Saturday, 1st Round, Evening - Part 1 Snooker: World Championship

The World Championship to me and every snooker player I suppose, just

means to be world champion. It's a title everybody wants to win, every

player striving to win that title. Being world number one is a great

feeling and definitely one of my goals starting out, to become world

number one and world champion, if I could achieve that, I would be happy

even if I was to retire tomorrow. It's just those little fine lines

which is the difference between winning and losing and the

difference between a champion and not a champion. It can be like just

here and there, winning or losing a match. You get out of the sport what

you put in and if you don't put the hours in, that talent counts for

nothing. Never say die until that last ball is potted because until

that moment, you've still got a job to do. I put that waistcoat on and

my name is called and I go into the arena and I make my opponent work as

hard as possible. Mark Selby very much the man to

beat. Good evening and welcome to the Crucible Theatre. We are

celebrating 40 years of snooker at this magnificent venue and this is

what it is all about. Mark Selby will be walking out in front of a

packed crowd here at the Crucible in the next few minutes, looking to

book his place in the second round. It's been a magnificent first day

here at the 2017 Betfred World Snooker Championship. Let's bring

you right up to date. The Rocket Ronnie O'Sullivan got off to his

usual fast start. Not at his best but he raced into a

5-1 lead. But back came the tenacious Gary Wilson on his

Crucible debut. Winning the last three frames and stealing a tense

final frame black with this nervous cut. And in another all English

battle, the warrior, Kyren Wilson, took control early on but another

fine fightback saw David Grace Paul Dummett back to 5-4. -- David Grace

polled the match back to 5-4. Anthony McGill had upset the fellow

Scott Stephen Maguire on his Crucible debut two years ago.

Maguire came roaring back, winning the last five frames to lead 7-2.

And world number one Mark Selby got the defence of his title off to a

flyer. Stunning cue control and shot selection so he raced to 8-0 lead.

His opponent avoided the dreaded whitewash by pinching the final

frame but Mark Selby in total control of this one. Live action

coming up on BBC Two. We are with you throughout the evening on the

red button. Do not go anywhere. Ken Doherty knows what it's like to lift

that magnificent trophy at this wonderful venue. We have a packed

crowd into night. What is it like coming back as the reigning world

champion and the weight of expectation on your shoulders?

There is a lot of pressure and Mark Selby will want to put in a good

performance. He is world number one and he is guaranteed that

anti-platelet medicine need this morning against Fergal O'Brien. I

felt bad for my old pal and it was tough but Mark Selby is in very good

form. Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Ronnie O'Sullivan, they have all

come back to the Crucible Theatre and retain their title. Is that

something that troubles Mark Selby? I don't think so, I think he will

relish the opportunity to have that problem. He is a very determined

character. He is the man to beat at this Championship. Just won the

China Open a couple of weeks ago so he has Camille Lecointre lot of form

and confidence. I think the fact that when he has his hands on the

trophy twice already, the pressure is on but he wants to win it again

and again and be up there with the likes of John Higgins, Ronnie

O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry and all the greats who won it multiple

times. On the radio this morning, they were chatting about snooker.

Judd Trump was fancied this year. Is this his year? It could be but there

are a lot of protagonists in the drawer who have a great chance.

Ronnie O'Sullivan in good form today. Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson,

a whole host of players that could possibly witness but the man to beat

at the moment is Mark Selby. And he is standing by. Thank you. It's the

climax of Day 1 at the Betfred World Snooker Championship and by the end

of tonight, two players will have secured their place in the second

round. Will there be two big comebacks? It is showtime, here in

Sheffield. CHEERING Please welcome, a five-time ranking

event winner who this morning brought his form from the qualifiers

right here to the Crucible. Twice a semifinalist at the World

Championship, he is hungry for another massive run in Sheffield.

When he is good, he is on fire, here is Stephen Maguire.

