

:12:58. > :13:02.was in before he did, no. It was tough, as I say. If it was a

:13:03. > :13:07.straight blue it would not be a problem. It just shows you, as we

:13:08. > :13:11.see, you make a bad mistake in your back at the table and the reds are

:13:12. > :13:16.open. I think the pink is now available.

:13:17. > :13:25.That will be key. The black is out of commission. He any has the pink

:13:26. > :13:32.to work with. He was the wrong side of the road.

:13:33. > :14:09.-- the wrong side of the red. He get to the state in these type of

:14:10. > :14:14.situations where you don't know whether to take a risk, there was a

:14:15. > :14:19.possibility of parting the red to the left corner and bring them back

:14:20. > :14:22.into play. It is whether it's worth the risk to try and open the frame

:14:23. > :14:28.and give you a chance to score heavily.

:14:29. > :14:33.I am certain Mark Selby knows the importance of this first

:14:34. > :14:47.mini-session, these four frames. He is thinking about it. If he can

:14:48. > :14:52.win three out of 40 will any be one behind. He is thinking whether it

:14:53. > :14:57.will be worth it to pop the red and bring the black one into play. We

:14:58. > :15:03.thought the pink rent and I'm surprised you didn't play for it

:15:04. > :15:08.when it went up to the green. It looks like it goes. He's decided to

:15:09. > :15:46.go for Abott colour. Back in a similar position again.

:15:47. > :15:47.Believe it or not. It will not be easy to score many from the

:15:48. > :16:06.situation. There was a little cannon to get up

:16:07. > :16:10.there. I would like to take that one again. Having said that, he has

:16:11. > :16:18.slipped past the blue. It looked like he would land on the blue,

:16:19. > :16:21.there. There is the wonderful Crucible Theatre and I love this

:16:22. > :16:24.shot is using mean and it shows you the length of the table. 12 foot by

:16:25. > :16:37.six foot. That rummy was the right shot.

:16:38. > :16:47.APPLAUSE -- but for me. John Higgins will do

:16:48. > :16:50.well to keep it safe. Particularly when you're coming off a cushion

:16:51. > :17:06.quickly it's hard to judge, sometimes.

:17:07. > :17:14.He did not want to slip from the back of that.

:17:15. > :17:16.APPLAUSE It will not cut back it is far too

:17:17. > :17:44.thin. He's taking the pot on here but it

:17:45. > :18:05.is sort of a free shop. -- shot. He tried to get on the yellow but

:18:06. > :18:21.even that was not going to be easy having popped the red. A little bit

:18:22. > :18:23.of an awkward frame, here. Playing the safety shot, highly unlikely he

:18:24. > :18:32.would plant one red and to the other.

:18:33. > :18:45.What he needed was a good cue ball which he has not got. I think Mark

:18:46. > :18:55.will be able to get his hand on the table in the yellow, to interfere

:18:56. > :19:03.with the Bridgend. Second out from the left is the one. A three

:19:04. > :19:07.quarters ball pot. He does bridge long, sometimes. Can he get his hand

:19:08. > :19:30.on the table? The cue was very far from his bridge

:19:31. > :19:38.hand. Result. And that sums up the snooker, really. This match could

:19:39. > :19:45.swing on a run of the ball here. Or a plant that appears from nowhere.

:19:46. > :19:47.As we show you this attempt, once he missed it he thought he would put

:19:48. > :20:00.John Wright in amongst them and then he gets that double-kiss twice. --

:20:01. > :20:03.he would put John in amongst them. Amazing, and if you can get away

:20:04. > :20:21.with it you can make all the difference.

:20:22. > :20:26.The one thing that John was desperate to do, there, on the

:20:27. > :20:32.right-hand side of the table was to cover it with green. Otherwise he

:20:33. > :20:37.would have left an easy safety shot from Mark. The fact that Mark is not

:20:38. > :20:48.looking at the red tells me he has covered it.

:20:49. > :21:01.And Mark had the same problem. APPLAUSE

:21:02. > :21:06.A good tap of the table. As I say, normally you would play to get to

:21:07. > :21:10.the baulk cushion, but he did not leave the red. There is no gap

:21:11. > :21:22.there. APPLAUSE

:21:23. > :21:42.That finished awkward. He can hit the red that is next to

:21:43. > :21:47.the blue, but it is not easy to send it up the table. He will leave the

:21:48. > :21:54.white back in the safety area, because he could pan into the blue

:21:55. > :22:20.if you tried that. -- he could pan and into the blue.

:22:21. > :22:39.There was a few frames like this yesterday and it was fascinating to

:22:40. > :22:41.see who would make the best mistake, it is an awkward table blacks

:22:42. > :23:17.surrounded with five reds. That did not look possible, to

:23:18. > :23:22.overcooked but shot. -- to overcooked that shocked. And that is

:23:23. > :23:26.probably why he missed it, he was probably thinking that if he hated

:23:27. > :23:32.it as thin as he could it would go in, to overcooked it is remarkable.

:23:33. > :23:37.If Mark Selby is re-watching this, if you cannot get through it direct,

:23:38. > :23:44.he can play one into the overcome his.

:23:45. > :23:53.That is what he played one red into the other. Switch that light off

:23:54. > :24:02.please! Looks like he's on the black which opens up the frame completely.

:24:03. > :24:15.What a bonus that was. Is it tied up now? I think he will be hoping it

:24:16. > :24:19.still goes but it does not look like it does.

:24:20. > :24:29.Amazingly he did not move many reds. No, it does not go. OK he has the

:24:30. > :24:45.easy read on the left corner but he is hampered.

:24:46. > :24:55.APPLAUSE This table is playing beautifully

:24:56. > :24:59.because that did not look as if it would get around the ankles, the

:25:00. > :25:04.pace of the table, I know they were concerned about the cushion behind

:25:05. > :25:13.the black not bouncing correctly but it seems to be beautifully.

:25:14. > :25:34.Turning into a decent chance. Probably for portable reds.

:25:35. > :25:43.He did not hit that hard enough. That was a poor shot from Mark. He

:25:44. > :25:49.should've been more straight on the pink. Now he has a bit a problem. He

:25:50. > :25:56.tried to let the side to do the work and play it on the right-hand side

:25:57. > :26:03.but for reason, as you say, he has finished short. OK, you can pop the

:26:04. > :26:07.pink but he has taken the cue ball away from the red and surely it is

:26:08. > :26:19.too risky to play the pink in the middle.

:26:20. > :26:28.Just struggled its way in. He would never be good on the next red. He

:26:29. > :26:34.needs a good pot here. There it looked as if the pink would not go

:26:35. > :26:41.in. It wobbled three times. Have a look...

:26:42. > :27:06.And in. Any harder and it would've missed.

:27:07. > :27:21.APPLAUSE A tremendous pot. But no position.

:27:22. > :27:28.It is one of those, you really think it is a puff shot Andy think BOOING

:27:29. > :27:34.Put all your concentration. -- it is one of those, a tough shot.

:27:35. > :27:37.We never realise how much the balls bounce from the table in particular

:27:38. > :27:45.with the superfine cloth is. Have a look at this again of course when we

:27:46. > :27:53.were playing there was no such thing as slow motion cameras.

:27:54. > :29:12.Much too thin. There is a chance for Mark Selby he has a 30 point lead.

:29:13. > :29:20.He needs to get a good position on the pink.

:29:21. > :29:32.APPLAUSE Doesn't want to be straight. There

:29:33. > :29:37.is a red, if you look to the left of the black, it is pottable, as is the

:29:38. > :29:55.one below the black. He couldn't, so he has played for

:29:56. > :30:00.the red just below the black. It will be awkward cueing, here. He

:30:01. > :30:05.just needs 17 points to get to the snick required state. -- to get to

:30:06. > :30:19.the snick required stage. Good shot!

:30:20. > :30:23.APPLAUSE Keep saying I have not seen anyone

:30:24. > :30:29.as good as Mark Selby when he's bridging over of balls. He is

:30:30. > :30:34.amazing because he not only gets the pot bookie generate enough pace to

:30:35. > :30:36.get the position. It is such a difficult shot striking down. He is

:30:37. > :30:54.the best I've ever seen at it. He looks to be a bit straight on

:30:55. > :31:04.this pink. What is it? Eggplant? Does he see a plant? -- a plant?

:31:05. > :31:09.I can only assume that, because otherwise, why would you play this

:31:10. > :31:22.shot? I think he's playing safe. It was too straight on the pink,

:31:23. > :31:29.couldn't do anything about it. And he knows the importance of this

:31:30. > :31:37.frame. When he came to the Crucible Theatre, he had one priority in his

:31:38. > :31:52.mind : Win the first frame. And he is favourite to do that now.

:31:53. > :32:05.REFEREE: foul and a miss. What my good luck with replacing these! --

:32:06. > :32:10.good luck with replacing these! He's having a glance at Mark, but

:32:11. > :32:15.thankfully, he's playing it from here.

:32:16. > :32:27.It was the side he put on that that threw it into the brown. He has kept

:32:28. > :32:35.this frame very tight, has Mark Selby.

:32:36. > :32:36.APPLAUSE John Higgins hasn't had a pot to

:32:37. > :32:52.look at. This is not a bad shot. Purposely

:32:53. > :32:53.played it with a bit of pace because of the situation of the brown and

:32:54. > :33:14.blue. He is favourite now to take four

:33:15. > :33:15.frames in a row. It really was a terrific display last evening, to

:33:16. > :33:49.win the last three. There was one person in the Crucible

:33:50. > :34:08.liked that last shot, a loan clapper.

:34:09. > :34:20.The reds running loose, he needs a good cue ball? Where is it going? In

:34:21. > :34:30.the pocket! Just caught it a fraction too thick, the safety. And

:34:31. > :34:32.of course, ball-in-hand, looking at the red to the middle. This red and

:34:33. > :34:41.the black... Will put him 60 points in front with

:34:42. > :35:08.just 59 remaining. He's got to be careful there. He

:35:09. > :35:17.left the rest on the table. If you touch one of the balls with the cue

:35:18. > :35:25.or the rest, it is a foul. And when you finish your short with the rest,

:35:26. > :35:29.you have to give it to the referee. You have to take it off the table.

:35:30. > :35:35.That is the ball that means that John Higgins needs a snooker. Highly

:35:36. > :35:42.unlikely he will get back to the table now. Didn't really have much

:35:43. > :35:45.chance, and if there was any little run of the ball going in this frame,

:35:46. > :35:54.it certainly went the way of Mark Selby. One particular long shot that

:35:55. > :36:03.he missed and got the double-kiss, which left it safe.

:36:04. > :36:15.But just the start the defending champion was looking for. He will

:36:16. > :36:16.know in the back of his mind that he wants to win this session at least

:36:17. > :36:46.5-3. He's got the perfect start. Not quite. I don't think John

:36:47. > :36:57.Higgins will bother coming back to the table. He doesn't, nods

:36:58. > :37:02.concession. He trails 10-8. Hazel Irvine: Steve, John, myself and all

:37:03. > :37:06.of you are watching this final eagerly, and the awaited comeback is

:37:07. > :37:12.on, because having one the last three last night, there is a bit of

:37:13. > :37:18.deja vu about this from a finals perspective for Mark was Mike same

:37:19. > :37:22.thing with Ronnie O'Sullivan. It is looking the same. He came back to

:37:23. > :37:30.beat Ronnie 18-14, so he has got previous. It has become a trademark

:37:31. > :37:35.for Mark Selby, this comeback. Suddenly. The first frame, very

:37:36. > :37:38.important to get on the board. It was understandably a bit of a

:37:39. > :37:43.tactical frame, when nobody was trying to take any risks will stop I

:37:44. > :37:48.think the way he has won it, you will be quite pleased with it. He

:37:49. > :37:53.never actually had to make any big decisions, really big decisions, or

:37:54. > :37:59.put it all on the line. It was virtually identical to the one

:38:00. > :38:03.Higgins played last night at 8-4, and there was a bit of that in that

:38:04. > :38:08.one. He was so determined to win the frame, it didn't matter how he won

:38:09. > :38:12.it. At the start of each session, it is like to make boxes feeling each

:38:13. > :38:16.other out. As the session unfolds, the players open up a bit, take more

:38:17. > :38:23.risks once they know their cue arm is going right. John will be looking

:38:24. > :38:28.over his shoulder at the moment and needs to steady the ship. It was the

:38:29. > :38:29.longest frame in this final so far. It has been very free-flowing and

:38:30. > :38:57.hugely enjoyable. APPLAUSE

:38:58. > :39:07.COMMENTATOR: Not a bad break off, just the one red came out. The

:39:08. > :39:15.pyramid is more or less intact. It looks as if Mark Selby's set his

:39:16. > :39:20.stall out to play very, very tight snooker here to get back in this. It

:39:21. > :39:23.seems as if he is going to make life very difficult for John Higgins and

:39:24. > :39:27.he's not going to be risking anything. With the red up the other

:39:28. > :39:41.end of the table, and only stalemate. -- an early stalemate.

