Saturday, 1st Round, Afternoon, Part 1

:00:32. > :00:38.Hello, it's day one of the 2017 Betfred World Snooker Championship

:00:39. > :00:44.and this one is extra special. Last night we rolled out the green carpet

:00:45. > :00:48.and we had a little celebration, 17 former champions and all 32 of this

:00:49. > :00:53.year's participants were able to take part in it because this is the

:00:54. > :00:57.40th anniversary that this great championship has been staged in

:00:58. > :01:00.Sheffield's and wonderful atmospheric Crucible Theatre, a

:01:01. > :01:23.venue that has now become one of the most iconic anywhere in sport.

:01:24. > :01:31.Thanks for whoever thought this one up, this is great.

:01:32. > :01:33.LAUGHTER OK. Ronnie, you know what to do.

:01:34. > :01:44.CHEERING And you've missed...?

:01:45. > :02:07.CHEERING When we met up it was fantastic, we

:02:08. > :02:16.shook hands, and disregarded the bad blood. I feel more consistent now,

:02:17. > :02:20.17 days of this is fun. These lovely people are about to

:02:21. > :02:23.sign a document which will keep this great championship here at the

:02:24. > :02:30.Crucible and in the city for another ten years at the very least.

:02:31. > :02:35.It is a fantastic tournament, it doesn't matter whether you have been

:02:36. > :02:37.here one time or whether you have been had ten times, you still get

:02:38. > :02:44.goose bumps. Last night our commentary team were

:02:45. > :02:49.limbering up ahead of another 17 day marathon, and what a team that is,

:02:50. > :02:53.177 World Championship appearances, 17 world titles between them, the

:02:54. > :02:57.usual mix of expert opinion, a few laughs and some surreal moments no

:02:58. > :02:59.doubt along the way but we are all in very good hands with these

:03:00. > :03:02.gentlemen. As usual for the first part of the

:03:03. > :03:07.championship we will be broadcasting from our studio inside the beautiful

:03:08. > :03:11.Sheffield Winter Gardens and spending a lot of time too in the

:03:12. > :03:15.players' practice room because we will present every single session

:03:16. > :03:19.from one of these bases on BBC One or two, or indeed on the red button

:03:20. > :03:24.and when the championship focuses in on just the one table from the

:03:25. > :03:30.semifinal stages that's when we will make a new camp in our very compact

:03:31. > :03:34.and Bijou table side home. You really will get the best view in the

:03:35. > :03:38.house from them, as indeed will we. That's how we will play it for the

:03:39. > :03:44.next 17 days but this is our grand plan for the opening afternoon.

:03:45. > :03:52.The defending champion always gets things going here and that honour

:03:53. > :03:55.falls once again to the world number one Mark Selby.

:03:56. > :03:59.Huge respect to his opponent Fergal O'Brien who survived a tortuous

:04:00. > :04:02.world record two hours, three minutes deciding friend in

:04:03. > :04:07.qualifying to book his first Crucible appearance for seven years.

:04:08. > :04:13.Meanwhile Ronnie O'Sullivan returns for 25th campaign, all thanks, he

:04:14. > :04:19.says, to the sports psychiatrist who has him hungry.

:04:20. > :04:21.I'm ready to jack it in the then I met Steve and it's his fault I am

:04:22. > :04:24.still playing. He will take on one of five Crucible

:04:25. > :04:29.newcomers this year, the most in form of them all, maximum man Gary

:04:30. > :04:32.Wilson. And whilst it's all about the

:04:33. > :04:37.players of the present we will enjoy a moment with some of the finest of

:04:38. > :04:41.the past at a recent Legends event. Dennis, we are standing in front of

:04:42. > :04:45.the world champions board, some fantastic performances to win those

:04:46. > :04:49.tournaments. You turned professional in 1972 and now in the commentary

:04:50. > :04:53.box and see every ball. How has the game changed over the years?

:04:54. > :04:56.Well, the standard the players are playing to command there are so many

:04:57. > :04:59.of them, all of the players that come here, incredible. You just have

:05:00. > :05:09.to look at the number of century breaks, keeps increasing every year.

:05:10. > :05:11.Way back in the early years it was only something like seven centuries

:05:12. > :05:13.made in the first World Championship. But of course the

:05:14. > :05:16.players were only playing in a few competitions. You didn't have all

:05:17. > :05:18.the matches to play in back then. But it's great to see all of these

:05:19. > :05:24.Chinese players coming through, there are four or five in the top

:05:25. > :05:27.16. So, I think overall I think the standard has improved. But in your

:05:28. > :05:32.day I think you would have competed against the best in the game

:05:33. > :05:36.nowadays. That's very kind of you, thank you. I also think that perhaps

:05:37. > :05:40.there is more aggression in the game and more attacking in general, and I

:05:41. > :05:44.think perhaps they have solved the puzzle of positional play a bit

:05:45. > :05:47.matter, perhaps that's why there is more 100 breaks. I think because

:05:48. > :05:51.they are playing so matches Dummett many matches and they cannot pot

:05:52. > :05:54.their way to a world title and must have a second game and somebody like

:05:55. > :05:58.Judd Trump who is learning all the time, his tactical game is getting

:05:59. > :06:01.better and it's just a matter of time before he wills Dominic Windsor

:06:02. > :06:05.World Championship. We said that about Jimmy White and he lost in six

:06:06. > :06:10.finals so Judd Trump still has to win the first one.

:06:11. > :06:13.No matter what happens over the next fortnight here Mark Selby will end

:06:14. > :06:19.the season as the world number one for the sixth consecutive time. He

:06:20. > :06:23.has almost ?400,000 and thus points ahead of the nearest challenger in

:06:24. > :06:26.the world rankings and could smash the ?1 million prize money in a

:06:27. > :06:30.single season for the first time. There is no doubt that this is going

:06:31. > :06:38.to become known as the Mark Selby era.

:06:39. > :06:43.It is safe to say that if you become world champion and world number one

:06:44. > :06:46.you know your way around a snooker table and Mark Selby certainly does.

:06:47. > :06:52.I think he knows his way around the table than anyone currently playing

:06:53. > :06:55.the game and as somebody who has played him more than anyone on tour

:06:56. > :06:58.I have had my fair share of him and he puts you in difficult positions

:06:59. > :07:04.and you don't know what to do half the time. When he joined the circuit

:07:05. > :07:08.he had a different bridge, it used to be back towards his thumb and he

:07:09. > :07:12.has gone more compact, similar to you, I think. A lot of us came onto

:07:13. > :07:17.the tour as juniors and young players who were used to playing on

:07:18. > :07:21.tables that went as fast and not as good. That technique suited us. But

:07:22. > :07:27.when you play on these superfast cloth in TV arenas around the world

:07:28. > :07:30.you have to have ultimate control of the cue ball and being a little bit

:07:31. > :07:34.nearer to it gives you that and there is less can go wrong with your

:07:35. > :07:39.action, your cue action becomes a bit shorter and that means less can

:07:40. > :07:43.go wrong. It takes a bit of getting used to. He has a strange

:07:44. > :07:47.characteristic of his head moving side to side when coming in on the

:07:48. > :07:52.shot. He does that less now than he used to but there is definite

:07:53. > :07:55.movement. As he is down on the shot there is definite head movement

:07:56. > :08:00.either backwards and forwards or either side to side sometimes but at

:08:01. > :08:04.the moment of strike he is always in the right position. I think among

:08:05. > :08:09.many strong suits shot selection is definitely one of them. I think it

:08:10. > :08:16.is his strongest suit. I perhaps personally go for the odd shot too

:08:17. > :08:19.many. Whereas Mark never over exposes himself. He's always playing

:08:20. > :08:23.a shot thinking about what happens if it goes wrong, what happens if

:08:24. > :08:27.this doesn't quite work out. Whereas somebody like me is going, what

:08:28. > :08:31.happens if it works? He tends to lean towards what happens if it goes

:08:32. > :08:35.wrong and that enables him to play in a slightly different way. He

:08:36. > :08:40.doesn't take on too much damage, which means he is always there or

:08:41. > :08:44.thereabouts. Do you think that enables his B game to be so good,

:08:45. > :08:48.why he wins a lot of matches when he is not quite at it. We can all win

:08:49. > :08:52.when we are at our best, flying with century breaks and making

:08:53. > :08:55.clearances, it is easy to do well. But when you are struggling, if you

:08:56. > :09:03.can have that extra string to your bow we have a B, C or D game some

:09:04. > :09:07.days, it means you can relax and don't have to clear the table. It

:09:08. > :09:13.makes him incredibly difficult to beat. Exactly.

:09:14. > :09:23.Mark Selby's opponent Fergal O'Brien has had good season. And the

:09:24. > :09:26.antithesis of that, involved in the longest frame in snooker history,

:09:27. > :09:30.two hours three minutes in the decider of the qualifying tournament

:09:31. > :09:33.on Wednesday just to get here. This opening match began at 10am this

:09:34. > :09:35.morning and here is what happened when we were live with this on BBC

:09:36. > :09:55.Two earlier. COMMENTATOR: Good morning,

:09:56. > :09:59.everybody. We're back. Played the cross double, got it.

:10:00. > :10:03.APPLAUSE The reigning champion is one in

:10:04. > :10:09.front. Chance missed and that will cost him

:10:10. > :10:31.the frame. I fancy him getting this. Yes, good

:10:32. > :10:38.shot. So, Fergal O'Brien, 3-0 behind.

:10:39. > :10:53.Right in the heart of the pocket. He is playing it with the extension.

:10:54. > :10:58.And that's a concession, so not the start Fergal O'Brien was looking

:10:59. > :11:03.for. But just the start the defending champion wants. He leads

:11:04. > :11:12.at the mid-session interval 4-0. 4-0 has become 7-0 in this first of

:11:13. > :11:15.ten round match. They have two more to play in the opening session.

:11:16. > :11:18.Stephen Hendry and John Virgo on duty in the commentary box. What is

:11:19. > :11:24.your interpretation of what has happened so far? To be perfectly

:11:25. > :11:27.honest with you it is just one way traffic and the best we can say

:11:28. > :11:32.about Fergal is he has had a couple of chances and not made the most of

:11:33. > :11:40.them and with his highest break only 17, at this level that ain't going

:11:41. > :11:44.to cut it. There was a sign in the last frame that I thought Mark may

:11:45. > :11:48.be losing a bit of focus, as you said, being so fine front but he

:11:49. > :11:54.seems to have regained it now. I think we will see an example on this

:11:55. > :11:59.red. It is a fantastic shot. Fergal had missed a long red but it shows

:12:00. > :12:02.the confidence of being 7-0 up in an attacking way to cannon do red

:12:03. > :12:11.alongside the black and creating this opportunity. -- cannon the red

:12:12. > :12:17.alongside the black. He is long past the point of knowing he can't lose

:12:18. > :12:22.this match. It is just a battle with himself for concentration, to stay

:12:23. > :12:28.focused. He will want every frame today, he will want 9-0 to make

:12:29. > :12:33.tonight as short as possible. Go back home, a few days off, relax,

:12:34. > :12:51.watch everyone else sweat it out and then come back for the second round.

:12:52. > :13:17.He decided to play for the red along the top cushion. He has got to be

:13:18. > :13:38.accurate with these but he is full with confidence at the moment.

:13:39. > :13:46.He played for the red, I believe, and just didn't get into it enough.

:13:47. > :13:57.He still has the one to the right middle.

:13:58. > :14:16.Who could have done without kissing the second red. He is on the blue.

:14:17. > :14:21.He hit that beautifully. You could see the cue ball pick up pace after

:14:22. > :14:31.the blue had gone in to avoid the brown.

:14:32. > :14:39.Once again, OK, I thought he had put it behind him but in the last frame

:14:40. > :14:45.there was a few positional shots. But there I wouldn't expect him to

:14:46. > :14:54.miss that. Just losing that little bit of focus, as you said. Year,

:14:55. > :15:00.when you've been put under no pressure, Fergal's highest break 17,

:15:01. > :15:03.you have nothing against you, it is hard to keep the maximum

:15:04. > :15:13.concentration sometimes. Here again he has not been punished for any

:15:14. > :15:21.mistakes. That is always the way, when Fergal Mrs to red comes back on

:15:22. > :15:33.the table and leaves mark with a nice little starter. -- misses the

:15:34. > :15:42.red comes back down the table and leaves Mark with a nice little

:15:43. > :15:52.starter. Two hours 46 is not too quick to say the scoreline is 7-0.

:15:53. > :15:57.He has not won many frames in one visit, Mark Selby. He has been put

:15:58. > :16:18.under no pressure whatsoever. A couple of reds and a couple of

:16:19. > :16:32.colours away from 8-0 scoreline. There is always pressure on

:16:33. > :16:38.defending champion. We have seen many shock results when a defending

:16:39. > :16:45.champion has come here and gone out in the first round. Two of the

:16:46. > :16:52.all-time greats, yourself, Steve Davis. It is nice to get this

:16:53. > :16:57.potential banana skin out of the way and he will be happy if he wins

:16:58. > :17:05.every frame. He won't be thinking, maybe I didn't have much of a test.

:17:06. > :17:10.Just get this first round out of the way.

:17:11. > :17:20.I suppose it is nice to come through a match where you have had to play

:17:21. > :17:24.well to win, I suppose. Swings and roundabouts. I suppose you don't

:17:25. > :17:30.really know how, in this type of match, how well he is playing under

:17:31. > :17:39.pressure yet. But he is doing what is required.

