Wednesday, Quarter-Finals, Afternoon

:00:34. > :00:39.This is our last afternoon inside the beautiful Sheffield Winter

:00:40. > :00:43.Gardens. We are preparing to decamp shortly to move inside The Crucible

:00:44. > :00:49.itself. With a place in the semifinal up for grabs, and with it

:00:50. > :00:54.a chance to structural stuff in the one table arena, that is what's on

:00:55. > :01:01.offer in the World Championship today. Today is the time when we

:01:02. > :01:06.whittle our eight remaining players down to four in the climax of the

:01:07. > :01:10.quarterfinals. Ronnie O'Sullivan's bid to join Stephen Hendry in a

:01:11. > :01:16.record 12 Crucible semifinal is in big trouble, because last night it

:01:17. > :01:20.was Ding Junhui who sawed away in a blistering five frame stretched and

:01:21. > :01:26.he needs just three more to beat his idol on the big stage. Mark Selby's

:01:27. > :01:30.bid for back-to-back titles rolls on relentlessly. A four frame advantage

:01:31. > :01:34.after day one of his semifinal, and it might have been more. Marco Fu

:01:35. > :01:40.has been doing things the hard way in Sheffield so far anyway. The Fu

:01:41. > :01:51.fighter may yet emerge. Barry Hearn will join us live and there's much

:01:52. > :01:55.to discuss. Today is our cue at The Crucible for ladies Day. We will

:01:56. > :02:02.meet the pioneering Rhiannon Evans. I don't know how you will swing this

:02:03. > :02:10.but it's definitely a day where you can access all of our coverage. At

:02:11. > :02:10.two 30p will be going live to the deciding quarterfinal between Ding

:02:11. > :02:22.and O'Sullivan. And will spend the afternoon in the

:02:23. > :02:27.excellent company of Steve Davis and Ken Doherty who between them have

:02:28. > :02:31.strutted their stuff to reach 14 semifinals between you over the

:02:32. > :02:36.years. It's all about the men who are trying to do so today. We're

:02:37. > :02:41.looking forward to this live prey between Ronnie and Ding. Ronnie has

:02:42. > :02:46.the interesting perspective of having overturned a 6-10 deficit in

:02:47. > :02:51.a quarterfinal and also having lost one. How valuable will both of those

:02:52. > :02:55.experiences be today? It's nice to know that it's not an impossible

:02:56. > :03:00.ask. I think he probably will just hope that things go right in the

:03:01. > :03:08.early part of the session. There is an element of luck involved. Half a

:03:09. > :03:10.roll of ball can make all the difference. That first frame is

:03:11. > :03:15.never certain, even if you've got the right mindset. We know how

:03:16. > :03:18.susceptible Ding has been under pressure to Ronnie O'Sullivan. I

:03:19. > :03:22.wonder how important it could be today. It's going to be massive. I

:03:23. > :03:27.commentated on those eight frames last night and Ronnie was quite poor

:03:28. > :03:31.by his own standard. He gave himself half a chance by winning the last

:03:32. > :03:35.frame with a nice century. By all accounts talking to his manager he

:03:36. > :03:39.feels relaxed about the job which is a good sign. During that eight

:03:40. > :03:44.frames he didn't look up for it at all. He has to start very fast

:03:45. > :03:49.because this is a different Ding Junhui who he might have been

:03:50. > :03:55.counted in the past. He looks a lot stronger this year, he looks very

:03:56. > :04:00.prepared, very relaxed. He's been the best scorer of the tournament so

:04:01. > :04:03.far. It's a different proposition of a Ronnie O'Sullivan. Just because a

:04:04. > :04:06.player has consistently beaten another player and it looks like

:04:07. > :04:11.they've got the evil eye on them, they can't have that forever. I'm

:04:12. > :04:16.going back to 1985. I don't even want to talk about it! I beat Dennis

:04:17. > :04:21.Taylor up so many times up until that moment. Somewhere down the line

:04:22. > :04:26.he thought, I've got nothing to lose and all of a sudden he pushed his

:04:27. > :04:29.chest out and became a fighter. Not that he wasn't a great player. That

:04:30. > :04:35.could be the situation of the Ding Junhui. It's been ten years since

:04:36. > :04:40.Ding Junhui had the better of Ronnie O'Sullivan in any match. At 2:30pm

:04:41. > :04:45.we will be going to that. Until then we are in catch-up mode. Jason was

:04:46. > :04:52.there at 10am this morning for the first sessions. The concluding

:04:53. > :04:56.session between John Higgins, bidding for an eighth semifinal, and

:04:57. > :05:00.he had a very strong lead against Kyren Wilson the world number 14 who

:05:01. > :05:04.knew he was going to have to come out swinging. Only once before in

:05:05. > :05:08.the 40 year history of this great event has someone overturned a 5-11

:05:09. > :05:21.deficit. This is how it turned out this morning.

:05:22. > :05:39.COMMENTATOR: That time he caught the jaw and it didn't go in. That was a

:05:40. > :05:54.very unexpected mess. -- miss. It's their... APPLAUSE

:05:55. > :06:13.The vital frame, how many times have we seen it missed? Decided to go for

:06:14. > :06:29.it. It didn't matter about the blue. John Higgins stays in his seat. What

:06:30. > :06:33.a shame. John Higgins is through to his eighth World Championship

:06:34. > :06:54.semifinal 13-6. He's really tough player, Kyren. He

:06:55. > :07:03.was really unlucky. Still a great win for me. To put into context

:07:04. > :07:06.where some people might understand, it's like a dancer wearing in a new

:07:07. > :07:15.pair of shoes. Imagine the blisters you get after wearing them, going

:07:16. > :07:20.for your comfy shoes. It feels like a completely different ball game. To

:07:21. > :07:26.be back at the one-table set-up, there's no place like The Crucible.

:07:27. > :07:31.Just delighted. Two dozen and 11 is the last time. I was pretty close

:07:32. > :07:35.last time and McManus pipped me. You start to think maybe you'll never

:07:36. > :07:40.get there again. Luckily enough I'm here and obviously I'll be willing

:07:41. > :07:44.to go one better and get to the final. STUDIO: Very intriguing. The

:07:45. > :07:52.last time John Higgins got to the semifinal and the one-table set-up

:07:53. > :07:56.and didn't win the title, was 2001. Heat 343 every time he gets into

:07:57. > :08:02.this one-table situation. He's back, six years on. He's not just back,

:08:03. > :08:07.it's the way he's done it. You could argue he's been as impressive as

:08:08. > :08:11.anybody in the tournament. I'm a massive John Higgins fan. His play

:08:12. > :08:16.is immense. Mark Selby plays a similar type of game but John

:08:17. > :08:21.Higgins, on his best day, has been unplayable. If he continues that I'm

:08:22. > :08:26.not sure how he loses a session, unless he goes into his shell

:08:27. > :08:29.somehow. For me, when he started talking before the championship

:08:30. > :08:34.about how he knew he had the game to win again, that almost flicked a

:08:35. > :08:37.switch in my head. He such a supreme confidence player. If he believes

:08:38. > :08:42.he'll do it, he probably will. He's going to be very tough to beat. He

:08:43. > :08:46.has all of that experience. He's probably one of the greatest players

:08:47. > :08:49.who has ever graced the game. His record proves that. He has such a

:08:50. > :08:55.great record at The Crucible. He's climbed that mountain four times

:08:56. > :08:59.already. Anybody who plays John Higgins will have a tough battle. As

:09:00. > :09:03.Steve said, on his day he is hard to stop. Not only is he a great

:09:04. > :09:06.pressure player, he's a great break-builder and he is so clever as

:09:07. > :09:12.well. When you put those into the mix, how do you combat that? There's

:09:13. > :09:16.not too many players who can combat that that left in the tournament.

:09:17. > :09:20.Let's extrapolate how this tournament goes out which is a

:09:21. > :09:24.dangerous thing to do. This is no disrespect to any players. Whoever

:09:25. > :09:30.John Higgins plays in the semifinal, Barry Hawkins or Steve Maguire, you

:09:31. > :09:34.put him as favourite. They are great players. OK, John Higgins gets to

:09:35. > :09:42.the final. He plays either Ronnie O'Sullivan, Ding Junhui or Mark

:09:43. > :09:45.Selby. Let's say it's Mark Selby. Mark Selby's biggest drinks are

:09:46. > :09:51.negated by John Higgins. Much more so than if he plays Ronnie

:09:52. > :09:55.O'Sullivan in the final -- Mark Selby's biggest strength are negated

:09:56. > :10:03.by John Higgins. Does Mark Selby say he is top dog or does he prove that

:10:04. > :10:08.he is really the number one player in the world? They did play that

:10:09. > :10:14.final in 2007 and Mark Selby had a real go at him. He gave him one heck

:10:15. > :10:19.of a fright. He's a different Mark Selby now. If anybody can beat John

:10:20. > :10:22.Higgins at his own game, and particularly after the season Mark

:10:23. > :10:26.Selby has had, it is Mark Selby who can be John Higgins at that game.

:10:27. > :10:31.It's going to be a fascinating encounter, if that happens. There's

:10:32. > :10:37.a lot of players still in the tournament! The interesting one is

:10:38. > :10:43.this afternoon. What a terrible thing to say it! We are allowed to

:10:44. > :10:48.speculate. That's why we are here. We mentioned Mark Selby, the world

:10:49. > :10:52.number one who has won four big events this year. It's the most he's

:10:53. > :10:57.ever won in one season. He's going for back-to-back titles. He was in

:10:58. > :11:00.dominant form in his first session against Marco Fu and the man from

:11:01. > :11:06.Hong Kong is having to do things the hard way again. He's come from 7-1

:11:07. > :11:10.and 4-1 behind in his matches today and he's giving himself another mini

:11:11. > :11:15.mountain to climb. It got worse, Selby took the opening two frames

:11:16. > :11:21.this morning to go 8-2 ahead and he also took frame 11 as well. There's

:11:22. > :11:25.a seven frame gap in it now. Remember first 13 will go through to

:11:26. > :11:31.the semifinal. Let's pick them up in frame 12.

:11:32. > :11:44.COMMENTATOR: Mark Selby breaks off in frame 12. Can he make it a clean

:11:45. > :12:36.sweep for the second time? He won the first four yesterday morning.

:12:37. > :13:14.As is normal when you're struggling, whenever you miss you seem to leave

:13:15. > :13:25.one up for your opponent. Almost identical to the first frame.

:13:26. > :13:37.Somehow Mark Selby manage to make a frame-winning break in one visit,

:13:38. > :14:05.can he do it again? Is he just on this red?

:14:06. > :14:21.I wonder if you'll risk playing for the black? It's the right shot.

:14:22. > :14:26.The black is just slightly off the cushion which makes it a bit

:14:27. > :14:29.trickier, especially because he'll be playing at a bit of pace to bring

:14:30. > :14:48.the cue ball out. APPLAUSE Play to clear high so he can go into

:14:49. > :14:55.the bunch and leave himself a red corner. Even though it was very

:14:56. > :15:09.close to the cushion he played it right in off the jaw. I think he's

:15:10. > :15:15.got to play at those two. He's very, very good at this shot. Normally the

:15:16. > :15:18.cue ball moves over to the left-hand side of the table if you're playing

:15:19. > :15:28.at the top and the right-hand side, but he's not playing it, I don't

:15:29. > :15:33.think. Definitely gone into the bunch from the next shot. You always

:15:34. > :15:46.want to split the red top when there is one loose red. Lots of left-hand

:15:47. > :15:53.side to the cue ball to keep low on the black. As Stephen said, he's

:15:54. > :15:59.left that loose red. He's stuck on the pack there. Couldn't get any

:16:00. > :16:32.reaction from it. That's what you've got to do.

:16:33. > :16:39.This looked to be a good split, just call that first red slightly

:16:40. > :16:53.thinner. I think he can get through to the red. There is an excellent

:16:54. > :17:00.chance to win another frame... You have to feel sorry for Marco Fu.

:17:01. > :17:03.This morning's session he's missed a couple of easy balls. Every time he

:17:04. > :17:10.missed, he's loved one on. Sometimes it goes like that. -- he's left one

:17:11. > :17:20.on. He's been outplayed but he hasn't had the best of runs. He

:17:21. > :17:34.hasn't started in any of his matches in this tournament well enough. In

:17:35. > :17:42.his first match he was 7-1 down. Did he go 4-0 down in his second-round

:17:43. > :17:46.match? He's done it here. He's giving himself too much to do.

:17:47. > :17:55.Especially against the world number one, it was never going to work. So

:17:56. > :18:02.for whatever reason he's just not been sharp enough at the start of

:18:03. > :18:07.matches this week. It's been a long season and Marco has had a very,

:18:08. > :18:11.very good season. A lot of the pundits would be saying Marco Fu

:18:12. > :18:15.would be one of their favourites coming into this tournament, he was

:18:16. > :18:19.one of my favourites. It shows you sometimes... I don't know if he's

:18:20. > :18:23.got burn-out or gone to the well too often this season but he doesn't

:18:24. > :18:39.look the same player in the last couple of rounds.

:18:40. > :18:46.Mark Selby has only made one century so far in this year's championship.

:18:47. > :18:50.If he went on to win it there would be more to come. This is an

:18:51. > :19:00.excellent chance to make not only a century, but a very big one.

:19:01. > :19:24.Kid have been happy with a 3-1 mini-session. -- he would have been

:19:25. > :19:29.happy. Marco would be absolutely delighted. Three blues, to pinks,

:19:30. > :20:25.six blacks so far. This looks very much like the 56th

:20:26. > :20:54.century of this World Championship. I think 86 is a record. So the

:20:55. > :20:58.players left in the tournament are going to have to go some to make

:20:59. > :21:03.another 30 centuries to beat that record. After today, only four

:21:04. > :21:17.players left. So it's going to be close.

:21:18. > :21:24.It's been a very professional performance this morning so far from

:21:25. > :21:30.Mark Selby. Stamped his authority early on in the first frame with a

:21:31. > :21:40.magnificent break. He's finishing off the four frames with this

:21:41. > :21:44.immaculate century. I can't find a reason for him not winning this

:21:45. > :21:49.match a session early, now. Marco Fu is going to have to do something

:21:50. > :21:50.pretty special in the next four frames after the interval. I can't

:21:51. > :22:12.see it, though. Awesome display from the defending

:22:13. > :22:37.champion. He beats Marco Fu 10-2. Marco Fu's task is to get this match

:22:38. > :23:29.into the third session. Something that might make Marco's

:23:30. > :23:31.task a bit easier is the fact Mark Selby will be putting pressure on

:23:32. > :24:35.himself to finish this match. That was a magnificent cue in. When

:24:36. > :24:39.the cue ball goes up the table it looked like it was tight in the

:24:40. > :25:27.cushion but it caught the jaw of the middle pocket and now it's perfect.

:25:28. > :25:41.He made the frame-winning break. There is a good chance here. There

:25:42. > :25:50.are still three loose reds available. It is not have to go into

:25:51. > :25:54.the pack just yet. He will play one more red and then he will go into

:25:55. > :25:58.the bunch, because either of those reds, the one at the bottom of the

:25:59. > :26:03.bunch to the right corner, it makes a good shape for the pack to screw

:26:04. > :26:12.the cue ball into. He will leave himself low on the black ear. Maybe

:26:13. > :26:21.just one more. He will have to play for the loose red here. He wants to

:26:22. > :26:33.screw the cue ball through the red, through the joint between that red

:26:34. > :26:42.and the pack. Now he is leaving himself some space. I have seen a

:26:43. > :26:50.Selby played this shot better than anyone else at the moment. He is

:26:51. > :27:10.playing the complete right-hand side one. Magnificent. He had exactly the

:27:11. > :27:11.outside red. When you use stun you have to have a chance to put one in

:27:12. > :29:10.the middle. He does not have to go into the

:29:11. > :29:36.bunch at all now because the bottom red pots.

:29:37. > :29:50.I am surprised there has not been a break above 140 get in this

:29:51. > :30:01.tournament. Now, the century looks assured.

:30:02. > :30:06.This has looked inevitable ever since he got the bump in the middle

:30:07. > :30:17.pocket, to finish nicely on the blue. It has never looked in doubt.

:30:18. > :30:36.Racing towards the winning line. He is pretty straight on this black.

:30:37. > :30:40.I am just looking at the two reds. I am not sure if they are available

:30:41. > :30:47.for the corner pockets. That is what he is leaving it for the yellow

:30:48. > :31:03.pocket. This is the first missable shot of this break so far.

:31:04. > :31:28.He will be tough to beat in this tournament.

:31:29. > :31:49.57th century of the tournament coming up. It was never in doubt.

:31:50. > :32:05.So, this will be to total clearances back-to-back for Mark Selby. All

:32:06. > :32:15.Marco Fu did was break off. This would set a decent target. 139, it

:32:16. > :32:21.probably won't be enough to get the high break prize, but you never

:32:22. > :32:25.know. This was the initial red you were talking about. If he doesn't

:32:26. > :32:36.get the bump he has a hard shot on the blue. This was very fortunate,

:32:37. > :32:44.but an excellent pot. He is having a lovely time out there today.

:32:45. > :33:13.Everything has come up very easily. He has left himself a bit to do

:33:14. > :33:31.here. He has to be careful he does not miss cue here.