:39:42. > :39:59.Not touching any red, otherwise the referee would have declared that.

:40:00. > :40:04.He will just roll back into them again, because he can't take that

:40:05. > :40:10.red next to the yellow from that position. If he gets a chance, he

:40:11. > :40:13.could send it up the table and get the frame back to normal, but that

:40:14. > :40:17.is all that is available at the moment. It may be a touching ball

:40:18. > :40:36.now. No? Some referees would find it

:40:37. > :40:42.difficult to see from that position whether they were touching or not,

:40:43. > :40:49.but this referee is about six foot four and doesn't have that problem.

:40:50. > :40:51.23 years he has been refereeing. And he has been one of the best, no

:40:52. > :41:06.doubt about it. And that is going to get the frame

:41:07. > :41:11.back to normal. John wants that to run a little bit. I think he is a

:41:12. > :41:16.bit short of pace. He wanted to cover the red near the yellow,

:41:17. > :41:22.because if Mark can get to the right-hand side of the red as he

:41:23. > :41:36.looks, quite an easy return to baulk. Six hours of tough match

:41:37. > :41:37.snooker. I don't think he can hit that red without swerving it, and

:41:38. > :41:51.that's what he's going to do. And that's the frame back to normal

:41:52. > :42:03.again. APPLAUSE

:42:04. > :42:06.John Higgins knocked a pot like this in yesterday, bridging over the

:42:07. > :42:13.yellow, and it was an incredibly long red.

:42:14. > :42:24.And he's got it again! APPLAUSE

:42:25. > :42:39.What brilliant cueing to knock Latin. -- to knock that in.

:42:40. > :42:46.CROWD GROANS I don't know why he hit it that

:42:47. > :43:00.hard. It was as if he wasn't ready to play the shot.

:43:01. > :43:18.That's the third black he has missed off the spot. He has got an angle on

:43:19. > :43:20.the blue here. Someone moving in his line of sight there, but he is

:43:21. > :43:28.playing this with a terrific amount of left-hand side. He is going to go

:43:29. > :43:30.between the yellow and brown, off the bottom side cushion, and then

:43:31. > :43:41.into the reds. Look at this shop he has played!

:43:42. > :43:50.APPLAUSE CHEERING

:43:51. > :43:56.-- look at this shot he has played. The pace you are generating into the

:43:57. > :43:59.cue Bull, particularly as he was stunning in between the yellow and

:44:00. > :44:09.brown. You would think, first chance he gets, get up the table, get

:44:10. > :44:18.leaping back down this end. You would like to have the pink back at

:44:19. > :44:23.this end. Just checking to see if he can get position on the black. He

:44:24. > :44:38.could play for the black and still be on the blue. Stunning round off

:44:39. > :44:47.two cushions. Needs to miss the blue... And he didn't. Well, he may

:44:48. > :44:50.be able to cut the pink in. I would rather be thinking of cutting the

:44:51. > :44:57.pink in and trying to find a path for the cue ball and potting the

:44:58. > :44:59.blue. It depends how difficult he thinks the pink is, but he's going

:45:00. > :45:14.for it. APPLAUSE

:45:15. > :45:33.Well, he didn't quite hit that as thin as he intended, because it went

:45:34. > :45:42.in off the jaws. There is a path around the back of that red that is

:45:43. > :45:53.mere percussion. -- that is near the cushion. That is amazing. He has had

:45:54. > :46:01.the first two frames with all the run of the ball. Very, very

:46:02. > :46:12.fortunate there. And John is smiling to himself. What a difference that

:46:13. > :46:20.makes, when you make a mistake like this and leave absolutely nothing.

:46:21. > :46:31.That is why we say it is a cruel game. There is no really good safety

:46:32. > :46:39.shot on here, so he will just be playing to contain safety. As you

:46:40. > :46:40.say, Dennis, in these longer matches, there is time for it to

:46:41. > :47:04.turn around. And we could be in for another long

:47:05. > :47:10.frame. With that red up at the other end of the table, and that one has

:47:11. > :47:35.joined it, just past the blue spot, another very awkward looking frame.

:47:36. > :47:40.I used to hate these frames, John. It is just a case of tip tapping for

:47:41. > :47:59.a while. He did bring the black interplay,

:48:00. > :48:05.the -- he is bringing the black into play. It is an important safety

:48:06. > :48:19.exchange, this, now. Just a little drop into the reds,

:48:20. > :48:45.you would imagine. That was dangerous, he had to find

:48:46. > :48:53.the top cushion, and he didn't. The pink has now gone safe. In fact, he

:48:54. > :48:54.didn't find the top cushion, and you would expect Mark Selby to play a

:48:55. > :49:08.better safety shot than that. Just looking, if he hits the bottom

:49:09. > :49:14.one, will be red go towards the left middle? There are already seven reds

:49:15. > :49:17.at the other end of the table. There might be a few more before we

:49:18. > :49:35.resolve this situation. This was John's shot as he tried...

:49:36. > :49:36.Look at the white... When it bounces, it takes the back spin off

:49:37. > :49:58.it. This was the last thing that John

:49:59. > :50:03.Higgins wanted, two friends like this. He had a three frame

:50:04. > :50:08.advantage, and he hasn't had a shot at a ball, hasn't got in amongst

:50:09. > :50:16.them at all. -- two frames like this. Patients... That's the key at

:50:17. > :50:49.the moment. -- patience. The reason players

:50:50. > :50:55.don't like these type of frames is that if someone goes for a risky

:50:56. > :51:00.pot, or you can't get it safe, all the red Czar there for the taking,

:51:01. > :51:07.so you know that if you make one mistake, it could be your last shot

:51:08. > :51:29.in the frame. There are only three reds left that

:51:30. > :52:14.this side of the table. Well, what an unusual frame.

:52:15. > :52:21.He was just right and that the second red might not go towards the

:52:22. > :52:25.far left corner here. There was only one red left on this side of the

:52:26. > :52:31.table. I don't think I've ever seen a frame quite like this. They have

:52:32. > :52:58.made a right mess of it. Neither... Oh, he has left it. Can

:52:59. > :53:02.you believe that? To wobble and go across. I was starting to think,

:53:03. > :53:11.where was the safety going to be? There was nothing at this end to

:53:12. > :53:12.play behind, but that red... The run of the ball certainly still not

:53:13. > :53:28.favouring John. It is going to have to be the green,

:53:29. > :53:33.I think. But if he can get the blue back on its spot in a couple of

:53:34. > :55:01.shots' time, he will have a chance. He was very unlucky there, John

:55:02. > :55:05.Higgins. I'm sure he was just trying to knock that red onto the cushion

:55:06. > :55:10.and send the black back up the table. Let's show you it again. He

:55:11. > :55:14.is not playing to pot this. He is playing it on to cushion to send it

:55:15. > :55:18.up the table. It wobbled in the jaws and stayed over the other corner

:55:19. > :55:43.pocket. It was very unfortunate. There are only the three colours he

:55:44. > :55:48.can play for at the moment, Mark. He won't risk playing the pink or the

:55:49. > :55:52.black, or even the brown. The red he would like to get rid of, sooner

:55:53. > :55:55.rather than later, is the one immediately to the right of the blue

:55:56. > :56:04.at the moment. That is stopping the blue going into both metal pockets.

:56:05. > :56:08.So, just playing an area here, because if he could get on that red,

:56:09. > :56:21.it would be a bonus. There are other reds to play for obviously. It looks

:56:22. > :56:26.pretty good. As I say, he is playing for a choice of three reds, but the

:56:27. > :56:31.one to the right of the blue is the one he would love to be on. He is

:56:32. > :56:45.hampered, so he will play for the green or yellow now.

:56:46. > :56:51.Already got a 29 point lead. Big favourite now to take this second

:56:52. > :57:21.frame of this third session. I think the red just above the

:57:22. > :57:29.yellow goes to the far left corner, so... The reds that he needs are in

:57:30. > :57:45.the open, but the more low value colours he takes that -- the more

:57:46. > :57:49.low value colours he takes... Yeah, he's going to have to pot an awful

:57:50. > :57:52.lot of balls for not many points, but as long as he keeps potting

:57:53. > :58:00.them, he will get to the winning line.

:58:01. > :58:23.And he is well on his way to winning five frames in a row.

:58:24. > :58:32.Now, where has he finished here? 40 ahead. Still needs a few more. I

:58:33. > :58:37.think you can just stun in between the two reds and back out. That

:58:38. > :59:18.would give a choice of yellow or green here.

:59:19. > :59:27.Now, according to the side bar, he needs another 29 points to get to

:59:28. > :59:35.snookers required. With that yellow and green that he is playing for,

:59:36. > :59:46.that is another three reds required. Not quite a formality yet. There is

:59:47. > :00:00.what he has potted side two blues, four greens, and a yellow. Make that

:00:01. > :00:04.two yellows. Yes, and clever thinking, 46 points in the league.

:00:05. > :00:10.Red and blue will put on 52 points in front with just 51 remaining. So,

:00:11. > :00:27.that is how he has got his nine points - red, yellow, red, blue.

:00:28. > :00:43.APPLAUSE It does not really matter, the wrong

:00:44. > :00:47.side of the blue. Just make sure that the blue, he will not try and

:00:48. > :00:50.power attending ghetto for the two red that a Navy of the cushion. --

:00:51. > :01:11.power it in. He has kept his concentration, he

:01:12. > :01:14.did not rush this break. It is such an unusual situation with all the

:01:15. > :01:17.reds at the other end of the table. It is not a straightforward break so

:01:18. > :01:36.you have to plan your way around it. APPLAUSE

:01:37. > :01:43.It would have been more straight forward if he was in amongst the

:01:44. > :01:44.pinks. It took well over eight minutes to compile that 40 break,

:01:45. > :02:02.but it was important. You would not give John much chance

:02:03. > :02:42.in this frame, there's nothing to play behind, here.

:02:43. > :02:47.That red, what do you think about the red just behind the yellow? I do

:02:48. > :03:09.not think John can get to it. APPLAUSE

:03:10. > :03:14.Good shot! To keep it at one snick required he will have to play the

:03:15. > :03:20.double. No other shot available to him.

:03:21. > :03:32.He looks around at Mark Selby... Two very tactical frames, he has taken

:03:33. > :03:38.both of them and all other son didn't he is just frame behind. John

:03:39. > :03:42.Higgins 15 in a row LANS is final and this is fired in a row for Mark

:03:43. > :03:49.Selby and he was gifted the chance from Mark Higgins. It never looks

:03:50. > :03:53.good when you missed them it looks like he is bashed it. If it goes in

:03:54. > :04:00.the middle and you split the reds opened, it is the hero shot. John

:04:01. > :04:04.Higgins is reeling. 10-4, it is tough to get that lead out of Europe

:04:05. > :04:09.brain and you are being reeled back in.

:04:10. > :04:14.# It is tough to get that lead out of your brain. I know what that

:04:15. > :04:20.feels like to have someone breathing up on your shoulder. Somewhere down

:04:21. > :04:26.the line John will steady the ship, it is usually when sudden parity

:04:27. > :04:32.sets in and then you can start to compete, again. It's been tough job.

:04:33. > :04:39.He not happy, he he's been looking up at the commentary box, he thinks

:04:40. > :04:43.the light is bright. Do you feel, John, that yesterday was such a

:04:44. > :04:47.golden opportunity for Selby so far off his game, it was extraordinary

:04:48. > :04:51.to witness, that perhaps he is kicking himself that it did not take

:04:52. > :04:58.the bed branded? He would have been like that, it was mentioned about

:04:59. > :05:05.one hour or two hours, he would have been steaming, that it was only

:05:06. > :05:08.10-7. It is still there in the back of his mind. It is just how you

:05:09. > :05:14.approach it. At the moment Mark Selby has played to rock-hard

:05:15. > :05:22.brains, and slowly but surely he's clawing his way back as it always

:05:23. > :05:26.does. -- two rock-hard frames. We consider John Higgins has bolded

:05:27. > :05:30.bit, it in the interview he will say he blew it if you lose is this

:05:31. > :05:37.match. That is at the highest possible level, so it is not that

:05:38. > :05:46.embarrassing. There was a long, long way to go.