:17:40. > :17:46.Fergal will just be so disappointed with the way he has played. He would

:17:47. > :17:50.have been looking forward to this so much after qualifying. Yes, three

:17:51. > :17:55.qualifying rounds he had to come through. We were making a story

:17:56. > :17:58.about the longest frame played in the World Championship, but he did

:17:59. > :18:01.really well to get here to the Crucible. So far, no reward for his

:18:02. > :18:17.efforts. Only pride in performance can keep

:18:18. > :18:21.you going now. The chance of winning this match all but gone. I say all

:18:22. > :18:28.but gone because I remember one year when Cliff Thorburn was way in front

:18:29. > :18:36.and Nigel came back from 8-1 behind and finished up winning 10-9.

:18:37. > :19:03.It won't matter, Fergal will concede. He just marches on, Mark

:19:04. > :19:08.Selby, not under any pressure and now leads 8-0, one to play in this

:19:09. > :19:12.session. One-way traffic, as John described

:19:13. > :19:15.it, absolutely right, and this is a feeling of deja vu for you because

:19:16. > :19:21.when you were champion you came back in 1992 and did something similar. I

:19:22. > :19:24.won 10-0 against Eddie Charlton, and a wonderful feeling to get a match

:19:25. > :19:29.over so quickly and obviously Mark Selby will feel that way at the

:19:30. > :19:32.moment. As for Fergal he will be disappointed, nearly as disappointed

:19:33. > :19:40.as Dave Gilbert. Yes, if David Gilbert is watching at home, after

:19:41. > :19:43.being bundled out by Fergal in that two hours last frame, I hope you

:19:44. > :19:46.enjoyed it, you know what we mean, we have all been there, the bloke

:19:47. > :19:50.plays fantastic against you and gets out of jail and the next frame he

:19:51. > :19:54.cannot pot a ball. You cannot underestimate the, I was going to

:19:55. > :19:59.say fatigue, but to be honest the adrenaline performers that being at

:20:00. > :20:03.the Crucible should surely engender to negate that, surely? It wasn't a

:20:04. > :20:08.great draw for Fergal and the fact he has played three tough matches in

:20:09. > :20:11.what is as we said at the start of the show this morning, the Ponds

:20:12. > :20:14.Forge qualifying area, is a tournament within the tournament

:20:15. > :20:18.itself and perhaps he was mentally drained, perhaps more so. It was

:20:19. > :20:22.pretty late when they finished. It was but he got off to a bad start

:20:23. > :20:25.and every chance he gets has double and triple the amount of pressure

:20:26. > :20:28.because you feel as if you've got to get the first frame on the

:20:29. > :20:31.scoreboard, don't want to get whitewashed, the pressure becomes

:20:32. > :20:35.more and more and missed the pot and back to square one. This is the last

:20:36. > :20:37.before the end of the first session and it is certainly all going the

:20:38. > :20:47.defending champion's way. COMMENTATOR: There is a lot to be

:20:48. > :20:50.made about qualifying and how much it takes out of you but I believe

:20:51. > :20:57.that getting through them inspires you but you need a good start and

:20:58. > :21:01.Fergal didn't get one. Yes. Perhaps is game plan could have been

:21:02. > :21:07.different, trying to play the same sort of game that Mark Selby plays.

:21:08. > :21:16.Here is an opportunity. But he has the whole arena now watching his

:21:17. > :21:18.misery. Yeah. The other match, they have finished their first session,

:21:19. > :21:32.so all eyes on this table. For once he has missed one and not

:21:33. > :22:10.left it for his opponent. Possible pot to the far left corner.

:22:11. > :22:17.You feel he will have to try and make something now. As we were

:22:18. > :22:20.saying, in the UK when he made five centuries in that best of 11 match,

:22:21. > :22:27.that was snooker of the highest quality. It's there. Good shot. Not

:22:28. > :22:57.a bad case on the blue. Being so close to the blue it is

:22:58. > :23:01.hard to generate the pace. There is one over the middle. Being so close

:23:02. > :23:07.he couldn't really get the cue through, in danger of playing a push

:23:08. > :23:11.shot. As I say the red has come over the middle, just dropping in around

:23:12. > :23:23.the blue and otherwise he can play to the baulk end.

:23:24. > :23:31.Could have done without being tight to the cushion. I think he's just

:23:32. > :23:35.got the angle and if he puts the blue he is bound to be on the red.

:23:36. > :23:52.He played it well. Good shot. He is dead straight on this red, it

:23:53. > :24:04.needs good striking to screw the cue ball, exactly on the path where his

:24:05. > :24:12.hand is now. Slight bit of angle. I think he may be able to get... He is

:24:13. > :24:14.looking at the brown to the middle for the red in baulk. Maybe he could

:24:15. > :24:33.get around the bunch. He played that well. Every credit.

:24:34. > :24:37.It's hard to think positive when you are in the situation Fergal is in at

:24:38. > :24:49.the moment. You've just got to play one shot at a time.

:24:50. > :24:55.Now, I'm not certain what is available, there may be a red

:24:56. > :24:59.available to the right corner. He's just coming around to have a look.

:25:00. > :25:05.If there isn't I think he has the angle on the brown to come off the

:25:06. > :25:15.side cushion and into them. Big target. That's what he's playing.

:25:16. > :25:22.Couldn't have played it better. Surely he's on something. He is but

:25:23. > :25:30.it could have been a lot easier than this. He has a thin cut. That is

:25:31. > :25:43.very unfortunate, he could not have played that shot much better. Yes,

:25:44. > :25:47.he hit them perfectly. As I say, this red does cut but with it being

:25:48. > :26:00.so thin it is not guaranteed to have position. He potted it well, needs

:26:01. > :26:05.to come in and out of baulk to be on a colour. Couldn't have finished

:26:06. > :26:09.much worse. OK, he's on the brown but the wrong angle to get the cue

:26:10. > :26:17.ball back-up to this end of the table. I was going to say, come on,

:26:18. > :26:27.Fergal, take the brown on. Keep this break going. Every credit, I

:26:28. > :26:32.suppose, still playing the right shots, he feels. Perhaps it was

:26:33. > :26:39.worth just trying to keep that break going. Yes, well, a lot of players

:26:40. > :26:42.would have thumped the brown in the middle and screwed off the baulk

:26:43. > :26:51.cushion but I don't think it is part of Fergal's game. Is this hard

:26:52. > :26:56.enough? Missed calls but it may not be taken as he has a chance of a red

:26:57. > :27:03.to the middle. I see no reason to have it replaced. That 23 break on

:27:04. > :27:15.his last visit, the highest break of his match so far.

:27:16. > :27:22.Pot this, bound to be on the black. It's going to catch the near jaw and

:27:23. > :28:40.not go in. I think we may see Mark play another

:28:41. > :29:04.double hear. Not quite and that's why players

:29:05. > :29:09.don't like playing doubles, depending on which side of the jewel

:29:10. > :29:15.it is you could leave it. But I think it could be safe. -- which

:29:16. > :29:31.side of the jaw it is you could leave it.

:29:32. > :29:42.That red was running loose but I think he has it covered.

:29:43. > :29:52.The balls are not badly situated. There is only one red close to the

:29:53. > :29:53.cushion, so the next chance could be a frame-winning one. Fergal would

:29:54. > :30:15.love it to be him. And it may well be. I think he has

:30:16. > :30:22.left the red to the left middle, as Mark Selby. So Fergal has a chance

:30:23. > :30:27.to get a first frame on the scoreboard. Better late than never.

:30:28. > :30:36.Three hours he has been waiting for this chance.

:30:37. > :32:10.Just got the angle on the blue, to play for the two reds in front of

:32:11. > :32:12.the black. A little bit too straight on it to do that, but no problem.

:32:13. > :32:19.Still in good shape. Just got to keep his concentration

:32:20. > :32:57.now. OK, he would like to have been a bit

:32:58. > :33:04.further away from the cushion than this. Natural to roll the black in

:33:05. > :33:15.and bounce off the side cushion to get to the two reds above the black.

:33:16. > :33:18.Could have done with putting a little bit more pace on the cue

:33:19. > :33:35.ball. But it's not bad. Not perfect. Couple of reds, couple of high value

:33:36. > :33:42.colours, that should see him put his first frame on the scoreboard.

:33:43. > :33:52.And knowing this Crucible audience as I do, Stephen, he will get quite

:33:53. > :33:56.a bit of applause. I think something you have got to give Fergal credit

:33:57. > :34:02.for, his demeanour has not changed whether he is in his chair or at the

:34:03. > :34:06.table. He's looked like he is still concentrating hard. A few players,

:34:07. > :34:07.including myself, head in your hands, looking miserable and you

:34:08. > :34:22.want to get out of there. He's looking for one more red, but

:34:23. > :34:27.it's not as easy as he would've liked. One more red will put him 60

:34:28. > :34:36.point in front with just 59 remaining.

:34:37. > :34:51.Decided on this one, the one that is next to the yellow.

:34:52. > :35:18.Not there. So this frame isn't over yet. APPLAUSE

:35:19. > :35:30.Nicely on the blue, but it will be a tall order to win the frame at this

:35:31. > :35:39.visit. He needs high value colours in the main with these remaining

:35:40. > :35:44.reds. Six remaining colours. But when you are 8-0 in front, relaxed,

:35:45. > :36:05.anything is possible. This is the first challenge he's had

:36:06. > :36:40.for a while in this match. So it may clean up his concentration.

:36:41. > :36:50.That blue now puts Mark 40 points behind, 43 remaining. So he's going

:36:51. > :37:01.to need high value colours with these last two reds will stop he

:37:02. > :37:04.Watt he could get on the blue, another red and a black and he could

:37:05. > :37:26.win the frame by a point. But it's run safe. And the reason,

:37:27. > :37:33.like you Stephen, I would have thought about the other red, you are

:37:34. > :37:35.8-0 in front. I mean, you know, it was a chance to win the frame at

:37:36. > :38:19.that visit. I do think he purposely tried to run

:38:20. > :38:21.the red into the black to knock the black safe. Good idea, just didn't

:38:22. > :39:46.work out as planned. Fergal just needing a red. I think

:39:47. > :39:49.he will take this on. He won't want to move the crumb-macro tied to the

:39:50. > :39:58.right-hand cushion. But surely he will play a pot on this one. If you

:39:59. > :40:00.knock it in, you win the frame. You won't fancy your opponent cleaning

:40:01. > :40:16.up even if you left the red. He's been around, looked at pot and

:40:17. > :40:24.angle. You are right, John, he has to play this.

:40:25. > :40:36.APPLAUSE Yes! Well done, Fergal. You can see

:40:37. > :40:44.the little smile coming out of his face there. The applause is because

:40:45. > :41:05.he has just made a hundred brig. Well done. -- hundred break.

:41:06. > :41:09.And that will mean there is no way back to the table now for Mark

:41:10. > :41:33.Selby. He can't be disappointed with that.

:41:34. > :41:40.Mark Selby has a seven frame advantage going into tonight's next

:41:41. > :41:44.session. He leads Fergal O'Brien 8-1.

:41:45. > :41:50.HAZEL IRVINE: Mark Selby already in a commanding position against Fergal

:41:51. > :41:58.O'Brien. One Welshman in the draw, Ryan Day up against Xiao Guodong.

:41:59. > :42:05.Neil Robertson taking on Noppon Saengkham. Marco Fu plays Luca

:42:06. > :42:12.Brecel. Yan Bingtao plays Shaun Murphy. Liang Wenbo faces Stuart

:42:13. > :42:18.Carrington, who knocked out Mark Williams. Ding Junhui against

:42:19. > :42:25.Chinese new boy zone Yuelong. Stuart Bingham up against Peter Ebdon. Kyra

:42:26. > :42:34.Wilson against David Grace. Mark Allen against Bexhill's number 39,

:42:35. > :42:40.Jimmy Robertson. John Higgins up against Martin Gould is 881. A real

:42:41. > :42:47.bruiser, Ali Carter against Graeme Dott. So is this. McGill facing

:42:48. > :42:53.Maguire. And joint favourite Judd Trump takes on Rory McLeod on

:42:54. > :42:55.Tuesday. Judd Trump joint favourite with Mark Selby. Mark Selby living

:42:56. > :43:02.up to his favourite tag this morning. A lovely smile on the face

:43:03. > :43:08.of Fergal O'Brien. You almost feel a sense of relief for him. Very much

:43:09. > :43:11.so. He will have been slightly embarrassed by his level of

:43:12. > :43:17.performance today. His highest break was 17 in the match. We know Fergal

:43:18. > :43:21.is a proper buyer, but he has had a bad day at the office. Scoring 181

:43:22. > :43:27.points in the match so far, the lowest in any match at the Crucible,

:43:28. > :43:34.191. He has ten points work to do to avoid another record. How do you

:43:35. > :43:37.assess the damage from Fergal's point of view? What is it like to

:43:38. > :43:43.sit in your chair, because you have been there and you know what it is

:43:44. > :43:48.like. Horrible. It feels like the game is slipping away from you. You

:43:49. > :43:52.feel helpless about it. You are trying hard to get back into the

:43:53. > :43:56.game. The hardy you try, the worse it gets. Somewhere down the line,

:43:57. > :44:01.the embarrassing factor comes into the equation. You don't want to be

:44:02. > :44:07.in the room and you want to go home. Fergal in the last frame, still grit

:44:08. > :44:13.and determination. Others will have slung their cue at it more. But

:44:14. > :44:19.Fergal played the right shot at the right time. That is why, over the

:44:20. > :44:21.years, he has been so successful. Your Crucible record remains, the

:44:22. > :44:27.only whitewash in Crucible history that you have configured. Against Mr

:44:28. > :44:33.Charlton. I am quite glad about. Still intact, there aren't many of

:44:34. > :44:37.them. They will return as the champion 's prerogative on the first

:44:38. > :44:41.day, they come back and complete their match in the Saturday evening,

:44:42. > :44:45.that is at 7pm. Jason Mohammad will be here for that one. Former world

:44:46. > :44:50.number two Stephen Maguire hasn't won a match at the Crucible since

:44:51. > :44:56.2012. He beat Stephen Hendry in the quarterfinal here in a match that

:44:57. > :45:02.effectively retired Stephen. But it seems Maguire's record at this great

:45:03. > :45:09.championship has suffered as well. He has lost in round one in the four

:45:10. > :45:13.years between then and now. He is a qualifier this time. How will that

:45:14. > :45:15.affect him? Is the writing on the wall again? Perhaps even on the

:45:16. > :45:28.page. This writing is capital letters.