:33:32. > :33:35.He has said it too well. It looks like he will have a tricky black to

:33:36. > :33:51.middle. So, this black for the highest break

:33:52. > :34:05.of the tournament so far. Is it there? To total clearances

:34:06. > :34:10.back-to-back. Magnificent 139. The highest break of the tournament so

:34:11. > :34:17.far and it takes into an two lead. That scuppers stripping's hopes

:34:18. > :34:25.proclaiming the hybrid prize. His 137 has been beaten by back-to-back

:34:26. > :34:29.centuries for Selby. It took Mark a match and three quarters to make his

:34:30. > :34:33.first and now he is powering in the big scores. 11-2 ahead and Selby

:34:34. > :34:41.eyeing an early finish as we head into frame 14. Thank you, settle

:34:42. > :34:47.down please. Frame 14. Mark Selby to break. It is a horrible position to

:34:48. > :35:07.being a match. The audience wanted the match to go

:35:08. > :35:22.on longer, so he is getting a bit of encouragement from them. Good shot.

:35:23. > :35:30.He just pulled up a little bit short to be able to go into the pack, but

:35:31. > :35:41.there is one of red. -- one loose red. Marco has found more cue power.

:35:42. > :35:46.He has lifted his cue action over the last couple of months. He will

:35:47. > :35:54.need all his cue power whatever angle he gets on the black to open

:35:55. > :36:01.these rents. Visit them enough on the black? The three red is closest

:36:02. > :36:11.to the back, the middle one is what he wants to get here. That is what

:36:12. > :36:21.he has done. Great shot. This is the red Stephen was talking about. Oh

:36:22. > :36:27.no. He can consider himself a little unlucky, because he played into the

:36:28. > :36:37.pack perfectly. That looked quite tight. I think he just had to

:36:38. > :36:47.squeeze the cue ball a little bit to get an angle on the pot. Marco Fu

:36:48. > :36:51.had an excellent shot to split the roads open, but it looks like Mark

:36:52. > :37:02.Selby is going to be the one to reap the benefits. You would not bet

:37:03. > :37:11.against three centuries in a row here. Mark Selby has already won at

:37:12. > :37:15.the World Championship twice and played great snooker, but I think he

:37:16. > :37:21.is playing now than he has in his two previous attempts at winning the

:37:22. > :37:28.World Championship. He looks in total control of his game, his

:37:29. > :38:13.emotions. His demeanour around the table looks frightening.

:38:14. > :38:46.He has not gone far enough to stay on the black.

:38:47. > :38:52.I think you mentioned earlier on, the only thing missing from this

:38:53. > :39:07.match performance was a century break. It looks like three in a row

:39:08. > :39:29.now. He has had a very heavy contact there, but he is OK.

:39:30. > :39:37.The angle he has on the red, he has played quite firm to bounce it off

:39:38. > :39:44.the ignition. The white is going very close to the right-hand side.

:39:45. > :39:57.That is why he is playing a screenshot for the blue again. He is

:39:58. > :39:58.going to have to go in and out of baulk between the yellow and brown

:39:59. > :40:29.on the left-hand side. I think when he won the World

:40:30. > :40:33.Championship last year, this side of his game was not there, I do not

:40:34. > :40:46.think. He won it three being a ferocious competitor. This scoring,

:40:47. > :40:47.together with the competitiveness, it will take a special performance

:40:48. > :41:04.to beat him. He was shaking his head there

:41:05. > :41:14.because he did not get dead straight on this red. Once again has to go

:41:15. > :41:16.between the brown and yellow. There is a lot of screw on the left-hand

:41:17. > :41:43.side this time. He might need the red to make the

:41:44. > :42:00.frame safe and go one away from victory.

:42:01. > :42:03.Even then he was slightly disappointed. He lost the cue ball a

:42:04. > :42:15.little bit. As we said, had the year and doesn't

:42:16. > :42:44.go in. He will be very annoyed. Now, Marco, what do you have left in

:42:45. > :42:48.the tank to try to make a frame-winning break. He has got

:42:49. > :42:54.horrible contact on the black which has sent the cue ball wide. It is

:42:55. > :43:19.hard enough playing Mark Selby in this form.

:43:20. > :43:43.And as good shot. Everything is difficult at this stage, just

:43:44. > :44:08.keeping your focus and concentration is difficult.

:44:09. > :44:15.If the scores were a little closer, you would say Marco Fu is a

:44:16. > :44:26.certainty to win this frame now. I am still not sure he will clear

:44:27. > :44:32.them, but he should do. This is the highest break so far this morning

:44:33. > :44:34.from Marco Fu. The first time he has gone past 30. Selby has been scoring

:44:35. > :44:52.so heavily. He got a bad bounce there. That cue

:44:53. > :44:55.ball has come off at least the third verdict that it should have done

:44:56. > :45:09.with the pace it came off the cushion. So, that wasn't his fault.

:45:10. > :45:24.He still has a little bit of work to do. That is too hard, isn't it? He

:45:25. > :45:45.got the second prize. Very well done, Marco Fu. That took

:45:46. > :45:50.a lot of courage. He has been sitting down most of the morning

:45:51. > :45:55.session. It took a lot of hard. Eight magnificent break of 56. Marco

:45:56. > :46:03.Fu has got a foothold in this match now. It closes to 11-3. Marco some

:46:04. > :46:08.some resistance after losing the previous six in a row, but with only

:46:09. > :46:11.two frames left in the morning session, Mark Selby can win them

:46:12. > :46:32.both, potentially and earned the evening off.

:46:33. > :46:39.Playing this with the lot of top spin. The cue ball, back of the

:46:40. > :46:57.cushion. He is definitely playing for deeds

:46:58. > :47:19.-- the cue ball to hit the side cushion. This is a difficult black.

:47:20. > :47:30.Brilliant. It is easier when you haven't yet frame lead. It is still

:47:31. > :47:53.excellent. Three or four shots ago, there were

:47:54. > :47:57.eight reds on this cushion. Now all of a sudden, after this next black

:47:58. > :48:01.he should get rid of the red that is stuck in the bottom corner. The

:48:02. > :48:09.black could be developed to both pockets in a moment. He does not

:48:10. > :49:23.want to lose the black onto the brown spot, he wants it to spot.

:49:24. > :49:29.With those reds on the back cushion, he will finish low on the black

:49:30. > :49:48.because he does not want them to storm of the cushion.

:49:49. > :50:03.30 points ahead now, he will be able to win this frame without doing

:50:04. > :50:03.anything about the awkward rates. You

:50:04. > :50:10.can see the determination of Mark Selby's face. He was so disappointed

:50:11. > :50:20.to have lost the last frame when he made a break of 67. At least if he

:50:21. > :50:25.wins this frame he has a chance to close the match out before the final

:50:26. > :51:24.session tonight. He knows he has a great chance now to lead 12-3.

:51:25. > :51:33.He felt here he had a very bad contact. He obviously played for the

:51:34. > :51:38.paint in the corner. He felt he got a very heavy contact. You sort the

:51:39. > :53:04.red bounce, leave the table. One frame left in this session. One

:53:05. > :53:09.frame needed by Mark Selby. What willpower, what desire does Marco Fu

:53:10. > :53:29.have left to bring this match to a final session tonight?

:53:30. > :53:35.It goes without saying that Marco has not really been at the races in

:53:36. > :53:39.this match but the way Mark Selby has gone about it has been so

:53:40. > :53:45.clinical. He is playing one of the best players in the world and he is

:53:46. > :53:57.12-3 in front. And cueing like a dream. Now then, let's see him get

:53:58. > :54:32.on the next red. For, maybe five conditions. That will do it.

:54:33. > :54:45.Could not play a proper positional shot.

:54:46. > :54:50.They must seem like pockets at the minute for Mark Selby, two pot that

:54:51. > :55:23.at that pace. This but the century. Is it there?

:55:24. > :55:31.It is. Brilliant. How he made a century from this, I do not know? A

:55:32. > :55:32.chance of making the first 140 plus break in this World Championship

:55:33. > :55:48.now. A possible 143. Incredible. The last two shots have just been

:55:49. > :55:52.incredible. I don't think I can remember a session where there has

:55:53. > :56:10.been three total clearances in an eight frame session.

:56:11. > :56:16.I've known mark since he was 12 years old and obviously seen him

:56:17. > :56:22.play thousands of frames. I don't think I've seen him play better.

:56:23. > :56:30.He's in a great place at the moment. The game has just seemed so easy.

:56:31. > :56:33.He's finished a bit straight on this green, though. Maybe he'll have to

:56:34. > :56:46.pay for the brown in one of the middle pocket.

:56:47. > :57:13.: Wilson made the highest break last year. 100 -- this will equal that,

:57:14. > :57:48.of course. Magnificent. That's one of the best

:57:49. > :57:56.centuries I've ever seen. Hundred and 43 by Mark Selby. She wins the

:57:57. > :58:04.match. STUDIO: Wow, that beats Mark Selby's personal high at The

:58:05. > :58:10.Crucible of 142 back in 2010. When he was in here at the Winter Gardens

:58:11. > :58:15.he was reminded of that. He now owns the two top breaks. Ken and Steve,

:58:16. > :58:20.from where the ball started initially it was like a splatter gun

:58:21. > :58:24.effect all over the table. It was an extraordinary break. No wonder the

:58:25. > :58:29.guy in the front row was doing that. We were watching saying, where's the

:58:30. > :58:35.next one coming from? Some of the black Sea parted, the red, it is

:58:36. > :58:41.incredible. This is the start. This was one of the easiest ones of the

:58:42. > :58:49.whole break. This black was just incredible. Just madness. OK, so,

:58:50. > :58:54.he's plenty of frames in front, it makes the game a bit easier. I think

:58:55. > :58:58.that's probably one of the most astonishing breaks I've ever seen.

:58:59. > :59:02.We'll talk about Alex Higgins making that fantastic clearance, that was a

:59:03. > :59:05.different story to stay in the match. But I've never seen the ball

:59:06. > :59:13.is more difficult. Somebody would say to you, that's going to be a 143

:59:14. > :59:16.break and you go, no. That is without doubt one of the best breaks

:59:17. > :59:23.we've ever seen at this championship. You've got to hope,

:59:24. > :59:26.and we might get a 147, you never know, but it deserves to stay there

:59:27. > :59:30.because of its uniqueness. Yes it does. For all the stuff we've been

:59:31. > :59:37.talking about potential winners, I mean, there's the potential winner.

:59:38. > :59:44.All the stuff we talked about, forget about that! Let's start

:59:45. > :59:47.again. All of it within four frames, an extraordinary achievement. One

:59:48. > :59:50.frame away now, will he get it in this last of the session? He's on a

:59:51. > :00:01.mission. COMMENTATOR: The final frame of the

:00:02. > :00:07.session, could it be the final frame of this match? That's the equation

:00:08. > :00:09.if Mark Selby wins it. Breaking off in what he hopes will be the last

:00:10. > :01:09.time in this match. Played the double there which has

:01:10. > :01:25.left Marco with half a chance that the red that passes the blue.

:01:26. > :01:53.I for one wouldn't begrudge Marco from making a sizeable break from

:01:54. > :02:01.here. He needs an angle on the blue or the yellow to go into the bunch.

:02:02. > :02:09.Perfect aim on the blue, come on Marco, dig deep. You don't deserve

:02:10. > :02:46.having had such a great season to lose like this. APPLAUSE

:02:47. > :02:51.Marco is needing the spider. He's got to stop the cue ball dead to

:02:52. > :02:56.leave himself the black. Could have been easier than this because he

:02:57. > :03:06.played the kiss on the red perfectly. Yes, it was a great shot.

:03:07. > :03:14.Does he have to take the cue ball from black to same pocket?

:03:15. > :03:39.Well done. You almost had to guess the angle, there.

:03:40. > :03:53.No. Oh! Well, they don't often go... I think it was just sheer pace. I

:03:54. > :04:04.thought he'd missed this. Very surprised that went in off the

:04:05. > :04:09.knuckle. Mark Selby is sat in his chair with a little smile to

:04:10. > :04:13.himself. He thought Marco Fu had missed that. He thought he was going

:04:14. > :04:26.to have a chance to win this match. That wasn't the cleanest of pots.

:04:27. > :04:27.He's lost the cue ball again... You could tell he was struggling,

:04:28. > :04:39.couldn't you? Yes, he's taken a battering in this

:04:40. > :04:56.match. APPLAUSE

:04:57. > :05:22.Could this be the final visit? He doesn't really want to play the

:05:23. > :05:24.cannon but it could be the only way he can slow the cue ball down, play

:05:25. > :05:54.the cannon onto the pink spot. He'll play red to the middle than

:05:55. > :06:07.pink. It looks ominous now for Marco Fu.

:06:08. > :06:19.Totally focused. Now he's got a chance to have a rest this evening

:06:20. > :06:23.and watch Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ding Junhui but a little else. -- battle

:06:24. > :06:44.it out. Mark Selby will keep one eye on the

:06:45. > :06:49.match this afternoon, I'm sure. He plays the winner, who ever comes

:06:50. > :06:59.through that match. What a game that is going to be.

:07:00. > :07:09.The message is sent out to the rest of the field by this performance.

:07:10. > :07:14.He's had two sessions against one of the best players in the world, and

:07:15. > :07:26.it looks like he's going to win them 6-2 and 7-1. And there's still

:07:27. > :07:27.enough points for a century. He's already had three, could he possibly

:07:28. > :08:05.have for? -- Reform? This Crucible crowd have witnessed

:08:06. > :08:15.lots of wonderful sessions of snooker. I'm sure should Selby go on

:08:16. > :08:36.to win, they'll give him the applause he deserves. .

:08:37. > :08:48.A couple of those pots he's missed were in frames when it was all over.

:08:49. > :09:21.Great recovery, topside of the blue. He's going to need one of the

:09:22. > :10:04.awkward reds so he's going to win the frame at this visit.

:10:05. > :10:08.He's not potted a pink in the centre pocket... I don't expect him to miss

:10:09. > :10:49.this. It is safely there. APPLAUSE What a shame, I just wonder whether

:10:50. > :10:59.Marco Fu will carry on. He is carrying on. Selby has been so

:11:00. > :11:10.clinical and he is in the semifinal. You can see Mark Selby knows his job

:11:11. > :11:15.is done. Especially now, what a tremendous performance of Mark

:11:16. > :11:19.Selby. A standing ovation from this pact Crucible. They probably never

:11:20. > :11:24.seen anything like that. Almost flawless snooker from the current

:11:25. > :11:29.world champion. He's going to be so hard to beat. Many condolences to

:11:30. > :11:35.Marco Fu. He played his part. Mark Selby goes into the semifinal.

:11:36. > :11:39.Session to spread through to the one-table set-up yet again, a

:11:40. > :11:43.perfect outcome. Fantastic feeling. I played well for the majority of

:11:44. > :11:48.the match. I played really well yesterday, a good 5-0 in front.

:11:49. > :11:53.Marco nicked two frames. The frame after that I was 40 or 50 behind. I

:11:54. > :12:00.came out of the session 6-2 yesterday which was huge. I felt I

:12:01. > :12:05.was in charge of the match and Marco would have still been in it. I came

:12:06. > :12:09.back today and played a full flawless snooker. Those big

:12:10. > :12:14.centuries, you seem as though you are really in a groove, now. Even at

:12:15. > :12:19.the end I probably played the wrong shot. I should probably pop the

:12:20. > :12:24.black to make sure. I'm so focused, I wanted to try and make another

:12:25. > :12:29.century. Unfortunately the Marco he potted a red and that was it. I'm

:12:30. > :12:34.really happy with my performance. First two games I played OK. But

:12:35. > :12:38.this much I more or less scored from start to finish. How significant

:12:39. > :12:41.could it be that you've now got the evening off, you've got plenty of

:12:42. > :12:46.time to rest and prepare for the semifinal tomorrow. Of course, it's

:12:47. > :12:50.a massive boost. I'm not sure my friends will enjoy that. They were

:12:51. > :12:54.all coming down tonight but obviously that's not going to be the

:12:55. > :13:03.case. It's great. It's such a long tournament so whenever you can get

:13:04. > :13:09.some rest is great. Any preference, Ronnie or Ding? It's going to be a

:13:10. > :13:14.tough game, whether I play Ding or Ronnie. At the moment it's looking

:13:15. > :13:18.like Ding but you don't know what could happen. Enjoy your night. I'm

:13:19. > :13:23.sure you'll find something to do with the boys and we'll see you

:13:24. > :13:28.tomorrow. Also on display and Mark through to his head Crucible

:13:29. > :13:32.semifinal. The ever modest Marco Fu has just tweeted "Selby was very

:13:33. > :13:37.careless to lose three frames to me today, that's how good he was".