And his opponent, a man who made it to the quarterfinals on a very

impressive debut here two years ago. Reigning Indian Open and snooker

shoot out champion, he will not be intimidated tonight. Hoping to draw

on those legendary nerves of steel, the smiling assassin, Anthony

McGill. And on table one, the player who has

made it back to the Crucible for the first time in seven years. After a

two our three minute epic deciding frame-winner with David Gilbert, he

now faces a huge task tonight but he will come out determined to show his

class. He is the Marathon man, Fergal O'Brien.

And finally, a player returning to the Crucible at the end of a season

in which he has added another four ranking titles to his collection.

Reigning UK and China Open Championship he has been world

number one for more than 100 consecutive weeks. The defending

world champion, the Jester from Leicester, Mark Selby.

Huge cheers for the reigning world champion Mark Selby. That's our live

match on BBC Two. Selby versus Fergal O'Brien. If you want Anthony

McGill against Stephen Maguire, that is available on your red button. In

the company of Dennis Taylor and Peter Ebdon. Live on BBC Two, let's

say good evening to you John Virgo and Steve Davis. JOHN VIRGO: Fergal

O'Brien as we say has the proverbial mountain to climb.

Fergal O'Brien didn't get that many chances early on in the match and

you feel he needed a good start. He didn't get that. He was down at 70%

at one stage. You need to be 90% or above.

LAUGHTER There is another telling stat. A

nice break for Fergal, only 32. STEVE DAVIS: He was pretty

inefficient this morning, Fergal, he would be disappointed with the day.

Experienced enough to know that every session can have a different

outcome. But as you say, a mountain decline. -- a mountain to climb and

none higher than trying to pull back a lead from our world champion, Mark

Selby. You don't expect him to crumble.

Pink is a fractional problem here in the escape route, should he catch it

a little too thick, don't expect him to... Perhaps it will go the other

side, good shot. APPLAUSE Played that with a lot of left-hand

spin. I think mark can try and play this

firm, come off the top cushion and try to clip a read, there are a

couple there. Fergal could try to pot the brown

into the top right-hand corner pocket as we look on our TV screen.

It's a sort of free shot really. He is following your idea.

Could get plenty should he go in. But not quite.

I say a shot for nothing, it is the red at the top of the cluster that

is available. Possibly Mark could pot this, leaving himself on the

pink. Is there any such thing as a shot

for nothing? Judging by that shot, that was a little risky. Not an

ideal opening but... A couple of good positional shots and it could

change things. Probably got something into the centre. Or the

yellow pocket. As a last resort. The black at the moment will be

available into the right corner. So he gets the brown out of the way...

Of course, I'm just looking like the brown may go, the pink... If the

pink spot is not available then the brown will go as close to its own

spot in a direct line with the middle of the top cushion. That more

or less puts the pink and brown out of commission. Needs an angle on

this red which he just about has. To run through off two cushions. He

could, if he gets low on this black, open up these four reds. Or at least

start to open up away from the black spot.

I think you would settle for that. Having said that, all the top spin

and once the cue ball got put to the bed of the table, it rolled through.

Does the black still go to the right corner? Is there a gap for it? If it

doesn't, he still has the blue. Obviously, the black doesn't go if

you play for them. Got to be said, looks very clinical,

getting amongst the balls, very controlled. A sign of confidence,

quickly off the mark at the start of every session. The black doesn't go,

I don't think, but it's tight. The way those two reds now are, he can

play them before he plays the black. If he gets a nice position. On the

blue. He has come down for the blue. I

don't think he will risk the cannon. He would love to get on the red

that's just above him and to the right of the black.

That looks about inch perfect to me. 71, the target. That is when snooker

's will required. He has come out tonight and he looks a lot sharper.

He did have a good start earlier on today but he wasn't winning frames

in one visit necessarily. He was feeding off a few mistakes from

Fergal. But this is a bit more like the mark Selby we have been seeing

most of the season. I also feel that people are making

him favourite because you feel the longer matches suit him probably as

much of anyone in the game at the moment. I think he is so much in

control of his game, his cue action and control of the cue ball, he

starts off a session, maybe in top gear but maybe not but by the end,

he has built up a head of steam and he's like a juggernaut and it's

really tough to stop it by then, he's really in the groove. As all

the top players, when they are playing their best, every time they

settled down on a shot, the same preparation, cue action exactly the

same every time. Robotic. And now just looking for one more

red and a colour. The red will put him 67 points in front. If he gets

the colour, you think there is no way back to the table for Fergal.