:45:29. > :45:32.Capital letters are usually somebody trying to protect themselves from

:45:33. > :45:37.allowing anybody to get a feeling for who they are. It is called

:45:38. > :45:42.putting on a uniform. He is somebody with a lot of willpower. There is no

:45:43. > :45:47.right margin. If you look at the difference between the left margin

:45:48. > :45:52.and right margin, it is quite a narrow margin. This is somebody that

:45:53. > :46:00.wants to get on with things. There are one or two points that show

:46:01. > :46:04.defiance. Look at the K. You have an enormous aggressive shooting up to

:46:05. > :46:09.the right. That is a defined structure. This site, the curve is

:46:10. > :46:12.right over to the left. He is somebody that is quite protective.

:46:13. > :46:17.If it curved in the other direction, it would be someone more open to

:46:18. > :46:27.symbolically to the outside world. This is somebody quite define.

:46:28. > :46:31.Capital Os have these angles. Again, quite a tenacious person. Where you

:46:32. > :46:36.have angles where there should be curves, it is like a fist. He is

:46:37. > :46:40.putting a fist in place. The words have a number of twisted letters in

:46:41. > :46:45.them as well. If you look at the slander of some letters, they are

:46:46. > :46:50.going the opposite direction to the letters next door. This is known as

:46:51. > :46:56.twisted writing. Here is somebody who needs to be in control. They

:46:57. > :47:01.need to verify and take arguments a stage further. Somebody like this

:47:02. > :47:07.might start quite strongly, but then his writing flattens out. The way he

:47:08. > :47:10.pursues his aims starts with a flourish and then there is a

:47:11. > :47:16.flattening out. There may be difficulties in long-range planning,

:47:17. > :47:18.but a nice bit of aggression, and checking, and fighting. So a

:47:19. > :47:30.reasonably good competitor. Defiant, protective, tenacious,

:47:31. > :47:42.aggressive. Spot on for Stephen Maguire. Anthony McGill winning in

:47:43. > :47:46.India and the snooker shoot out. He is the automatic qualifier this

:47:47. > :47:52.time. A different feeling to the last two years when he has inflicted

:47:53. > :47:55.pain on leading seed, knocking out Shaun Murphy, and sending Stephen

:47:56. > :47:59.Maguire back to Glasgow with a super cool performance on his debut in

:48:00. > :48:06.2015. This time, as the seeded player, the pressure is on And.

:48:07. > :48:11.I have had a breakthrough season. I wasn't a winner before and I have

:48:12. > :48:18.managed to steal a couple of tournaments. I am coming here with a

:48:19. > :48:23.lot of confidence. I am high in the rankings, which happens when you are

:48:24. > :48:28.doing well. Yeah, as years go by, because it is a game of experience

:48:29. > :48:32.as well, really. I think the more experience you get, the better plate

:48:33. > :48:38.you become. As the years go by, the better you get. I have played

:48:39. > :48:41.Stephen here before two years ago. The draw came out, I watched it

:48:42. > :48:49.live, and I couldn't believe it. We used to practice together. You would

:48:50. > :48:51.like to maybe play someone who you are not familiar with. You don't

:48:52. > :48:57.want to play your mate or your practice partner. You want him to do

:48:58. > :48:59.well, I want Stephen to do well. Stephen wants me to do well. But it

:49:00. > :49:08.is what it is, and that is the draw. At 2:30 we live with Ronnie

:49:09. > :49:15.O'Sullivan, but we will update you on progress in this one. We join

:49:16. > :49:19.them at 2-2. This is frame five, Willie Thorne and Peter Ebdon

:49:20. > :49:22.commentating. COMMENTATOR: A good opportunity for

:49:23. > :49:26.Anthony McGill. He might play ace workshops to the right-hand side, a

:49:27. > :49:29.lot of swerve, and that is the reason why he missed it. He had to

:49:30. > :49:36.play that with lots and lots of right-hand side. Lots of right-hand

:49:37. > :49:39.side on the cue ball. The right-hand side, throwing the cue ball to the

:49:40. > :49:45.left, hitting the object ball thick. That is the reason why he missed the

:49:46. > :49:51.Quins. He looked amused to say the least. He couldn't believe that the

:49:52. > :49:54.cue ball through so much. Through so much and didn't come back. Usually

:49:55. > :50:01.you get some movement to the right. He had no movement at all. He played

:50:02. > :50:07.it a fraction too hard. Yes, absolutely. And was very fortunate

:50:08. > :50:09.in the end not to leave the red. This is a really tough red to take

:50:10. > :50:23.on. Wow, what a shot that is. Cued that

:50:24. > :50:27.really well. He can get onto the pink in the middle without any

:50:28. > :50:33.problems. If that goes in, he has an excellent chance of scoring well

:50:34. > :50:41.with the black to both corners. I mentioned in commentary in the first

:50:42. > :50:45.four friends, doing well with little breaks, but no player as yet, apart

:50:46. > :50:54.from in the opening frame when Maguire made 66. We always say

:50:55. > :50:59.instead the com if you get a chance a friend, you are happy because you

:51:00. > :51:02.have had a chance. At this point in time, you are the getting three or

:51:03. > :51:24.four. It has been interesting so far, we

:51:25. > :51:28.have seen both players now miss balls when they have been using

:51:29. > :51:35.extreme side and hitting the object ball thick. Obviously, this cloth is

:51:36. > :51:39.throwing considerably with side. Which is one of the reasons why

:51:40. > :51:43.players like to play as much playing ball as possible. Could it be the

:51:44. > :51:49.fact that the tables, the first match is on this morning, and they

:51:50. > :51:53.to had heat on the tables, the table heaters on the days, and there may

:51:54. > :51:59.be dampness in the cloth? Could that be a problem? Normally, if there is

:52:00. > :52:04.dampness, you tend not to get so much throw. You tend to get more

:52:05. > :52:05.grip. I would say the conditions are playing very good out there this

:52:06. > :52:13.morning. That's a lovely shot from Stephen

:52:14. > :52:19.Maguire Hebert. Really well controlled. Played the screw shot

:52:20. > :52:20.through the red. Very, very well controlled. That was an excellent

:52:21. > :52:28.shot. The first morning session of any

:52:29. > :52:33.tournament, the tables all ten to be different to how they are on the

:52:34. > :52:37.second day. Table heaters on for a couple of days, the television

:52:38. > :52:43.lights on, everything gets dried out. I will be surprised in the next

:52:44. > :52:48.day or so, if the table is pushing as much. An opportunity to play into

:52:49. > :53:04.the pink. Play video screw. Just needs to miss the pink. He

:53:05. > :53:10.played the cannon into the pink. I am surprised, Maguire usually plays

:53:11. > :53:14.the aggressive shot. And that wasn't the aggressive shot. That does

:53:15. > :53:22.surprise me. Screwing back through and opening them up. Yes, as you

:53:23. > :53:26.say, Stephen usually takes the first opportunity to open the balls as

:53:27. > :53:37.much as he possibly can. He plays very aggressive.

:53:38. > :53:44.But if he could take these two loose reds, and perhaps leave himself an

:53:45. > :53:49.angle on the blue, it would leave a nice pack to go into from the blue.

:53:50. > :53:55.He made play for the red nearest to his hand now to finish on it

:53:56. > :53:59.straight. He could have the half bald pink into the corner. In which

:54:00. > :54:17.case, it would open the reds up. And he can't do it from that shot.

:54:18. > :54:28.Does he have the angle for the buck to go into the reds? If the pink is

:54:29. > :54:41.available, he will play-off pink for the next red.

:54:42. > :54:50.We will know after this shop. Because he is plumb on this red.

:54:51. > :54:54.Having another look now to see if the pink is available. He needs to

:54:55. > :54:58.leave the cue ball low on the pink. This could be the frame with this

:54:59. > :55:05.shot here. If he gets nicely on the pink, it would things up far and

:55:06. > :55:11.wide. The shot that we saw a few seconds ago, this pink is actually

:55:12. > :55:23.quite tight. It doesn't go clearly. There's a slight gap there.

:55:24. > :55:30.Not quite as straightforward as it looks, this. If he plays with top

:55:31. > :55:35.spin, he could end up finishing on the black. He needs to make sure the

:55:36. > :55:43.cue ball is out in open play. Push them towards the middle, but hit it

:55:44. > :55:47.too. He has been fortunate, the red up near the yellow, because he

:55:48. > :55:52.didn't play for that. I wasn't expecting him to play a shot into

:55:53. > :55:59.the baulk pocket, that's the shore. But 54 and counting. -- that's for

:56:00. > :56:15.sure. Stephen's also got some insurance if

:56:16. > :56:16.it were to go wrong. With the red being on the baulk cushion between

:56:17. > :56:32.the yellow and the brown. But if he cannot this long red in,

:56:33. > :56:48.there are a couple of loose reds that go as well.

:56:49. > :57:00.Very good shot on the red. He's on a nice angle on the blue as well, just

:57:01. > :57:14.to knock this in for the red to the right-hand pocket.

:57:15. > :57:20.And that should really be the end of the frame. Stephen Maguire on the

:57:21. > :58:20.verge here of going 3-2 up. 75 remaining, 63 in front. Just this

:58:21. > :58:24.comes to make a frenzy. Red and colour, and we may see our first

:58:25. > :58:25.century of the match now. The highest break previously was 66 from

:58:26. > :58:38.Maguire. 52 competitive centuries Stephen

:58:39. > :58:44.Maguire's had in his career. Not any players have got past the 400 marks,

:58:45. > :58:50.but he is a very, very good break-builder. Making sure of that.

:58:51. > :59:06.Making the frame safe. You also just get the feeling that

:59:07. > :59:11.the smiling and joking that both players were sharing before the

:59:12. > :59:12.interval has now stopped. The smiling assassin, Anthony McGill, is

:59:13. > :59:29.no longer smiling in his chair. And personally, I think it will be a

:59:30. > :59:33.better match for it as well. The way it started, it looked like being

:59:34. > :59:35.commended, 58, 66 from either player. I thought we would get 60

:59:36. > :59:43.and above every frame. I think the record will be broken

:59:44. > :59:48.this year, Peter, as far as centuries are concerned. We could

:59:49. > :59:53.see very close to 100 centuries at this tournament, because there are

:59:54. > :59:57.so many players scoring heavily. I have no idea who's going to win the

:59:58. > :00:13.championship this year. If I had three pics, I wouldn't necessarily

:00:14. > :00:17.find the winner. -- free picks. The break goes to 91, which is

:00:18. > :00:21.unfortunate, because he is going to need the last consumer. What he

:00:22. > :00:33.needs to do here is pay for a baulk colour, or even half bald blue. That

:00:34. > :00:40.is quite clever. One lucky. -- unlucky.

:00:41. > :00:48.It looks as if he has the angle on the green for the red if he cuts the

:00:49. > :00:54.green in but he decided to pot the fantastic long blue instead. He

:00:55. > :00:59.would have been very unfortunate to finished rate on this red. This is

:01:00. > :01:07.going to take some shot to pot this at pace and get on a colour. What a

:01:08. > :01:16.shame, no century, but fantastic break. 3-2.

:01:17. > :01:21.36-year-old Mogwai won frame six as well with a knock of 60, his fourth

:01:22. > :01:25.half-century of the match so far, so he has that two frame gap at last

:01:26. > :01:31.4-2 as we head into the seventh, it is McGill to play.

:01:32. > :01:42.There is a lot of pressure on this long red.

:01:43. > :01:56.And that is what can happen he put a lot of unwanted side on that, he

:01:57. > :01:58.flicked a bit of right-hand side on unintentionally and the cue ball

:01:59. > :02:06.turnover and hit the red half ball, glaring error. As we mentioned

:02:07. > :02:10.earlier, with Anthony being so strong in his sighting underneath

:02:11. > :02:23.his right eye there is a natural tendency to come across the ball.

:02:24. > :02:26.With right-hand side. The fact he was missing everything thick he may

:02:27. > :02:30.have thought if I put a bit of right-hand side on it it will be OK

:02:31. > :02:34.but he completely mis-hit it and it could be very costly the way Maguire

:02:35. > :02:53.has started the second session of four in this match.

:02:54. > :02:59.This is the one thing you can be absolutely certain love with Stephen

:03:00. > :03:04.Maguire when he's playing well, he scores heavily amongst the balls.