:13:38. > :13:43.Stand-by for a barnstorming afternoon live snooker. Find out who

:13:44. > :13:48.Mark Selby will be playing in the semifinal. Before that, a man who

:13:49. > :13:55.always makes headlines, he's our guest in today's Table Talk. Is the

:13:56. > :14:00.chairman of World Snooker Barry Hearn. Nice to see you. Tell me,

:14:01. > :14:04.we've heard from you but we've had a statement from you during this

:14:05. > :14:08.championship, we've not seen you in person yet but let's get things

:14:09. > :14:13.straight. It's been an eventful championship so far. The last we

:14:14. > :14:15.heard you were responding to Ronnie O'Sullivan's comments of

:14:16. > :14:22.intimidation and bullying, secretly wondered if you would have been

:14:23. > :14:25.rubbing your hands at the publicity. Ronnie never fails to deliver. I

:14:26. > :14:31.think it was something that needed to be addressed. Obviously it's

:14:32. > :14:36.something I don't like personally to see, bullying and intimidation, they

:14:37. > :14:42.are very emotive words. Probably relevant, to be honest. The game's

:14:43. > :14:46.come a long way. We've made a huge amount of progress over the last few

:14:47. > :14:50.years across the world to become a truly global sport. For that reason

:14:51. > :14:56.we have to have standards and we have to have professional standards

:14:57. > :14:59.by players as well as officials and tournament organisers. When we look

:15:00. > :15:04.at other sports, we are now competing with those. We aren't the

:15:05. > :15:09.little shop on the corner, we are up there at the sharp end. We are

:15:10. > :15:13.competing with golf, tennis, football, rugby, because we are a

:15:14. > :15:18.major global sport. That brings responsibilities, particularly on

:15:19. > :15:21.players. We incorporate those in a player's contract because we have to

:15:22. > :15:26.set out the rules of what you can do and what you can't do. Same as life,

:15:27. > :15:31.really. If you park on a double yellow you get told off. That's the

:15:32. > :15:34.rule. Snooker is no different. This contract is devised between World

:15:35. > :15:48.Snooker and the players governing body. It's constantly reviewed and

:15:49. > :15:52.is currently being reviewed again. Within that contract, there is a

:15:53. > :16:00.code of conduct. That code of conduct is the same for every player

:16:01. > :16:05.and every player signed a contract. If you break it, don't accuse anyone

:16:06. > :16:10.of bullying or intimidation of someone points out you are in

:16:11. > :16:13.breach. Things we will never accept things like obscene or foul

:16:14. > :16:20.language. We will never accept officials being publicly criticised

:16:21. > :16:24.in the open media. We will never accept criticism of our partners,

:16:25. > :16:28.sponsors or TV companies. There is a procedure behind the code of conduct

:16:29. > :16:37.which allows you to campaign, but not in the public media -- allows

:16:38. > :16:40.you to camp -- com plain. The Royals are there and the walls are to

:16:41. > :16:44.change if the players themselves want to change them. There is a

:16:45. > :16:51.method how they can change them but it's not something to blurt out.

:16:52. > :16:59.That said, clearly it looked like it was escalating because the language

:17:00. > :17:04.you used had a whiff of legalese. There is no resolution required,

:17:05. > :17:08.there is a contract in place. The legalese language was because I

:17:09. > :17:13.personally disapprove of any form of bullying or intimidation. Frankly,

:17:14. > :17:16.it wasn't the case and hasn't been the case. Players that have

:17:17. > :17:19.criticised the player 's contract have never been specific about what

:17:20. > :17:23.they don't like. The door is always open to them to come and tell me

:17:24. > :17:27.what your problem is. Come and explain to the players

:17:28. > :17:31.representatives, the WPBSA, because nothing happens without their

:17:32. > :17:36.consent. They are your governing body. Don't go off on a tangent and

:17:37. > :17:42.try and blame something on something that isn't really applicable. The

:17:43. > :17:47.player 's contract is a fundamental part of the image of snooker to the

:17:48. > :17:52.world. John Higgins is on record as saying that there are some points in

:17:53. > :17:56.that contract that may be a bit over the top. I'm not sure specifically

:17:57. > :18:01.what they are. This is the whole point. I don't think these top

:18:02. > :18:06.players have either read the contract themselves, even some of

:18:07. > :18:10.the older players. Have they read it and don't understand it or have they

:18:11. > :18:14.read it, understand it and ignored it. That's unacceptable. When

:18:15. > :18:18.players say there are two or three things in the contract we don't

:18:19. > :18:22.like, I say, fine, not a problem, tell me what they are. But these

:18:23. > :18:25.players, when we put these things together, these other players that

:18:26. > :18:30.don't attend the meetings, that don't comment and put their point

:18:31. > :18:37.across, that don't read it and criticise. They wait for a platform

:18:38. > :18:41.to express something, probably out of frustration. We aren't looking

:18:42. > :18:46.for a problem. We are reviewing it, we've got a players commission.

:18:47. > :18:52.Shaun Murphy, Alan McManus, Mark Allen, Mark Williams, yourself.

:18:53. > :18:56.These are guys with an opinion. We will sit down and agree every word.

:18:57. > :19:04.Once we agree and both sides are happy, that contract has to be

:19:05. > :19:07.enforced. If that means disciplinary proceedings there will be

:19:08. > :19:13.disciplinary proceedings, because we can't have anarchy. This port is no

:19:14. > :19:16.longer a little boys club of getting together on a Friday night and

:19:17. > :19:20.saying and doing whatever you want. That's not the real world and we

:19:21. > :19:25.live in the real world. John Higgins was very supportive of many of the

:19:26. > :19:28.other initiatives. Just give some balance. We'll so saw that Mark

:19:29. > :19:33.Selby may become the first player ever to the ?1 million barrier in

:19:34. > :19:37.terms of earnings in one season if he wins this. There's a lot of

:19:38. > :19:42.dissent and talk about what's been happening at the lower reaches of

:19:43. > :19:46.the sport, those just within the 64 and beyond. What changes are you

:19:47. > :19:51.making to help those players? This is the result of people like Ken and

:19:52. > :19:57.the other players actually fighting the corner of the lesser-known

:19:58. > :20:01.players. I think we've all understood, and it's becoming

:20:02. > :20:05.crystal clear, this tour is now 52 weeks a year, it involves a lot of

:20:06. > :20:09.cost. Today we are going to announce that we are going to look at our

:20:10. > :20:13.prize-money, we are increasing prize money again going forward into next

:20:14. > :20:16.year, with an emphasis on the lower levels, in other words to make the

:20:17. > :20:21.prize money go deeper into a tournament. Number two, we are going

:20:22. > :20:27.to abolish entry fees. We've become a global game now and as such entry

:20:28. > :20:31.fees were a thing of the past, when wasn't the money in the sport, when

:20:32. > :20:36.we had to have help from the players themselves to play for their own

:20:37. > :20:39.money. When Ken started it was the basis of financing tournaments. That

:20:40. > :20:46.is abolished so that will save every player about ?5,000. Which will make

:20:47. > :20:51.a big difference to a lot of the players at the bottom. If the guys

:20:52. > :20:57.aren't winning anything, that ?5,000 is a lot of money. That's net as

:20:58. > :21:04.well, without the tax. You have to earn maybe ?10,000 to get that

:21:05. > :21:08.?5,000 back. And expenses as well. It will be good for a lot of the

:21:09. > :21:11.players. Would like to see more players down at the bottom levels

:21:12. > :21:14.for the player so when they win a match they've got a bit more. When

:21:15. > :21:19.they are travelling to China it's costing them a lot for flights and

:21:20. > :21:23.stuff like that. Would like to see more of that down the bottom. I

:21:24. > :21:31.think we're going to see this year that our prize-money will go up to

:21:32. > :21:35.?12 million. Six years ago it was ?3.5 million. More importantly, this

:21:36. > :21:38.is just the beginning. We have deals in place now which will be

:21:39. > :21:41.announcing over the next few weeks which will show an entirely

:21:42. > :21:45.different climate coming in in terms of prize-money from China, for

:21:46. > :21:50.example. We are delighted to say we've just agreed a new ten year

:21:51. > :21:53.deal with the national TV company in China CCTV. Our future is

:21:54. > :21:59.guaranteed. The only people who can mess this up is us. They start

:22:00. > :22:06.delivering brilliant entertainment. We have to be a professional sport.

:22:07. > :22:13.I remember a gulf of mine who used eight four letter word where there

:22:14. > :22:20.were two spectators. He was fined ?14,000 by the PGA. That's how you

:22:21. > :22:24.keep the level of respect and the perception of value and class and

:22:25. > :22:30.quality. We've got an amazing potluck and great players. We have

:22:31. > :22:33.to listen to the players all the time. This commission will be a

:22:34. > :22:37.valuable addition to the circuit. These guys aren't frightened of me.

:22:38. > :22:43.A guy who's just got his tour card is a bit in awe of rocking the boat.

:22:44. > :22:47.Ken Doherty, Mark Allen, Mark Williams, they don't care about

:22:48. > :22:50.rocking the boat. We'll get a balanced view to go forward, to be

:22:51. > :22:55.fair to everybody. That's what we want. At the same time, I gave

:22:56. > :23:01.certain guarantees six years ago on the level of prize-money. This year

:23:02. > :23:05.I have surpassed those guarantees by ?26 million. We are doing something

:23:06. > :23:10.right. How much can you further outlined the business to accommodate

:23:11. > :23:17.the Far East and market? We had six Chinese players and a player from

:23:18. > :23:25.Thailand as well. Your record saying half of the top 16 will be made up

:23:26. > :23:29.of Chinese players. Inevitably will the sport go east much more? No. The

:23:30. > :23:58.business is all about supply and demand.

:23:59. > :23:59.break in this World Championship now. A possible 143. Incredible.

:24:00. > :24:05.By doing that, where it has worked to our advantage, we can say to the

:24:06. > :24:09.Chinese publicly, who we get on well with, we have a fabulous

:24:10. > :24:13.relationship, you cannot have the Crucible, you cannot have the World

:24:14. > :24:24.Championships, you cannot have our history. Though and make your own.

:24:25. > :24:28.They will shock a lot of players over the next few weeks with the

:24:29. > :24:32.opportunities. For the winners will be the most rewards, but there will

:24:33. > :24:40.be more money in the pot. Why cant you do what they have done in

:24:41. > :24:47.women's sport? Would you move any of the three majors over there? We will

:24:48. > :24:53.be creating another major with prize money we have never seen before.

:24:54. > :24:58.Price money generates majors in the brutal world of sports. It comes

:24:59. > :25:01.down to money. If someone wants to say we will give you the same prize

:25:02. > :25:08.money as the World Championships, that event will become a major.

:25:09. > :25:16.Every young player will aspire to be in the final stages. Hardwick, --

:25:17. > :25:22.combat the influence of so many tennis players? At the commencement

:25:23. > :25:26.of next season, we are launching a new challenge tour for European

:25:27. > :25:30.players. For the players who enter cute school who do not get their cue

:25:31. > :25:34.card, they will have ten events. It is a joint initiative. We will

:25:35. > :25:41.finance it, give these guys practical experience. I did on my

:25:42. > :25:45.golf tours. It is quite a small event, but you will find out if you

:25:46. > :25:51.have got what it takes to go to the highest level. There is a lot of

:25:52. > :25:56.movement. Again, we are all learning about being a global sport. We have

:25:57. > :26:01.talked it up in the past, but now we are in the real world. We are

:26:02. > :26:04.competing with tennis and golf. You have to give something to the

:26:05. > :26:08.amateurs for them to strive to before they get to the professional

:26:09. > :26:13.level. If you do not feed the grassroots, you will have no future

:26:14. > :26:20.in the game. What is the potential for integrating the women's tour?

:26:21. > :26:25.Let's talk about women, because it is ladies's Day. We operate an open

:26:26. > :26:31.system. It is a nonsexist organisation. Whoever you are, the

:26:32. > :26:37.rules are the same, it is a game of snooker. We have seen some

:26:38. > :26:42.reasonable performances. What we are sent to them is if you have got the

:26:43. > :26:46.ambition to play on the main circuit, it doesn't matter if you

:26:47. > :26:56.are a man or a woman, it doesn't matter. This is sport. You can play.

:26:57. > :27:00.If you enter cute school, and should they can be a miniature player, if

:27:01. > :27:07.they want to play small events, that is not my role. The opportunity will

:27:08. > :27:15.be there for them to play in the challenge tour. There will be spot

:27:16. > :27:18.on the main tour for the winner of the challenged. There will be

:27:19. > :27:23.motivated. They will find out what they want to do with their life. Are

:27:24. > :27:26.they prepared to pay the same price as the professionals today have

:27:27. > :27:34.paid. If they have, we will give them the opportunity. Fascinating as

:27:35. > :27:36.always. I am sure you will be watching this afternoon as Ronnie

:27:37. > :27:43.O'Sullivan was out there and tries to overturn 84 frame deficit against

:27:44. > :27:47.Ding Junhui. Ding has been sleeping, I wonder how easily, on the fourth

:27:48. > :27:55.impression. Let's see how he established that last night. The

:27:56. > :28:05.fascinating second session this is going to be. That is a brilliant

:28:06. > :28:14.shot. Played it nicely. It was a wonderful shot. Century number 54

:28:15. > :28:27.Ding. Ronnie has two really pull something out of the fire here.

:28:28. > :28:34.Worrying times now for Ronnie. He will take some stopping now, Ding

:28:35. > :28:42.Junhui. That is just about perfect. He has a virtually won every frame.

:28:43. > :28:49.Looking very concerned. Of course, Ding Junhui is only another three

:28:50. > :28:58.pots away from assuming a five frame lead. A huge frame for Ronnie of

:28:59. > :29:01.Southern. That is a good start. If anyone can come back from such a

:29:02. > :29:16.deficit, it is certainly Ronnie them. -- Ronnie O'Sullivan. This has

:29:17. > :29:22.been a fantastic response. 104. A very good session free Ding Junhui.

:29:23. > :29:30.He leads the five-time champion going into the final session

:29:31. > :29:36.tomorrow by 10-6. Ronnie summoned some resistance last night. He has

:29:37. > :29:40.won a quarterfinal here from success intent behind in the past. He has

:29:41. > :29:48.also lost one from that position as well. Their blockbuster final

:29:49. > :29:51.session ahead of us. Exciting times ahead in snooker as we heard from

:29:52. > :29:56.the studio and exciting times ahead for this session. Here, backstage,

:29:57. > :30:01.between the auditorium and the dressing rooms, historically the

:30:02. > :30:05.players were asked to stand closer behind the commentary box when the

:30:06. > :30:09.Commons were watching them. They don't like a camera in the face

:30:10. > :30:15.before they go on. It is the nerve-racking pot before you go on.

:30:16. > :30:20.In my experience, I was like a cold spring here. The register ready to

:30:21. > :30:23.go. You would tell the reporters to get out of the way. You just want to

:30:24. > :30:30.get out there. This is delaying it. It is annoying. Ronnie O'Sullivan

:30:31. > :30:32.has a mountain to climb. Make the case for Ronnie O'Sullivan turning

:30:33. > :30:41.this around and winning this afternoon. If he wins the first

:30:42. > :30:46.three, he is back in it. He will put pressure on in January. Big pressure

:30:47. > :30:49.on doing. Big expectations. Making the case for Ronnie, if he wins

:30:50. > :30:57.three of the first 40 is well back in it. His strength as he can red of

:30:58. > :31:00.those frames very quickly. Depending on the first frame, the mindset is

:31:01. > :31:07.very important. Also, a little bit of luck. Definitely. He didn't have

:31:08. > :31:11.a good session yesterday. Everyone has sessions like that, even Ronnie

:31:12. > :31:15.O'Sullivan. If he comes out firing today, it will be a big test for

:31:16. > :31:20.Ding Junhui. We'll Ding Junhui crumble? He will be under big

:31:21. > :31:27.pressure, is he mentally strong enough? If Ronnie plays like the

:31:28. > :31:36.last from last night, it will be a big test of Ding's mental strength.

:31:37. > :31:40.Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Without doubt, this is one of the

:31:41. > :31:45.most eagerly anticipated sessions of snooker so far at the 2017 World

:31:46. > :31:48.Championship. What an occasion. What an atmosphere here at the sport's

:31:49. > :32:19.spiritual home. Please welcome a player who from 5-

:32:20. > :32:23.?1 has got himself right back in the match. Five times a ranking event

:32:24. > :32:26.winner, bidding for his third Crucible semifinal. The pride of

:32:27. > :32:44.Glasgow, when he is good he is on fire, here is Stephen Maguire.

:32:45. > :32:49.And his opponent, contesting his fifth successive Crucible

:32:50. > :32:53.quarterfinal, one of the most consistent performers here in recent

:32:54. > :32:58.years. Five frames in a row yesterday has given him the edge.

:32:59. > :33:00.Runner-up in winner of three ranking titles in all, he is the heart,

:33:01. > :33:25.Barry Hawkins. On a table one, here comes a man who

:33:26. > :33:30.has been the box office draw for snooker for two decades, bidding for

:33:31. > :33:33.a record equalling 12 Crucible semifinal, he finished last night

:33:34. > :33:37.with a century in under four minutes and he will be ready to roll this

:33:38. > :33:43.afternoon. The five-time champion of the world, blink and you were

:33:44. > :34:00.missing, Ronnie was a living. -- Ronnie Southern.

:34:01. > :34:05.Finally, emerging today just three frames away from a third Crucible

:34:06. > :34:11.semifinal, there will be millions of people tuning in to watch back home.

:34:12. > :34:15.One of 12 ranking titles in all and the Crucible runner-up last year, a

:34:16. > :34:37.national hero in China, enter the Dragon, Ding Junhui.

:34:38. > :34:47.There is red button coverage of Hawkins and Maguire. We will keep

:34:48. > :34:51.you posted throughout the afternoon, but Dennis Taylor and Stephen Hendry

:34:52. > :34:55.on duty. The big afternoon for them and for Stephen. You own the record

:34:56. > :35:04.of 12 appearances in a Crucible semifinal. Can run extra magic? You

:35:05. > :35:10.are about to find out. I cannot wait for this session to get going. What

:35:11. > :35:24.I am interested to see is how Ding Junhui copes with this. Straightaway

:35:25. > :35:27.he has got to cope with the snooker. I don't think Ronnie intended the

:35:28. > :35:34.snooker, he was trying to get behind the green. Ronnie could do with

:35:35. > :35:42.three out of the four frames in as many sessions here. Ronnie had that

:35:43. > :35:56.break a little bit too hard, but it will do nicely. I think a lot of

:35:57. > :36:01.people are reading a lot into the session yesterday. What is wrong

:36:02. > :36:07.with Ronnie? The simple fact is he did not play well. Even one of the

:36:08. > :36:13.best players in the world can have a bad session. It was only a couple of

:36:14. > :36:18.lapses where he seemed to lose concentration. That cost him a

:36:19. > :36:20.couple of frames. It could easily have been equal. Every frame doing

:36:21. > :36:41.one was with one visit. The percentages are all about he has

:36:42. > :37:02.got the frames on the scoreboard. Ronnie is a joint second with eight

:37:03. > :37:03.tournament success rate of 92%. John Higgins and the defending champion,

:37:04. > :37:18.Mark Selby, have 93%. There wasn't a great deal of

:37:19. > :37:24.tactical play. They view of the frames had good save the date, but

:37:25. > :37:35.he was making enough to win the frame. I think something else Ronnie

:37:36. > :37:40.did not do well, he did not seem to have the same intensity in his focus

:37:41. > :37:43.as he did in the first two rounds. I remember his reaction after winning

:37:44. > :37:52.the first round and he was up for the second. He didn't seem as for it

:37:53. > :38:07.yesterday. Sometimes you just do not play as well.