Fergal tried to be positive on that brown rather than...

He has been punished severely. It was your idea as well.

You'd have got the brown, though! This is the highest break of the

match. Certainly don't criticise Fergal for

playing the free ball because a high break prize, Fergal probably

thinking he will be knocked out, could make a break bigger than a 147

with that free ball, always a possibility.

Only had one century. So far in the Championship. That was Ronnie

O'Sullivan. A red and a black and we will see

our second. That cost him the frame. Mark Selby

notice one frame away from a place in the second round.

Welcomed by the way to our brand-new studio for our evening sessions. We

will be live with you some evenings from 7pm but throughout the evening

every night on the red button from this venue. It's great because we've

got the players practising. Marco Fu is there. You just put him off his

shot! IMHO he had played it! Mark Selby in imperious form. Yes, a good

round. Mark Selby, fantastic. He is in complete control as Steve Davis

said, of his cue action. Coming in on really good form and he looks

very good. When we look at him on our big screen, he looks much more

composed and happier. Do you remember when he won the world title

and then came back and lost Anthony McGill. He didn't look in the zone

that year. He was a first time winner, coming back as defending

champion and nobody has done it. That made him very nervous. He was

quite open about that. Looks a lot more confident and in control of his

emotions. He's playing very well the moment. He is going to be tough to

beat. But he is in a tough half of the draw, very top-heavy. But he

will be the man to beat so far. Yes and he is looking for an early

finish. JOHN VIRGO: Once again, he just went

off the jury if I'm being picky. He had a chance to go into the pack

off the green but where these open reds are situated, there is no need

for that. He has got that red below the pack

that he can use to pot and open the reds at the same time. That seems to

be the shot of choice now. He has played, I think, deliberately low on

this. But perhaps it's a bit too straight to do too much damage to

the pack but he will be screwing back perhaps for the blue. Yes, for

the pink. But, I think he wanted a bit more on that. I think it is

coming more and more into the game. When you go into a cluster as it is

now, you smashed into it, you always trust it but if you can put a red

and knock a few out, you are more in control of the situation. Yes and

then maybe take a position on the colour so now he has to get the

correct angle on the colour. It is more difficult. The blue is a

possibility, could spread the reds open and win the match. He is a bit

straight on that to generate too much power. Straight into the pack.

He's got to belt this if he is playing straight in. Nice effort,

got to trust luck now. He could have done with a better

angle than the one he had. You don't really get the pace in the cue ball.

You need to do it full in the face. You also don't get that much back

spin. By the time the cue ball hits the pink. Playing the double.

Speculative double in the middle. I'm not going to wonder if he had

played that read, perhaps try to get on the blue, whether it would have

worked out better. He was right behind the shot he knew. I think he

was a bit straight for that. It would appear that Fergal didn't

play the pot. If he did, he was a long way out. It begs the question,

if not, why not? They are always semi-shots to nothing. That was an

excellent shot from Selby, guaranteed position on the black.

Doesn't look like any damage done. You don't get many frames in the

modern-day game that happen where all the reds are pushed into the

Baltic area of the table, used to be a lot more cagey safety at one stage

but as we speak, its safety to the top cushion.