:03:05. > :03:09.And there you have a fantastic example of his cue power, the cue

:03:10. > :03:19.ball to avoid the reds and get perfect on the blue. He is timing

:03:20. > :03:23.the ball very well. And he has upped his pace as well, which is very

:03:24. > :03:31.noticeable. Does he play a little cannon into the pink at pace? I

:03:32. > :03:39.think he will go into the reds, for sure, he will want to win this frame

:03:40. > :03:43.in one visit if he can. And there is you answer. He has not played that

:03:44. > :03:49.very well, to be honest. He did not get the cannon he wanted there. It

:03:50. > :03:53.was one of those packs where there was only one red behind the pink and

:03:54. > :03:57.if you didn't catch the pink full ball as we see here he would not get

:03:58. > :04:01.any movement and that is what has happened. He could pot this red and

:04:02. > :04:10.use the pack to screw back for, but could he run back for the black?

:04:11. > :04:16.Otherwise he will have to go for another colour. Where is the cue

:04:17. > :04:20.ball going? This table is very quick, isn't it? Yes, very, very

:04:21. > :04:22.quick. He will take the green into the Green pocket and play for the

:04:23. > :04:33.red into the right centre. Yes, Stephen has certainly upped the

:04:34. > :04:47.tempo now, scoring very heavily in this match, breaks of 66, 50, 44, 97

:04:48. > :04:51.and 60. 32 and counting hear. This is two frames in front at double the

:04:52. > :04:58.points in front. He is outscoring McGill by some 200 odd points by

:04:59. > :05:02.this match so far. This all happened after the third frame that McGill

:05:03. > :05:07.should have won when Maguire was all over the place and somehow Maguire

:05:08. > :05:10.managed to pinch it. He needs to be very careful with this cannon

:05:11. > :05:17.because if it goes wrong he could go in off. He played that really well,

:05:18. > :05:22.that was a beautiful shot, decided not to play with pace. He knew

:05:23. > :05:29.exactly what he was doing with the cue ball. The danger of playing with

:05:30. > :05:33.pace, if he had caught the top red he could have gone in off into the

:05:34. > :05:41.corner but he worked that out very well.

:05:42. > :05:44.He is just a couple of shots away from making this a frame-winning

:05:45. > :06:05.opportunity. Has that gone up the table or did he

:06:06. > :06:12.get a bad contact? It sounded like a kink, it sounded like it just went

:06:13. > :06:16.straight. Let's have a little look at this as we see it for the second

:06:17. > :06:21.time. Yes, just straightened up, pushed it to the corner. It wasn't

:06:22. > :06:56.his fault, just a little unlucky. Once again, when you play with side

:06:57. > :07:03.you can see the difficulty playing on these cloths sometimes, he is all

:07:04. > :07:08.at sea at the moment, Anthony McGill, lost his way in this match.

:07:09. > :07:17.But I think he'd be happy to get out of it 6-3 in the way things are

:07:18. > :07:21.going at the moment. Not sure if he could avoid the case on the pink and

:07:22. > :07:27.get the red closest to the cue ball, that goes into the corner. He would

:07:28. > :07:31.have to play with a tiny bit of left-hand side. The natural angle is

:07:32. > :07:38.to play where the pink is an hit the cushion but he can't do that.

:07:39. > :07:45.He will play a little bit of stunned and try and play onto the side, he

:07:46. > :08:01.didn't quite get it but he is on the red no problem.

:08:02. > :08:12.Once again, the speed of the table fooling him. What a massive

:08:13. > :08:17.difference that is. If he finishes two inches short it is frame over.

:08:18. > :08:21.Where he is now he can power in the blue and finish on the red in the

:08:22. > :08:28.left-hand corner, taking on the slightly more difficult green to

:08:29. > :08:33.finish on the same red, playing off one cushion now. How is the pace

:08:34. > :08:37.this time? He lost the cue ball a little bit, could have done with a

:08:38. > :08:38.bit of left-hand side to straighten the cue ball, dead straight, no

:08:39. > :08:53.problem. This is a real test of cueing now

:08:54. > :09:04.for Stephen. That is a lovely shot. That is Ephraim winner. -- that is a

:09:05. > :09:07.frame-winner. He has a nice angle on the black to screw in the reds.

:09:08. > :09:17.Although it looks as though the bottom red in the cluster will go

:09:18. > :09:22.providing he gets on it correctly. Just depends how he sees it. Decided

:09:23. > :09:28.to screw through them, not really got into the white at all what he

:09:29. > :09:30.has a choice of reds in the centre. Didn't get as much spin as he would

:09:31. > :09:52.have liked to have done there. Very similar to a red he refused

:09:53. > :09:58.earlier, he could have played a little screw back, he overscrewed it

:09:59. > :10:05.this time by six or seven inches. But he can still Part this black.

:10:06. > :10:12.Missing the cannon but he will be on the other reds, hopefully, but he

:10:13. > :10:21.hit that too hard as well. Service frame is still not in the balance.

:10:22. > :10:30.The favourite with 66 in front and 67 on.

:10:31. > :11:51.This is good stuff from Stephen Maguire hear.

:11:52. > :11:59.He played a little exhibition shot to try and get the red into play.

:12:00. > :12:05.Didn't control the cue ball nicely enough. Power the cue ball to get

:12:06. > :12:11.back down to the red cushion. There is the cue ball, but he missed the

:12:12. > :12:19.blue. McGill will stay in his seat. Maguire now leads 5-2.

:12:20. > :12:26.And a break of 59 in the next, and yet another win in the ninth means

:12:27. > :12:30.that Stephen owns a 7-2 advantage going into tonight's concluding

:12:31. > :12:33.session and needs three more. For those of you watching the match on

:12:34. > :12:35.the red button you may have heard colourful language in commentary and

:12:36. > :12:41.we apologise for that. Tables have certainly turned between

:12:42. > :12:47.these two men in this particular situation. Two years ago McGill was

:12:48. > :12:51.a qualifier inflicting the damage and now it's the other way around.

:12:52. > :12:54.It could have gone the other way because at the start they were bit

:12:55. > :12:58.ropey and it was the first person to get a grip on the match, Stephen

:12:59. > :13:02.Maguire. The difference from two years ago when Anthony McGill was

:13:03. > :13:07.the qualifier coming through and was not necessarily looking over his

:13:08. > :13:11.shoulder like if you are a seed the tables have been turned. Anthony

:13:12. > :13:14.McGill has a bit more to prove as a seed and perhaps from Stephen

:13:15. > :13:19.Maguire's perspective, coming in as a qualifier with extra matchplay has

:13:20. > :13:23.taken the load off his shoulders. He looked largely untroubled in the

:13:24. > :13:27.qualifiers, smooth progress to this point. That's right, and even though

:13:28. > :13:30.he had a bad start, he missed some awful boards in the early part of

:13:31. > :13:34.the match, now he's playing with a lot more freedom and certainly

:13:35. > :13:38.hasn't got that in aggression of beating himself up if he plays a bad

:13:39. > :13:43.shot. If Stephen Maguire gets off to a good start in this match and

:13:44. > :13:49.converts that and gets a run in the tournament, you see the best in

:13:50. > :13:52.Stephen Maguire, the competitive, gritty, determined player. He has

:13:53. > :13:55.the session tonight, they have their second session this evening, Mogwai

:13:56. > :13:59.needing three more to get over the line for the first time in five

:14:00. > :14:03.years here at the Crucible. Now it is time for Ronnie O'Sullivan. It is

:14:04. > :14:07.very much the Ronnie O'Sullivan show this afternoon, in his 25th campaign

:14:08. > :14:12.he is trying to become a joint legend. He is already a legend, he

:14:13. > :14:17.has five world titles but only Steve Davis and a certain Stephen Hendry

:14:18. > :14:21.have won six or more in the modern era involving matches here at the

:14:22. > :14:25.Crucible and he could join them. He has had his ups and downs at the

:14:26. > :14:29.Crucible, as you know, he has been tortured soul at times and has

:14:30. > :14:30.wonderful triumphs too but it appears he's very much looking

:14:31. > :14:42.forward to this campaign. It's quite nice to be here really, I

:14:43. > :14:49.like Sheffield, it's a good place. It's like a home from home really

:14:50. > :14:53.because I've got friends here, and I know all the people at the

:14:54. > :14:57.restaurants, so when I come here we are always happy to see each other

:14:58. > :15:02.so it's a nice place to come. I think life is good, I'm really

:15:03. > :15:06.enjoying stuff, I have a variety of things going on, so it's not just

:15:07. > :15:11.about playing snooker. So, it's probably the best year I've ever had

:15:12. > :15:16.in my life. This a big moment for Ronnie to break Stephen Hendry's

:15:17. > :15:22.record of six Masters titles. It is a big thing to Ronnie.

:15:23. > :15:27.I've had to bring in Steve and say, you need to help me out, I am a busy

:15:28. > :15:31.guy, how can we deal with this? Sometimes you have to just work

:15:32. > :15:36.around it and that's great, you are always learning. It is a new task

:15:37. > :15:41.for me to learn, managing time. I was ready to jack it in and I met

:15:42. > :15:45.Steve and it's his fault I'm still playing. You go to the master and he

:15:46. > :15:53.gives you a few lessons and you have to go away and work it out for

:15:54. > :15:56.yourself. He has helped me tremendously and with Steve, he told

:15:57. > :15:59.me I can show you what to do but unless you go away and actually do

:16:00. > :16:02.it yourself, like if you start going to the gym you have to motivate

:16:03. > :16:06.yourself to do it and I am good like that. It works for me, I keep on top

:16:07. > :16:08.of it and we have a good relationship.

:16:09. > :16:21.I just think I've got a busy May, June, July, August, September, so

:16:22. > :16:25.much going on, it's amazing. And if you get a few pages in between,

:16:26. > :16:28.happy days. Many Stooke watchers would like to

:16:29. > :16:35.thank Dr Steve Peters for prolonging Ronnie's career but he placed

:16:36. > :16:39.31-year-old newcomer Gary Wilson, he has fulfilled an ambition to play

:16:40. > :16:42.here, one he has held since being a nine-year-old schoolboy coming to

:16:43. > :16:47.the Crucible to watch. Many would have thought you would want to avoid

:16:48. > :16:51.Ronnie in round one but not Gary, he has been in impressively high

:16:52. > :16:55.scoring form in qualifying and what of this will be for the player

:16:56. > :16:59.ranked 59 in the world, no more time to think about it, it is time for

:17:00. > :17:02.action. He has been hugely impressive in qualification, Gary

:17:03. > :17:08.Wilson, eight centuries including a 147 maximum in his first match, and

:17:09. > :17:14.the seniors world champion Peter Lynas, but the last match to qualify

:17:15. > :17:18.was impressive, Michael White from Wales, 10-3, magnificent score to

:17:19. > :17:22.get here. He is a good score and he will have to be today, it is a

:17:23. > :17:25.baptism of fire at the Crucible against the Rocket, five times

:17:26. > :17:28.champion of the world and when the big players, for the big tournaments

:17:29. > :17:32.Ronnie O'Sullivan is one of those, winner of the Masters in January,

:17:33. > :17:36.finalist in the UK, you could not ask for a tough opening match. Let's

:17:37. > :17:40.get the players out there, the crowd is in full anticipation, it is all

:17:41. > :17:45.yours. Thanks, John, good afternoon, ladies

:17:46. > :17:50.and gentlemen, day one at the 2017 Betfred World Snooker Championship,

:17:51. > :17:54.and as always the Crucible crowd in this very special 40th anniversary

:17:55. > :17:56.year are in fine voice and ready for the drama to come.

:17:57. > :18:22.Please welcome a player emerging for one of the biggest matches of his

:18:23. > :18:25.career so far, superb run to the semis at the UK champion last season

:18:26. > :18:31.but this is his first appearance here at the Crucible, all the way

:18:32. > :18:57.from Leeds, it is Yorkshire's very own David Amazing

:18:58. > :19:04.Graceful stop and his opponent, back after a great run to the quarters

:19:05. > :19:06.here last year, winner of last year's Shanghai Masters, he made the

:19:07. > :19:11.final of the Indian open at the start of the current campaign, now

:19:12. > :19:34.established in the world's top 16, The Warrior Kyren Wilson.

:19:35. > :19:38.And on table one, please welcome another player who has done it the

:19:39. > :19:44.hard way through qualifying to make it here for the very first time, and

:19:45. > :19:48.a magnificent 147 along the way at Ponds Forge, he will have massive

:19:49. > :19:49.support from the north-east this afternoon, the Tyneside terror, Gary

:19:50. > :20:22.Wilson. And finally, a player emerging for

:20:23. > :20:25.his 25th Crucible campaign, here after a record-breaking seventh

:20:26. > :20:29.victory at the Masters in January, five times a champion of the world,

:20:30. > :20:47.blink and you'll miss in The Rocket Ronnie O'sullivan.

:20:48. > :20:53.So, the Rocket approaches the launch pad up against Gary Wilson,

:20:54. > :20:58.fantastic, the thing to local hero, the chosen track for Gary. I wonder

:20:59. > :21:03.if he will be so today. Don't worry if you want to watch the Kyren

:21:04. > :21:08.Wilson, David Grace match, it is live online via connected

:21:09. > :21:11.televisions on BBC Two and the red button. For the moment we will be

:21:12. > :21:16.watching this one. Good luck to both, and hello to Stephen Hendry

:21:17. > :21:18.and Dennis Taylor. COMMENTATOR: Good afternoon everyone, and a warm

:21:19. > :21:38.welcome to the Crucible Theatre. Ronnie gets the first frame underway

:21:39. > :21:47.and a pretty good break off. And a fairly new player to your screens,

:21:48. > :21:49.Gary Wilson. What an achievement to get here for the first time after

:21:50. > :22:20.trying for seven years good player. Very interesting to see what former

:22:21. > :22:26.Ronnie O'Sullivan brings to this World Championship. He has not been

:22:27. > :22:34.at his best in the previous few months. He won the Masters but since

:22:35. > :22:41.then he has not been too impressive. Will know if he can bring his A-game

:22:42. > :22:50.here he will win, his best game is better than anyone else's. But that

:22:51. > :22:53.is easier said than done. Yes, just gone a little bit awkward, the

:22:54. > :22:59.opening frame, with the red up at the other end of the table.