:05:47. > :05:53.COMMENTATOR: Yes, in fairness we can have a look at John Higgins but it

:05:54. > :05:59.is probably a terrific long read. He missed the black which you can do, I

:06:00. > :06:10.agree he did not hit it smoothly, but he has not had a decent chance,

:06:11. > :06:14.yet. He has had a bad run of the ball, Mark Selby has got away with

:06:15. > :06:17.it a few times, he has had a series of cannons and left everything safe.

:06:18. > :06:39.Let's even get going. Never easy striking down, he has hit

:06:40. > :06:55.it to fall, which is wide that cue ball has any hit the blue spot area.

:06:56. > :06:59.CROWD GROANS. Much too thick and the one he missed was the one that mark

:07:00. > :07:00.could part but I am not sure he could get round the back of the

:07:01. > :07:16.black. Wow, he had has played it with a

:07:17. > :07:23.touch at the side. Has he got away with it, again? He was concentrating

:07:24. > :07:35.so much on getting round the back of the black... This is the one

:07:36. > :07:37.instance, when we see that red mist, you come to the table and be glad

:07:38. > :07:42.that your opponent did not punish you. Looking up to leave anything

:07:43. > :08:04.easy. And it is the, past the blue.

:08:05. > :08:06.APPLAUSE Now, this is the first proper chance

:08:07. > :08:24.that John has had. He will be kicking himself. He has

:08:25. > :08:34.missed a sitter. And he did not leave anything easy.

:08:35. > :08:51.That was a tremendous opening pot. John will recognise the importance

:08:52. > :09:04.of this visit, to punish your opponent when they miss.

:09:05. > :09:19.All of his intention was an train to get round the back of the black,

:09:20. > :09:29.it's nearly dropped. -- Mark has got to sit there and suffer. He has hit

:09:30. > :09:42.this too hard. He is not in perfect position, by any means.

:09:43. > :09:56.APPLAUSE Good recovery. He would love to get

:09:57. > :10:00.on the red that is next to the black. Having a look at the yellow.

:10:01. > :10:11.John is quite an attacking player. He has played for the split, wow. He

:10:12. > :10:29.is stuck on them. He thought about playing the green

:10:30. > :10:33.and going back for the red necks to the black, and then he decided he

:10:34. > :10:41.would take the bull by the horns and try and split them.

:10:42. > :10:44.That was an awkward angle, but well played.

:10:45. > :10:59.APPLAUSE He could not get the other side of

:11:00. > :11:05.the blue, a delicate shop he played. He had to be careful not to push it

:11:06. > :11:10.and he did well. Yes, the blue is taking him away from the red. The

:11:11. > :11:29.pink wood offer a certain position but it is missable macro.

:11:30. > :11:45.But the top spin but did not find of the gap. Plenty of top spin on it,

:11:46. > :11:55.but it needed to get between the brown and yellow, there.

:11:56. > :12:05.And much more open frame from the two previous weather balls went very

:12:06. > :12:12.awkward. -- when the balls. He is to get a good length with the cue for,

:12:13. > :12:16.here. The brown could come back down the table. That is why he's taking

:12:17. > :12:35.this one. I tell you what's come out what a

:12:36. > :12:40.good shot that was. I cannot think of many players that would have

:12:41. > :13:00.chosen that is the safety. Well played.

:13:01. > :13:07.A huge frame the John Higgins. He needs to start the rot, he has lost

:13:08. > :13:43.five in a row. APPLAUSE

:13:44. > :13:46.What are shot John Higgins is just tapping the table, there is no brown

:13:47. > :14:01.there so there is only the yellow and green to trying get in behind.

:14:02. > :14:14.Tapping the table. I would not have been tapping in my day. I believe

:14:15. > :14:15.that players playing this safety are trying to get near the baulk

:14:16. > :14:39.cushion. Very close, I'm sure Mark will have

:14:40. > :14:45.it replaced, it all depends on whether brown was, really. It went

:14:46. > :14:53.in off the brown, so he will have a pretty good idea. Might pick up the

:14:54. > :15:01.monitor, there. Touched it. One of the top referees. To me, again. Keep

:15:02. > :15:06.coming to me. He is a car park attendant.

:15:07. > :15:19.LAUGHTER Move your hand. A touch to you. Yeah, yeah. That is near

:15:20. > :15:22.enough. That is spot on, this is so tough to judge. He might come down

:15:23. > :15:36.and hit the red and the pink. He has done the same thing again

:15:37. > :15:48.APPLAUSE .

:15:49. > :15:55.The car park attendant again... LAUGHTER Better missing it a couple

:15:56. > :15:59.of times than giving eight away. It is nice to see. They have had a chat

:16:00. > :16:12.with each of John and Mark, and that was nice to see. -- they'd had a

:16:13. > :16:18.chat with each other. OK, John? Mark? Thank you. Smiles all around

:16:19. > :16:32.but now back to the serious stuff can catch the red?

:16:33. > :16:46.Oh, hello! CHEERING

:16:47. > :16:51.APPLAUSE Have you ever seen anything like

:16:52. > :16:57.that before? LAUGHTER The one thing is says on

:16:58. > :17:02.you have got to applaud the referee for putting the brown back in the

:17:03. > :17:07.same place. Perfect, the rights to me.

:17:08. > :17:15.LAUGHTER. Be quiet for a second. Bring the ball to me at touch. John?

:17:16. > :17:16.Mark? LAUGHTER Come on, let's clipped it

:17:17. > :17:36.this time, John. Brilliant! Chairing APPLAUSE

:17:37. > :17:44.That deserves a tap on the table. -- CHEERING

:17:45. > :17:46.That relieved a bit of tension, I can tell you.

:17:47. > :17:54.There was a lot of tension in those two opening frames.

:17:55. > :18:33.He can get down off the red the left of the pink.

:18:34. > :18:49.He needed a bit more pace than that. He came up short of the baulk line.

:18:50. > :18:55.We'll Mark Selby be tempted? He is looking... Yes, heating get on the

:18:56. > :19:13.black here if he hits this correct. APPLAUSE

:19:14. > :19:39.And look where he has finished. Right on the black.

:19:40. > :19:50.APPLAUSE When it set off, have a look at this

:19:51. > :19:59.now... That was not going in the pocket and then all of a sudden it

:20:00. > :20:36.upheld nicely in. Amazing. -- is held nicely in.

:20:37. > :20:51.All square. All the red senior in the middle of the table. -- all the

:20:52. > :21:28.reds he needs. The frame will be at his mercy.

:21:29. > :21:40.CROWD GROANS How many times have we seen that, when they take that as of

:21:41. > :21:47.the pot. Mark has now missed three blacks off the spot. That is the

:21:48. > :21:57.chance that John has been waiting for.

:21:58. > :22:05.At the moment it seems chances are coming from unexpected messes.

:22:06. > :22:18.This could be a pivotal moment. Never saw that coming.

:22:19. > :22:53.I/O is pink when you get these chances, you come to the table...

:22:54. > :23:00.-- I always think when you get these chances. You come to the table with

:23:01. > :23:06.more relief because you are just glad to be back.

:23:07. > :23:25.He just needs 28 more points to get to the snooker required stage.

:23:26. > :23:38.Not a straightforward run to the winning post in this frame.

:23:39. > :23:47.The red is next to the pink, alt commission, there is one text of the

:23:48. > :23:55.cushion. John mentioned he needed for reds.

:23:56. > :24:13.I like this shot. The red was always going to be over the middle pocket.

:24:14. > :24:27.This is not where he wanted the cue ball. He has got the brown. That was

:24:28. > :24:38.strange. A bit of adrenaline, I think. Absolutely. This is a

:24:39. > :24:53.terrific shot, can he judge this a bit better?

:24:54. > :25:13.Good solid cueing, nicely on the black. It looks like you get the

:25:14. > :25:19.first on the scoreboard. -- it looks like he will get the

:25:20. > :26:18.first frame on the scoreboard. That will give Mark Selby a lot to

:26:19. > :26:22.think about. He was taking control before.

:26:23. > :26:40.John Higgins and all his fans will be feeling better, now. A lot of his

:26:41. > :26:54.family are here. It is worse that the family watching

:26:55. > :26:56.the displaying. -- it is worse for the family watching Bennett is for

:26:57. > :27:40.the supplier. APPLAUSE

:27:41. > :27:48.This will make John Higgins Phil and four lot better. -- this will make

:27:49. > :27:55.John Higgins Phil an awful lot better. He is 2p bend the head,

:27:56. > :28:03.again. There is one more to play aboard the middle session interval.

:28:04. > :28:08.Psychologically, how important just to keep Mark Selby from drawing

:28:09. > :28:12.level with him, he still has them at arms length put littered with

:28:13. > :28:16.mistakes. There were two misses in that frame, the best one on the red

:28:17. > :28:24.in the middle pocket, you cannot believe he has missed it. That is

:28:25. > :28:29.never read he's going to miss. The funny thing is, I said to you off

:28:30. > :28:33.there, it will be interesting to see it the make something, we know we

:28:34. > :28:36.talking about the world number one, but there is something psychological

:28:37. > :28:41.bar during level. When you have done all the hard work to graft your way

:28:42. > :28:44.back in when you can win the frame, there was something about it that

:28:45. > :28:51.adds a bit of pressure. I thought there might of been a mistake. What

:28:52. > :28:55.is clear is that neither of them are impervious to pressure. It is

:28:56. > :29:00.fascinating. To the greatest players and scorers on the days and they are

:29:01. > :29:07.playing like scared kittens. It is marvellous for it. It is impossible

:29:08. > :29:10.to predict how it will come. Do not see at the moment how anyone would

:29:11. > :29:18.take the game by the scrub of the neck, but somebody probably will. --

:29:19. > :29:20.by the scope of the neck. We don't usually see mistakes like this at

:29:21. > :29:27.the well final. The more exciting for that.

:29:28. > :29:33.Last frame before the mid-session interval.

:29:34. > :29:44.Can John Higgins take it and shared the session? Can he keep the

:29:45. > :30:17.advantage he had at the start of the session?

:30:18. > :30:25.No, I thought everyone thought it was going to slip in behind the

:30:26. > :30:32.brown. If John can get through to the side

:30:33. > :30:37.of the reds... Of course, when you get to these final sessions of a

:30:38. > :30:43.World Championship, Dennis, Mark Selby would have come out today, set

:30:44. > :30:47.himself a little girl, to win three copy first four Prince. Having won

:30:48. > :30:54.the first two, if John Higgins wins this next frame, and it is as you

:30:55. > :30:58.were, so to speak, it will be a blow to Mark Selby, particularly when he

:30:59. > :31:03.looks back and sees the black off the spot.

:31:04. > :31:07.APPLAUSE There is a lot of pressure on Mark

:31:08. > :31:12.here. If he comes out of this little mini-session of four frames two

:31:13. > :31:17.apiece, he will not be happy, and neither should he be. He has had the

:31:18. > :31:34.run of the ball, he has had the opportunities and not taken them.

:31:35. > :31:41.And just maybe, that little situation where John kept missing

:31:42. > :31:53.and going in off the brown, having a laugh with Mark and the crowd, maybe

:31:54. > :32:04.that has just settle him down. Not only the plant, but look at the kiss

:32:05. > :32:10.on the brown. Well, that's... You can't pick that shot out. He's very

:32:11. > :32:22.good at angles, but that was an amazing plant. The kiss on the

:32:23. > :32:26.brown... John will be thinking. I have always said Mark Selby is a

:32:27. > :32:29.shotmaker, but he didn't put his hand up and apologise, so maybe he

:32:30. > :32:34.thought there was half a chance of that red going near the pocket. But

:32:35. > :32:36.I agree with you, to get it, how many times out of 100 would you not

:32:37. > :33:19.it in? -- knock it in? Well, the black's tied up with the

:33:20. > :33:25.two red's. You think he would scatter them and develop not only

:33:26. > :33:32.the reds and the pink, but he could clear one of the reds away from the

:33:33. > :33:49.black. How hard would he hit it? Pretty hard... It did three the

:33:50. > :33:51.black, but look where it has put it. At least he's got the pink and blue

:33:52. > :34:25.to work with. Now, this will be interesting, when

:34:26. > :34:30.the pink goes back on its spot, is it going to be available into any

:34:31. > :34:35.pockets as much as you say, Dennis, with the blackout of commission, OK,

:34:36. > :34:37.he has got the blue and baulk colours, but he needs the pink to be

:34:38. > :34:58.available as well. Just going round to see if it goes

:34:59. > :35:10.into the right corner. Looks as though it will.