:38:08. > :38:30.A cagey start to this first frame. Another thing -- another thing

:38:31. > :38:35.safely required here. That might be a chance for Ronnie to get in behind

:38:36. > :38:43.the brown. You can see the right side of the red is as we look at it.

:38:44. > :38:57.It is who plays the more telling safety shot. This looks good. This

:38:58. > :39:04.looks very good. That was a gorgeous safety shot. Sacrificed on the black

:39:05. > :39:16.out of cushion for the sake of getting the excellent cue ball. An

:39:17. > :39:20.interesting start. Ding Junhui has a higher safety success rate than

:39:21. > :39:31.Ronnie O'Sullivan. That is a factor which caused a 10-6 scoreline so

:39:32. > :40:02.far. Very unusual for O'Sullivan to be outplayed in that department.

:40:03. > :40:40.He had no safety shot on there. That was all he could attempt.

:40:41. > :40:50.Great to see the 2016 Masters champion, Danny Willett, here. A

:40:51. > :40:53.great lad. Not having the best season, but he will bounce back. No

:40:54. > :41:00.doubt about that. He loves his snooker. Along with the few friends

:41:01. > :41:11.here. There is another good safety shot there. A keen snooker follower

:41:12. > :41:13.there. One of the top European tour players has been out injured and is

:41:14. > :41:42.back again. Sheffield have two Masters

:41:43. > :41:47.champions. Danny Willett and Lee Westwood. They love their sport in

:41:48. > :42:12.Sheffield. I cannot get out of that. Lee

:42:13. > :42:41.Westwood should have one the Masters. He is my master.

:42:42. > :42:50.There is one in the middle of the bunch that much trouble him. Just

:42:51. > :42:54.played the safety shot. There is more safety being played in this

:42:55. > :43:08.opening frame than in most of the match.

:43:09. > :43:55.Already 28 minutes. -- already going eight minutes.

:43:56. > :44:02.He is on the yellow but the green is preventing him from getting back up.

:44:03. > :44:08.He would have the power of this to hit the green and the cushion and

:44:09. > :44:13.get up. There is the side. It is not bad. He could pot this and screw you

:44:14. > :44:48.over for the blue. If that was cricket it would be a

:44:49. > :45:15.wide. Never seen that coming. I really believe this session this

:45:16. > :45:26.afternoon is one of the biggest test Ding Junhui has had in his career so

:45:27. > :45:35.far. I think the record against O'Sullivan is 10-2 in favour of

:45:36. > :45:50.O'Sullivan. A big mountain to climb today, even though he is 10-6 up.

:45:51. > :46:21.He had to make sure the pot there hasn't finished on a red. That is a

:46:22. > :46:36.good target, he can get in behind the green here.

:46:37. > :46:58.Not sure if Ding can take this pot on. He might be able to find the gap

:46:59. > :47:02.and get back down the table. Well, he tried the pot but he was a long

:47:03. > :47:09.way off it. He is very edgy here this afternoon. I think you are

:47:10. > :47:13.right, I think it is the pressure of playing Ronnie to get into the

:47:14. > :47:16.semifinal of the World Championship and nine there are a couple of

:47:17. > :47:33.hundred million people watching back in China. He was superb yesterday.

:47:34. > :47:36.If they could have carried on the match

:47:37. > :47:48.yesterday, doing probably would have one the match. I was about to say

:47:49. > :48:08.the fact he had all night to think about it, he is 10-6 ahead.

:48:09. > :48:15.The little drop the shoulders. He has finished dead straight on the

:48:16. > :48:17.blue. He might have to play the green here if he wants to get close

:48:18. > :48:45.to red. That has turned out to be a very

:48:46. > :49:05.awkward opening frame with the reds surrounding the black.

:49:06. > :49:32.The brown was distracting him there. He can get on the pink shortly. The

:49:33. > :49:40.blue, move the red to the left of the paint. That will clear the tank

:49:41. > :50:32.into the red corner as well. Having another look at his trip

:50:33. > :50:41.there. That was another Burnley played shot there. It was almost

:50:42. > :50:42.like a deceleration. He has perfect position there. Just a slower

:50:43. > :51:02.delivery of the cue. After this shot, he should win the

:51:03. > :51:10.first frame. Well, I did not see that coming. That seemed to be a

:51:11. > :51:20.slight lapse in concentration. It is pretty straightforward. That was a

:51:21. > :51:22.careless one. The chance for them to settle down, though he does seem a

:51:23. > :51:39.little edgy. He might be just OK. It is such an important opening

:51:40. > :51:40.frame this, it really is. You can tell because both players are

:51:41. > :52:20.slightly edgy. Another easy red before the problems

:52:21. > :52:30.begin. Deliberately finishing high on the black. Is he trying to move

:52:31. > :53:00.the red here? Just got to full contact.

:53:01. > :53:16.This is going to make life very difficult now for Ronnie O'Sullivan.

:53:17. > :53:24.All the colours are in pottable positions. This is an important

:53:25. > :53:28.escape here. He could go once across the table, past the blue. He would

:53:29. > :53:42.have to just land on the red, you would feel. It is just a little

:53:43. > :53:46.awkward this, because he could push the red into a pottable position if

:53:47. > :54:07.he does not get the correct contact on it.

:54:08. > :54:27.He has overcompensated. Ronnie has gone and sat down when the referee

:54:28. > :54:36.replaces the white. He was looking around, where are you Ronnie? I am

:54:37. > :54:37.over here. Third time lucky. This is better. He just wants to forget.

:54:38. > :55:25.Well played. Very well judged there. He has gone

:55:26. > :55:31.and had the red once again. He has got to get it safe. That is all you

:55:32. > :55:36.can do in that situation, hit and hope you get it safe. The fellow has

:55:37. > :55:45.come to his rescue. While Ronnie has an anxious look, doing is having an

:55:46. > :55:51.anxious look. It looks as if it will just pass the yellow. There is not a

:55:52. > :55:52.fruit pocket as you can see and we are right down the cue of Ding

:55:53. > :56:11.Junhui. No, it would not go. I think you are right, there was

:56:12. > :56:22.definitely some pocket to aim for. It was too much to risk.

:56:23. > :56:43.What a shot there. And absolutely cracking shot, that was.

:56:44. > :56:57.That is never going to reach. It is going back, but if he hits this red,

:56:58. > :57:03.he could easily push it on. This is a bit of a problem for doing here.

:57:04. > :57:10.He wants to hit the cushion first before the red. If he hits the red

:57:11. > :57:12.before the cushion at that pace, I cannot see him not sticking the red

:57:13. > :57:50.up. Now, the longest frame of the match,

:57:51. > :57:59.this one. Ronnie has just gone slight favourite. Doing has got to

:58:00. > :58:05.do well to hit this and get it safe. He just has to hit it and hope it

:58:06. > :58:18.goes safe. No idea where they are going.

:58:19. > :58:42.He might be able to screw in behind the yellow again.

:58:43. > :58:48.He could swear of this if he wants, but he will still come off the top

:58:49. > :58:56.condition. Will he get away with it again? Where is this red? It is

:58:57. > :59:14.coming close to the corner pocket. It will cut. It is a thin one. What

:59:15. > :59:20.colour do you play for? It is thin enough that he will avoid the pink.

:59:21. > :59:22.I think it will be heading toward the yellow, looking at the natural

:59:23. > :59:50.angle. Just checking to see if the yellow

:59:51. > :00:04.passes the brown. It must not. The cue ball will be very close to this

:00:05. > :00:13.cushion. He decided it does go past. He needs the yellow, green, brown

:00:14. > :00:21.and blue. This is the shot. And it is safety in. It is the longest

:00:22. > :00:22.frame of the match so far, but the most important, you would have to

:00:23. > :00:47.say. This is just what Ronnie O'Sullivan

:00:48. > :00:55.needed, to get off to a good start. Ding Junhui has had a couple of

:00:56. > :01:00.chances. As did Ronnie. But in the end it is he who takes the frame and

:01:01. > :01:06.closes the gap. It is now 10-7 to Ding Junhui.

:01:07. > :01:11.How many times do we stress the importance of the opening frame? Has

:01:12. > :01:14.gone to Ronnie O'Sullivan and suddenly the gap narrows. The

:01:15. > :01:21.pressure squeezes down on Ding Junhui. It is a question of mental

:01:22. > :01:24.strength at this point? It is. It was and how people may be envisaged

:01:25. > :01:27.Ronnie O'Sullivan would win that opening frame. There were enough

:01:28. > :01:33.mistakes by both players to realise it was an important frame. They both

:01:34. > :01:40.looked edgy to start with. Very tense. Very nerve-racking. You could

:01:41. > :01:46.cut the atmosphere with a knife. You can feel the tension even from here.

:01:47. > :01:51.Very nervous, Ding Junhui. He missed a lot of pots by some margin. The

:01:52. > :01:58.one with the rest nearly hit someone in the front row, it was that

:01:59. > :02:01.far-away! Who knows what can happen? It is an extraordinary situation,

:02:02. > :02:05.what the Crucible can do out there. You look back to the last frame of

:02:06. > :02:09.the session last night which Ronnie pinched to stop that momentum. How

:02:10. > :02:19.much more comfortable would it have been at 11-5? I felt it would have

:02:20. > :02:19.been over. 10- snakes -- 10-6 gave him a sniff.

:02:20. > :02:39.10-7 and it is more interesting. I feel Ding needs to get in early in

:02:40. > :02:43.the frame, making nice break. Not even a frame clincher, just a nice

:02:44. > :03:06.break, to settling down. Get his arm moving.

:03:07. > :03:09.A very useful cannon on the yellow to take the cue ball close to the

:03:10. > :03:21.coition. -- cushion. Just playing the white into the top

:03:22. > :03:45.end of the table. Ronnie feels he can pot this into

:03:46. > :06:24.the middle pocket and possibly get on a Black.

:06:25. > :06:38.Well, that was a mis-hit therefrom Ding Junhui. There is a long red on.

:06:39. > :06:43.Ronnie can get on to the black. This is a test of the cue action. This

:06:44. > :07:00.would be a nice one to knock in if the black is waiting there.

:07:01. > :07:04.That was a good pot. There was pressure on that. He was leaving the

:07:05. > :08:20.red to the middle. He has gone too far with that. That

:08:21. > :08:30.was a bit careless. There may be a plant that will come to the rescue.

:08:31. > :08:41.And there was. But can he see enough of the black? Just about. He is

:08:42. > :08:47.fully stretched though. Oh, good recovery. Terrific recovery. Now the

:08:48. > :08:57.chances there. -- the chance is there. It couldn't have been placed

:08:58. > :09:04.any better. He is looking to get to 71 points to secure the frame. I

:09:05. > :09:09.think it has just finished a little awkward. He can't run-through for

:09:10. > :09:22.the black. He may be able to. Yeah, no problem.

:09:23. > :09:29.This is not what Ding Junhui wanted to see. He has lost the first frame.

:09:30. > :09:37.OK it was scrappy, both players make mistakes. But now Ronnie O'Sullivan

:09:38. > :09:50.is in amongst the black, the reds in the open.

:09:51. > :09:54.I think if Ronnie wins this frame in one visit, he becomes favourite in

:09:55. > :10:05.the match for me. Yeah it was a very careless safety shot

:10:06. > :10:41.from Ding Junhui. 60 points ahead. Just a few more

:10:42. > :10:53.pots. This black and one more red would be enough.

:10:54. > :10:58.And the first two sessions were like this. If one player made a mistake,

:10:59. > :11:26.the other made enough to win the frame.

:11:27. > :11:55.This red to stop Ding Junhui coming back to the table. It is there.

:11:56. > :12:01.It is not that easy to make a century, the balls are. Ronnie has

:12:02. > :12:18.already had five in this year's Championship. -- World Championship.

:12:19. > :12:30.We are up 258 centuries now. -- to 58 centuries. Chasing the record 68.

:12:31. > :12:35.No century. But he won't be too concerned. He has done what he

:12:36. > :12:38.wanted to do. Ronnie O'Sullivan with that magnificent and 97 break has

:12:39. > :12:39.taken the second frame and closes the gap.

:12:40. > :13:45.10-8. 35 minutes gone. The deficit is

:13:46. > :13:53.halved. We have a match on? Absolutely. It was what Ronnie

:13:54. > :13:57.needed. Another good frame. A good long pot. He was missing those last

:13:58. > :14:03.night. That will give him confidence. There is a momentum

:14:04. > :14:10.swing. Steve says Ding Junhui needs a break to settling down. He has

:14:11. > :14:17.made 43 points in two frames. That will not have a settling effect at

:14:18. > :14:22.this point? No. Patience is handy to have coming into this part of the

:14:23. > :14:26.match. You don't want to take half a chance

:14:27. > :14:30.where you know it is not the right shot. But you can see your opponent

:14:31. > :14:35.coming behind you and it is easy to panic. Whereas Ronnie O'Sullivan,

:14:36. > :14:39.coming from behind in the match, doesn't ever panic. He is a relaxed

:14:40. > :14:45.player, even though he is fast and furious around the table. He has

:14:46. > :14:49.been pretty workmanlike. He has. The last time his back was to the wall,

:14:50. > :14:57.couple of years ago, it was against Joe Perry, 2014. It went into the

:14:58. > :15:03.last session and he was 6-9 down. He won five out of the last six,

:15:04. > :15:10.including back-to-back centuries, to get the job done.

:15:11. > :15:12.I think this man will have something to say about that. He has not been a

:15:13. > :15:38.terrific long pot. -- knocked in. He played the red very confidently.

:15:39. > :15:40.Stopped the cue ball short. No thought of any safety element to the

:15:41. > :16:01.shot. That's what happens when you don't

:16:02. > :16:07.connect with the painful ball. -- with the pink full ball. He was

:16:08. > :16:45.lucky enough. He was hoping to bring the black interplay. -- into play.

:16:46. > :16:52.He has brought a red up with the cue ball. The pink is next to the blue.

:16:53. > :17:00.It is a little awkward. The black is tied up. The natural angle, if he

:17:01. > :17:04.pots this, would be to run the left side of the black. He would have to

:17:05. > :17:16.screw it to get over, to leave the black available.

:17:17. > :17:22.He felt he could not hold for the black because of the angle and get

:17:23. > :17:37.round to it baulk colour. What a cannon on the blue that was.

:17:38. > :17:45.He has got quite a nice angle on this red to flick across to the

:17:46. > :17:52.black. Leave himself on the black to left corner. That was not as played.

:17:53. > :18:14.He got a result. He has finished perfectly on this

:18:15. > :18:21.red. He can bring more into play. He will be playing this with top spin.

:18:22. > :18:29.He could played with screw. But he could finished too high on the

:18:30. > :18:41.black. Oh dear. That could always happen. That is the risk with the

:18:42. > :18:50.follow-through in that shot. If you play the screw shot, that can't

:18:51. > :18:56.happened. A little bit unfortunate. If he got on the black, the way the

:18:57. > :19:08.reds, he -- you would have fancied him winning the frame.

:19:09. > :19:20.As Steve Davis said, you need to have patience.

:19:21. > :19:28.He didn't hit that one very well. He is anxiously waiting to see if the

:19:29. > :19:31.blue is coming to the rescue. It has further red. But there is one to the

:19:32. > :19:43.other side of the table. This is a bit of a test for Ding Junhui.

:19:44. > :19:52.Good queueing. Excellent. And a great chance now. That certainly

:19:53. > :20:27.will settle him down. Stephen mentioned the previous frame

:20:28. > :20:30.Ding Junhui just needs a chance to knock in 40 or 50, just to get his

:20:31. > :22:20.confidence back. He may do that here.

:22:21. > :22:31.This is a very good effort from the Chinese player coming at just the

:22:32. > :22:35.right time. He was looking a little edgy. But just relying on that solid

:22:36. > :23:06.technique that he has. He has won 12 ranking titles, Ding.

:23:07. > :23:16.It has, Krul up assured but that doesn't matter. Beautifully played.

:23:17. > :23:28.He sent it all the way around the ankles.

:23:29. > :23:51.He has already made two centuries in this match. If this goes in, there

:23:52. > :23:57.is a chance. No. No century. But Ding Junhui has done what he needed

:23:58. > :24:02.to do. With that break of 69, he opens a three frame advantage.

:24:03. > :24:08.It is 11-8. Last night Ding Junhui had a run of five frames on the

:24:09. > :24:13.bounce. Ronnie had three. How much does that take the heat off in? It

:24:14. > :24:17.does for a little bit. You never know what will happen in the next

:24:18. > :24:24.couple of friends. There was a critical moment. Perhaps the most

:24:25. > :24:29.important ball he parted -- potted, Ding was left with a difficult shot

:24:30. > :24:33.into the right corner. Given the amount of pressure he is under, when

:24:34. > :24:37.there was the chance of another one for a ball roll, all of a sudden, to

:24:38. > :24:44.knock that in, was a big moment in this match. Yes indeed. A settling

:24:45. > :24:48.break. 69. Put yourself in this situation of being in there with all

:24:49. > :24:51.the pressure upon you. How does that translate into your physical

:24:52. > :24:56.well-being knowing you are off the mark? It will be a massive relief.