:23:00. > :23:13.This is the second time they have played. He has played Ronnie wants

:23:14. > :23:22.and Ronnie Peter 5-3. So he took three frames off the Rocket. --

:23:23. > :23:28.Ronnie Peterson 5-3. That gets the frame of back-up to normality, the

:23:29. > :23:33.red coming back up this end of the table. It hasn't come up far enough.

:23:34. > :23:40.That will be very difficult. He could take on the pot but in the

:23:41. > :23:49.first frame he might just decide on the safety shot off that red. That's

:23:50. > :23:58.what he's done. He has just knocked the black onto the side cushion so

:23:59. > :24:03.that has made it a little awkward. He doesn't take many risks these

:24:04. > :24:12.days, Ronnie O'Sullivan. He's not, perhaps, as aggressive as the likes

:24:13. > :24:17.of a Judd Trump. He prefers to wait and get chances from his opponent's

:24:18. > :24:23.mistakes. That is an excellent long pot. That will make him feel really

:24:24. > :24:32.good. No matter who you are it's always nice to get your first long

:24:33. > :24:44.pot in. His first pot at the Crucible and it was a cracker.

:24:45. > :24:50.Just travelled a little bit too close to the blue and he needs to

:24:51. > :24:59.get past agreement to take him self back up to the reds. And a lot of

:25:00. > :25:06.our older viewers watching here, when they see Gary cueing up, it

:25:07. > :25:09.will remind them of twice Pot Black Champion, Graham Miles who passed

:25:10. > :25:22.away a couple of years ago. He holds the key similar to Graham, down the

:25:23. > :25:33.sides of his chin. -- he holds the cue.

:25:34. > :25:47.Make no mistake, Gary is a great player. Can he produce his best on

:25:48. > :25:50.the big stage? That's the question. That last qualifying round John

:25:51. > :25:58.Parrott mentioned against Michael White, very impressive result. Eight

:25:59. > :26:05.centuries in three matches is pretty good scoring as well.

:26:06. > :26:16.This is a tricky little shot. Hit it slowly to give it more chance of

:26:17. > :26:23.going in. He played it at pace to go for the red into the same pocket.

:26:24. > :26:26.That wasn't easy. Maybe would have been better just dropping in the

:26:27. > :26:39.black for the red to the left corner.

:26:40. > :26:51.I think he has left enough angle on the black to get out for the red

:26:52. > :26:58.near the pink. It pops into the right corner. He will have a look at

:26:59. > :27:02.the one at the back of the pack, because if it goes, he did have a

:27:03. > :27:07.glance at it, but it would open a ball the reds if he does decide to

:27:08. > :27:16.take this on. One shot here and you know what Ronnie is like, he likes

:27:17. > :27:19.to get the ball is open as possible. That is unlucky, although I think

:27:20. > :27:24.the pink may go into the middle but he's going away from the reds now. A

:27:25. > :27:31.bit unlucky for that red to cover the pocket. The pack was a lovely

:27:32. > :27:35.shape, as long as he struck it where he did he would be on the black but

:27:36. > :28:34.for the red covering the right pocket.

:28:35. > :28:42.You heard Ronnie talking about Steve Peters, that's the gentleman that

:28:43. > :28:47.has helped Ronnie for quite a few years and he has certainly worked

:28:48. > :28:56.wonders with him. He a sports psychiatrist. Not a psychologist. He

:28:57. > :29:06.has worked with the England team, Liverpool football club he has a

:29:07. > :29:17.great respect for Ronnie and vice versa.

:29:18. > :29:24.He will go for the little one into the middle pocket to get nicely on

:29:25. > :30:21.the black again. No problem. Handy, the plant is on. That's the

:30:22. > :30:37.number he is looking for, 65. He is doing, Stephen, what you used

:30:38. > :30:42.to do throughout the 90s, and what Steve Davis did in the 80s. Always

:30:43. > :30:47.able to get off to a fast start. What was the mindset, is that what

:30:48. > :30:53.you were after? We all want a fast start, but you two gentleman seemed

:30:54. > :31:00.to do it all the time. Ron Lee just looks very comfortable out there,

:31:01. > :31:08.very composed. -- Ronnie. The top players in the game, they step into

:31:09. > :31:10.the groove so quickly. You hear a lot of players talking about nerves

:31:11. > :31:15.in the first round and want to get the first round over. They don't

:31:16. > :31:20.look comfortable. But the very top two or three in the game don't think

:31:21. > :31:21.like that. It looks like he might have overrun this to the right

:31:22. > :31:31.corner. Just a couple of inches too far. So

:31:32. > :31:36.he's not going to clinch the frame with this visit.

:31:37. > :32:07.Just a little bit too much pace on it. Such fine margins, this game.

:32:08. > :32:26.The only bad thing is he's put two of the reds on the cushion. Already

:32:27. > :32:31.one safe on the left cushion. If he wants to get a chance, it won't be

:32:32. > :32:40.an easy one. Ronnie catching that safety shot far too fig. So that

:32:41. > :32:48.excellent safety shot has provided an opportunity. -- far too thick. A

:32:49. > :33:00.chance for Gary Wilson to get right back into this first frame.

:33:01. > :33:11.He's got an angle he can can become to the black. I think it is worth

:33:12. > :33:16.the risk. He may choose to play the red nearest the corner first. I am

:33:17. > :33:18.surprised he played that way. And he's ended up in a bit of no man's

:33:19. > :33:32.land. Well, either red is very, very tough

:33:33. > :33:42.indeed if he's going to take the pot on. He has two fully commit. This to

:33:43. > :33:45.give him a possible chance. If it doesn't go in, the frame is gone.

:33:46. > :33:55.Well played. Very good. I am not sure if you can get an

:33:56. > :33:59.angle on the pink to get onto the red. As we show you this delicate

:34:00. > :34:05.slip along the cushion. He has still got the guns and Mac near the left

:34:06. > :34:12.corner, but I don't think has the angle to move to the one on the side

:34:13. > :34:16.cushion. He might have. -- he has still got the red near the left

:34:17. > :34:17.corner. Didn't have the angle to move it, that's why he just dropped

:34:18. > :35:16.it in. A little bit tempted by the double,

:35:17. > :35:23.looks like it. If you missed it, you have no idea where the red is going

:35:24. > :35:30.to go. In the end, he was so far away from the double. He certainly

:35:31. > :35:50.hasn't left an easy opportunity. This is interesting, I don't think

:35:51. > :35:55.Ronnie wants to take this safety -- take this on.

:35:56. > :36:02.He might only be able to tie, but as you say, Stephen, he seemed to be

:36:03. > :36:07.looking at the safety shot. That maybe tells me, he's got some sort

:36:08. > :36:15.of game plan not to risk too many, which is unlike Ronnie. I must

:36:16. > :36:21.admit, I'm shocked he hasn't already taken this red on.

:36:22. > :36:27.He struck it well. He couldn't have got much closer, but maybe he's just

:36:28. > :36:37.not feeling that confident. He was looking for an alternative

:36:38. > :37:00.shop, but didn't see one. He forced himself into taking it on.

:37:01. > :37:11.That red seemed to fly off the top vision. In fact, it's gone past the

:37:12. > :37:16.middle pocket, but it seemed to come off the cushion very quick indeed,

:37:17. > :37:21.Stephen. Divinity. When Ronnie went out opposition, that was the reason

:37:22. > :37:27.as well. He was shocked he got a big bounce. -- definitely. When Ronnie

:37:28. > :38:00.went out of position. He will want a thin snick here. He

:38:01. > :38:22.doesn't want to develop both these reds.

:38:23. > :38:27.There's that style I was telling you about, cue right down the side of

:38:28. > :38:37.his chin, as you can see. Didn't play it to get the white back

:38:38. > :38:43.in the baulk area, he wanted to make sure that he didn't push a red

:38:44. > :38:49.towards a pocket. Money can get the advantage here and quite easily

:38:50. > :38:51.swing this around. Ronnie can get the advantage. That has left Gary in

:38:52. > :39:28.a of bother. This is a test of the cue action,

:39:29. > :39:33.long pot. These type of shots are what you call confidence boosters.

:39:34. > :39:42.It tells you how well you are cueing. That's the distance he has,

:39:43. > :39:52.6'8", cue ball to object ball. No, cueing across it slightly.

:39:53. > :40:17.You could see the backhand there moves slightly.

:40:18. > :40:22.What's he done here? He needs the pink to come to his rescue and it

:40:23. > :40:54.might just. Just the black needed, so he can

:40:55. > :41:00.just concentrate and drop the black in.

:41:01. > :41:20.Just one snooker needed. He could chip this in past the brown. Yeah,

:41:21. > :41:32.it could. Not quite, but look at the cue ball. He can and the black. That

:41:33. > :41:33.means but Gary could take this on, but he'd have to get up for a high

:41:34. > :42:02.value colour. If he had of taken the pot on, he

:42:03. > :42:21.could put pink or black to have one snooker.

:42:22. > :42:50.He could do with that black off the cushion a little bit. It is totally

:42:51. > :43:02.out of commission. Well, he tried to develop a black

:43:03. > :43:07.and pushed it right over the pocket. He's got a good cue ball, but I

:43:08. > :43:17.think he's going to find the gap, is he?

:43:18. > :43:34.If he could get a chance, he would pot the red and the black, and he

:43:35. > :43:37.would still only need one snooker. But that's far too Finn from this

:43:38. > :43:55.position. -- to not a bad effort. He is able to bend

:43:56. > :43:57.it around the brown. You have the perfect picture to see the little

:43:58. > :44:12.swerve shot. Always nice to see a swerve shot

:44:13. > :45:02.executed. Seeing Ronnie's swerve their, it is

:45:03. > :45:08.a lovely shot to watch. -- seeing Ronnie's swerve there. We can show

:45:09. > :45:11.you how it is executed, striking down lest I come you can see the

:45:12. > :45:28.ball bounce and start to turn to the left. -- striking down left side.

:45:29. > :45:34.Now then, Pogba red, pop black, he's far from out of this first frame. --

:45:35. > :45:47.pot the red, pot the black. And the balls are now nicely placed

:45:48. > :45:56.for that snooker that he needs. Yeah, if he can pot black and then

:45:57. > :46:07.pot the you, leave the cue ball behind the blue.

:46:08. > :46:12.Yeah, that's what he's looking at Stephen. And I think he can still

:46:13. > :46:18.get to that position that you suggested. He has got to avoid the

:46:19. > :46:25.pink and get back up into the correct position to play your shot.

:46:26. > :46:34.From here, it comes if it misses the brown. A bit too heavy. But he can

:46:35. > :46:40.still play that shot and still get in behind the blue.

:46:41. > :46:49.It's one of those, if you can get it tight in behind the blue, it is

:46:50. > :46:55.very, very difficult to get away from. If he tries to get the cue

:46:56. > :46:57.ball in tied behind the blue, the Green could come off the cushion and

:46:58. > :47:19.double-kiss. He just decelerated a little bit.

:47:20. > :47:25.It's a snooker, but he didn't get enough side to just come off the

:47:26. > :47:29.cushion and clip the green. A little but harder there and it would have

:47:30. > :47:33.been difficult for Ronnie. He doesn't like the swerve, by the

:47:34. > :47:37.looks of it. He is coming off one or two cushions, possibly three, in

:47:38. > :47:40.between the pink and black to hit the green.

:47:41. > :47:54.The only problem here, if he rolls tight in behind the blue, he's going

:47:55. > :48:00.to be putting the green right over the corner pocket. But Arles told

:48:01. > :48:09.you what, that might not be a bad thing. -- but I will tell you what.

:48:10. > :48:21.It's a pretty straightforward one. Off the top cushion, if he hits the

:48:22. > :48:24.cushion where the G is, he will go back and hit the green.

:48:25. > :48:37.He hit the capital L instead, but that will do. That was an 'ell of a

:48:38. > :49:07.shot. Can he slot this in behind the black

:49:08. > :49:21.off two or three cushions? He's going to have to do it with the

:49:22. > :49:25.pink. Didn't quite judge that. That was a decent chance there to get a

:49:26. > :49:32.smooth. One good pot on the brown, and the friend, a friend that looks

:49:33. > :49:39.like it would be over 10-15 minutes ago, and Ronnie was in, and just

:49:40. > :49:45.overran the positions likely. -- overran the position slightly.

:49:46. > :51:24.Looked as if he didn't even take a pot on there.

:51:25. > :51:34.He's certainly making Ronnie work for this first frame, Dennis. Not a

:51:35. > :51:37.bad thing. First time at the Crucible Theatre, he's certainly

:51:38. > :51:43.playing himself in here, and getting used to the conditions.

:51:44. > :51:52.I know they are used to playing on multiple tables now, but there is

:51:53. > :51:59.nowhere like the Crucible. Look how tight it is and how close the crowd

:52:00. > :52:04.are to the tables. And what great news that was, to hear that it's

:52:05. > :52:09.going to be at the Crucible for another ten years. The cheer that

:52:10. > :52:51.went up last night when Barry Hearn announced that, it was tremendous.

:52:52. > :53:04.Almost got it tight to the black. This is not easy off the right side

:53:05. > :53:09.cushion. Just one cushion, this is very difficult to judge.