:35:11. > :35:21.He won't necessarily play for the pink, but it goes into the opposite

:35:22. > :35:27.corner. He did. Sets it up nicely. Now, no easy misses here.

:35:28. > :35:57.The reds are covering each other now, so he needs an angle from the

:35:58. > :36:05.pink to come back off the cushion to disturb some, play at the top spin,

:36:06. > :36:08.right-hand side. -- play it with top spin. He is annoyed at where he has

:36:09. > :36:15.left the cue all, which makes it very difficult to bring the reds

:36:16. > :36:19.interplay. The only downside of this is, to go into the reds, you will

:36:20. > :36:24.have to play with right-hand side. With a lot of pace, he will have to

:36:25. > :36:33.judge the throw of the side, which makes the pink missable. That tells

:36:34. > :36:37.me he won't even attempt that. People pot the pink, and then

:36:38. > :36:41.looking at another difficult plant. He could play the safety shot also.

:36:42. > :36:46.That first plant was quite incredible. This is a bit easier.

:36:47. > :37:17.But even that is difficult. So, he has played to leave the

:37:18. > :37:23.plant. Yeah, but, well I'll be amazed if he plays it. It's too

:37:24. > :37:27.risky, surely. There is no way he can guarantee it being safe. If the

:37:28. > :37:32.cue ball was going back to baulk, playing the plan, I would have a go,

:37:33. > :37:34.but as I said earlier, he is a shot maker. I can't believe this is the

:37:35. > :37:55.right shot. Neither can he! On this occasion.

:37:56. > :38:01.APPLAUSE Yeah, the first plant, he was

:38:02. > :38:05.playing it as a shot to nothing. As you mentioned, John, he could play

:38:06. > :38:09.that 100 times, the opening plant, and be lucky to get it. Lucky to get

:38:10. > :38:25.it five or six times. In fact, it's worth another look at

:38:26. > :38:32.the opening one. It takes some judgment, that. That was a useful

:38:33. > :38:39.nudge on the brown, but it was a sort of free shot. Yes, and

:38:40. > :38:43.sometimes you see those sort of shots, you know you have a good

:38:44. > :38:48.angle to get back to baulk. The significant thing to me was, he

:38:49. > :38:50.didn't put his hand up to apologise, which he would have done had it been

:38:51. > :39:08.totally unexpected. APPLAUSE

:39:09. > :39:15.You can't get a better length of cue ball than that. John Higgins, having

:39:16. > :39:19.a look at these two reds. They are not a plant. There is a gap that

:39:20. > :39:29.could be made. The fear I would have, if you hit it too thick, you

:39:30. > :39:37.could carry the red near the black. -- you could cannon the red near the

:39:38. > :40:32.black. He did. Where will be red go? John's turn to have a little run.

:40:33. > :40:52.Just coming up to the minute mark for thinking time here.

:40:53. > :41:05.I think he was trying to make it ultrasafe here. I'm surprised he

:41:06. > :41:17.played that shot. That helps - touching ball. No value in going to

:41:18. > :41:29.the baulk end, so just go off the side cushion. Nestled into the black

:41:30. > :41:33.would be as good as anything. If you don't leave anything, as I say,

:41:34. > :41:38.there is no advantage to going into the baulk end while that red is in

:41:39. > :42:18.the baulk area. You just leave an easy safety shot for your opponent.

:42:19. > :42:26.John might be able to take that red now. If he gets a good cue ball, he

:42:27. > :42:47.could make it quite awkward for Mark Selby.

:42:48. > :43:03.I'm just wondering if there is a possible chance of taking a pot on

:43:04. > :43:18.back down the table. There are a lot of balls to avoid. He could just

:43:19. > :43:27.snick this one in. APPLAUSE

:43:28. > :43:38.He does pick out some terrific shots.

:43:39. > :43:46.But when he tried a shot like this yesterday, he was further away and

:43:47. > :44:01.he didn't reach the green. All sorts of trouble.

:44:02. > :44:16.John will have to find a red to nestle onto.

:44:17. > :44:23.The reds nearly pink, if he landed in that, it wouldn't be too bad. The

:44:24. > :44:26.others you would be looking for the two near the cushion on the

:44:27. > :44:32.right-hand side, just nestle onto that. I think he's playing into the

:44:33. > :44:36.side of the reds here. But he doesn't want to play it with too

:44:37. > :44:48.much pace push one into a pottable position. He wants just to land on

:44:49. > :45:01.it. APPLAUSE

:45:02. > :45:14.Well, can he get through to pot this red? He's having a very close look.

:45:15. > :45:22.Can he turn it over with a trace of left-hand side?

:45:23. > :45:31.It must be close. It is interesting him.

:45:32. > :45:50.He thinks he can pot this. Remember the great Fred Davis were used to do

:45:51. > :45:53.that? You would be sitting in your seat, thinking, this won't go, then

:45:54. > :46:01.he would knock it down and everyone would cheer.

:46:02. > :46:10.Oh... He just couldn't hit enough of it, as it turned out. Did he play it

:46:11. > :46:21.with a trace of side? I think he did, turned it over a fraction too

:46:22. > :46:29.much. When they are that close together, they are so awkward to

:46:30. > :46:33.judge. This frame, like the three before, feeding off your opponent's

:46:34. > :46:39.mistakes, you have got to punish them, and if John Higgins could go

:46:40. > :46:48.into the interval still with a 3- frame advantage... After losing the

:46:49. > :46:54.first two, remember, it would be job done. That is a chance. I won't take

:46:55. > :46:58.anything for granted here. You can feel the tension in the air. Noisy

:46:59. > :47:13.shots now. APPLAUSE

:47:14. > :47:30.He missed one easy pink into that

:47:31. > :47:54.pocket. But that is long gone from his memory bank.

:47:55. > :48:02.Played it well, but looking at John's phase, I don't think he has

:48:03. > :48:06.quite the angle he was looking for. He was looking for an angle to pot

:48:07. > :48:11.the pink and maybe run into these three reds. He is now desperately

:48:12. > :48:24.hoping that the left-hand one goes. It is tight.

:48:25. > :48:32.He thinks it just goes. The chances of John winning the frame at this

:48:33. > :48:39.visit, well, it is long odds, funny, but he is desperate to get back in

:48:40. > :48:42.the frame, points wise. That will be his priority. Does this red go? Boy,

:48:43. > :49:13.it's tight. Well, watch the red. That was well

:49:14. > :49:17.judged, that. Just looking to see if that back red of the two is

:49:18. > :49:21.available, so he must be pretty straight on the pink again. He has a

:49:22. > :49:33.slight angle, so he may be able to cannon them.

:49:34. > :49:45.On these lively cloth is, he could force the pink, nudge the reds. --

:49:46. > :49:57.these lively cloths. So, he's not too sure about those

:49:58. > :50:13.two. And that was the reason he screwed it back.

:50:14. > :50:23.APPLAUSE He is back again, looking. Still not

:50:24. > :50:48.sure. Well, he has convinced himself that

:50:49. > :51:07.the bottom red does go. And he was right.

:51:08. > :51:15.APPLAUSE . He has run too far and just push

:51:16. > :51:27.the cue ball through an inch too far. Even a quarter of an inch. He

:51:28. > :51:33.is not on the pink. You see it. So, he has only a safety shot shot to

:51:34. > :51:36.play. But he has reduced his arrears to only five points, so right back

:51:37. > :51:48.in the frame. APPLAUSE

:51:49. > :51:54.Yeah, just looking at that, if he had it over again, he would have

:51:55. > :52:01.played a little stun there, just make sure second red moved away a

:52:02. > :52:04.bit more. A head scratcher. As I say, he is right back in the frame.

:52:05. > :52:44.A massive frame now, this. Yellow and brown are the targets for

:52:45. > :52:55.John here. Tight on the cushion. He has those two snookering balls.

:52:56. > :53:07.That's pretty good. Judged perfectly. As you can see, that is

:53:08. > :53:37.all that Mark can say. -- can see. APPLAUSE

:53:38. > :53:45.I'm not sure if John would be tempted here to take this read up

:53:46. > :53:49.past the blue. -- to take this red up past the blue, into the corner.

:53:50. > :54:20.He's looking at it. Keeping it tight because he knows

:54:21. > :54:25.they are going into the mid-session interval and he could still have his

:54:26. > :54:35.three frame advantage. No risks at the moment.

:54:36. > :54:45.Yes, and it's not a straightforward run back to the baulk end here. The

:54:46. > :54:54.red in the middle of the table, as we zoom in. He may have to play a

:54:55. > :54:58.containing safety here. If he played the red in the middle of the table,

:54:59. > :55:05.he would have to avoid the two reds at the top cushion. Try to put the

:55:06. > :55:43.cue ball near the black. That is all he could do, really.

:55:44. > :55:56.Three fairly long frames. Because of the way the balls finished up. Still

:55:57. > :56:26.fascinating snooker. They are both so good in the

:56:27. > :56:35.tactical department, as we have mentioned so many times. They are

:56:36. > :56:36.brilliant safety players. John, just ahead in the safety success

:56:37. > :56:50.department. Where is the red going? Where is the

:56:51. > :56:55.red? All of a sudden, the luck has turned around. As we said, sometimes

:56:56. > :57:08.it evens itself out. But what a fluke that could be, because he is

:57:09. > :57:13.on theblue. He needs to hit this with a bit of pace. He would love to

:57:14. > :57:21.be able to get onto the blue, because that is the one that would

:57:22. > :57:29.give you a chance at moving the two reds. He had to swerve around the

:57:30. > :57:35.yellow and flick the blue. To get onto these two is difficult reds, he

:57:36. > :57:52.would have to screw back for the blue.

:57:53. > :57:57.Oh, he miscued. At least he potted it. He was trying to get near where

:57:58. > :58:19.the green is so he could play a cannon.

:58:20. > :58:30.That wasn't the angle. It was a good pot, but he could never get to the

:58:31. > :58:32.two reds from that position. Seven points, the lead, now. But it is all

:58:33. > :58:50.about who gets the next chance. APPLAUSE

:58:51. > :58:56.Now, does Mark Selby take a risk and try to play a good safety here? It

:58:57. > :58:59.is risky. But he doesn't want to just roll up to them, because he

:59:00. > :59:10.would be handing the initiative to John, so... He has put a little bit

:59:11. > :59:12.of distance between the balls, but not really put John under any

:59:13. > :59:29.pressure here. And this is the fourth frame of this

:59:30. > :59:41.session, and everyone has been 20 minutes plus. Both players being

:59:42. > :59:43.extra careful, understandably. This frame has just gone over the

:59:44. > :59:57.half-hour mark. It's a long day, Dennis, isn't it? I

:59:58. > :00:03.think Mark is being ultra-careful. He is trying to find a difficult

:00:04. > :00:06.spot to put John Higgins in, and he's trying to keep the reds safe

:00:07. > :00:12.also. You would normally just get down and play twice across, of the

:00:13. > :00:14.table, but he is trying to get the most difficult position he can to

:00:15. > :00:39.put John in. I'm just wondering if John will take

:00:40. > :00:45.the chance to get in behind the yellow, swing this cue ball around.

:00:46. > :00:46.At the moment, both players are trying to make sure they keep the

:00:47. > :01:00.reds safe also. S He can go down either side of the

:01:01. > :01:20.table. The normal way would be to come off the right side of the red.

:01:21. > :01:26.There's not a lot to play behind going that side. I'm surprised

:01:27. > :01:28.there. I thought the first choice was to swing it round and get in

:01:29. > :01:36.behind the yellow. All this tipping and tapping not to

:01:37. > :01:50.leave a pot on. He's left a pot on here.

:01:51. > :02:09.I think he's got an angle on the green to pot the green and move this

:02:10. > :02:14.difficult red. With a bit of stun, he's pretty good

:02:15. > :02:28.at this type of shot. If he double-kisses the red it will

:02:29. > :03:05.stay. -- stay there. If anything he caught the green a

:03:06. > :03:08.fraction too thin. If the green were in the middle of the pocket, he have

:03:09. > :03:28.got it perfect. You'd be unlucky not to get a

:03:29. > :03:34.snooker here. That's what he's looking at.

:03:35. > :03:37.When the pressure is on, you're thinking don't miss it on the way up

:03:38. > :04:10.and catch it on the way back. He's played it very well. Is there a

:04:11. > :04:13.gap? No gap there. Advantage Mark Selby now. The colours all

:04:14. > :04:20.available. The problem for John Higgins, hit

:04:21. > :04:36.the red, can you get it safe? He's played it well. He's played it

:04:37. > :05:16.very well. That's a little beauty. It's the frame that will take us to

:05:17. > :05:36.the mid-session interval. It's the longest frame of this final so far.