:24:57. > :25:02.It stops the run of Ronnie O'Sullivan. And also, it settles him

:25:03. > :25:07.down. He has potted in nice few balls. He has kept the cue ball

:25:08. > :25:12.tight. Played some nice shots towards the end. This is quite

:25:13. > :25:15.possibly Ronnie's only chance. If he loses this frame, he is out of the

:25:16. > :25:21.tournament. If he wins it, it gives them a chance.

:25:22. > :25:26.The form that thing is in, you cannot win five in a row against

:25:27. > :25:28.Ding. He must win this to keep his hopes alive.

:25:29. > :25:56.This is the last frame before the interval.

:25:57. > :26:09.That was quite a good shot from Ding Junhui. I know he missed the pot.

:26:10. > :26:16.That last frame was so important for Ding Junhui. As I said before, I

:26:17. > :26:20.thought Ronnie might have gone favourite when he was 10-8. Ding

:26:21. > :26:28.didn't look comfortable at all out there. But the last frame was vital.

:26:29. > :26:40.Getting amongst the balls and score. -- get in. What a pot!

:26:41. > :27:17.He just needs to get the red away, the one to the left. Maybe not this

:27:18. > :27:24.time, but certainly next time. He wants that red next to his hand out

:27:25. > :27:37.of the way. Then the black will be clear into both corner pockets.

:27:38. > :27:51.I never like to say these things too soon, but you could not have the

:27:52. > :27:55.reds in a better position. We have had one of the best breaks I have

:27:56. > :28:09.ever seen, 143, from Mark Selby this morning. This could be better. Or

:28:10. > :28:14.certainly a higher break. I know you don't want to say it, Stephen, but

:28:15. > :29:30.it is all reds and all-blacks. The first thing is to make sure you

:29:31. > :29:35.score enough to take the frame. A friend that he badly needs, as the

:29:36. > :29:37.boys in the studio were saying. 12-8, you wouldn't give him much of

:29:38. > :29:56.a chance. 11-9, all to play for. Yeah, I think as soon as he potted

:29:57. > :30:06.red, black, he will be thinking about it. It will be for the glory

:30:07. > :30:12.of making a maximum at the Crucible. That will be beat -- that will be

:30:13. > :30:17.the prize he is thinking about. I don't want to get into it too much,

:30:18. > :30:18.but it's disappointing. There is ?10,000 for the high break, with

:30:19. > :30:31.only ?5,000 for a maximum break. They are sitting perfect. The last

:30:32. > :30:47.gentleman to make a maximum break in the Crucible Theatre was in 2012. He

:30:48. > :30:53.is smug -- smiling. The cannon has kept them on the black. He is

:30:54. > :31:14.smiling. He is looking up at Stephen Hendrie in the commentary box.

:31:15. > :31:22.He has tried to get on it but he did not manage it. He has plundered 13

:31:23. > :31:44.times. It could still be the highest break. Even Ding Junhui was smiling

:31:45. > :31:56.in his seat. I don't think he was giving it 110%.

:31:57. > :32:02.Still under six minutes. Just coming up to six minutes for this quite

:32:03. > :32:15.outstanding, under the circumstances.

:32:16. > :32:28.He is flying around the table at the moment and he is still smiling up at

:32:29. > :32:42.Stephen Hendry. He has finished short on the blue.

:32:43. > :32:49.Absolutely incredible. Do not miss the black. And he has not. Ronnie

:32:50. > :32:55.O'Sullivan, what a brickie has made there. He has made the highest break

:32:56. > :33:00.of the World Championship this year. A magnificent 146 and he goes to the

:33:01. > :33:07.mid-session interval just two behind, 11-9. What a match this

:33:08. > :33:15.could be. Only the third ever 146 we have seen at the Crucible. What a

:33:16. > :33:17.response. We were talking about his chances being over under the one

:33:18. > :33:27.that frame and he has underlined that he is still in it. With such

:33:28. > :33:31.aplomb as well. It is good to see him enjoying himself out there. He

:33:32. > :33:38.has kept himself in the match. He needed that from badly and he will

:33:39. > :33:45.feel better. It looked like it was just going to be a bog-standard 147.

:33:46. > :33:52.It was the most clinical one he has ever made. When it started to go

:33:53. > :34:00.wrong, he potted a good red and the start was fantastic. When he got

:34:01. > :34:05.down for the blue, ?5,000 extra for a 147 break. That is why he messed

:34:06. > :34:10.around. If there is 50,000, I think he gets the 147. Therein lies an

:34:11. > :34:17.interesting decision come much do you put for the break. It is only

:34:18. > :34:22.one frame. Historically it is such a holy Grail, they are making more of

:34:23. > :34:26.them. Back in that Day they used to insure against them and the premium

:34:27. > :34:29.started going up and up and up, so it became prohibitive from a view of

:34:30. > :34:35.how much money you would then spent out of the total pool of prize

:34:36. > :34:38.money. We are now in a situation where some of the players hit it and

:34:39. > :34:45.others say it is just the way the game has gone. An extra 5000 if

:34:46. > :34:51.there is a 147. That would be split if they were to maximums. We could

:34:52. > :34:55.have a decade since Stephen Hendry at his last Crucible. That was the

:34:56. > :35:04.tenth one here. There's an argument to say, put up 50 or 75,000,

:35:05. > :35:09.whatever it might be. . The messing around. The 147, I know you

:35:10. > :35:14.shouldn't put a price on it because of the history of making it at the

:35:15. > :35:23.Crucible. It is special and should be rewarded with a special prize.

:35:24. > :35:29.Even a car or something like that. We won't go there. Nevertheless, a

:35:30. > :35:37.146 means he has another frame on the board, he is back in this. 9-11,

:35:38. > :35:41.came on. It would've been nice from his perspective to just get on with

:35:42. > :35:44.the next frame because he could have got going back in the whole again

:35:45. > :35:51.but then has a bit of respite. He will not be delighted that he has a

:35:52. > :35:55.bit more space. I fancy Ronnie to come out and win the next frame.

:35:56. > :36:02.There is a little bit more going on in this match. They have about 15

:36:03. > :36:05.minutes to reflect on it. We will reflect on events in Sheffield

:36:06. > :36:09.because it is latest Day. We will look at the women's World

:36:10. > :36:21.Championship which was staged last month in Singapore. For the first

:36:22. > :36:27.time in more than 20 years, the most prestigious ranking event in women's

:36:28. > :36:31.snooker was held outside of the UK. It is the first time for the ladies

:36:32. > :36:38.snooker championship to be held in Asia. Hopefully this will bring new

:36:39. > :36:45.faces to the game and create more awareness. I have wanted this to

:36:46. > :36:48.happen for so long and there is no better place in the world than

:36:49. > :36:53.Singapore to have our first inaugural event overseas. It has

:36:54. > :36:58.proven there are more ladies out there, even girls. This is only

:36:59. > :37:03.going to publicise ladies snooker. That is what we need. We have 32

:37:04. > :37:10.great players from around the world. We are very pleased. The women who

:37:11. > :37:15.play, the more chance we will end up with awe", which is to develop a

:37:16. > :37:27.women's's game alongside the men's sport when we can go for an Olympic

:37:28. > :37:32.bid for 2024. Over seven days, the top players were kept apart during

:37:33. > :37:35.the group stages. Two players would advance from each of the groups and

:37:36. > :37:46.would be seeded going into the quarterfinals. In a dramatic

:37:47. > :37:55.concluding Day, the semifinals saw Evans fears her opponent a repeat of

:37:56. > :38:02.the final from last year. A break of 50 lead to a 5-4 win. It was always

:38:03. > :38:11.good to be a toff half of the draw. I just threw every frame away and it

:38:12. > :38:14.is my own fault for the loss. Meanwhile, in the other semifinal,

:38:15. > :38:22.Rebecca Grainger lost 5-1 to become the first Indian player to become a

:38:23. > :38:28.finalist. I tried my hardest today, but a lack of sleep last night and

:38:29. > :38:32.the change in pace of the players, I play fast, she played slow. It

:38:33. > :38:41.slowed me down, so I couldn't get into my rhythm today. The first ever

:38:42. > :38:58.all Asian final entered the tournament. It came down to the last

:38:59. > :39:05.two balls. She at the pink and found the black. Her belief that would

:39:06. > :39:17.then potted the pink to claim her second word women's championship. I

:39:18. > :39:28.am still dreaming because I was so nervous. It has been a long Day.

:39:29. > :39:35.Congratulations. Back-to-back titles for her. Evans, an 11 times

:39:36. > :39:40.champion. Lovely happy with this. As you are saying, we always had in

:39:41. > :39:44.when you lose in the semifinal with the final. Congratulations on your

:39:45. > :39:48.progress. We have the also congratulate you on an absolutely

:39:49. > :39:50.landmark achievement right here in Sheffield. The first woman to ever

:39:51. > :39:57.win one of the qualifying matches here. Just explain how much

:39:58. > :40:01.publicity it garnered and how much satisfaction was in that for you. I

:40:02. > :40:08.wasn't confident after just losing the World Championships. Wanted to

:40:09. > :40:12.get the buzz going again, build-up to it and I felt good in that much.

:40:13. > :40:19.Against Robin you have got to play well. I felt amazing in the match.

:40:20. > :40:26.Nerves, but it was good. I held myself together well and even said

:40:27. > :40:29.himself, I deserved it in the end. I am not potting words in your mouth,

:40:30. > :40:34.but you have more awareness than everything you can do in the women's

:40:35. > :40:39.imp except win, win, win. It feels to me as if he were attentions

:40:40. > :40:45.turned to the World Championship qualifier is a more exciting event

:40:46. > :40:49.for you now. You get up for those matches. You are not in those

:40:50. > :40:57.situations all the time. You have to work harder and try to achieve more.

:40:58. > :41:05.It is brilliant to keep winning, but you get flood sometimes. Sometimes

:41:06. > :41:14.it is good. Two years ago we had some match. I needed a snooker to

:41:15. > :41:22.win. I believe she should not be on the tour at all, she's too good. I

:41:23. > :41:29.don't want the beholder qualifiers. It is fantastic to see. She is a

:41:30. > :41:36.fantastic player. She really merits being on the tour and in the

:41:37. > :41:41.qualifying system. You got it back to 9-6 and you give him a heck of a

:41:42. > :41:44.fright. This campaign and the Crucible, to be the first woman ever

:41:45. > :41:53.to qualify for the Crucible, does it go on? Yes. I will always strive to

:41:54. > :41:58.be the first. Playing Robbie and lead, not even playing my best game,

:41:59. > :42:05.but this year I have made myself believe in myself. Others say you

:42:06. > :42:10.can do it, I need the result. Now I have the belief and other ladies can

:42:11. > :42:24.thrive on that as well. The holy Grail is to be on the main terror.

:42:25. > :42:30.Now there is another way in. They challenge tour has been announced.

:42:31. > :42:34.Ten events and two spaces to get onto the main tour. Your chance of a

:42:35. > :42:41.challenge tour, he would fancy that, surely. Definitely. Joost Luiten is

:42:42. > :42:48.a good opportunity, but you could be the year and have a frightening.

:42:49. > :42:52.Just two weeks. At least it is over a season or a few months and you can

:42:53. > :42:57.build and implement them. You might have a bad result and then a good

:42:58. > :43:00.result and it compensates. Do you think this will encourage more

:43:01. > :43:04.ladies to take up the game? The fact that they will have another chance

:43:05. > :43:11.to be on the tour and they have more tournaments to play? Definitely. I

:43:12. > :43:16.have competed against the men since I started. With these youngsters

:43:17. > :43:22.here, we have never had so many at one time. Something is happening for

:43:23. > :43:28.us... I also think announcing the challenge tour will kick start the

:43:29. > :43:30.amateur game. But just in the UK and Europe, but I think you'll be

:43:31. > :43:36.astonished by how many people decide to enter it. The floodgates might

:43:37. > :43:39.open. We wish you all the best with this. We hope to see you back

:43:40. > :43:46.challenging to be the first woman to play at the Crucible. It is not just

:43:47. > :43:49.players we want. There has been a gradual number of female officials.

:43:50. > :43:56.We have had a lot of women referees and I know you are within

:43:57. > :44:01.forthcoming referee now. I certainly am. It has been a pleasure to spend

:44:02. > :44:05.time with so many talented players. Sarah, we do not see many female

:44:06. > :44:12.referees in the sport. What inspired you to get into it? I have always

:44:13. > :44:17.been a fan of snooker. When Joel Lazarus, a friend of mine, suggested

:44:18. > :44:21.I did, I thought I would go along for the ride. It was one of the best

:44:22. > :44:28.decisions I ever made. I qualified in April last year. Presumably, to

:44:29. > :44:32.get into refereeing, it would have been imported to play for a while

:44:33. > :44:40.first to understand the game. You would think. A little bit. What has

:44:41. > :44:45.been the highlight of your career? Meeting the players, being pot of

:44:46. > :44:48.the Smith family at my club and on the circuit. Just becoming pot of

:44:49. > :44:55.the snooker family. We have got to travel a lot as well. Bob and down

:44:56. > :45:00.the country. I was in Cyprus with the European Championship. That was

:45:01. > :45:09.an amazing experience. Is the dream to work on to the Crucible floor?

:45:10. > :45:14.Absolutely. I have asked the public about the attire of the game. Do you

:45:15. > :45:20.prefer a more relaxed look where the suit? I think they should be dressed

:45:21. > :45:26.like gentlemen. Keep the traditional. Ladies out there, do

:45:27. > :45:32.get involved. There us know your thoughts and opinions. Thank you and

:45:33. > :45:35.good luck in her career. We are going to go into the other

:45:36. > :45:40.quarterfinal we have been watching this afternoon on the other side of

:45:41. > :45:42.the table. It features Barry Hawkins in his fifth consecutive

:45:43. > :45:48.quarterfinal and Stephen Maguire back here for the first time in five

:45:49. > :45:53.years. It was Maguire who dug in yesterday having been 5-1 down. We

:45:54. > :46:04.are going to join them early in the Thursday afternoon.

:46:05. > :46:12.Just hit across the slightly. He knew there was pressure on it. If he

:46:13. > :46:19.missed it, it was bound to leave a red on. He played it in a way that

:46:20. > :46:24.was full-blooded. He played the run-through and tried to take the

:46:25. > :46:27.cue ball back up the table. They went all out for it so he has to

:46:28. > :46:39.face the consequences when it doesn't go in.

:46:40. > :46:51.It is lovely to win the first frame of the session, especially if you

:46:52. > :46:56.have a 5-3 lead. I think this is a good chance because there is a red

:46:57. > :46:59.immediately above the black at the bottom of the cost that will go to

:47:00. > :47:06.the left corner. He is not desperate to open up the reds. The way they

:47:07. > :47:09.are, you are right. If he leaves himself a little low, he can play a

:47:10. > :47:12.shot for he brings the other reds into play as well. Barry will be

:47:13. > :47:41.thinking a few shots ahead for that. As he underrated that were

:47:42. > :47:44.overheated? He might have got away with that as well. You think you

:47:45. > :47:51.would go around the back of the brand and that would leave a lovely

:47:52. > :47:53.angle to get down to the back red. Yes, there you go. He has finished

:47:54. > :48:21.on a perfect angle. Anywhere near the circle would be

:48:22. > :48:30.perfect. Nearly a bull's-eye. He has, absolutely perfect. Great shot.

:48:31. > :48:37.It just shows you. The shot for the red in the middle. Because of what

:48:38. > :48:42.it finished he could get behind the brown and it has led to a brilliant

:48:43. > :49:08.chance. He looks like he is cueing very well.

:49:09. > :49:14.On many occasions we say you are lucky to get one chance, this is his

:49:15. > :49:26.third chance. Now he has the frame at his mercy. He hits the ball

:49:27. > :49:31.nicely. He has a nice way about him. Especially over the last two or

:49:32. > :49:37.three seasons he is a top player. No doubt about that. He has been to the

:49:38. > :49:46.final of this great championship. He is one of the toughest competitors

:49:47. > :49:50.on the circuit now. I just think he is blessed with a lovely touch. He

:49:51. > :49:56.is an excellent break-builder. Civelli plays are very good indeed.

:49:57. > :50:07.Just a good all round player. Difficult to beat.

:50:08. > :50:15.He is now 61 ahead and there are only 59 remaining. He is nicely on

:50:16. > :50:17.this red. I don't think Maguire will get a chance to come back to the

:50:18. > :50:33.table. There are still a couple of runners

:50:34. > :50:45.left in the championship after Ding Junhui as well. A bad break has cost

:50:46. > :50:51.him this frame. Simple as that. He has had a couple of hard chances,

:50:52. > :50:55.long pots. The last thing he wanted to do was to gift Barry an

:50:56. > :50:56.opportunity to study the frame. He was always playing catch-up and on

:50:57. > :51:30.the back foot. Nicely played to the top pocket.