:53:10. > :53:27.A tap on the table from Gary to acknowledge that. Yeah, it's a

:53:28. > :53:31.problem when playing the top players. One snooker, you probably

:53:32. > :54:15.need to lay about six or seven just to get that one foul.

:54:16. > :54:38.Ronnie's good friend, Damien Hirst in the audience.

:54:39. > :54:49.And what Gary's doing here when attempting the snooker is, he is

:54:50. > :54:52.making sure he keeps the object ball safe -- attempting the snookers. He

:54:53. > :54:55.will probably roll this into the pocket after saying that.

:54:56. > :56:22.Ronnie just attempting to put the black out of commission, and didn't

:56:23. > :56:29.quite manage it. This might turn out to be the longest frame of the

:56:30. > :56:33.match, this opening frame. Just over 35 minutes.

:56:34. > :56:37.As I say, it looked like it was going to be over in a matter of 11

:56:38. > :56:41.or 12 minutes. Can he knock this long round in? --

:56:42. > :56:57.long brown in. Can he get the snooker behind the

:56:58. > :57:18.pink? Lucky boy. Can he hit this, and can he not it's

:57:19. > :57:25.safe? He's hit the blue. Bit of a schoolboy error there. The fact he's

:57:26. > :57:41.hit the blue, he's now 29 behind. Just lost a little bit of rhythm at

:57:42. > :57:46.the moment, Ronnie, because of all the tactical play here.

:57:47. > :57:54.Could screw off the cushion and back over the black. Not

:57:55. > :58:48.I don't think it will go in the middle pocket. Well, it might do.

:58:49. > :59:03.No, played the snooker. How many cushions is he going to

:59:04. > :59:07.have to let? One, two, three, maybe four four. That's the end of the

:59:08. > :59:15.opening frame. Gary turned to the referee and said, that's enough. He

:59:16. > :59:16.looked like he was going to clinch, ran out of position, but has taken

:59:17. > :59:24.the first frame. HAZEL IRVINE: In the end, a

:59:25. > :59:28.competitive frame. Positive from Gary Wilson, he looks like a

:59:29. > :59:31.positive young man. An interesting first frame in many ways. Perhaps

:59:32. > :59:36.significantly, the value of being able to win a frame in one visit and

:59:37. > :59:39.kill your opponent off so that he doesn't come back to the table to

:59:40. > :59:43.get those snookers. The difference usually with the top players, but

:59:44. > :59:47.you can't always guarantee it. Ronnie O'Sullivan would have loved

:59:48. > :59:51.to have got off to a quick start. But he had to work for it

:59:52. > :59:55.afterwards. Gary Wilson, I think, is decent among the balls tactically as

:59:56. > :00:00.well. So it should be interesting. He is a heavy scorer, runner-up to

:00:01. > :00:03.Mark Selby in the China open, getting to the final a couple of

:00:04. > :00:09.years ago. He has beaten some good names in the past. He knows his game

:00:10. > :00:14.stands up, but the thing today will be scoring. He will be tested on

:00:15. > :00:19.that today. I was looking at him, some people when they have done a

:00:20. > :00:22.piece to camera before, some looked like rabbits in headlights, he

:00:23. > :00:28.didn't. He looked up for it and looked forward to going out. Also an

:00:29. > :00:34.interesting story. I don't know the ins and outs of it, but was a pro,

:00:35. > :00:37.dropped off out of the game, gave it up to some degree, then started taxi

:00:38. > :00:44.driving, followed another path. But somewhere down the line, decided to

:00:45. > :00:47.give it another go. You know what it is like to be retired, you don't

:00:48. > :00:54.think too much about that, give it your second goal and you asked on

:00:55. > :00:58.for -- you are stronger for it. He need to win qualifying matches to

:00:59. > :01:03.remain on tour. He is currently ranked 59, but he sailed through.

:01:04. > :01:07.Eight centuries in three matches. He can clearly play, and he has clearly

:01:08. > :01:12.played himself into good form. He can clearly play under pressure as

:01:13. > :01:16.well. If he needed that to keep his card, credit to him. If you have

:01:17. > :01:19.dropped off or retired, and you come back, it is not so much of a fear

:01:20. > :01:23.factor looking over your shoulder, thinking you might drop off, so you

:01:24. > :01:29.perhaps don't worry so much about that. He has ensured himself another

:01:30. > :01:36.season and is certainly in a positive impression in this match.

:01:37. > :01:42.Crucible debut, back we go, frame two.

:01:43. > :01:46.COMMENTATOR: Not a bad break off but the only problem is the rednecks to

:01:47. > :01:55.the black which has tied up the black. That shot hasn't really freed

:01:56. > :02:20.up the black completely but it was a good return safety shot from Ronnie.

:02:21. > :02:28.That's certainly freed the black up now, other end of the table in the

:02:29. > :02:40.open. He might even be able to take the

:02:41. > :02:53.pot on, there is a path down the table back to this red. Nice flick.

:02:54. > :03:02.Has he covered the ones to the right corner? May be the middle one. The

:03:03. > :03:18.straight one will pot but it's not very exciting. The other one is a

:03:19. > :03:25.bit tight. This needs good cueing. That wasn't easy, and he knew there

:03:26. > :03:30.was every chance he was going to put Ronnie in and look at the way the

:03:31. > :03:35.reds have split up. In a few shots time it could be a very good chance.

:03:36. > :03:45.He did not really fancy taking that on but decided to give it a go.

:03:46. > :03:46.Looking at the table I can tell you one thing, this frame would be as

:03:47. > :04:45.long as the opening frame. He just needs to work around the

:04:46. > :05:02.blue, the pink is not possible so he needs to get the black back on its

:05:03. > :05:07.spot. Clever shot. The red to the left middle automatically takes him

:05:08. > :05:27.onto the black. Very clever positional shot there.

:05:28. > :05:45.Looking at his body language, is he on the black? He is dead straight.

:05:46. > :05:46.As long as he cues this right he will have to try and avoid the end

:05:47. > :06:39.off with the screw shot. Just the wrong side of the blue

:06:40. > :06:47.line. He's having to work a little bit harder for these. He has not

:06:48. > :07:09.been in prime position just yet. But as long as you keep potting them

:07:10. > :07:25.it doesn't matter which colour you take.

:07:26. > :08:35.You see, he has had five reds and a couple of Yellows and three blues.

:08:36. > :08:53.This has been an excellent break. He has had to work really hard, as you

:08:54. > :09:00.said, the pink has not been available and the white was at the

:09:01. > :09:25.baulk end. I'd be shocked if he didn't win this frame this visit.

:09:26. > :09:32.Gary Wilson knows what's going to happen most of the time when he

:09:33. > :09:34.misses long pots most of the time and leaves the cue ball down this

:09:35. > :10:06.end of the table. You heard an audible groan there

:10:07. > :10:15.from that shot. Still needs a colour. That might be end of break.

:10:16. > :10:34.50 ahead, 59 on, so black safe. REFEREE: Ronnie O'Sullivan, 58.

:10:35. > :10:41.Didn't quite clinch the frame before and he's done exactly the same

:10:42. > :10:46.again. With 58 he is almost there but just enough for Gary Wilson. As

:10:47. > :10:51.Stephen mentioned with the black save the old sigh heavily in

:10:52. > :11:17.Ronnie's favour of taking this second frame.

:11:18. > :11:30.99 times out of a hundred, on that score you would win the frame but it

:11:31. > :12:25.is just the frustration now it could last another 20 minutes.

:12:26. > :12:37.It is almost worth leaving a pot because he needs four blacks.

:12:38. > :12:43.He is just thinking about risking playing the cannon to bring the

:12:44. > :12:52.black interplay. It's a good idea as long as you keep everything else

:12:53. > :13:00.safe. -- into play. That has turned out very nice indeed. That is a

:13:01. > :13:18.pretty good shot bringing the black into play.

:13:19. > :13:28.Advantage Ronnie O'Sullivan with that very good shot. Might just be

:13:29. > :13:32.able to get past the yellow. It's very tight. He's having a good long

:13:33. > :14:14.hard look at it. He has got to be careful if he plays

:14:15. > :14:19.off the red that is tight on the cushion. That's why he's thinking.

:14:20. > :14:26.He knows if he hits that thick he could open the frame up so he needs

:14:27. > :14:35.a thin contact on this. He played it well. And what a little flick that

:14:36. > :15:20.is. I don't think it is a snooker, though.

:15:21. > :15:35.There was no easy safety shot on and Ronnie thought I will have a go at

:15:36. > :15:44.the long one. He pushed the cue through in a perfectly straight line

:15:45. > :15:53.there. He has missed two or three long pots by longwave but that was

:15:54. > :16:13.the most difficult and he cued it so well. -- by a long way.

:16:14. > :16:24.Gary just looked at the referee and said, "That's enough", and concedes

:16:25. > :16:28.the frame. Steady start from the Rocket winning Beatty opening

:16:29. > :16:32.frames. Breaks of 57 and 58 for Ronnie

:16:33. > :16:37.O'Sullivan, they make him third favourite this year -- both opening

:16:38. > :16:40.frames. He's in the same half as the world number one and one of the

:16:41. > :16:44.greatest players to play the game, Mark Selby. If he was in Judd

:16:45. > :16:47.Trump's position at the bottom of the draw he would probably be

:16:48. > :16:51.favourite for the event but he has to get through a few tests before he

:16:52. > :16:56.comes to that, but the bookies think he has more to do in the top half.

:16:57. > :16:59.He's had an interesting season, won the Masters for the second

:17:00. > :17:04.consecutive time, lost the other three finals in which he has

:17:05. > :17:08.performed, not the easiest of run-ins to the Crucible but does any

:17:09. > :17:11.of that matter where running O'Sullivan is concerned at the

:17:12. > :17:15.Crucible? I don't think it does. Remembering the fact he led off a

:17:16. > :17:19.whole season and came to the world and won, and the fact he seems to be

:17:20. > :17:24.able to, more than any other player, peak when he wants to peak, you have

:17:25. > :17:29.a player that if he decides to give it his best shot he will do. Using

:17:30. > :17:33.Steve Peters is there in round one, I would not say that is necessarily

:17:34. > :17:36.a panicked phone call, he's just professionally going about his job.

:17:37. > :17:46.He tweeted earlier in the week, good training run, but of boxing and gym

:17:47. > :17:49.work. Feeling great physically. The major championships are the ones he

:17:50. > :17:51.wants to Ben Gummer those are the ones you are remembered by so the

:17:52. > :18:01.World Championships now has become even more important. -- the major

:18:02. > :18:06.championships are the ones he wants to win. He's in the final of the UK,

:18:07. > :18:08.won the Masters, the World Championships, he still wants

:18:09. > :18:13.another one of these. A couple of shots in the first frame he turned

:18:14. > :18:16.down chances to pot the red to contain the situation. That somebody

:18:17. > :18:21.not trying to win pretty, he just knows he is here for a job, trying

:18:22. > :18:25.to win the best way possible and not give his opponent away back in by

:18:26. > :18:29.missing a careless red and giving his opponent and easy snooker.

:18:30. > :18:34.Clever tactical play as well. Back we go. Ronnie O'Sullivan, winner of

:18:35. > :18:51.17 major titles, one shy of a certain Stephen Hendry.

:18:52. > :19:05.COMMENTATOR: no point putting it back here really. In fact, he is. He

:19:06. > :19:11.got down to play the shot and then decided it looks a bit awkward. He's

:19:12. > :19:19.just hoping that Gary can misjudge the escape. It's not

:19:20. > :19:29.straightforward. Much of the pack to nestle into. Coming off the two

:19:30. > :19:35.cushion is. It's the pink this time, it's the reds. Well judged. I say

:19:36. > :19:42.well judged, as we show you it again, it was going to hit the pink

:19:43. > :19:49.and then glanced off the reds. He could see enough of the red to pot

:19:50. > :20:02.it. It was a good decision that Ronnie took to let him back in.

:20:03. > :20:08.Four reds are loose but they are not easy, covering each other into both

:20:09. > :20:16.corner pockets so this is not straightforward. I wonder if he will

:20:17. > :20:30.go into the bunch off two cushion is. That was close to being sublime

:20:31. > :20:34.positional shot. I thought he was going off two cushion is into the

:20:35. > :20:39.left-hand side of the bunch. If he doesn't clip this red he would be

:20:40. > :22:09.absolutely perfect on this red. He still should get it.

:22:10. > :22:17.When he plays for the next red after this one he wants to finish low on

:22:18. > :22:24.the red, just that little gap in the bunch so he can screw off that, pot

:22:25. > :22:28.the red and open the bunch at the same time. That is perfect, he

:22:29. > :22:37.couldn't have placed that with his hand any better, screw off the bunch

:22:38. > :22:40.for the black into the same pocket he just came off the bunch a bit

:22:41. > :22:44.quicker than I think he expected there. He got a lot of action on the

:22:45. > :23:24.cue ball. He has gone a bit further than he

:23:25. > :23:26.wanted, he cannot go into the bunch. He had to play for the one over the

:23:27. > :23:44.middle pocket. Key shot coming up here. He needs an

:23:45. > :23:49.angle. He doesn't want to be straight on the black otherwise it

:23:50. > :23:52.is the end of the break. I think he has finished pretty strict. There

:23:53. > :23:55.might be won at the end of the bunch that he could play for. One to the

:23:56. > :24:38.left of the group of reds. This time, stun. He could try and

:24:39. > :24:43.cannon that one. He had it absolutely perfectly but very

:24:44. > :24:55.unlucky not to be on one. I think he just wanted to hit the right-hand

:24:56. > :25:05.side read without the first one. -- hit the right hand side red without

:25:06. > :25:10.the first one. Just awkward cueing. It's following the same pattern as

:25:11. > :25:18.the two opening frames. A very good break of 58, not enough to secure

:25:19. > :25:22.the frame. The shake of the head tells you. Listen, if you keep on

:25:23. > :25:28.winning the frames. That's two breaks of 58 and one of 57 and all

:25:29. > :25:32.three looked like he could go on to take it in one visit. It doesn't

:25:33. > :25:39.matter how many visits, as long as you win them. And really we have not

:25:40. > :25:43.seen Gary, he has not had a chance in amongst the balls, it has all

:25:44. > :25:50.been tactical play he has had to play. He hasn't really had a chance

:25:51. > :25:59.in amongst the balls. He has only potted 13 balls and bits and pieces.