:05:37. > :05:54.I think John can get through to the red.

:05:55. > :05:57.You're trying to put distance between cue ball and object ball

:05:58. > :06:16.here. A snooker is a bonus. I think he's got the snooker. He's

:06:17. > :06:19.going to have to hit the baulk cushion and come back. He's got to

:06:20. > :06:41.go between the pink and blue. Makes it more difficult to know

:06:42. > :06:49.where the red will end up. He's left it. This red cuts. Here's the chance

:06:50. > :06:51.for John Higgins to go out of this mini-session. A tap on the table. I

:06:52. > :07:47.don't know why. If he really wants to hit this red

:07:48. > :07:53.off two cushions, not direct off the baulk cushion. Hit it off the side

:07:54. > :07:54.and kick the red up the table. The white might even come back towards

:07:55. > :08:12.the yellow and brown there. He has judged it. He needs a big

:08:13. > :08:18.bounce with the red. He hasn't got it. This is a chance for Mark Selby.

:08:19. > :08:23.There's a bit of pressure on this long red.

:08:24. > :08:40.But it's the chance he was looking for.

:08:41. > :09:04.You could play the blue. You could play the pink. It's whatever is

:09:05. > :09:09.going to offer you position on the yellow.

:09:10. > :09:15.He'd love to get the cue ball anywhere there. He'd have to power

:09:16. > :09:20.the blue in to get right round there or play the pink to get there. The

:09:21. > :09:27.only reason he's not playing the pink, because the pink is missable.

:09:28. > :09:33.If he plays the blue, as you say, it's going to be an unbelievable

:09:34. > :09:38.shot. I think he's going to roll the blue in and leave a more difficult

:09:39. > :09:43.yellow. Under normal circumstances, if he were a few frames in front,

:09:44. > :09:57.he'd play the pink I'm sure. But the blue is unmissable.

:09:58. > :10:03.Yeah, he could never get it right round to where I had the circle up.

:10:04. > :10:10.He tried to. But it was so difficult.

:10:11. > :10:14.Because he was fairly straight on the blue, he was never really going

:10:15. > :10:32.to be able to get there. No attempt at the pot. So John

:10:33. > :10:34.Higgins will be mighty relieved to come back to the table. He's only

:10:35. > :10:59.three points behind. That was about all he could do. Mark

:11:00. > :11:03.Selby, if he can find the correct spot on the baulk cushion, he's got

:11:04. > :11:08.the brown, the blue and the pink to get a snooker behind.

:11:09. > :11:35.He could have played this better. It needs to pull up. This is aye

:11:36. > :11:41.chance. He can get through to the yellow. I'm nearly certain he can

:11:42. > :11:43.see enough of it. Might be a guide, if he passes the

:11:44. > :12:13.blue. He hit it thick, that's why he's

:12:14. > :12:20.cannoned on the pink. I didn't even think he could hit that much of the

:12:21. > :12:22.pink. I don't think John did either. It all depends, the angle on the

:12:23. > :12:32.yellow, he's got to be careful. He's got to be careful if he screws

:12:33. > :12:38.back too far he could go off in a middle pocket.

:12:39. > :12:51.That is definitely a deep screw off to the left middle.

:12:52. > :12:57.That's all he could do. You see the line. It had gone in off in the

:12:58. > :13:00.middle. This is the big shot. Five points the lead. Green, brown and

:13:01. > :13:12.blue to just be one frame behind. The green was off its spot, which

:13:13. > :13:33.did help. Always nice to win any frame, but to

:13:34. > :13:46.win the longest frame of the match is even better.

:13:47. > :13:56.APPLAUSE Unbelievable snooker. He has taken

:13:57. > :14:03.the mini-session 3-1. He's now just one frame behind.

:14:04. > :14:06.STUDIO: That was a frame, 45 minutes worth of real, tough, hard match

:14:07. > :14:10.play snooker. We thought we were going to get that from the off. This

:14:11. > :14:14.is the first time in effect that the match has slowed down to this

:14:15. > :14:17.degree, Steve? Yeah blood out of a stone stuff. Possibly it's the

:14:18. > :14:23.nature of how it's come to this point. It's not been dinning-dong

:14:24. > :14:28.players -- ding-dong players making nice breaks. One was in front, the

:14:29. > :14:32.other had to dig in. It's got nervy. Can you see why. Mark Selby knows

:14:33. > :14:37.how to play this game. The respect from both players is massive. It

:14:38. > :14:40.wasn't - it's not going to be like this all the time. Somewhere

:14:41. > :14:43.down-the-line somebody will break free of that. Exactly, you guys have

:14:44. > :14:48.so much experience in finals. You've about there and done it. At this

:14:49. > :14:52.point in proceedings, you know, I'm sure, why are you experiencing --

:14:53. > :14:56.what are you experiencing at this point? Different emotions from both

:14:57. > :14:59.players. John Higgins has had the lead and is pegged back. Then back

:15:00. > :15:03.in again. Mark Selby catch up all the time. Nearly got there, let it

:15:04. > :15:07.go. You're going through everything. Rather like you say, this is like

:15:08. > :15:10.moving day the third session. This is massive. It sets the tone for

:15:11. > :15:13.what happens this evening. You can see both players are trying not to

:15:14. > :15:17.make a mistake, perfectly understandable. It's hard snooker.

:15:18. > :15:21.It is. But it's very enjoyable. I hope you're enjoying it at home.

:15:22. > :15:25.Looks like we're in for a very long evening by the look of things. I

:15:26. > :15:31.know Ken Doherty is watching this. I was going to ask you, when you came

:15:32. > :15:35.back to try and defend your title in 1998, you came up a certain John

:15:36. > :15:39.Higgins, it is remarkable to think 19 years later, he's still trying to

:15:40. > :15:44.do something similar to Mark Selby. He's amazing in that regard, isn't

:15:45. > :15:48.he? Incredible. He's there, 19 years, such a tough match player,

:15:49. > :15:54.probably the toughest since Dave Davis. I think Mark Selby has taken

:15:55. > :15:57.over that mantle. It is a complete war of attrition the first four

:15:58. > :16:00.frames. Both players trying to outdo each other. They're forgetting how

:16:01. > :16:04.to play. What they normally do is try and play, as Steve Davis said,

:16:05. > :16:10.when one gets ahead, it becomes a bit a slug fest. If I had words of

:16:11. > :16:13.wisdom for either player in the dressing room, I would say release

:16:14. > :16:17.the shackles. If anybody can get a bit of momentum here, they can go on

:16:18. > :16:21.and get two or three frames and get the balls open a bit and make some

:16:22. > :16:24.breaks. At the moment, they're trying to do each other. They've got

:16:25. > :16:28.bogged down. The pressure is getting to both players. A massive session

:16:29. > :16:31.so far. The momentum is with Mark Selby. John Higgins needs to get a

:16:32. > :16:37.little roll, get his head together and get whack the way he can play.

:16:38. > :16:40.Ken, always words of wis Dom. If you were to to the up the numbers in

:16:41. > :16:44.this year's Championship between the play here and a full qualifying

:16:45. > :16:49.event here beforehand, you would realise we have played nearly 2,300

:16:50. > :16:54.frames of snooker in the last few weeks. But what about the best shots

:16:55. > :16:55.within those frames? I wonder, you'll be judge of this, we have a

:16:56. > :17:20.few starters for ten for you. Four cushions - what a shot!

:17:21. > :17:25.Fantastic shot. I thought it was possibly too straight to play that

:17:26. > :17:31.shot. Excellent. The power it generated.

:17:32. > :17:35.This is dead straight. Knock this for a long screw back. This is a

:17:36. > :17:42.monster. Oh, my goodness! You cannot hit the

:17:43. > :17:52.ball better than that. Tremendous pot.

:17:53. > :18:01.Count the cushions with him. One, two, three, four - I'll tell you

:18:02. > :18:10.what - and there's the green! What a shot. They don't come any better

:18:11. > :18:24.than that. Brilliant. And a snooker to boot.

:18:25. > :18:42.How is this for a shot? Wow! It was a cracking shot.

:18:43. > :18:49.He's coming off side cushion, top cushion, lots of right-hand side.

:18:50. > :18:56.This is risky. What a shot this is! Great shot! Oh, unbelievable! What a

:18:57. > :19:07.time to play an exhibition come trick shot.

:19:08. > :19:16.If he's taking this on, this is really tough. Oh, what a shot! That

:19:17. > :19:28.was incredible. What a shot this will be. Oh, stop

:19:29. > :19:58.it! He's got a beautiful line, if he

:19:59. > :20:06.misses the brown, this is sensational. What a shot that was.

:20:07. > :20:16.The best safety shot of The best safety shot of the

:20:17. > :20:24.tournament so far. Wow, look at this for a shot -

:20:25. > :20:44.unbelievable! Wow. Screw off the side and top cushion

:20:45. > :20:48.with loads of side? Have a look at that for a shot. That is one of the

:20:49. > :20:54.best positional shots you could ever wish to see. This, here, was

:20:55. > :20:55.tremendous, really was. STUDIO: What is your winner? Vote

:20:56. > :21:15.now: Also speaking of voting, earlier on

:21:16. > :21:20.on the BBC Sport website, we asked you to pick your favourite Crucible

:21:21. > :21:25.moment in the last 40 years. A whopping 55% picked the 1985 final

:21:26. > :21:31.between Denis and Steve. Funny, they never pick your sixth world title,

:21:32. > :21:36.never. Second, it was followed by Ronnie O'Sullivan's fastest 147 and

:21:37. > :21:40.Alex Higgins' triumph in 1982. Just condole the boy, shall we. Shot E,

:21:41. > :21:45.we were talking about this a lot over the last week or so. It was

:21:46. > :21:48.Shaun Murphy's incredible trick shot when he was up against Ronnie

:21:49. > :21:52.O'Sullivan. That's had many of you trying to recreate it. We asked you

:21:53. > :22:04.to do this last weekend. Some ffgs entries. This is a cracker. I like

:22:05. > :22:10.the celebration. We're not sure how many attempts each had actually. One

:22:11. > :22:13.is very impressive. Roll up, roll up, Ken Doherty, it's your big

:22:14. > :22:18.moment. Fantastic shot. And John Higgins

:22:19. > :22:21.saying you have to play this shot. I am going to try and play it. He's

:22:22. > :22:25.laughing his head over there. He can't wait. He plays it with

:22:26. > :22:31.right-hand side. It hits the cushion here. It takes effect off the

:22:32. > :22:35.cushion here, comes back at almost a 25 degree angle and hits and pots

:22:36. > :22:41.the red. I've had about 20 goes in practice. A few have gone in. A few

:22:42. > :22:44.missed. This is the practice room. It's not the heat of the battle. Ten

:22:45. > :22:55.to one John Higgins says. Well, you see what I mean. It is the

:22:56. > :22:57.practice room. I knew we should have recorded this instead of doing it

:22:58. > :23:04.live. LAUGHTER

:23:05. > :23:13.We did ask him to do it live. By the time he gets that in he'll look a

:23:14. > :23:16.Robin Carusoe. As you can see from the practice room in world sport,

:23:17. > :23:20.where you have the players, broadcasters, organisers living and

:23:21. > :23:23.working in tight proximity. It's an amazing atmosphere here at The

:23:24. > :23:27.Crucible Theatre. It just makes you want to keep coming back for more,

:23:28. > :23:38.behind-the-scenes and front of house.

:23:39. > :23:46.I'm Rob Walker, snooker MC. It is so important that your contribution to

:23:47. > :23:49.the drama is at the start of the evening and at the appropriate

:23:50. > :23:54.moment. It's just the best place in the world to come and be a part of

:23:55. > :23:59.live snooker. There is no venue like it anywhere in the world, because

:24:00. > :24:02.the place, the people and the players deserve everybody to walk

:24:03. > :24:06.through those doors thinking, right, I'm going to do my little bit to be

:24:07. > :24:11.a part of another great year of snooker. A world class weekend of

:24:12. > :24:19.live sport starts right here, right now in Sheffield.