:51:31. > :51:34.That will finish absolutely perfect on the black, just to play a little

:51:35. > :51:41.cannon in the joint between the red and the pink. Could not have played

:51:42. > :51:46.it much better. It is a good idea to make sure you cleared this up as

:51:47. > :51:51.well. I'm not saying Stephen would come back, he is not the type, but

:51:52. > :51:58.just cleared this up, keep him off the table. Who knows. It might make

:51:59. > :52:01.him miss the next shot he takes. He will certainly be cold coming to the

:52:02. > :52:19.table in the next frame. You know as well as anyone, there is

:52:20. > :52:28.nothing like getting a nice rhythm going. Comfortable, make a nice

:52:29. > :52:32.break in the opening frame. And don't worry your opponent in the

:52:33. > :52:37.chair watching you do that. He knows you are in good stroke. It puts more

:52:38. > :52:44.pressure on him. If he makes mistakes, this is what you will do

:52:45. > :52:50.to him. Stephen Maguire has got to get his head down. This is a tough

:52:51. > :52:51.match, as you'd expect in the quarterfinal of the World

:52:52. > :53:10.Championship. An excellent break of 86 from Barry

:53:11. > :53:17.Hawkins. Stephen Maguire started with a bad break. Barry needed three

:53:18. > :53:24.chances, but Stephen Maguire did not score a point. Now three frames

:53:25. > :53:28.behind. 6-3. An emphatic start to the afternoon from Barry Hawkins. He

:53:29. > :53:34.has the three frame advantage. You can continue watching on the BBC

:53:35. > :53:38.sport website. Right now we are going back for potentially five more

:53:39. > :53:43.frames in this quarterfinal between the five times champion, Ronnie

:53:44. > :53:47.Sullivan, and Ding Junhui, he is attempting to win his first and

:53:48. > :53:58.after that incredible break of 146 by Ronnie in the last frame, there

:53:59. > :54:05.is still just two minute. And Ronnie not quite getting round near the

:54:06. > :54:20.baulk to cover this side of the table. That is the average frame

:54:21. > :54:34.time. Just over 14 minutes. Ronnie down to 16. That is his average shot

:54:35. > :55:35.time. Too risky, the long pot they are to have a go at.

:55:36. > :55:39.If that cue ball had come of any further, Ronnie could play for the

:55:40. > :56:05.black. Decisions never Ding Junhui in this

:56:06. > :56:12.match. Does he want to keep attacking? He is choosing not to,

:56:13. > :56:17.which is probably sensible. That is a great shot. There is another red

:56:18. > :56:36.to the right corner, but he didn't even look at it.

:56:37. > :56:42.Just overcome that. Just a little bit of noise from the other side of

:56:43. > :56:49.the arena. They are at the mid-session interval. You wouldn't

:56:50. > :57:08.think you could hit that too thin. Just a safety shot 15. -- for doing.

:57:09. > :57:13.A pretty good one at that. In fact, a very good one indeed, because he

:57:14. > :57:17.has blocked off all the escape route down the left side of the table. I

:57:18. > :57:19.don't know if he can see enough of the red past the green. That is very

:57:20. > :57:38.tight. No, too thick. Much too thick. Is he

:57:39. > :57:45.going to get away with it? It could have been worse. Playing that with

:57:46. > :57:50.lots of side to swing it around the ankles. That was not easy, but this

:57:51. > :57:56.is a tricky pot up into the corner. Not a lot of pressure on this and it

:57:57. > :58:11.could pay dividends if he knocks it in. No. I expected him to get this

:58:12. > :58:55.one because there was no real pressure on it.

:58:56. > :59:14.He cannot do much with this. He was trying to get to the right side of

:59:15. > :59:15.the black when he pointed that red. He couldn't quite get enough side on

:59:16. > :59:33.it. It was a difficult enough pot. Well now, he put self in a spot of

:59:34. > :59:39.bother here. Ronnie can roll down behind the yellow here. But he is

:59:40. > :59:53.clearing the black spot instead and maybe trying the same shot. It was

:59:54. > :59:55.easy just to roll of the red behind the yellow but he wanted to bring

:59:56. > :00:20.the black interplay. What a nudge on the ground that was.

:00:21. > :00:22.This is very tight. -- nudge on the brown. He is having to swerve this a

:00:23. > :00:34.bit, as you can see. But the pink and black are now out

:00:35. > :00:55.of commission. The blue is off its spot slightly.

:00:56. > :01:02.Not a good angle on the green to try and do something with the reds

:01:03. > :01:07.because the pink and black are completely tied up at the moment. He

:01:08. > :01:10.needs something to pot to cannon onto those but there is no angle for

:01:11. > :01:12.the green and he will have to play onto the single red at the right of

:01:13. > :01:18.the table here. The cannon on the other red would

:01:19. > :01:41.have helped there. He's got a safety officer read that

:01:42. > :01:46.is closest to the black that will open things up but he has got to be

:01:47. > :01:50.careful, the red on the right side of the table, in fact he is going to

:01:51. > :02:24.play that one simply because it was in the way of this safety.

:02:25. > :02:31.That was a very risky shot Ding Junhui played there. Even if the cue

:02:32. > :02:37.ball had only got to the baulk cushion he would still leave the red

:02:38. > :02:39.on. Strange choice of shot for me. It was an unforced error. There was

:02:40. > :02:57.no need to play that shot. If that had run another few inches

:02:58. > :03:01.he would have had a great angle to come into the bunch and might still

:03:02. > :03:13.be able to force the white into the reds. That was never going to be

:03:14. > :03:14.easy from that angle. As I say, if the white out on a few more inches

:03:15. > :03:33.it would have been a natural angle. That is going to make this frame

:03:34. > :03:39.very interesting, the black going over the pocket now.

:03:40. > :03:59.The target this time will be the brown. And that looks pretty good.

:04:00. > :04:05.Not quite. That black has finished so close to the pocket I don't think

:04:06. > :04:10.a red would go in and of that. I'm not quite sure. It just means that

:04:11. > :04:12.we might be in for quite a bit of tactical play because of the black

:04:13. > :04:20.over the pocket. APPLAUSE

:04:21. > :04:24.It is possible, if a player could get in behind one of the reds he

:04:25. > :04:33.might be able to squeeze it past the black. But you would need to be

:04:34. > :04:43.absolutely plumb on a red to be able to do that.

:04:44. > :04:48.A bit of a problem for Ding Junhui because he can't get down the

:04:49. > :04:58.left-hand side of the table and if he tries to go down the right side

:04:59. > :05:19.he could knock the black in. Nothing easy to try and nestle on.

:05:20. > :05:37.Hm. Is there anything is possible -- pottable into the left-hand corner?

:05:38. > :05:46.No, they are all covering each other. Not a natural angle to try

:05:47. > :06:26.and get in behind the yellow either. That pushed a read out. The brown

:06:27. > :06:31.might be a little awkward but there is a definite chance. Big shot

:06:32. > :07:04.coming up. That is why he missed it. Surely he

:07:05. > :07:07.hasn't got away with this. Once he missed the pot and went in amongst

:07:08. > :07:12.the reds you would have thought he would have left all sorts of things

:07:13. > :07:23.on. But at first glance there is no easy pot available. What is Ding

:07:24. > :07:28.looking at here? Will the red go in the middle? The one next to the

:07:29. > :07:41.pink. Is there a path through to it? Maybe. He will not get a better

:07:42. > :07:45.chance than this, Stephen. No, like you, Dennis, at first glance I

:07:46. > :07:50.thought Ronnie had had an incredible resolve there. But no. Now Ding

:07:51. > :07:57.Junhui should go 12-9 in front from this opportunity. But there is a lot

:07:58. > :08:15.of pressure out there now. Anything could happen now. 65 points required

:08:16. > :08:21.to make the frame safe. He has had a kick. Still on the pink to the right

:08:22. > :08:27.middle. Has he gone far enough for the black? You could see the red

:08:28. > :08:33.jump. At least he has still potted the red.

:08:34. > :09:14.There you can see he would need a swerve to pot the black.

:09:15. > :09:21.I think the black is going to be OK when it goes back on its spot. It's

:09:22. > :09:31.still going to be available into the same pocket he's plotting it in. --

:09:32. > :09:34.potting it in. The long red running missed, and he wouldn't have missed

:09:35. > :09:56.it if it were not for the brown, the brown was sitting very awkward.

:09:57. > :09:59.He just couldn't get comfortable with his bridge and because of the

:10:00. > :11:23.brown and that caused the miss. Just keeping that solid technique

:11:24. > :11:35.that he has. Standing him in good stead here under extreme pressure.

:11:36. > :11:39.He had to sit and watch Ronnie O'Sullivan make that magnificent 146

:11:40. > :11:46.break in the last frame. But the interval came just at the right

:11:47. > :11:52.time, I suppose. And Ding Junhui was in the dressing room, bumped into

:11:53. > :11:56.Terry Griffiths in the corridor and he would have been in chatting and

:11:57. > :12:04.using all of his experience of playing at the Crucible and chatting

:12:05. > :12:08.to Ding and helping him mentally to come out for the frame after the

:12:09. > :12:14.interval and he is looking good here.

:12:15. > :12:33.But it has to be said that we are sitting lovely and he has taken full

:12:34. > :12:45.advantage. I mean, this is another frame that he's going to win in one

:12:46. > :12:50.visit virtually. You have to go back to 2007 to see Ding Junhui beat

:12:51. > :12:57.Ronnie O'Sullivan. That was just the Premier League. Prior to that it was

:12:58. > :13:05.the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy. Ronnie's won all the other meetings.

:13:06. > :13:06.But Ding is improving all the time. They haven't played for nearly three

:13:07. > :13:33.seasons in a major tournament. Good cueing, very good cueing, and

:13:34. > :13:53.every chance now of a century break. He is way ahead of everyone else in

:13:54. > :13:58.this year's World Championship. He's made eight. We've had 59 so far this

:13:59. > :14:19.year. GROANS FROM CROWD

:14:20. > :14:23.Well, no century break but he won't be too concerned about that. It was

:14:24. > :14:27.very important to come out of the mid-session interval firing on all

:14:28. > :14:31.cylinders, he did coming maybe 87 break, he is 12-9 in front and needs

:14:32. > :14:35.just one more. STUDIO: His last eight matches in a

:14:36. > :14:40.row against Ronnie over the last ten years, Dennis said it was a decade

:14:41. > :14:43.since he has beat Ronnie, he has done it twice, Ronnie had the

:14:44. > :14:48.superior record, he is on the brink but will he get over the line? Every

:14:49. > :14:51.chance and the difference is possibly that, and it has been said

:14:52. > :14:55.quite often in the last couple of years, the bubble has burst as far

:14:56. > :14:58.as people being afraid of Ronnie O'Sullivan. They respect his great

:14:59. > :15:03.play but Stuart Binny and beat him and then all of a sudden the

:15:04. > :15:07.floodgates have generally opened. Perhaps this is the right time for

:15:08. > :15:10.Ding Junhui to stamp his authority on the situation. That is an

:15:11. > :15:15.interesting point because Barry Hawkins also got past him last year

:15:16. > :15:25.as well. You are right, perhaps the aura has not gone but even at that

:15:26. > :15:29.you still wouldn't put it beyond him. It is not beyond the realms of

:15:30. > :15:33.possibility Ronnie can still win this match. There has been lots of

:15:34. > :15:40.other matches at the Crucible where somebody needs the last four frames

:15:41. > :15:43.to win. But against Ding Junhui it is difficult snooker and his long

:15:44. > :15:48.ball game is not as good as it should be, Ronnie's. The way he has

:15:49. > :15:53.been playing because he's been so good, he's been scoring so heavily

:15:54. > :15:56.and you can't see him missing. All I would say is Ronnie O'Sullivan these

:15:57. > :15:58.days needs a challenge sometimes and this is a big one. This is the

:15:59. > :16:09.ultimate one now. Back we go. COMMENTATOR: The kiss on the yellow

:16:10. > :16:21.has left a possible long pot for Ding Junhui. How confident is he

:16:22. > :16:25.feeling? After that last frame. No. He's not... He looked at the long

:16:26. > :16:32.pot and changed his mind. I don't blame him one little bit.

:16:33. > :17:22.He hit that a bit on the thin side, almost collided into a red there.

:17:23. > :17:35.Now, that is the first error. At first when he can end the red I

:17:36. > :17:39.thought it was going to be an easy starter for Ding Junhui. Not often

:17:40. > :17:48.you see Ronnie shake his head. This not straightforward. It will cut in.

:17:49. > :17:56.Yes, good start, and a very good chance with the way the rents are

:17:57. > :18:16.situated here. It's an excellent chance for the Chinese player.

:18:17. > :18:29.Could this be Ronnie's last shot in this year's World Championship? Ding

:18:30. > :18:41.has just let that cue ball travel just an inch or two too far. He is

:18:42. > :18:43.looking long and hard at the pink. That would be a big help if that

:18:44. > :18:56.goes. And it did. Because the black was

:18:57. > :19:05.very, very difficult indeed. He was hampered there. Just checking to see

:19:06. > :19:06.if the pink will go on its own spot, it doesn't, so the highest available

:19:07. > :19:27.is the yellow. He will be so excited inside, Ding

:19:28. > :19:31.and he will be churning inside. It makes you feel like you are shaking.

:19:32. > :19:38.You think people can see it but it doesn't show outwardly, just inside.

:19:39. > :19:48.He just needs to make this break to get into the semifinal.

:19:49. > :19:58.That magical number 70 you can see on the side of your screen is what

:19:59. > :20:01.will get Ding into the semifinal. Hey did remarkably last year, had to

:20:02. > :20:07.come through the qualifying rounds, three rounds at Ponds Forge in

:20:08. > :20:11.Sheffield and then got through to the final. He lost out to Mark

:20:12. > :20:24.Selby. He will start to think about when he

:20:25. > :20:31.is going into the bunch of reds. He will have to do it at some stage. As

:20:32. > :20:36.I always say it's always best to do it when you have at least one loose

:20:37. > :20:43.red available. Just in case the split doesn't work. You can see what

:20:44. > :20:49.his plan is, deliberately finishing low on the black. The red to the

:20:50. > :20:57.extreme right of the bunch, he will not play it with too much pace. Just

:20:58. > :21:06.a controlled cannon. They could have worked out better.

:21:07. > :21:13.REFEREE: Touching ball. He said touching ball but I think it is very

:21:14. > :21:17.tight to judge whether he can get past the red he is touching to pot

:21:18. > :21:22.the one into the middle pocket. There is no problem with the other

:21:23. > :21:28.but it is awkward cueing. It's the other one he is choosing. He will

:21:29. > :21:34.get onto the blue if he cuts it in. That is a terrific shot under the

:21:35. > :21:38.circumstances. OK, he is the wrong side of the blue, but one more good

:21:39. > :21:46.positional shot, as we show you that awkward cueing, one more good

:21:47. > :21:52.positioning shot here. He kept himself so still on that shot,

:21:53. > :21:54.didn't he? It was a real pressure shot. His head was so still.

:21:55. > :22:10.Textbook. Ronnie O'Sullivan has a terrific

:22:11. > :22:16.respect for Ding Junhui. He glances up at the monitor to see if he's got

:22:17. > :22:29.the correct angle on the blue and he has.

:22:30. > :22:36.He just let that run on a little further than he intended. Yes, that

:22:37. > :22:52.was a little nervy one, I think. This is the shot that could get him

:22:53. > :22:56.into the semifinal and it would be quite a famous victory, ten years

:22:57. > :23:02.since he has beaten Ronnie O'Sullivan.

:23:03. > :23:14.How is the split? It looks pretty good, if that red pulls up. He is a

:23:15. > :23:15.red and a black away from a place in the semifinal. That red has finished

:23:16. > :23:29.a little awkward. This is a tricky shot, it really is.

:23:30. > :23:43.He will be playing it with a lot of left-hand side. This is missable.

:23:44. > :23:49.It has to be said, he was very unlucky when he went into the bunch,

:23:50. > :23:55.for that red to go awkward because it was going towards the pocket but

:23:56. > :24:03.it was far from easy. Could there be a twist yet in this match?

:24:04. > :24:37.This would really damage Ding Junhui if Ronnie could clear up from here.

:24:38. > :24:46.The red at the bottom of the three pots to the right-hand corner so in

:24:47. > :24:49.a couple of shots time Ronnie O'Sullivan will try and leave

:24:50. > :25:08.himself low on that red and nudge the other two reds apart.

:25:09. > :25:17.It has to be said, we have a new favourite for this frame. Especially

:25:18. > :25:24.if that red goes he has had a look at there. The two reds that Stephen

:25:25. > :25:28.mentioned. He has checked to see if they will go to the middle, he has

:25:29. > :25:37.checked to see if they will go to the corner. We will find out shortly

:25:38. > :25:43.which pocket the reds are available into. Yes, it will go in this left

:25:44. > :25:52.corner. And what a steal this would be. Two pots away from a place in

:25:53. > :25:54.the semifinal. That is very unlucky when he split the reds. Very

:25:55. > :26:08.unfortunate. The only problem you can see now is

:26:09. > :26:14.getting nice on the yellow to get to the green and even that is not going

:26:15. > :26:16.to be too difficult a shot. He might play for the pink here if he has got

:26:17. > :26:33.the angle. He did play for the pink but he has

:26:34. > :26:41.just underhit it by a long way. It is a distance away from the yellow.

:26:42. > :26:48.Can he reach round? He can get to the yellow just about, fully

:26:49. > :27:07.stretched there. Never ceases to amaze me, this game

:27:08. > :27:17.of snooker, the things that can happen. It has to be said that when

:27:18. > :27:22.Ding Junhui missed the red this looked inevitable to me. He seems to

:27:23. > :27:29.get a wake-up call when something like that happens.

:27:30. > :27:37.So, this is a key shot, he must get nicely on the black.

:27:38. > :28:02.Ding Junhui made a break of 63, he was unlucky with a cannon, it looked

:28:03. > :28:05.like he was in the semifinal and he's going to have to wait for

:28:06. > :28:10.another frame. That was a magnificent clearance from Ronnie

:28:11. > :28:14.O'Sullivan, a break of 73 keeps him in this year's World Championship

:28:15. > :28:19.but still two behind. STUDIO: One foot in the semifinal!

:28:20. > :28:23.But exactly as you said, you never write this man out, that was an

:28:24. > :28:27.extraordinary clearance. Write him off at your peril but how unlucky

:28:28. > :28:32.was Ding Junhui? He was the role of a ball from being in the semifinal.