:26:00. > :26:08.Yes, it is starting to follow a similar pattern to the match ICAO

:26:09. > :26:11.commentated on this morning, Mark Selby up against Fergal O'Brien in a

:26:12. > :26:20.similar situation. Gary Wilson needs to get a frame on the board very

:26:21. > :26:24.quickly. He was a strong outsider at the start to win this match but

:26:25. > :26:26.unless he does something this match is going to slip away very quickly

:26:27. > :26:41.in this first session. He has one more frame before the

:26:42. > :26:47.mid-session interval and he could do with taking that, Gary. But as I

:26:48. > :27:10.mentioned he just hasn't had a chance in amongst the balls.

:27:11. > :27:20.You just cannot see him winning. Top players don't make that many

:27:21. > :27:25.mistakes as we saw in the match this morning. You are not going to get

:27:26. > :29:03.gifted any chances, not very often anyway.

:29:04. > :29:14.It doesn't matter about the pink. 58 followed by 63, and Ronnie

:29:15. > :30:20.O'Sullivan now leads Gary Wilson 3-0.

:30:21. > :30:33.Put in perfect time for the fourth frame, a frame that Gary could do

:30:34. > :30:58.with -- back in perfect time. 94%, that's terrific. Gary at 76%.

:30:59. > :31:01.As I mentioned before the end of the last round, he hasn't had much of a

:31:02. > :31:07.chance in amongst the balls as of yet. Now, this might be a chance.

:31:08. > :31:14.Where is that red going to finish up? Doesn't pass brown, so it's not

:31:15. > :31:25.an chance. I don't think it passes the brown.

:31:26. > :31:34.He is again having a look at it, but I think it's far too tight. Only

:31:35. > :32:51.half a pocket. You can see the black tied up only

:32:52. > :33:02.in this fourth frame. It's not tied up now. Ronnie taking a chance to

:33:03. > :33:10.bring it into play. He needs the cue to pull up. It has. He has got to be

:33:11. > :33:14.careful here, Gary, the red is near the cushion. If he plays back down

:33:15. > :33:18.the table, to the reds, he had to make sure he doesn't cannon into

:33:19. > :33:20.that one. That is why he is taking this one. But that isn't

:33:21. > :33:42.straightforward either. Well, he did have a look at the

:33:43. > :33:45.possible plant. He's playing a safety shot, but he double checked

:33:46. > :33:48.to see if he could make it into a plant.

:33:49. > :33:56.It wasn't far away. As you can see, concentrating on the cue ball. If

:33:57. > :34:30.the plant had gone in, he would have rolled up tight behind the yellow.

:34:31. > :35:19.I think that one confused Ronnie. In fact, he almost hit back. He got

:35:20. > :35:24.close to the black coming off two cushions and hitting a red. It is

:35:25. > :35:28.worth giving four points away, rather than hitting fit. He is

:35:29. > :35:45.nowhere near them. He needs a little bit more side on

:35:46. > :35:53.the cue ball to create the angle. Third time lucky in...

:35:54. > :35:57.APPLAUSE It was worth giving the eight points

:35:58. > :39:16.away. To make sure he got it right. Very rarely, if ever, does Ronnie

:39:17. > :39:20.O'Sullivan play a safety shot, plain ball. Always putting some sort of

:39:21. > :40:20.side on the cue ball to develop the angles.

:40:21. > :40:28.Such a good target in behind the brown and the yellow.

:40:29. > :40:35.Ronnie anxiously looking there to see, well, everybody's having a look

:40:36. > :40:40.now. He's taking the pot on by the looks

:40:41. > :41:00.of things. Oh, how's your luck, Gary? Maybe not

:41:01. > :41:05.too bad. Cutting into the right corner. Once he missed that pot, he

:41:06. > :41:09.could quite easily have put money in amongst them as we show you the

:41:10. > :41:16.attempt again. It was very difficult. Still, Gary can't get a

:41:17. > :41:23.chance in amongst the balls with an easy starter. -- putting Ronnie in

:41:24. > :41:30.amongst them. What's the word I'm looking for,

:41:31. > :41:36.that was a little bit wild from Ronnie. He is not happy with that, I

:41:37. > :41:48.can tell you. This is Gary's first proper chance,

:41:49. > :41:55.believe it or not. The pink's awkward, the black's not too badly

:41:56. > :42:07.placed. It's not an easy opening. The amazing thing is he was driving

:42:08. > :42:08.a taxi around not long ago. Here he is, at the Crucible, playing Ronnie

:42:09. > :43:10.O'Sullivan. The red to the right middle, he

:43:11. > :43:16.could actually play for the black. He's not entertaining that, at the

:43:17. > :43:21.sooner he gets the black on its spot, it becomes a good opportunity

:43:22. > :43:32.to win the frame. He's playing the easier shot.

:43:33. > :43:37.He's not playing it that well. Wanted it a bit straighter on this

:43:38. > :43:54.blue. If he plays the same shot now, he

:43:55. > :43:56.will play for the black to the left corner. He had a decent shot on the

:43:57. > :44:09.blue there. Yeah, well played. APPLAUSE

:44:10. > :44:16.Straight enough so that he can screw back and play the red and the blue

:44:17. > :44:22.to the same bug. He has got a bit of an angle. Putting the black back on

:44:23. > :44:29.its spot, this is a good chance to win the fourth frame.

:44:30. > :44:33.Very important visit to the table, this, from Gary Wilson, in this

:44:34. > :44:41.match. You can see the side bar, 70 points

:44:42. > :45:14.required to put the frame beyond his opponent.

:45:15. > :45:22.As I've already said, eight centuries in the three qualifying

:45:23. > :45:30.rounds he played to get here. This is going to be one of his strengths,

:45:31. > :45:35.scoring. He should feel confident. Gary... As soon as I said that, that

:45:36. > :45:46.was a poor shot. He will be very disappointed. What an opportunity.

:45:47. > :45:55.Yeah, just a bit of a nervy one there. Normally, he would never miss

:45:56. > :46:07.that type of pot. But at 3-0 down, mid-session interval coming up in...

:46:08. > :46:14.It was a thin one, but he still should have, that's what he thinks

:46:15. > :46:19.about that. Giving the table a good, old wrap.

:46:20. > :46:25.I think he forgot about the pot there, Ronnie, he was thinking about

:46:26. > :46:28.which way he should get onto the black. And in the end, he forgot to

:46:29. > :46:47.pot the red. He is very disappointed, Ronnie. He

:46:48. > :46:51.was frustrated about the previous shot as well. Giving the table a

:46:52. > :46:54.good wrap. Quite unusual to show that much frustration when you are

:46:55. > :47:04.3-0 up. What a time to get a kick.

:47:05. > :47:12.Definitely a heavy contact, he is still on the black, but he was in

:47:13. > :47:16.the perfect position. You can see that red jump there. He has now got

:47:17. > :47:20.to use one of the other reds as a stopper here.

:47:21. > :47:29.Safely in. Not that many pots away from winning a frame that he badly

:47:30. > :48:50.needed. Well, all of a sudden, Gary Wilson

:48:51. > :48:55.will be heading to the mid-session interval and, really, he won't be

:48:56. > :49:04.that disappointed. He never really got a chance in the three opening

:49:05. > :49:12.frames, opening breaks of 57 and 58, 58, 63. But he looked a little

:49:13. > :49:15.frustrated there when he gave the table a good, old wrap.

:49:16. > :49:44.And we always say, you never, ever settle until you get your first

:49:45. > :49:48.frame on the board. While, Gary has certainly done that. And it is going

:49:49. > :49:51.to make it an interesting second session. This match will be played

:49:52. > :50:19.to a conclusion tomorrow afternoon. I think he got another kick there,

:50:20. > :50:24.but it doesn't matter. Ronnie says that's enough. Showing a little bit

:50:25. > :50:27.of frustration there. Gary will be pleasantly happy going to the

:50:28. > :50:32.mid-session interval. Although he still trails 3-1.

:50:33. > :50:39.HAZEL IRVINE: A confidence boosting break of 54 from Gary Neville stop

:50:40. > :50:45.there was a touch of frustration from Ronnie. Again, the competitive

:50:46. > :50:48.juices appeared to be flowing. Getting a future answers and he

:50:49. > :50:52.wants to get the match over as quickly as possible. He let a couple

:50:53. > :51:00.of chances go. Everyone misses balls from time to time. He is in front,

:51:01. > :51:04.so there is nothing wrong with the scoreline. We have had actually 5/2

:51:05. > :51:09.centuries in this matter. Good quality what we have seen so far.

:51:10. > :51:13.That's right. Looking at Ronnie's smack of the table, the frustration

:51:14. > :51:17.of knowing you have got your opponent on the ropes and you have

:51:18. > :51:22.let them, that is not a happy thing to do. You know that games can on

:51:23. > :51:26.things like that. He knows a chance went begging. These first round

:51:27. > :51:29.matches are best of 19, and they will play line frames in the opening

:51:30. > :51:35.session with the second session to come. But on the other side of the

:51:36. > :51:39.curtain today, Kyren Wilson, who was a debutant here last year, making it

:51:40. > :51:43.all the way to the quarterfinals. In fact, he had a very, very good show

:51:44. > :51:47.here, beating Joe Perry and Mark Allen before going out to the

:51:48. > :51:52.eventual champion Mark Selby in the quarterfinal. And he couldn't wait

:51:53. > :51:57.to get back here, he had a run to the semifinals of the China open,

:51:58. > :52:02.good form coming in. Not sure of his chosen method of arriving, the

:52:03. > :52:08.transport situation in Sheffield is very dodgy.

:52:09. > :52:30.Hello, Steve, you all right? Not bad, how are you. I'm all right,

:52:31. > :52:38.thank you. Put your seat belt on. It's very important. Safety play,

:52:39. > :52:45.it's underrated. You spent time with Peter Ebdon in practice? Yeah. Well

:52:46. > :52:49.done. How long does a session take? Talk us through it. Peter, did he

:52:50. > :52:56.make a break in 12 minutes and five seconds with you? I don't know about

:52:57. > :53:01.that. He plays well in practice. He's given me a fewer hiding is. Has

:53:02. > :53:06.he got a ponytail in a glass case was that when I first played him, he

:53:07. > :53:13.came on the scene with the big ponytail. He looks like My Little

:53:14. > :53:18.Pony, looking like it had been taken off a horse. What I remembered was

:53:19. > :53:24.his breakneck speed. The ponytail evaporated, but we wondered whether

:53:25. > :53:31.it is in a glass jar. It is like Samson with the hair. It could be

:53:32. > :53:33.the same scenario with Peter, maybe he has two grown about the ponytail

:53:34. > :53:44.and he could have another world title. How is it going for you? Have

:53:45. > :53:50.you swerved it? I can't quite go down that route. I love my steak too

:53:51. > :53:56.much. Chicken fan as well. The chickens don't like that. No, yes.

:53:57. > :54:04.Robertson on it now, Anthony McGill. As well? He was even looking at long

:54:05. > :54:11.leather shoes and tips. Peter is using an avocado tip. A non-leather

:54:12. > :54:19.tip? So he says to me. Non-leather tips, do they exist? Peter found

:54:20. > :54:29.one, and organic avocado. Fantastic. He has lost cube power. Doesn't take

:54:30. > :54:37.the chalk to well PB you power. Roll your sleeves up. Let's have a look.

:54:38. > :54:42.The tattooed. How much is there, is it a sleeve? Right the way up. Let's

:54:43. > :54:51.have a look. See if I can get this shirt open. You have got the man

:54:52. > :54:55.walking down the street. I have got a big saying, don't wait for the

:54:56. > :55:01.storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain. Profound. It is a family

:55:02. > :55:06.motto. One of my family members staffers with MS, unfortunately.

:55:07. > :55:11.Don't wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain, it means

:55:12. > :55:16.to just get on with your problems and live life to the full. Yeah,

:55:17. > :55:20.yeah. I've been thinking about going down

:55:21. > :55:29.the Peter Wright route, darts player. Fancy trousers, fancy shirt,

:55:30. > :55:34.Mohican, snake on the side. It would be difficult to get a warrior on the

:55:35. > :55:39.side. You could become a figure of fun, rather than serious play. If

:55:40. > :55:48.you keep winning, that's OK. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get a deal for some

:55:49. > :55:56.clothes, you never know. If you had one superpower, what would it be?

:55:57. > :56:02.What would it be? That is a tough one. They are all good, obviously.