:24:20. > :24:22.CHEERING The world snooker tournament

:24:23. > :24:25.director. The atmosphere is still there, the fundamentals are still

:24:26. > :24:30.there. The people are so close to the players. The people sat next to

:24:31. > :24:36.the player's seat can virtually touch them. Cameraman, Duncan

:24:37. > :24:39.Richmond. The word unique is overused. Sheffield, The Crucible,

:24:40. > :24:50.is unique. There isn't enough space to work in. Then it becomes one of

:24:51. > :24:54.the most spacious venues to work in. I'm Eugene James, table fitter. It

:24:55. > :24:58.is magic. It's great. When you've been to all the other venues all

:24:59. > :25:04.over the world, this one definitely special. When we service the stables

:25:05. > :25:12.during the tournament, people are right behind you. It's scary

:25:13. > :25:16.sometimes. Snooker referee. I've walked out there five times as the

:25:17. > :25:19.snooker referee, to walk out there through that curtain is an

:25:20. > :25:24.unbelievable. It's the pinnacle of your career. You know, you can feel

:25:25. > :25:29.the atmosphere, the tension, when the MC does the walk ones for the

:25:30. > :25:32.players, it's incredible. I get a lot of stick sometimes on social

:25:33. > :25:38.media for being cheesy, but being cheesy is part of the role, because

:25:39. > :25:44.you're there to pump people up. The Wizard of Wishall, John Higgins. You

:25:45. > :25:47.have to give it a bit of welly because you want the audience to

:25:48. > :25:57.give that back, not to you, but to the players when they walk out. If

:25:58. > :26:02.it's fun for me coming back, in my little role as MC, imagine what that

:26:03. > :26:06.must feel like for the players, first time, tenth time, 23 rd time,

:26:07. > :26:10.must be amazing. You cannot get closer to the crowd. There's no

:26:11. > :26:13.other sport where we work closer with the officials and the players.

:26:14. > :26:24.One wrong move from you and you can put a player off. Rule number one -

:26:25. > :26:32.we're at the back. The players know us, the players trust us. I've

:26:33. > :26:36.always understood that as a rove ree you're a service to the player. You

:26:37. > :26:40.have to have the discipline to always be in the right spot, never

:26:41. > :26:44.to be in the eye line, never move as a player is down on the shot and

:26:45. > :26:49.obviously under extreme pressure make the right decisions. All these

:26:50. > :26:53.people constantly walking around, always makes the table move. They're

:26:54. > :26:57.not allowed to touch the table. We're sat there like bull dogs to

:26:58. > :27:00.make sure they go nowhere near trchlt You never get border of

:27:01. > :27:03.seeing that final day and winning it. Not just because you want to go

:27:04. > :27:08.home, it's because of the excitement and the buzz it gives those players

:27:09. > :27:12.as well. The adrenaline pumps. The more exciting it gets, the more

:27:13. > :27:15.difficult it gets, I find the breathing slows down, the heart rate

:27:16. > :27:20.slows down because you're thinking quicker and quicker and quicker.

:27:21. > :27:26.It's incredibly exciting. When you see the great matches on the table,

:27:27. > :27:32.I don't think a lot of people appreciate how hard we work and what

:27:33. > :27:36.we put into it. I think it's just the satisfaction that you've seen a

:27:37. > :27:43.great game, that's the satisfaction I get really from it.

:27:44. > :27:49.It's just been so, so special to be part of such a great event. It's

:27:50. > :27:58.very humbling. You're watching people live out their dreams under

:27:59. > :28:05.the most intense, immense pressure. So, it means everything that I've

:28:06. > :28:09.had a chance to be part of it. We should all be proud year on year,

:28:10. > :28:13.because the figures are getting better, the sport is getting bigger.

:28:14. > :28:19.This is going out to 70 countries around the world. It's a team effort

:28:20. > :28:22.and we should all be proud. I'm very proud, especially to be

:28:23. > :28:29.chosen for the 40th anniversary of the Crucible. I'm not the youngest

:28:30. > :28:31.any more now, so yeah, if I'm true to myself, I probably think this

:28:32. > :28:35.will be the last one. I'm going to be over the moon and

:28:36. > :28:44.I'm going to be really proud and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.

:28:45. > :28:49.It's one big happy family. Though I'm looking forward to going home.

:28:50. > :28:53.No, I'm joking. It is an incredible event because you do have to work so

:28:54. > :28:56.close to everybody and as I said in the introduction, I can't think of

:28:57. > :29:00.any other events where we are all so closely knitted together here.

:29:01. > :29:05.That's right. In recent years, it must be said, a happier family, when

:29:06. > :29:08.the game was being run by the players, there was all sorts of

:29:09. > :29:14.political in-fighting. Now it's far better set up. Enjoyable to come

:29:15. > :29:19.here. Is this Championship getting bigger and better ever year? I think

:29:20. > :29:23.so. To be honest with you, this is where the want to be. This is what

:29:24. > :29:28.you want to be, in a final like this. John Higgins six frame lead

:29:29. > :29:34.over Mark Selby has been cut to just the one frame. Time for a change in

:29:35. > :29:47.the commentary box now. Seven times world champion Stephen Hendry made

:29:48. > :29:52.his debut against Willie thorn. Thank you Hazel. The only thing you

:29:53. > :30:07.didn't tell them was the result. I'll remind them, I won!

:30:08. > :30:15.This was real connoisseur snooker the first four frames.

:30:16. > :30:21.One for the purists. I don't think you got involved in frames this long

:30:22. > :30:41.in your career, did you? Probably because my safety wasn't

:30:42. > :30:51.good enough! Yesterday, we didn't have a friend that was longer than

:30:52. > :30:53.half an hour. Today, I think the pressure has been cranked up, the

:30:54. > :31:11.final day. The average frame time has crept up

:31:12. > :31:17.over 21 minutes. 28 seconds is quite long. What mattered when you think

:31:18. > :31:26.of the likes of O'Sullivan and Trump, taking 15 seconds per shot.

:31:27. > :31:39.That is an error. Very unlike Mark Selby. I don't think the frames will

:31:40. > :31:46.get any quicker from here on in. The pressure's just going to get higher

:31:47. > :31:48.and higher. Under normal circumstances, John Higgins would

:31:49. > :31:51.play for the black here. I don't know if he will do that or play for

:31:52. > :32:01.the blue. He is playing for the black. If he didn't practice, he is

:32:02. > :32:05.straight into the bunch of this black. He will probably still play

:32:06. > :32:12.some sort of cannon, but not with the same pace he would use if it

:32:13. > :32:17.didn't mean as much. In fact, he didn't even play the cannon. Not the

:32:18. > :32:19.best position all shot he has played. That was a bit tentative, a

:32:20. > :32:37.bit negative. I think he missed the cannon. I

:32:38. > :32:44.don't think there will be anything negative about this shot. Would you

:32:45. > :32:56.not think about playing the drift to Mr pink? The two reds, would you go

:32:57. > :33:05.into them? -- drift to miss the paint. It went up to the far left

:33:06. > :33:10.corner. He has won in the right corner. Except the cue ball has gone

:33:11. > :33:12.into the reds. If that red had bounced off the cushion an inch, it

:33:13. > :33:37.would have been perfect. At first glance, that looks like a

:33:38. > :33:43.terrible shot, but he has played to kiss. Let's see if we can notice it.

:33:44. > :33:50.I presume he is playing half ball on the one just above it. Yes, the red

:33:51. > :33:52.and white jump, so it took all the spin out of the cue ball. He has put

:33:53. > :34:15.himself in trouble now. It didn't look so bad in our

:34:16. > :34:20.picture. I don't know whether he hit it badly. He didn't get great

:34:21. > :34:24.contact on the first red that the cue ball struck. He did that well.

:34:25. > :34:46.APPLAUSE It is amazing what the pressure does

:34:47. > :34:51.to chances like that. You would almost get your house on John

:34:52. > :34:56.Higgins winning it in one sitting from that situation. Everything is

:34:57. > :35:20.difficult from here on in. A test for these two players.

:35:21. > :35:29.To get the White in behind the green, he will have to play a stun.

:35:30. > :35:39.He may play the cannon on the blue, twice across. May be the red is

:35:40. > :35:42.further away from the left corner, but it might have been worth playing

:35:43. > :35:48.a double there. Maybe the red is just a bit further away from the

:35:49. > :35:52.corner pocket. It is normally a shot that Mark Selby would spot

:35:53. > :36:06.straightaway. This will be a thin one.

:36:07. > :36:12.It is amazing how every frame this afternoon there has been this kind

:36:13. > :36:16.of pattern. The black has gone safe very early on in each frame. Neither

:36:17. > :36:24.player has yet won a frame in one visit. And the safety play has all

:36:25. > :36:27.been very negative as well. There have not been many aggressive safety

:36:28. > :36:30.shots, they are all about containing the situation. Both players scared

:36:31. > :36:57.to give any chances. John Higgins can play a safety shop.

:36:58. > :36:58.Whenever you get your hand on the table, you should find the baulk

:36:59. > :37:47.cushion. A good shot there from John Higgins,

:37:48. > :38:29.covering the right-hand side of the table.

:38:30. > :38:36.Because the players have to have time to get ready for the final

:38:37. > :38:42.session, they won't start a frame after 5:15pm. There is every chance

:38:43. > :38:45.this could be pulled off with at least two frames despair. There

:38:46. > :38:49.could be on the two frames left in this session now, getting ready for

:38:50. > :39:33.the 7pm session. There may only be this one.

:39:34. > :39:41.If John feels he can get through just to the edge of this red, he

:39:42. > :39:46.doesn't want to be kissing the brown. He is able to flick it round

:39:47. > :39:52.the side. He has kissed the blue. The important thing was to miss all

:39:53. > :40:25.the baulk colours. Nothing easy available.

:40:26. > :40:31.Maybe this frame, maybe two more, this one is certainly very important

:40:32. > :40:43.for Mark Selby. He would love to get level.

:40:44. > :40:50.You thought there would be a couple of 40 minute frames in this match

:40:51. > :40:52.with these two great safety plans go about looking at the whole

:40:53. > :41:03.tournament, Mark Selby playing so well early on, should he have played

:41:04. > :41:07.more openly? Yeah, I think, I don't know. He seems to change his game

:41:08. > :41:16.sometimes when he plays the top players that he knows can hurt him.

:41:17. > :41:22.Against Ding, a lot of his safety was thin clips. He doesn't want to

:41:23. > :41:26.put things in the open. The way the session went yesterday, he got 10-4

:41:27. > :41:32.behind. The second four frames of yesterday afternoon, John Higgins

:41:33. > :41:36.had something like a 90% pot rate. I think he does decide just to tighten

:41:37. > :41:51.things up. That's not so good. That is a

:41:52. > :41:58.mistake. You see his head drop there. There are reds available into

:41:59. > :42:11.the middle pocket, which would put him on the green.

:42:12. > :42:21.CROWD GROANS You see how much more difficult

:42:22. > :42:25.those opportunities are when the pink and black are not available. It

:42:26. > :42:29.does not whet your appetite coming to the table, when you know it is

:42:30. > :42:34.going to be hard to score. You are not as enthusiastic going for a pot.

:42:35. > :42:38.The result he has had there, yes, he can smile. John Higgins is in real

:42:39. > :42:49.trouble. I think he might have to take on the

:42:50. > :42:57.pot. There are three reds in a line next to the black. I think he will

:42:58. > :43:05.have to take this on. It looks a big pocket for that red, closest to the

:43:06. > :43:08.left corner. If he takes this on... May be the red is just a little too

:43:09. > :43:30.far-away from the pocket. You see... Thought he might just get

:43:31. > :43:36.a clip of that red. Again, Mark Selby comes to the table with a

:43:37. > :43:41.chance, but it is not easy to score. Amazing the number of times a player

:43:42. > :43:47.plays a bad shot and all of a sudden it gives him an opportunity on his

:43:48. > :43:52.next visit. Mark Selby missed that red in the middle by quite a long

:43:53. > :43:55.way. Somehow, he will have to get onto the two reds around the black

:43:56. > :43:59.spot area, with the chance eventually to bring the pink into

:44:00. > :44:06.play. This frame is very tough at the minute. If anyone has the cue

:44:07. > :44:11.power to play the shot, Mark Selby has it in spades. Pop the yellow,

:44:12. > :44:18.direct screw into the pink. He may think it is too risky. If he wants

:44:19. > :44:19.develop this to a frame-winning chance, I think he can go for it

:44:20. > :44:38.here. Here it comes. Great shot. Great

:44:39. > :44:41.shot! That really was a super shot. Stephen Colbert, and he did not play

:44:42. > :44:46.it as hard as we thought he might, but he has cleared the pink spot.