:28:33. > :28:35.Have a look at the split, the red went perfect over the bottom

:28:36. > :28:40.right-hand corner pocket and crept onto the cushion making it that bit

:28:41. > :28:44.difficult. -- the roll of a ball. And then what are clearance from

:28:45. > :28:47.Ronnie. Fantastic and in only the style Ronnie O'Sullivan can do come

:28:48. > :28:48.on the brink of going out of the World Championship, the most

:28:49. > :29:03.important tournament of the season, something he has been building up

:29:04. > :29:05.for after seven or eight weeks of practice, really got himself ready

:29:06. > :29:08.for it mentally and physically, and all of a sudden, to play with that

:29:09. > :29:10.natural ability and let his cue do the talking and flow and without

:29:11. > :29:13.thinking about anything else is a sign of a great champion. I'm sure

:29:14. > :29:16.there is no panic in Ding Junhui's head right now, but I tell you what,

:29:17. > :29:19.it must start to play on your mind, the fact that no matter what you

:29:20. > :29:24.throw at this man he has a response. Yes, he looks very composed and calm

:29:25. > :29:29.there. But inside he will really be feeling it and particularly if

:29:30. > :29:33.Ronnie creeps this one, the nerves will really, really show. Up to now

:29:34. > :29:37.Ding Junhui has been very comfortable, very composed, it will

:29:38. > :29:41.be interesting now what is going to happen. This is pure pressure. A

:29:42. > :29:42.place in the semifinals at stake, first to 13 will go through, who

:29:43. > :30:32.will it be? To set the road over the pocket, he

:30:33. > :30:35.got a very good cue ball, the redness over the pocket, the black

:30:36. > :30:49.is not available but the pink is tied up.

:30:50. > :31:00.What a kiss on the red he has had there. Played it with the pace to

:31:01. > :31:06.avoid going into the Ritz. A favourable kiss on the road as you

:31:07. > :31:18.can see here. Swerved the way he played that. What a test of

:31:19. > :31:30.character for Ding here after what happened in the previous frame.

:31:31. > :31:51.A little quick one in there, hasn't got the cue pulled out on the black.

:31:52. > :32:45.I don't think he has dropped on the road. -- on a bread.

:32:46. > :32:50.That is a tough situation for Ronnie O'Sullivan. Any mistake could be his

:32:51. > :33:45.last. A bit of a smile from Ronnie. Blue

:33:46. > :33:51.and pink to flick a read. That is the players you so who will have to

:33:52. > :33:59.nestle into the back of the bunch of both the conditions. -- cushions.

:34:00. > :34:26.I say keep everything safe, does this Reid cutting? Echoes and it

:34:27. > :34:30.will open the reds. And it's there. He scattered everything over the

:34:31. > :34:40.table and is on the blue. Another great chance. Almost getting into

:34:41. > :35:02.the semifinals in the last frame, can he do it this time? Just one

:35:03. > :35:23.shot at a time. Already careless. Has two cannon into the three.

:35:24. > :35:29.Can play for the pink of a black kid.

:35:30. > :35:45.That looked like a harmless enough shot when he was playing into the

:35:46. > :35:58.punch. -- bunch. Yes it was Ding Junhui's safety shot

:35:59. > :36:15.which left him in an awkward spot. It didn't matter what side of the

:36:16. > :36:32.blue he got to. Like you, I thought coming off to

:36:33. > :36:49.cushions, he would have left everything safe. He has just

:36:50. > :36:58.tightened up a little bit Ding Junhui. Understandable after what

:36:59. > :37:12.happened in the last frame. This is not the blue he wanted to play.

:37:13. > :37:34.Safely in. If he doesn't win it from here, can he win the match? He has

:37:35. > :37:39.to win it from her. -- here. He was a little unlucky in the previous

:37:40. > :37:47.frame when he was on 63 and not the red over the pocket, it finished a

:37:48. > :37:53.little awkward. There is nothing that can really go wrong because the

:37:54. > :37:57.reds are there for him. The thinkers in the open, the plaque is available

:37:58. > :38:12.and he's not that many more pops away. This is a very important

:38:13. > :38:14.victory in his career. I have to admit I didn't think he could be

:38:15. > :38:18.Ronnie O'Sullivan over three sessions, he has the game but we to

:38:19. > :38:21.know if he would mentally be up for it. Has shown fantastic character

:38:22. > :38:51.today. Very impressive. 68 ahead with 67 remaining. He made

:38:52. > :39:00.the highest break in the championship this year. A

:39:01. > :39:04.magnificent 146. He has been a big help in the past two Ding Junhui and

:39:05. > :39:11.as I said it is ten years since Ding Junhui has beaten Ronnie that this

:39:12. > :39:20.will go down as one of his best matches ever you have to say. A

:39:21. > :39:27.great feeling knowing you'll be playing in the one-table situation

:39:28. > :39:33.at the Crucible. I love this part just to know you are through to that

:39:34. > :39:44.stage. Yes it's hard to describe to people how you're feeling are

:39:45. > :40:00.delighted. Could he possibly clinch it with a century break?

:40:01. > :40:13.He has had a century so far, more than any other player, this would be

:40:14. > :40:25.the 60th if he goes on to make it. All about the green you would have

:40:26. > :40:36.to say. Showing great character here is Ding Junhui, he really is. Nicely

:40:37. > :41:09.on the green. Can he get up to the blue? He

:41:10. > :41:15.certainly can. Absolutely fantastic from this Chinese sensation. He has

:41:16. > :41:24.won this most important match in style. And Ronnie will come forward

:41:25. > :41:31.and have a chat and wishing all the best for the semifinal. It been a

:41:32. > :41:41.cracking match. That is lovely to see. Well done to the two players

:41:42. > :41:44.were giving us a fantastic match but Ding is emotional there that he has

:41:45. > :41:52.beaten his idol who he hadn't beaten for ten years and did it in style

:41:53. > :41:55.with that magnificent century break. Congratulations Ding Junhui you beat

:41:56. > :42:07.your rival and you are through to the semifinal by a 15-10. A New Year

:42:08. > :42:13.because Ding Junhui has tried all of these years to beat his idol and has

:42:14. > :42:19.never done so this is a real change, absolutely fantastic to see this

:42:20. > :42:28.between the two guys and Ronnie so generous there? He likes Ding a lot.

:42:29. > :42:35.He has helped him a little bit, giving him advice and what a lovely

:42:36. > :42:44.moment that was. Want a wonderful moment that is, so many great

:42:45. > :42:48.sportsman are in their own world but that is really nice. Ten years ago

:42:49. > :42:52.he put his head on his shoulder and there were tears of defeat and

:42:53. > :42:58.frustration in the Masters final, do you remember? Four months before his

:42:59. > :43:05.20th birthday and now the roles have reversed and in a way comforting

:43:06. > :43:11.Ronnie but you could the respect. It's like two boxers who slug it out

:43:12. > :43:17.at the end say you are a great player, regardless if it is physical

:43:18. > :43:23.or not it is the same mentally. For all of this Ronnie seems to throw

:43:24. > :43:27.teddies out of prams, he is a player and players appreciate players but

:43:28. > :43:30.from the perspective of Ding Junhui, getting to the final was a massive

:43:31. > :43:35.stepping stone and this is another part of the jigsaw. Perhaps it

:43:36. > :43:44.unlocks the championship a little bit further. What in effect does

:43:45. > :43:48.this victory mean for Ding Junhui? It might be the stepping stone that

:43:49. > :43:52.he can convince himself that this is his year and maybe he needed a big

:43:53. > :43:58.victory, he had not beaten O'Sullivan. The long and to get over

:43:59. > :44:02.that line, it might give him the confidence that he can go on, faced

:44:03. > :44:07.the world champion, face the world number one and go on with a lot of

:44:08. > :44:14.confidence. He held itself together so well and after what happened in

:44:15. > :44:19.the previous frame, to win it in one visit is fantastic. On the other

:44:20. > :44:22.hand it is like one of those early PlayStation games, you beat the boss

:44:23. > :44:25.and many go to the next level and then there is a bigger bass and that

:44:26. > :44:32.is effectively to some degree Mark Selby. He certainly warmed up in

:44:33. > :44:36.fine style to play the bass because that is the ninth century, three in

:44:37. > :44:41.each of the matches so far, made 15 in the championship so far, seven in

:44:42. > :44:46.the championship alone and you feel there is an awful lot to come.

:44:47. > :44:51.Absolutely. Maybe last year was a learning curve for him, even though

:44:52. > :44:54.it was a bad experience, he would have learned an awful lot and maybe

:44:55. > :45:00.he has taken this year to another level. I think sometimes even bad

:45:01. > :45:06.experiences are more remembered that you learn an awful lot. Howley fancy

:45:07. > :45:16.the prospect of Mark Selby Hughey faced in the final last year in the

:45:17. > :45:22.last four tomorrow? -- who he faced. It is far greater mentally so I

:45:23. > :45:27.don't know how it will pan out. Mark Selby has been astonishing this

:45:28. > :45:34.week, if he beats him then he still has to play somebody great in the

:45:35. > :45:38.final. He is only halfway through. What you can say about Ding Junhui,

:45:39. > :45:45.amongst the balls he has been clinical but in that department to

:45:46. > :45:53.look strong at the moment that what we saw from his previous victories,

:45:54. > :45:59.he has answered lots of questions at the Crucible that he never answered

:46:00. > :46:03.before so it just means to big performances and he could be the

:46:04. > :46:06.first Asian player to win the championship. There is a maturity

:46:07. > :46:12.about his performance and we have been watching him since he was

:46:13. > :46:16.15-16. There is one other thing which is strange, it's emotional and

:46:17. > :46:24.psychological, his mother passed away recently. Sometimes that can

:46:25. > :46:28.have a strange effect and it can be the catalyst to saying this is not

:46:29. > :46:32.the most important thing in the world and it may make him stronger.

:46:33. > :46:42.Tomorrow when we start the semifinal to have two guys who are very firmly

:46:43. > :46:47.beginning to peak and we saw that on the possibilities are endless but

:46:48. > :46:52.what now for Ronnie O'Sullivan. He is Masters champion and ends his

:46:53. > :46:58.campaign with a run. He hasn't been to the one table since he was in the

:46:59. > :47:07.final with Mark Selby, how will he reflect now? This goal is to get his

:47:08. > :47:12.seven, who are still stuck on five, and the course, he will be very

:47:13. > :47:19.disappointed. He had a tough draw, it would always be a tough route but

:47:20. > :47:27.he is a great player. So many good players, Mark Selby, Ding Junhui,

:47:28. > :47:34.Barry Hawkins, so many more players and you still have John Higgins

:47:35. > :47:38.there. It's the same question for John Higgins but we don't ask him

:47:39. > :47:42.the same question as we do for Ronnie, Ronnie is carrying on to

:47:43. > :47:47.play and if he wants to do that he will have good results and will have

:47:48. > :47:50.bad results, that is the future. In the moments when he's playing well

:47:51. > :47:58.be featuring heavily if he wants to be. John Higgins is very much still

:47:59. > :48:06.in this, very much punching. He completed his victory and his first

:48:07. > :48:10.time in six years means he will be in the bottom half and the semifinal

:48:11. > :48:14.where he'll play Barry Hawkins Stephen McGuire but here comes the

:48:15. > :48:24.man who is into a third semifinal. Very well done. Ding Junhui how

:48:25. > :48:33.special of the moment is that to finally beat your idol Ronnie on the

:48:34. > :48:37.big stage? Probably the biggest win for me, this is an important time

:48:38. > :48:45.for me because I play well and everybody knows my record was good

:48:46. > :48:50.before but this time I said before I wanted to play my best sampling

:48:51. > :48:56.could snooker against him to beat a top play like that. And I did it.

:48:57. > :49:09.How much more belief did you have and why? Just concentration in

:49:10. > :49:16.patients, not putting too much pressure and not missing balls, that

:49:17. > :49:21.the red could win the frame, I keep playing in my head. The match

:49:22. > :49:26.against Liang Wenbo was good for you, you were tested and he could've

:49:27. > :49:34.panicked against Liang Wenbo but he got through the match. When he is 11

:49:35. > :49:42.up I have to do it. I have two win this match and this is only

:49:43. > :49:50.believing in myself. I know I have a good record in final decider so

:49:51. > :49:57.maybe I will turn to a different side and play. Did you play well

:49:58. > :50:03.last night? -- sleep well? LAUGHING

:50:04. > :50:15.He came back at you in the frame to clear up and whether now is

:50:16. > :50:22.beginning to jangle? I don't fill out I have gone out after the

:50:23. > :50:32.badness, I still believe in myself, I just think about how to play.

:50:33. > :50:36.Winning against Ronnie O'Sullivan, your heroes, this would give you

:50:37. > :50:42.tremendous confidence now going into the semifinal. This is a big test

:50:43. > :50:48.and I think it's a good time to play. Easy match next.

:50:49. > :50:53.LAUGHING Before we talk about that, if you

:50:54. > :50:57.don't mind me asking, he had a very lovely moment at the end with Ronnie

:50:58. > :51:00.when he had an embrace, what thoughts did you share with him,

:51:01. > :51:09.what were you saying to one another point? He has met me growing up, he

:51:10. > :51:17.is or is my target to play for smooth the band always keeping

:51:18. > :51:27.myself focused and practice and it is demanding an snooker so I need to

:51:28. > :51:37.keep working hard. I look like a different plan for I remember

:51:38. > :51:42.thinking. We remember ten years ago in the Masters final there were

:51:43. > :51:45.tears against Ronnie and this is a completely different situation now

:51:46. > :51:50.and we forget you have grown up almost in front of us. We have been

:51:51. > :51:57.watching you since you are 16 years of age and it has been a very long

:51:58. > :52:00.wait to try to conquer the, how confident do you feel after reaching

:52:01. > :52:06.the final last year and what has this given new going against Mark

:52:07. > :52:11.Selby tomorrow? Letters come from last season the final and all the

:52:12. > :52:16.way from the qualifiers. -- it has come. I have more experience for the

:52:17. > :52:21.Crucible, still a lot to learn but this time I play better and I think

:52:22. > :52:29.I need to stay confident to look forward to the next one. Get a good

:52:30. > :52:34.rest. Can you imagine the excitement back in China now, we always talk

:52:35. > :52:41.about the huge ratings that you and the other Chinese players generate,

:52:42. > :52:55.do you try not to look? I don't think about that. I think this match

:52:56. > :52:58.will be the most people watching on television and we had some chances

:52:59. > :53:04.this season so this is the biggest tournament in our season. Thank you

:53:05. > :53:08.so much for talking to us, you are in the third semifinal and we cannot

:53:09. > :53:14.wait for the match against Mark Selby. Sleep well and we will see

:53:15. > :53:20.tomorrow. What an afternoon it then and what a fine player and a fine

:53:21. > :53:25.man going into the semifinals after beating his idol. But in the bottom

:53:26. > :53:30.half there is still an issue of the fourth player to go into the

:53:31. > :53:34.semifinal to play John Higgins, who will be Barry Hawkins or Stephen

:53:35. > :53:39.McGuire, we have been following this one. The Hawk took the first of the

:53:40. > :53:44.afternoon to go 6-3 but Maguire took the next one so still two frames in

:53:45. > :53:47.it as we rejoin them in frame 11. John Parrott and John Virgo are

:53:48. > :53:52.providing the soundtrack in the second session.

:53:53. > :53:56.Looks like he's hitting that was side. Makes the red missable for

:53:57. > :54:15.May. Good shot this though. Excellent.

:54:16. > :54:19.Quite a bit of angle on this and the red to the left hand is what he

:54:20. > :54:26.would like to be on. The cue ball is running away so do you have the

:54:27. > :54:32.commitment basically to drop the dead weight or avoid the corner

:54:33. > :54:38.pocket and come back up? I don't think the cannon on the black is on.

:54:39. > :54:42.And all of those things that you mentioned, he has taken his eye off

:54:43. > :54:51.of the pot. Not straightforward that. As really say, make sure you

:54:52. > :54:55.knock the ball in and if position you are still in the driving seat.

:54:56. > :55:01.At the moment this match is just going the other way. Couldn't agree

:55:02. > :55:05.more, just have to judge this because he will kiss another read.

:55:06. > :55:16.-- Reid. That could easily have gone wrong

:55:17. > :55:28.but he's straight on the pink. Already has a 32 point lead, but

:55:29. > :55:30.think will make it 38. All the roads are all in the open so it is a case

:55:31. > :55:49.of due care and attention. He didn't hit that very well. In

:55:50. > :55:53.fact he hit it poorly, ended up on the blue and has done all right out

:55:54. > :56:10.of it because you play to bring that up a lot more.

:56:11. > :56:17.I was talking to Olivia Marty the other day and he was saying it is a

:56:18. > :56:25.kick when somebody misses one, things couldn't notice. When you

:56:26. > :56:31.play these deep screws, we have seen it with the super slow motion, the

:56:32. > :56:39.white balancing is just coming back to the bed of the table and you get

:56:40. > :56:43.a heavy contact. It is amazing, we have seen it to three times off the

:56:44. > :56:48.bed of the cloth before it gets to the object. But the players don't

:56:49. > :56:50.want to play on anything other than the superfine cloth so that is the

:56:51. > :57:16.downside to it. He has played it well. Sometimes you

:57:17. > :57:31.cannot get into it and end up snickering yourself. -- snickering.

:57:32. > :57:37.Stephen has immediately jumped up and said what is that noise. It is

:57:38. > :57:44.some sort of squeaking noise. Funnily enough I heard someone said

:57:45. > :57:48.it was the magnet on the door when people come in and didn't ask him

:57:49. > :57:53.any more. He could have played for the black bear and that would have

:57:54. > :58:01.settled it, 59 ahead, 59 remaining but this red to clinch the frame.