:56:03. > :56:06.You know what I would have, I would like to fly. The amount of time we

:56:07. > :56:16.have, you could have your dinner and fly to China. I think very, very

:56:17. > :56:23.close after, or even ahead of flying, for me, would be

:56:24. > :56:29.invisibility. Right. You could be a fly on the wall. It would be quite

:56:30. > :56:37.good to be invisible. Yeah, yeah. You could have fun. You could nudge

:56:38. > :56:40.someone's cue. On Dennis! On the black ball, you could have nudged

:56:41. > :56:51.him. I think he did it to me. That's got to be the most surreal of

:56:52. > :56:57.the series so far from an avocado tip to invisibility. Warrior's

:56:58. > :57:00.opponent is David Grace, the Yorkshire men that had a stunning

:57:01. > :57:08.run to the UK Championship semifinals. He is six this fella.

:57:09. > :57:14.Last night, David was in the audience for the gala celebration,

:57:15. > :57:18.and he tweeted that he was in snooker heaven watching it all. Now

:57:19. > :57:22.we get to see him pay. David ahead in friend one, but Kyren Wilson

:57:23. > :57:34.trailing by 46 point the opener which we will see first.

:57:35. > :57:41.COMMENTATOR: The light fantastic pop from Kyren Wilson.

:57:42. > :57:55.Very, very good. Nicely on the black, too.

:57:56. > :58:07.The red above the pink will put into the left middle after he pots this

:58:08. > :58:09.red and black in. The guns and the bunch of three par putt to the left

:58:10. > :58:26.centre, too. He would love to have an angle on

:58:27. > :58:29.putting this one. He could nudge the reds close together into pot able

:58:30. > :58:48.positions, too. Going for the red above the pink

:58:49. > :58:55.this time, so maybe getting on a colour after putting this red.

:58:56. > :59:07.It's important, if you can, getting on this next red, he has a nice

:59:08. > :59:30.angle to bring the other two reds into play.

:59:31. > :59:41.He hasn't found that angle. But he will leave the cue ball high on the

:59:42. > :59:50.back here, a nice angle on the black to try to disturb them. Potting this

:59:51. > :59:56.red, nice angle on the black. A good cannon would bring the two reds into

:59:57. > :00:12.play. It would be a great chance to steal this frame.

:00:13. > :00:25.That's OK. Could have been a little bit better. Pot into the right

:00:26. > :00:32.centre and into the top right-hand pocket. This is a big shot.

:00:33. > :00:45.Excellent pot. What about the pace on the cue ball? Even if he drops

:00:46. > :00:51.the black in dead weight he might end up perfect on the next red. I

:00:52. > :00:57.wonder if you could play a little cannon on the pink to slow the cue

:00:58. > :01:00.down. He played the cannon on the red instead to slow the cue ball

:01:01. > :01:07.down and he has played that beautifully. He is right back into

:01:08. > :01:31.the frame now, trails by 11 points. If he is on the brown in four shots

:01:32. > :01:35.time and then onto the blue there is no problem. This would be a bit of

:01:36. > :01:41.it body blow for David Grace because he had a chance of attempting to pot

:01:42. > :01:45.the brown in the little pocket and rolled up to be yellow and I said

:01:46. > :01:51.that was the shock that could end up costing him the frame. We will see

:01:52. > :01:57.what happens here because we may be able to show that choice of shot. It

:01:58. > :02:31.is all about brown to blue here, isn't it?

:02:32. > :02:41.I didn't see that one coming. There was a deceleration on the backswing

:02:42. > :03:02.trying to miss the brown. That is the end of the break now.

:03:03. > :03:11.He has had a bit of good fortune. The fact there is nowhere to cue

:03:12. > :03:21.over the ball it is tough to get safe. Can't put pressure on Kyren

:03:22. > :03:22.Wilson's next visit to the table. Just about as good as he could have

:03:23. > :04:30.done from there. What a result that is. It was always

:04:31. > :04:35.dangerous playing the brown up into the area of the pink and black but

:04:36. > :04:40.he decided he could get away with it. Seven points in front. This is

:04:41. > :04:46.not an easy safety shot. Usually a fluke is a good thing but I'm not

:04:47. > :04:49.sure it has done him any favours because there is no way Kyren Wilson

:04:50. > :04:55.would have been able to get onto the blue from the brown, would have been

:04:56. > :05:01.able to get right over the pocket. I can't see a safety shot here, can

:05:02. > :05:07.you? It certainly is very tough, the black is in the way as well. Trying

:05:08. > :05:13.to knock the blue around the ankles and try and just missed the black

:05:14. > :05:17.and leave it up here somewhere. He could do it. It needs to go, though,

:05:18. > :05:22.the blue needs to travel, otherwise he has left it. It was one of those

:05:23. > :05:32.occasions where the fluke didn't do him any favours. If you just had to

:05:33. > :05:37.pop the blue you would save no problem but he has to negotiate

:05:38. > :05:46.position for the pink -- if you just had to pot the blue. Coming off

:05:47. > :05:51.three cautions. This looks very, very good. What they shot this is,

:05:52. > :05:59.excellent shot, well played. He couldn't have hit that much better.

:06:00. > :06:01.If ever you could say a positional shot was played to the inch, that

:06:02. > :06:14.was it. Excellent. So, after that fabulous blue, this

:06:15. > :06:23.straightforward black for the opening frame for Kyren Wilson and

:06:24. > :06:28.in it goes. Excellent from blue to black. Kyren Wilson wins the first

:06:29. > :06:33.friend, and leads 1-0. In fact he has just gone 3-1 up at the

:06:34. > :06:36.mid-session interval, that's the situation in there. How much do you

:06:37. > :06:42.like watching Kyren Wilson? We saw last year with the way he attacks

:06:43. > :06:46.the game and approaches the game, he is very positive and seems to have a

:06:47. > :06:49.lot of confidence around the table. That probably comes from practising

:06:50. > :06:53.and proven to himself he is good but the shot he played on the blue it

:06:54. > :07:00.wasn't that hard to pot if you don't have to play the position. What a

:07:01. > :07:05.beautiful positional shot. Grace is like a kid in a sweet shop. I had to

:07:06. > :07:09.apologise to him because I didn't recognise him at the do, he's lost

:07:10. > :07:13.five and a half stone and it has made him taller. I didn't recognise

:07:14. > :07:17.him, I said sorry, we didn't realise it was you. I saw him when he was

:07:18. > :07:21.beaten by Liang Wenbo and he was five and a half stone heavier and I

:07:22. > :07:25.didn't recognise him. He is a problem player. They have played

:07:26. > :07:30.twice and David Grace is 2-0 ahead so this is somebody Kyren Wilson

:07:31. > :07:33.must pay attention to. It is interesting when somebody loses a

:07:34. > :07:37.lot of weight and they are used to playing with the cue and rubbing it

:07:38. > :07:40.on their chest and all of a sudden their chest isn't there and it is a

:07:41. > :07:45.different position for the cue. At the mid-session interval and it will

:07:46. > :07:50.continue on BBC Two, we are nearly there. Golf has its legends to, it's

:07:51. > :07:54.called the champions tour, for players over 50 and snooker has its

:07:55. > :07:56.legends tour as well, it's very popular amongst the fans and

:07:57. > :08:02.extremely popular with the players of old.

:08:03. > :08:07.When I created snooker legends I wanted to create an event that I

:08:08. > :08:15.would like to go and see as a snooker fan. When I was looking at

:08:16. > :08:22.creating my idea I was looking at creating a tournament I would love

:08:23. > :08:26.to play in as a player. I never thought I would play snooker again.

:08:27. > :08:31.When I retired and put the cue away I did the odd exhibition but didn't

:08:32. > :08:33.really play for ten years. For the senior players, retired legends,

:08:34. > :08:39.they have been forgotten a little bit and all desperate to put on that

:08:40. > :08:44.Dickie bow tie and go out and compete in front of a crowd. I woke

:08:45. > :08:46.up this morning and I've got match date nerves, unbelievable. At

:08:47. > :08:50.breakfast this morning with Cliff and Dennis and it was quieter than

:08:51. > :08:54.normal and Cliff said, its game day. We know what that means. It is a

:08:55. > :08:59.strange thing to get your cue out and play and all of the butterflies

:09:00. > :09:03.come back. We were pretty serious about it when we got to the table,

:09:04. > :09:06.you only have to watch people practising to see how serious they

:09:07. > :09:11.were taking it. It's going to be interesting to see how it goes. I

:09:12. > :09:14.tell you what, when you get out into that arena and a sort of match

:09:15. > :09:18.situation when you haven't done it for a long time it's scary. You can

:09:19. > :09:22.do it in practice and in the exhibitions but when you are back on

:09:23. > :09:30.the match table it's tough, but it's a lot of fun. I've got to say, Joe

:09:31. > :09:33.Johnson, in his first match, gave the whole event a validity and

:09:34. > :09:37.credibility by beating Patrick Wallace. I think he proved that we

:09:38. > :09:43.can have some real snooker and it does mean something. For the first

:09:44. > :09:46.time in, he said 30 years, he walked out of a theatre and felt a foot

:09:47. > :09:49.taller and people were coming up to him and wanted photos and wanted to

:09:50. > :09:53.shake his hand and wanted an autograph and to say well done.

:09:54. > :09:59.These guys just don't want to be forgotten.

:10:00. > :10:04.It's what we've been saying all along, that something like this is

:10:05. > :10:09.needed, not just on an entertainment basis, but even opening doors for

:10:10. > :10:14.snooker around the world and playing some of the legends who still want

:10:15. > :10:22.to play and entertain, and also play a bit of match play in with that as

:10:23. > :10:26.well. It was great of our association to give the winner of

:10:27. > :10:28.the legends a wild card with the chance to get to the Crucible

:10:29. > :10:31.Theatre. They would have to go through the qualifying rounds but

:10:32. > :10:37.the chance is there for some of the top amateurs playing in the world

:10:38. > :10:40.seniors, the chance is also there for someone like the seven times

:10:41. > :10:47.former world champion Stephen Hendry. It would almost be like my

:10:48. > :10:51.first time again when I was like 18 or whatever, my first time I played

:10:52. > :10:55.Willie Thorne, it would be almost like that again because I've been

:10:56. > :10:58.away from the game for four years. Walking through the stage door and

:10:59. > :11:03.going into the practice room with a cue in my hand and not a microphone.

:11:04. > :11:07.When they asked me to play in this tournament about two months ago I

:11:08. > :11:12.said I could play but I've got it gets sunglasses, I've had five pairs

:11:13. > :11:16.of glasses, slab on, slab of, prism in and prison out and contact lenses

:11:17. > :11:21.and unfortunately not have them work. The draw when I could possibly

:11:22. > :11:24.play Willie Thorne in the first round who I played my first match at

:11:25. > :11:28.the Crucible with, that would have been fantastic but unfortunately

:11:29. > :11:35.Willie Thorne lost so I have to play somebody who I've no idea who he is.

:11:36. > :11:39.There were a lot of people over the years, I've seen faces I haven't

:11:40. > :11:44.seen for 20 years over the last few days and it's good, they are playing

:11:45. > :11:49.again and enjoying it. I think it can only help and improve snooker.

:11:50. > :11:55.We're hopefully at the start of a journey that moves into a seniors

:11:56. > :12:00.tour. That would be the ultimate goal and if the association

:12:01. > :12:06.continues to support and give places in tournaments, because no doubt the

:12:07. > :12:09.guy who wins will play well. I have not played much because there has

:12:10. > :12:12.not been much to play in but if we get the series of events through the

:12:13. > :12:15.season we will keep playing and getting our cue out and enjoying it

:12:16. > :12:20.but you can't keep practising when there is no end product. We have

:12:21. > :12:24.enjoyed getting our cue out and rolling back the years. Time stops

:12:25. > :12:30.for no man so in a few years, if I can be part of a vehicle that is

:12:31. > :12:33.therefore Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, eventually Ronnie O'Sullivan, John

:12:34. > :12:39.Higgins, Stuart Bingham, the guys who are getting into their 40s, when

:12:40. > :12:43.they retire and have had nothing to go to, the model works in golf and

:12:44. > :12:47.it works in tennis, why can't it work in snooker? That's Peter Lines,

:12:48. > :12:51.now an amateur who beat John Parrott in the final of the world senior

:12:52. > :12:56.championship in March and gained a pass into the qualifying rounds as a

:12:57. > :13:00.consequence of this years Crucible in Sheffield. And in fact, John, you

:13:01. > :13:04.enjoyed playing in that one. Had you beaten Peter, which of course you

:13:05. > :13:08.didn't, would you have been prepared to take up that pass in the

:13:09. > :13:12.qualifying rounds? Absolutely, I would probably have been hammered by

:13:13. > :13:15.whoever I faced but that is part and parcel of it. The tournament itself

:13:16. > :13:19.was fantastic. The amount of people who came to watch was brilliant and

:13:20. > :13:24.already in the pipeline there is more of them and I've signed up for

:13:25. > :13:27.them. They are great fun. Peter Lines, the man who won the senior

:13:28. > :13:33.title did come to Sheffield into the qualifying and was beaten by the man

:13:34. > :13:35.we are watching today, Gary Wilson. Speaking of whom, Gary Wilson and

:13:36. > :13:41.Ronnie O'Sullivan will be coming back very shortly on BBC Two because

:13:42. > :13:46.we are going to pop over to BBC Two now to watch the last few frames of

:13:47. > :13:49.the opening session featuring the five-time world champion Ronnie

:13:50. > :13:55.O'Sullivan. He is here for the 25th time. I can't believe that. Making

:13:56. > :13:58.his debut here in 1993. I hope you will follow us over on to BBC Two

:13:59. > :14:04.right now as we continue coverage from day one of the Betfred World

:14:05. > :14:05.Championship. It's been eventful so far and also