:44:47. > :44:53.Can he get nicely on the pink? If he does, this is a great chance. There

:44:54. > :45:01.are six reds in the middle of the table. As much as the last shot was

:45:02. > :45:05.good, that was bad. If you are overhit this by a long way, you go

:45:06. > :45:13.up the table and you have got four colours are there. He will be very

:45:14. > :45:18.disappointed with that. He is looking at the black. This would be

:45:19. > :45:32.handy, get it back on its spot. APPLAUSE

:45:33. > :45:36.A very friendly kiss. We just talked about when you sometimes play a bad

:45:37. > :45:40.shot, it can get you in the next time. But that had shot to try to

:45:41. > :45:48.get onto the pink has turned out to be fantastic now. It is now a

:45:49. > :45:54.frame-winner. OK, he is seven points behind, but you would expect him to

:45:55. > :46:06.pot these seven reds and five colours. When Mark Selby potted the

:46:07. > :46:07.first red, within three or four shot, he has got the pink and black

:46:08. > :46:25.interplay. -- into play. Mark Selby knows he can't win the

:46:26. > :46:46.frame without getting one of the three reds on the left-hand side.

:46:47. > :46:53.We didn't see this coming when he was 10-4 behind. The last three

:46:54. > :46:57.frames yesterday evening were just superb Selby. Since then, he has

:46:58. > :48:20.ground his way back into the match. Now the real work starts. He may be

:48:21. > :48:25.trying to leave an angle on the pink to remove the red mac that is tight

:48:26. > :48:29.on the cushion on its own. -- the red that is tied on the cushion on

:48:30. > :48:34.its own. If he brings that red interplay, he won't be giving it

:48:35. > :48:41.here, after the colour. Would you be playing to move this red? Or would

:48:42. > :48:48.you get a colour to move the red after the next shot? I think the

:48:49. > :48:58.fact that you only need the red, of the colour... Finish high on the

:48:59. > :49:02.black here. To the right corner. So he can stun off the cushion, a

:49:03. > :49:06.little bit of side, the two reds that are close together, the one

:49:07. > :49:17.closest to the cushion, try to flick thataway. There is the half bald

:49:18. > :49:20.black Stephen was talking about. He will be playing that shot that

:49:21. > :49:27.Stephen called, going into the red that is just off the cushion. Very

:49:28. > :49:36.good. Unlucky. OK, he might have to take this pot down the cushion, just

:49:37. > :49:40.because it is frame ball. The fact the red is touching the cushion

:49:41. > :49:48.makes it that much more possible to get. You have to think, even if you

:49:49. > :49:52.miss it, the position of the red means it will be some clearance for

:49:53. > :49:57.John Higgins to pinch it in one visit. He will play with lots of

:49:58. > :50:03.left-hand side to try to cover the pocket with the black, just in case

:50:04. > :50:06.it stays in the jaws. Keep an eye on the white ball. Loads of side. Mind,

:50:07. > :50:23.he is stretching a bit. He has gone all out for the pot.

:50:24. > :50:29.Very good. But you know that John Higgins is going to come back to the

:50:30. > :50:58.table unless Mark Knox this black in. -- Mark knocks this black in. A

:50:59. > :51:01.break of 67. 48 points in it, 43 on, two snookers required. That really

:51:02. > :51:13.was a class visit to the table. Never looked like a frame- winning

:51:14. > :52:04.opportunity. He will be taking this on. This, a

:52:05. > :52:07.chance to level. He led 1-0 and 2-1. Since then, he has been playing

:52:08. > :52:12.catch up all the way through this final. But he is not playing catch

:52:13. > :52:41.up any more. All square. John Higgins conceded. Mark Selby

:52:42. > :52:48.draws level for the first time for a long time. It is 11-11. Hazel

:52:49. > :52:53.Irvine: It is, from 10-4 down, he has won seven of the last eight. It

:52:54. > :52:57.is 11-11 and we have a final on here. You were crooning about that

:52:58. > :53:01.break. What did you particularly admire about it, John? When we

:53:02. > :53:09.started, it looked like there was nothing on. John Higgins vote, go

:53:10. > :53:14.on, there is not much on that. But he played a brilliant cannon. You

:53:15. > :53:19.have to hit it perfectly. The pace he played it with, it moved the reds

:53:20. > :53:24.away from the pink, got things into position. He had sussed out that the

:53:25. > :53:28.Blackwood pot. We don't know whether he played on pink and didn't get up,

:53:29. > :53:34.he knew the black was there, but clever shots. You would say the

:53:35. > :53:40.momentum is with Mark Selby. It does. Halfway through, it looked

:53:41. > :53:43.like the match had got bogged down. That break could be the thing that

:53:44. > :53:49.kick-start this game into life again. It was tough, turgid stuff,

:53:50. > :53:52.tactical play was important, but now Mark Selby perhaps has his arm

:53:53. > :53:59.gathering. Perhaps John Higgins will have to respond. They can get bogged

:54:00. > :54:05.down in safety exchanges for half an hour, but when the chance, -- when

:54:06. > :54:10.the chance comes, he is ready. COMMENTATOR: He has got a lot to

:54:11. > :54:25.think about, John Higgins. Just have a little look at this.

:54:26. > :54:30.Mark Selby, talking to himself, saying, believe, believe, I think.

:54:31. > :54:35.This is possibly going to be the last game of the afternoon session,

:54:36. > :54:40.and that is definitely of benefit to John Higgins at the minute. Yeah,

:54:41. > :54:46.very much so. It is interesting watching Mark Selby eyeing up his

:54:47. > :54:55.opponent as well, when he was saying, believe.

:54:56. > :54:59.APPLAUSE Magnificent. He is finding a gear,

:55:00. > :55:12.Mark Selby. You are right, Willie, it is a good

:55:13. > :55:18.job this might be the last frame for John Higgins' sake. Mark Selby will

:55:19. > :55:26.be disappointed. He would like to keep going, should he win the frame

:55:27. > :55:28.at this visit. If he does win in one visit, there will certainly be time

:55:29. > :56:09.for another frame. He has got a nice angle on the

:56:10. > :56:12.black. He can almost stun this off the cushion on the left-hand side,

:56:13. > :56:22.into the bunch. CROWD GROANS

:56:23. > :56:24.Just a little bit too much top spin there. The cue ball went out to the

:56:25. > :56:53.left. There you see, lots of top spin on

:56:54. > :57:00.the cue ball. This frame might not last much longer. When you play the

:57:01. > :57:12.shot into the pack, you will never get any movement out of the pack

:57:13. > :57:15.that way. He is 24 points in front. John Higgins has lost a bit of

:57:16. > :57:22.concentration at the moment. As Stephen and I have just discussed,

:57:23. > :57:27.he would be delighted to walk out now, because he knows that whatever

:57:28. > :57:31.happens, he can only be one frame behind going into tonight's session,

:57:32. > :58:02.and he needs to rethink and regroup. I'm a little surprised that that

:58:03. > :58:10.aggressive safety shot. He hasn't played one of those thick ones into

:58:11. > :58:13.the pack for quite some time. As I said, he was playing them in the

:58:14. > :58:17.first rounds, when he knew that he wasn't going to get punished boss

:58:18. > :58:21.that he was so confident of winning. But maybe that is what he thinks.

:58:22. > :58:27.Maybe he thinks that John is in a state where he will not punish

:58:28. > :58:38.mistakes. Dangerous to underestimate John Higgins at any stage.

:58:39. > :58:44.This sort of situation, when you are playing safety, bringing the cue

:58:45. > :58:49.ball back to the black cushion, so important to keep the cue all tight.

:58:50. > :58:55.The first mistake, or the first chance, it is normally a good one.

:58:56. > :58:58.Look at the way the reds R. I don't think either player will be aware

:58:59. > :59:07.that this is going to be their last frame.

:59:08. > :59:13.Can John Higgins get back into this frame and still be one in front

:59:14. > :59:19.ahead of the evening session? He needs to find the cushion. He has

:59:20. > :59:23.done. I think he can see the red that is nearest the left-hand middle

:59:24. > :59:26.docket. He is looking at the potting angle. He could well get on the

:59:27. > :59:39.black from this. CROWD GROANS

:59:40. > :00:18.He had to go for that. The way the reds are you would

:00:19. > :01:28.expect Mark Selby to win this frame. Mark Selby must be buzzing inside.

:01:29. > :02:52.He's clawed his way back into this match and could well take the lead.

:02:53. > :03:01.Just about keeping his focus Mark Selby.

:03:02. > :03:07.Now is not the time for a careless shot.

:03:08. > :03:20.A couple of pots away from taking that lead.

:03:21. > :03:25.John Higgins' supporters will be hoping this is the last frame of the

:03:26. > :03:30.session. There's every chance they could be playing one more. I can't

:03:31. > :03:45.see John Higgins winning one with the frame of mind he's in.

:03:46. > :03:55.He's getting stronger and stronger, Mark Selby.

:03:56. > :04:25.Mark Selby is definitely going to lead.

:04:26. > :04:30.Really has been phenomenal performance. At 10-4 down, he looked

:04:31. > :04:39.all over the place. Since then a typical Mark Selby,

:04:40. > :05:01.dominant performance. Mark Selby has taken the lead.

:05:02. > :05:06.STUDIO: The last time that Mark Selby was ahead was 2-1, about 26

:05:07. > :05:10.hours ago. It's been a long, long time. He seems to be all fired up

:05:11. > :05:15.now. This is a fantastic performance from the world champion en route,

:05:16. > :05:21.perhaps to a third world title. It's funny that John got left a real

:05:22. > :05:24.smelly cut in the pocket. When you're under the cosh you hit these

:05:25. > :05:27.shots thick. Exactly what he did. Especially a shot where you have no

:05:28. > :05:31.control over your position. He didn't get. It he left a great

:05:32. > :05:38.chance. It's just what you'd expect from Mark. Is this the psychology

:05:39. > :05:42.for us now? John Higgins has been keeping him at arm's length, now the

:05:43. > :05:48.initiative has gone to the defending champion. What can he do to regroup?

:05:49. > :05:52.He has a different pressure now. At some stage it may be the case that

:05:53. > :05:54.he actually consider himself not exact lit underdog but have no

:05:55. > :05:57.worries about that. Looking over your shoulder is a horrible

:05:58. > :06:02.situation on the snooker table. It really S it's a still board game.

:06:03. > :06:06.You have all the time in the world to think. It may be that Mark Selby

:06:07. > :06:08.gets in the same position, but you've got to say incredible

:06:09. > :06:13.performance by Mark Selby. It's not the first time he's done this in the

:06:14. > :06:18.world Championship finals. Perhaps the confidence he got from the first

:06:19. > :06:22.time against Ronnie O'Sullivan is possibly why he's not panicked. I

:06:23. > :06:26.think John's had the nod there to tell him there's one more frame in

:06:27. > :06:29.this session. There will be, it's confirmed. He's given a nod to the

:06:30. > :06:33.authorities to let them know he knows. I think fascinating with that

:06:34. > :06:41.glimpse into the mind of Mark Selby, when we saw him mouthing "believe,

:06:42. > :06:44.believe". Very seldom do you see someone articulate that. He would

:06:45. > :06:47.have been looking to get out of this session, if he could win it 5-3

:06:48. > :06:51.today, that would have been brilliant. He's well ahead of

:06:52. > :06:56.schedule in this one COMMENTATOR: As Mark Selby breaks

:06:57. > :07:02.off, every chance of being two clear going into tonight's session. John

:07:03. > :07:04.Higgins somehow, after summing up all his experience, and win this

:07:05. > :07:16.final frame. The green jacket winners, Masters

:07:17. > :07:28.two years ago, Danny Willett. Just on his iPhone.

:07:29. > :07:33.Mark Selby left the arena and I was looking at John Higgins' body

:07:34. > :07:42.language. It wasn't good. A bit depressed, which you

:07:43. > :07:50.understand the way it's gone the last few frames

:07:51. > :07:55.I detect slight blood shot eyes in John Higgins there.

:07:56. > :08:01.He's going to need a chance for these reds to part where it's almost

:08:02. > :08:15.impossible not to make 50. I think the crowd would like John

:08:16. > :08:17.Higgins to win the last frame. What a final session that would be at

:08:18. > :08:54.12-12. We just noticed John Higgins' eye

:08:55. > :09:00.blood shot. Did you have trouble sleeping when you were winning, it's

:09:01. > :09:01.hard when you're playing. Fortunately, that was never a

:09:02. > :09:20.problem for me. You're in a fortunate position if

:09:21. > :09:24.you can sleep. It's amazing the psychology of snooker. Yesterday,

:09:25. > :09:27.the body language is a complete turn around for both players. John

:09:28. > :09:32.Higgins had the spring in his step round the table.