And with these shots, there is with a premium on getting the cue ball

tyke on cushion. To stop your opponents screwing back to the same

position. Fergal has spotted something else. He's got a shot to

nothing of his own, a cut into the middle pocket. You see the path of

the cue ball, it was worth the risk. He's got to take some risks, no

doubt. He did play the pot. Mark bringing all the reds into

play. Not a bad cue ball. Fergal hasn't had a look at this red to the

right middle even though it is a very difficult one. He hasn't even

got around to see if that goes. Played an excellent safety shop, is

it tight? Once again on our TV screens, this reds to the left

middle looks like, why don't you go for it? It looks really easy but

because the table is shortened on the TV screen, it is more of a cue

angle into the middle pocket. Unless you've got a very big TV screen! But

I don't know, if he can't get to that red, he may be forcing him to

play that. That's an excellent cue ball. Will

Fergal be tempted? This does look like a frame from the

past. Rarely does this happen these days. Players tend to be more

speculative in their attacking shots. Fergal slightly old school in

terms of shots. Mark Selby perhaps playing a more modern game. Fergal

an old dog in the game and has learned some new tricks, that's for

certain. When we had that wonderful tribute

to all the champions last night, the 40th anniversary. I was relaying the

stort that Patsy Fegan and when we first came here in '77. We had never

played in a two-table situation. We sat at the back and there was hardly

anyone in the audience. We watched Fred Davis play Eddie Charlton.

Eddie Charlton was 16 in front with fewer remaining. Fred Davis ended up

winning the frame. He didn't make a break over ten. Going red, black,

safety, knock a red out. It was unbelievable.

An they said it wouldn't catch on. Tactical snookers are an interesting

beast. Fergal's frame to get through to the Crucible took more or less

two hours. I happened to be watching on

Facebook live. Everybody was moaning and saying it

was disgraceful snooker, for some reason. By the end of the match,

there were 2,000 people instead of the 1,000 that started. Where's the

cue ball going? That could be the end.

Fergal didn't expect the cue ball to be anywhere near that corner pocket.

He will be expecting to shake hands now with Mark Selby.

Just talking about deciding frames, we don't like to talk about 1985 in

your company, but that was a long frame, wasn't it? I think 70

minutes. Obviously 120 minutes is another story.

You wouldn't have minded if it had lasted! If you'd have come out on

top. Not clear-cut chance obviously to

wrap up the frame. Quite a lot of reds in awkward positions to get

over the line. You expect the top players to keep

the breaks going. He's been cueing so nicely. Didn't

do that well. Just wept through it a bit quick. The side pushed the cue

ball into the red. It looks like the man from Dublin is

playing the double. Oh, he's playing safe.

It looks like he can get through to the potting angle.

Likewise for Fergal, into the same pocket.

He'll get lots of encouragement. A very fair audience here. They'll be

wanting to see a match or Fergal win a few more frames.

It's hard to think straight when you're this far behind.

Especially as you've not really settled down in the arena. He will

do well to get anywhere near level terms here.

He rolled a nice red in and it was fully appreciated.

He's an absolute gent and fierce competitor.

He's a marvellous sportsman. It's not beyond him to put a charge

on. He made five Severnries in a best of

11 match. -- centuries. A fantastic

performance that was. Hard to get out of jail here.

He's not played that well. Playing for the red in the middle.

He will have to settle for the far corner now.

That short of pace, it was reasonably easy into the corner. He

plays with a really fat tip on his cue.

The overhang of the tip is preaching 11 millimetres for a snooker tip.

What size was your tip then? Just over nine, I think. I used a ten.

I always thought the thinner the end of the cue, the more likelihood to

put unintentional side on. He couldn't have struck that any

better. Never in doubt the ball going into the pocket. Perfect point

of contact on the far cushion. He didn't try to open the two reds

up. Thought he had more of an angle than he had.

I think those two reds go into the yellow pocket.

He can certainly shift them from the brown coming behind both off two

cushions. He would expect to get some kind of

leave. Not a great outcome. No, he would like to have hit the join of

the two reds. If he had caught the join, he would

have pushed them both into play. Another terrific, solid pot. Nothing

better than the sound of the ball hitting the back of the pocket for a

player. No. Well, a bit of drama all of a

sudden. Only a little bit. Now does Fergal play the red over the pocket?

Or play the red onto the red? The red onto the red is guaranteed

to pot. He's not looked at it though, yes, he has.

Surely playing the red onto the red over the middle pocket, you're

guaranteed to knock it. Perhaps he couldn't get a good

position, I don't know. Still hanging on, his hopes, by a

thread. Does he risk the red down the rail

with an element of safety. It's amazing what goes through a

player's mind. There was no value in that shot because of where the pink

is. He's left this red. It is cuttable.