:09:33. > :09:43.Now it's Mark that's prowling. People talk about how great the game

:09:44. > :09:48.is and how many great players we have, but it seems when we come to

:09:49. > :09:52.the Crucible, when we get to the quarter final stage, every player

:09:53. > :09:57.was a top-eight player apart from Stephen Maguire.

:09:58. > :10:38.The cream always comes to the top in this tournament.

:10:39. > :10:45.Mark Selby has covered the right-hand side of the table. No

:10:46. > :10:47.avenue back to baulk from there. He may play it thin with right-hand

:10:48. > :11:00.side. Very dangerous. He's hit that

:11:01. > :11:19.terrible. A horrible situation to be in. One

:11:20. > :11:22.bad shot sheems to lead into the next one. You just want to play one

:11:23. > :11:44.good shot. Must be a great feeling for Mark,

:11:45. > :11:50.the fact he knows that whatever happens worst thing would be he will

:11:51. > :11:54.be level. If someone had said that at 10-4, that he might go into the

:11:55. > :12:01.last session ahead, he probably would have laughed at them.

:12:02. > :12:14.Just wriggled in. Got the position. Does it red go?

:12:15. > :12:18.Can you see from that picture, that red doesn't go. But there is one to

:12:19. > :12:48.the left of the black that pots. In the end, fortunate to have that

:12:49. > :13:54.natural angle on that red, go for the pink.

:13:55. > :14:02.Another thing for John Higgins in his chair now, he's witnessed two

:14:03. > :14:05.breaks of 67 and 58 in the two previous frames. He must be thinking

:14:06. > :14:13.this frame could well be over in a minute.

:14:14. > :14:24.Good shot, really was. He plays the screw shot better than any player

:14:25. > :14:41.out there at the moment. John Higgins will be resigned to the

:14:42. > :14:50.fact that he's going 13-11 down, the way this match is going.

:14:51. > :15:02.He'll be thinking, "What's gone wrong?

:15:03. > :15:37.This is reminisce tonight one of your games, when you were playing

:15:38. > :15:39.Jimmy White, 14-8 behind and won ten frames on the trot. This is a

:15:40. > :16:06.similar pattern to this match. With Mark Selby, he will be more

:16:07. > :16:23.confident now than at any stage in the match.

:16:24. > :16:27.You combet a sense of your opponent weakening and wilting under the

:16:28. > :16:37.pressure. #

:16:38. > :16:44.Again, maybe the adrenaline, he's overscrewed that as well.

:16:45. > :16:49.The shot from red to pink, when the pink was on the brown shot, the

:16:50. > :16:57.timing of that shot, he didn't hit it hard at all. He's absolutely

:16:58. > :17:01.pumped up now. He's really feeling in the mood, feeling like he's

:17:02. > :17:04.cueing lick a dimon. There's -- like a demon. There's every chance now he

:17:05. > :17:27.will win this. Good position shot. Wonder what John

:17:28. > :17:29.Higgins will do. I would suggest he has a shower and try to brush

:17:30. > :17:51.himself down. He's still very much in this match.

:17:52. > :17:58.It's not over by any stretch. I certainly would not be writing

:17:59. > :18:02.John Higgins off yet. Perhaps it's good that the session is ending now,

:18:03. > :18:04.though. You couldn't see a way back if the

:18:05. > :18:23.match was ending in this session. Get away from the venue and spend

:18:24. > :18:34.time with family. New scenery, just get out of this place.

:18:35. > :18:38.The way he's played that shot tells me the red to the right of the black

:18:39. > :18:46.pots. This is a very good performance,

:18:47. > :18:49.having some dogged frames, Mark Selby's produced three breaks over

:18:50. > :18:54.50 on the trot, as he did last eveningment

:18:55. > :18:58.-- evening. He played some of his best snooker. These last three

:18:59. > :19:12.frames in this session have been his best snooker again.

:19:13. > :19:19.Tonight with John Higgins, he will need to attack more tonight. I think

:19:20. > :19:22.so. If that could happen, the pressure would turn. Easier said

:19:23. > :19:33.than done. You can only play the balls on the table.

:19:34. > :19:40.Maybe more aggressive safeties, maybe.

:19:41. > :19:47.That was a key when he got his lead. He was playing a lot quicker pace,

:19:48. > :19:49.opening the balls early, feeling great. It's hard to do when you're

:19:50. > :20:03.not feeling good. The fact that they're finishing a

:20:04. > :20:11.frame early in this session has helped him.

:20:12. > :20:20.This is frame ball. Very well played Mark Selby.

:20:21. > :20:51.You wouldn't have thought there would be a possible Severnery when

:20:52. > :20:54.he came -- century when he came to the table again.

:20:55. > :21:03.Oh, he's missed that. But I'm sure John Higgins (inaudible) fantastic

:21:04. > :21:10.safety play in the last few frames, great breaks, he goes into the lead

:21:11. > :21:14.now by 13-11. STUDIO: From four frames to ten

:21:15. > :21:19.behind to two in front. He's won nine of the last ten. And Mark Selby

:21:20. > :21:24.closing in on a third world title in four years. If he pulls this off

:21:25. > :21:28.tonight, he will be the most dominant winning period at The

:21:29. > :21:32.Crucible since a certain Stephen Hendry and indeed Steven Davis.

:21:33. > :21:36.Ronnie won his five titles over a 13-year spread. But this man is

:21:37. > :21:41.certainly closing in in terms of Crucible history here. How will John

:21:42. > :21:46.Higgins rationalise and explain to himself what's gone on today and

:21:47. > :21:50.indeed last night? One or two shots he missed last night Chancellor ght

:21:51. > :21:54.changed it slightly. You give credit to Mark Selby for that. Today he's

:21:55. > :21:58.just been outplayed. That takes a massive effort from a massive player

:21:59. > :22:02.to do that. Higgins is just brilliant at match play. He's been

:22:03. > :22:04.outplayed today. The best thing about that session is it's just

:22:05. > :22:08.finished. The way it was going and the way he was playing, and how Mark

:22:09. > :22:12.was fluent amongst the balls, there was only going to be one result.

:22:13. > :22:16.Finishing there two frames behind, get out the venue and come back

:22:17. > :22:21.tonight. How much life is left in this final for you, Steve? I don't

:22:22. > :22:26.know. John Higgins has had his head scrambled here today. By one of the

:22:27. > :22:31.greatest predators the game's ever seen. He hasn't got much time to try

:22:32. > :22:33.and exorcise the memories of this afternoon before he's under the

:22:34. > :22:38.grill again. If Mark Selby continues and starts off the session, which is

:22:39. > :22:41.always a big if, because things can change, if he starts off the way

:22:42. > :22:46.he's finished off this session, John's going to be back in that seat

:22:47. > :22:50.wondering what on earth went wrong when he was 10-4 up. Can you

:22:51. > :22:54.describe for those of us who will never know what it's like when

:22:55. > :22:58.you're out there, how your brain can become scrambled to such a huge

:22:59. > :23:02.extent? It's awful. He just wants to get one good short. He couldn't get

:23:03. > :23:05.that towards the end. He was struggling to play a safety shot.

:23:06. > :23:09.Desperation kicks in. All you see are problems. When your opponent

:23:10. > :23:12.keeps putting you in the trouble and knocks in the balls after, it's

:23:13. > :23:16.tough not to panic. How do you get out of it? Well, the best thing is

:23:17. > :23:22.that session is finished and come back and you know, as Willie said,

:23:23. > :23:26.have a shower, come back tonight. They were talking about play a few

:23:27. > :23:30.safety shots a bit thick, but you're playing against someone who knocks

:23:31. > :23:34.in long balls. Hard to play against. If anybody's got the resilience and

:23:35. > :23:38.doggedness in his game, a great champion like John Higgins has. It

:23:39. > :23:44.seems like the writing is on the wall. It sure does at the moment,

:23:45. > :23:49.unless the Wizard of wish all gets the wand out. This final is a

:23:50. > :23:51.fitting finale to this 40th anniversary Championship at The

:23:52. > :23:54.Crucible. Good evening, welcome it a very,

:23:55. > :23:59.very special night here at The Crucible. Thanks whoever thought

:24:00. > :24:04.this up. This is great. LAUGHTER

:24:05. > :24:14.You know what to do. 17 days of this, it's fun. It's a

:24:15. > :24:18.fantastic tournament. It doesn't matter whether you've been here one

:24:19. > :24:24.time or ten times, you still get goose bumps. We're back. The

:24:25. > :24:28.Crucible Theatre. And the world number one defending champion, Mark

:24:29. > :24:42.Selby, he's into the second round. What a shot! Stop it! Obviously in a

:24:43. > :24:46.bit of discomfort out there. What a magnificent victory for McLeod.

:24:47. > :24:51.Brilliant. He has pulled off one of the best comebacks for quite some

:24:52. > :25:00.years here at The Crucible Theatre from 7-1 down. This is what they've

:25:01. > :25:04.come to see. Look at that. That's what it means to him. I won't get

:25:05. > :25:08.involved in it nowhere. I'm not being bullied. I just want to enjoy

:25:09. > :25:12.my life. I'm not putting up with someone who thinks they can threaten

:25:13. > :25:19.and bully me. It ain't happening. It always seems to be Ronnie. I like to

:25:20. > :25:24.do my talking on the table. He is an animal. Could have handed the

:25:25. > :25:28.initiative to Ronnie now. A solid performance from the five times

:25:29. > :25:39.world Championship. -- champion. Come on! Don't normally see that

:25:40. > :25:47.from Neil Robertson. Just come off the rails. I like his shoes. I

:25:48. > :25:52.really do. What a performance and he beats the former world champion in

:25:53. > :25:59.the end. There's some pressure out there at the moment, it really is. A

:26:00. > :26:09.tremendous match between these two great Chinese players. He's potted

:26:10. > :26:17.this, has he? Oh! I think he just caught his leg. Oh, the pin's gone.

:26:18. > :26:24.I was going to say, if that pin breaks we're all in trouble. A big

:26:25. > :26:28.shot from Rory Mc... I nearly called him Rory McIlroy. Almost flawless

:26:29. > :26:31.snooker from the current world champion and he's going to be so

:26:32. > :26:37.hard to beat. John Higgins is through to his eighth world

:26:38. > :26:44.Championship semifinal. Barry hawkins, delighted to get into his

:26:45. > :26:48.fourth semifinal in five years. He's made the highest break of this

:26:49. > :26:53.year's world Championship, a magnificent 146. Absolutely

:26:54. > :27:00.fantastic from this Chinese sensation. I've got 146, 147, can't

:27:01. > :27:04.even make a 146 these days and get slated for it. What do you want me

:27:05. > :27:10.to do? It's been a fabulous semifinal. Mark Selby gets into his

:27:11. > :27:14.third final in four years. John Higgins wins comfortably. What a

:27:15. > :27:18.final we've got to look forward. To -- forward to.

:27:19. > :27:21.It's England against Scotland in this final, but I think this

:27:22. > :27:24.Championship has shown us that the Chinese are coming here, big style.

:27:25. > :27:27.Plenty of them. Six in the top half, all in the top half of the draw. It

:27:28. > :27:32.was unfortunate they played each other. Then played a couple of his

:27:33. > :27:34.fellow compatriots there. A great match that went to the final frame

:27:35. > :27:43.decider. There's a revolution going on there. It's a matter of time

:27:44. > :27:48.before there's more players come. Wei is a star here. I know many

:27:49. > :27:53.people would love to have seen him in this final. No guarantee he will

:27:54. > :27:56.be the first Asian player to lift the world crown. It's not that easy

:27:57. > :28:00.to pro dict. It isn't. We're not making predictions about this

:28:01. > :28:04.evening either. From your point of view, how much mileage is left in

:28:05. > :28:08.this final? I think there's a chance it's going to p ha. You feel a bit

:28:09. > :28:12.for John Higgins. Mark Selby looks like he's in the groove. John has to

:28:13. > :28:15.kickstart the engines, not sure how he does it. As we saw from out

:28:16. > :28:19.there, Mark Selby certainly believes. He's been mouthing that. I

:28:20. > :28:23.wonder how much John Higgins still believes that a fifth world title is

:28:24. > :28:27.possible and indeed how much John Higgins has got left. We will find

:28:28. > :28:33.out the answers to those questions when we return at 7pm. Just 90

:28:34. > :29:02.minutes, it's not over yet, see you soon, bye for now.

:29:03. > :29:05.I've got some good news. Did you hear?