I want to know why Fergal didn't assess the situation of playing the

red onto the red over the middle. It's not cost him. He can get past

the blue to hit the red and maybe a chance, he can hit the red down and

bring the pink into play. Slow screw back over the distance.

Done that well. Kept the cue ball down the table and nudged the pink

out. Very nice shot. A bit of a bonus with the snooker as

well. Couldn't guarantee that. He's back in the frame and slight

favourite. Where that pink's ended up has given

Mark Selby a headache. It would appear that the pink is in

the way, off the yellow cushion. Looks like the blue is in the way.

Perhaps he can load up with loads of side in between the blue and pink.

It must be the swerve then. Can he swerve it around the brown? Doesn't

want to be pushing the red ball towards the pocket. Pass the

aspirins. What about bottom cushion somehow -

side cushion? Round the back of the yellow, so to speak, and in between

the yellow and blue. Haven't got a clue.

Mark hasn't got a clue. We haven't. He looked at that line there. He's

got to be careful of course. No, that won't hit it.

Foul. He's got to get the other side of the black. So I don't think

that's on. If he gets the other side of the black, it goes the other side

of the red. All valuable points, these, in

ferk's course to try and get back in this.

It's going to cost him a few points. Fergal is going to get well back in

this. It looks like he's trying to play round the back of the black. I

don't think that's on, as you say. It's the other side of the black

that's in question, whether he can. His big problem, though, if the

yellow wasn't in his way, he could play it plain ball. He's got to play

it with side because the yellow is covering the natural angle.

I don't think it's on: It's too difficult a swerve. He will give

away more points here. He's trying it the other side of the

black. He's got relatively close to the black. He's done it! Superb.

If you're playing at a club, on club tables with older cushion covers,

that shot is not on. Brand new cushions and covers slide

a lot. That was a tremendous shot, yeah.

Fergal played the white the other side of the yellow.

He'll settle for that. It's half a chance. We know how

difficult these reds are coming into the middle pocket, narrow angle.

Mark put the pink in a slightly more awkward place. Zblrvelingts Let's

forget about winning the match at the moment. But winning this frame,

he needs the pink. The key to this will be position

from brown to blue. I don't think he's come too good on

this brown. Good position on the blue could get

good position on the pink. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well, what a frame to win. Never say die attitude from Fergal O'Brien,

brilliant. OK, it's still a mountain to climb. But well done.

There are plenty of ways to enjoy the coverage of this year's world

Championship. COMMENTATOR: News features and more

on the BBC Sport website. Radio 5 Live will bring you updates

throughout the day. COMMENTATOR: Steve Davis then

continues his tapestry of titles. You can join in the conversation via

social media. COMMENTATOR: Sheffield and The

Crucible belongs to Ken Doherty. There's information on mobile phone

and on connected TV. At 8pm we switch over to the red butt be. Stay

with us -- button, stay with us and get ready to press red.

Er A question asked via Twitter about the pink and where it spots in

relation to the triangle of reds. The pink is on its spot. It's not

touching the triangle of reds. It's the smallest gap.

In a strange way it's the only colour that isn't pottable when the

balls are set up. Terrific shot. He got the cannon.

He's on the black. Lovely shot from Fergal. He should

get the black, even though he's cutting it back.

He couldn't guarantee position off this. I think he'll be pleased with

that. Well, unbelievable. I think the look

to the heavens says it all. Just when I thought he was getting up a

head of steam. He misses that.

It's amazing how you can turn a ball over you see the red when the cue

ball hits, it the left side just pushed the red to the right.

He's potted the red. It looks like he's got to play an excellent shot

here to keep the break going. That makes it a lot easier. Didn't

think that went. STUDIO: With Fergal O'Brien at the

table, hit the red button now for more coverage. We're staying with

you in studio. We'll have a live interview with the winner of this

match. The Anthony McGill-Stephen Maguire match moves online. Both

matches available on the BBC Sport website. And app. So much choice for

you at this year's tournament on the BBC. We have every match covered for

you: I'm back with highlights later tonight. (