:58:02. > :58:08.Now 60 points in France with only 51 remaining. -- in France.

:58:09. > :58:13.Just making certain that the black and the red and that will not

:58:14. > :58:18.encourage Barry Hawkins to come back to the table. I think government in

:58:19. > :58:23.the game is changing, I really do, 6-3 ahead and Barry was looking

:58:24. > :58:29.comfortable but the clearance and Stephen McGuire was brilliant and he

:58:30. > :58:32.looks like the better player at the moment -- Maguire. Got the cannon

:58:33. > :58:36.but is just not on the black the frames over. Can he get through to

:58:37. > :58:50.the pink? Not quite. Unless he knocks the red income that

:58:51. > :58:54.will make it even worse for Barry. Barry Hawkins concedes so Stephen

:58:55. > :58:58.Maguire starting to frames behind and there's one more before the

:58:59. > :59:05.mid-session interval and one more behind, 6-5 Barry Hawkins. Don't

:59:06. > :59:11.forget Maguire had been 5-1 down in this match so it is a real scrapping

:59:12. > :59:14.performance from the Scott and don't forget he has taken five years to

:59:15. > :59:30.get back into this position, he does not want to blow this chance, here

:59:31. > :59:34.we go for frame 12. The -- have the pockets tightened up? He has left

:59:35. > :59:39.the chance. This is the first time he has struggled a little bit, has

:59:40. > :59:50.been very impressive so far and has just lost his way.

:59:51. > :59:55.COMMENTATOR: He might be on the pink to the middle but I'm surprised by

:59:56. > :00:01.the way he played that, should have dropped in the red dead weight, to

:00:02. > :00:05.play at that pace on and off the top cushion you will push reds towards

:00:06. > :00:13.the black. This pink is a lot more difficult.

:00:14. > :00:30.Good pot. Pressure on that one. Nice and clean. And what a chance this is

:00:31. > :00:35.for 6-6. At least nine beds available I can see before the

:00:36. > :00:38.cluster of four, the one at the bottom of the cluster pots, so you

:00:39. > :00:43.couldn't ask for better than this, it is like a practice routine you do

:00:44. > :00:47.in the club. Put a few reds out and leave a cluster together and see how

:00:48. > :00:49.many you can score. It's not something Stephen hasn't seen

:00:50. > :01:06.before. I'm just wondering if he can get

:01:07. > :01:11.position on the black. He would be low on it but he wouldn't mind

:01:12. > :01:16.because he could pot it and screw into those two reds just to the left

:01:17. > :01:19.of the black. He would still have the angle to run through and could

:01:20. > :01:28.still play for the pink to the middle. No, he has played to be low

:01:29. > :01:31.on the black. Haseeb run through far enough? Little shake off the head. I

:01:32. > :01:38.think he is on it but possibly too straight. He can make the angle

:01:39. > :01:48.here. He can make the angle, he is OK. He should have done but he

:01:49. > :01:54.needed to force more of an angle out of it, he just screwed it straight

:01:55. > :01:58.back so the cannon was wrong. He needed to play more of a stun before

:01:59. > :02:43.he came back so he is still on it but just taking the cue ball away.

:02:44. > :02:53.That's OK. Playing it that way he knew he would be on the red on the

:02:54. > :02:59.baulk line. He didn't want to risk running in off the baulk cushion, so

:03:00. > :03:04.pot this and leave a nice angle on the baulk colour, no need to do too

:03:05. > :03:09.much with the cue ball. He could have gone into that a bit more. He's

:03:10. > :03:13.been scrappy in this break right from the start, he just hasn't quite

:03:14. > :03:20.got the cue ball on a string. He's just been a bit off. Consequently,

:03:21. > :03:25.he's down in the yellow, green and brown area where, in a perfect

:03:26. > :03:29.world, he would be up on the scoring balls, pink and black. He's still

:03:30. > :03:33.going but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have thought he would be

:03:34. > :03:38.down there. Yes, he played for the green. The reason he's playing for

:03:39. > :03:42.the yellow is he is trying to get in that circle. He is playing with a

:03:43. > :03:56.bit of bottom so maybe he will play for the cannon. He will settle for

:03:57. > :04:01.that. That's a very good shot. The way it has turned out is beautiful,

:04:02. > :04:08.it really is. That was what John was referring to earlier. You see it as

:04:09. > :04:11.a player and we have felt it and heard it when sitting in the chair,

:04:12. > :04:19.when the momentum starts to swing the other way, you miss a shot, you

:04:20. > :04:25.get away with it, all those little things that hurt you when you are

:04:26. > :04:34.not at the table. Look at that. If he'd picked it up with his hand he

:04:35. > :04:37.couldn't have placed it any better. Mind you, the last shot he played

:04:38. > :04:41.wasn't his best, wanted to be on the red that is above the black. Not a

:04:42. > :04:49.problem with this going up for the blue but it is not the one he played

:04:50. > :04:59.for. There is an authority of strike back in Stephen Maguire at the

:05:00. > :05:03.minute. He is one of the best cueists and he has the bit between

:05:04. > :05:13.his teeth at the moment. He can see 6-6. You set yourself little goals

:05:14. > :05:17.and when he came into this session 5-3 behind he thought if I can win

:05:18. > :05:25.three of the first four frames and go into the mid-interval level, and

:05:26. > :05:30.he has every chance to do that now. He has still not got complete

:05:31. > :05:35.control of the cue ball. No, once again, too hard, didn't have to be

:05:36. > :05:39.that high up. Still not a problem but he is having to do shots he

:05:40. > :05:45.wasn't playing on. He's lost the cue ball again, got to go for the blue.

:05:46. > :05:50.They are not big problems but they are just ones he shouldn't be

:05:51. > :05:52.having. The further the cue ball has to travel the more likely you are to

:05:53. > :06:17.run out of position. Position is not totally

:06:18. > :06:22.straightforward with this. Two reds on the right-hand side, pockets

:06:23. > :06:27.blocked, the bottom one is not available because of the one further

:06:28. > :06:36.up the table. So he will have to play a cannon into the two reds. Now

:06:37. > :06:42.then, what is he on there? Not a lot, the bottom one of the two reds,

:06:43. > :06:47.I can only assume. Is not on anything. He is on nothing. I think

:06:48. > :06:51.he tried to hold for the red on the left-hand side of the table but like

:06:52. > :06:55.you I would have been tempted to play a cannon on those two reds. I

:06:56. > :07:01.think he can get to the bottom one of the two reds and pot it to the

:07:02. > :07:08.right-hand corner. He lost the cue ball at a vital point. He needs red,

:07:09. > :07:12.colour, red. If he can get to the edge of this red for the right

:07:13. > :07:24.corner. If he can he is very fortunate to be on this. Good shot.

:07:25. > :07:38.That is a good shot for him because if he hadn't won the friend from

:07:39. > :07:46.this -- the frame on this visit. Still needs one more colour and more

:07:47. > :07:47.more red to clinch the frame. Is not perfect. A bit of pressure on this

:07:48. > :08:01.blue. The bad positional play has caught

:08:02. > :08:06.up with him in the end so he's back to his seat, he has a 57 point lead

:08:07. > :08:12.but there is 67 remaining. Has he missed a trick there?

:08:13. > :08:19.Well, Barry Hawkins had a friend stolen from him earlier when Stephen

:08:20. > :08:23.Maguire made a brilliant clearance. What is Barry up to at the moment?

:08:24. > :08:27.He hasn't been involved for the last frame and a bit. He missed the blue

:08:28. > :08:35.off the spot, played a couple of poor shots. He would love a

:08:36. > :08:46.clearance here. It's just that red that's behind the pink that can be

:08:47. > :08:50.the only barrier. Now, if on this he could pot it and screw back into the

:08:51. > :08:54.red and he might be able to stay on the blue. That's an alternative. He

:08:55. > :08:56.doesn't have too, he can wait until later on but he could play that

:08:57. > :09:09.shot. Obviously didn't feel as though he

:09:10. > :09:12.could get on the blue. He could play it again this time now. Of course,

:09:13. > :09:20.potting the blue clears the pocket for the red. We had a look at the

:09:21. > :09:23.other angle and he couldn't play the shot I was on about, the red would

:09:24. > :09:27.have been blocking him for the blue so that's why he avoided it. From

:09:28. > :09:32.our commentary box it looked like he could do that but he couldn't. Now

:09:33. > :09:35.desperate to get low on the black, so that potting the black he can

:09:36. > :09:44.count on the red below the pink and still be on the other red. -- cannon

:09:45. > :09:49.the red below the pink. Not the best of angles. He's going to have to

:09:50. > :09:54.force it. But he's got to play the cannon now, he doesn't want to leave

:09:55. > :10:00.it until the last minute. And it's gone wrong. It's gone wrong. All

:10:01. > :10:10.because he didn't get the perfect angle on the black. But it was the

:10:11. > :10:14.right shot. Yes, he had to get that thick and got it thin. And actually

:10:15. > :10:23.he has played a really good snooker on himself! We mentioned about

:10:24. > :10:27.momentum. We said before Stephen Maguire split the pack up and the

:10:28. > :10:31.Bulls went lovely and Barry had a chance and he is now sniggered and

:10:32. > :10:41.will do well to get out of this and not leave one on.

:10:42. > :11:00.Hm. The fact Stephen Maguire only needs the red, Barry will be

:11:01. > :11:11.thinking they are going into the mid-session interval all square.

:11:12. > :11:25.A little bit awkward with the rest to put it to the side of the blue.

:11:26. > :11:29.Good pot. I hadn't realised how good he was with the rest, I've watched

:11:30. > :11:42.him for years and years but he is mustered with it. -- mustard. 40

:11:43. > :11:47.points the lead, 35 remaining. Barry obviously will play on, but for that

:11:48. > :12:03.snooker it's all square. Good hit but I'm sure if Steven Knox

:12:04. > :12:17.this red then that will be a concession. -- if Steven Knox in

:12:18. > :12:22.this red. He didn't even attempt the pink, he knows that Barry is going

:12:23. > :12:26.to concede and he has conceded. Barry Hawkins had a two frame

:12:27. > :12:29.advantage coming into the session and Stephen Maguire did what he

:12:30. > :12:36.wants to do, winning the first four, they are all square, 6-6, we have a

:12:37. > :12:40.match on. STUDIO: We sure have and if any extra incentive was needed,

:12:41. > :12:43.Stephen Maguire currently ranked 24 in the world rankings knows that if

:12:44. > :12:47.he wins it will go back into the 16 having drifted down the rankings

:12:48. > :12:52.over the last couple of seasons. The most important is to secure a place

:12:53. > :12:55.in the semifinals, so after the mid-session we will join them again

:12:56. > :13:06.in frame 13 and Barry Hawkins, the world number seven, is 13 points

:13:07. > :13:13.ahead. COMMENTATOR: That was a good shot. -- 30 points ahead. Because of

:13:14. > :13:17.the miss rule they often refuse shots like that and think they can

:13:18. > :13:23.get a few more points from the miss but that was an opportunity to get

:13:24. > :13:27.to win this frame. He couldn't have played it like that but he will be

:13:28. > :13:33.happy with the way finished. He got lucky with his position. Coming down

:13:34. > :13:56.for the loose red at the back of the black. He won't mind.

:13:57. > :14:00.Good shot, opportunity to open up the reds, he knew he would have won

:14:01. > :14:09.on the left-hand side available to the middle. That was the time to

:14:10. > :14:20.play it. He got his just rewards and you can't see him making a mistake

:14:21. > :14:25.now. He's not really hitting it great at the minute, Barry. He was

:14:26. > :14:31.doing all right to keep the break going but his cue ball hasn't been

:14:32. > :14:33.brilliant. He's just having one of those sessions that is a little

:14:34. > :14:51.awkward. We have all been there. And eventually it caught up with

:14:52. > :15:00.him. Now, has he been lucky? I think he has. Those two reds to the right

:15:01. > :15:04.of the pink, they could planned to knock the red ink over the corner

:15:05. > :15:08.because as you can see you can't get through to it, the other is in the

:15:09. > :15:16.way. A possibility if he can get to the first read correctly.

:15:17. > :15:25.And he can get to the plant. I'm just wondering whether he can get to

:15:26. > :15:28.the red that is at the back of the pink as well. But it looks like the

:15:29. > :15:50.plant to me. Good shot. Yeah. He played it, well,

:15:51. > :15:56.firmer. Sometimes when they are awkward you sort of risk that. The

:15:57. > :16:03.problem is with the blue he can pot it. Can he avoid the case on the

:16:04. > :16:34.green. -- can he avoid the kiss on the green.

:16:35. > :16:44.GROANS FROM CROWD REFEREE: Foul. COMMENTATOR: The

:16:45. > :16:50.angle wasn't great for Stephen, and he tried to force it. But once

:16:51. > :16:56.again, he missed the object ball. You get the feeling that if he had

:16:57. > :17:02.potted the blue he wouldn't have gone in off. This red is on to the

:17:03. > :17:09.right middle. And there you see it. If he gets a book colour then he

:17:10. > :17:21.will need red, colour, red. -- if he gets a baulk colour. It looks like

:17:22. > :17:27.it just slowed it down a touch. Is he on the yellow? Does the brown

:17:28. > :17:29.pass the yellow? I think it does the way his body language is signalling

:17:30. > :18:12.to me. So, just what the doctor ordered,

:18:13. > :18:19.this frame, for Barry Hawkins. He needed a decent chance. He potted a

:18:20. > :18:22.few good balls in this as well, Barry, positioning slightly awry but

:18:23. > :18:24.he won't be bothered about it now, nice to get cueing again and get his

:18:25. > :19:00.nose back in front. Lots of noise from the other side of

:19:01. > :19:02.the curtain but Barry will not be worried now, this frame is well and

:19:03. > :19:11.truly in the bag. He needed a few opportunities, he

:19:12. > :19:16.didn't really have good control of the cue ball early on. But he got a

:19:17. > :19:39.second chance. Didn't get on the green but it

:19:40. > :19:45.didn't matter. This green could be in. Not quite. So, Barry Hawkins has

:19:46. > :19:51.come out from the mid-session interval and regained his lead and

:19:52. > :20:07.he will be happy with that. He leads Stephen Maguire 7-6. Barry Hawkins

:20:08. > :20:13.gets frame 14 under way. He left a possible pot here for Stephen but he

:20:14. > :20:18.has a good cue ball. I think he will have to dig in if he is going to

:20:19. > :20:29.play the pot to swing around the back of the black. Good cueing

:20:30. > :20:32.needed here. Good cueing. If he stops short of the baulk line you

:20:33. > :20:46.can't play that shot much better than that. Swung wide with the pace

:20:47. > :20:49.more than the stun. The black out of commission, the pink out of

:20:50. > :21:00.commission at the moment. Not the easiest of chances.

:21:01. > :21:06.That is a bit to extend between. I'm pretty sure when he hit that he

:21:07. > :21:12.would have thought he hit it good but it seems to pull up quickly.

:21:13. > :21:33.Playing for the outside red on the two on the right.

:21:34. > :21:40.It's always dangerous to miss when you are in and that's exactly what

:21:41. > :21:44.Stephen has done. He will go back to his seat now wondering what damage

:21:45. > :21:50.that miss will cause. I think I cursed him about the rest, he hadn't

:21:51. > :21:52.Mr Balls this afternoon, saying how good he was. That's the first one he

:21:53. > :22:03.has missed. The pink is available for now but

:22:04. > :22:08.when it goes back on its spot it might not be. Service is far from

:22:09. > :22:09.easy break, the black tied up. After this may be only the blue is

:22:10. > :22:53.available. It would be lovely to get on the red

:22:54. > :22:56.just above the black and get a nice angle and you could pot the red and

:22:57. > :23:02.disturb the red immediately to the left of the black. That's what he's

:23:03. > :23:12.hoping to get on here. It needs to bounce. Not hard enough. A bit more

:23:13. > :23:17.margin of error there. They just don't have the cue ball under

:23:18. > :23:23.complete control here. In the last frame he didn't and he won it. Just

:23:24. > :23:30.in the perfect world. He has played that shot you played anyway, just a

:23:31. > :23:33.different plan. Even that shot there is not how he wanted it. So he is

:23:34. > :24:01.slightly the wrong side of the blue. That was nicely played. That was

:24:02. > :24:32.perfect position. Cleverly and purposely nudging that

:24:33. > :24:43.red into play of. Couldn't have finished better.

:24:44. > :24:49.No reason why he wouldn't take the one with the rest, it's

:24:50. > :24:55.straightforward, a simple little pot and hold the cue ball for the brown.

:24:56. > :25:06.For the green, depending on which way he wants to go.

:25:07. > :25:16.You would see people in the snooker club with the red over the pocket

:25:17. > :25:20.and couldn't wait to pot that one first. And then if you do miss one

:25:21. > :25:24.you go back to the dressing room and your friends are asking you why you

:25:25. > :25:29.didn't play the one over the middle. Nowadays nobody criticises any shot

:25:30. > :25:34.at a player plays because it's your decision.

:25:35. > :25:45.Very attacking game today. All players looking for one chance to

:25:46. > :25:48.win a frame. He looked a little bit concerned when he hit that brown,

:25:49. > :25:55.maybe you didn't get the best of contacts but he should find the

:25:56. > :26:00.right angle on the blue. If anything a little bit too much angle. Now, I

:26:01. > :26:05.would suggest if you are going to play this you want to just miss the

:26:06. > :26:11.pink and just cannon gently into the outside red and the other red,

:26:12. > :26:28.unless it is a plant. Barry thinks it may be. Could be made. Could be

:26:29. > :26:32.made. In the end he decided to carry the pink. The reason I wouldn't have

:26:33. > :26:35.played on to the pink is because it was slightly separated and unless

:26:36. > :26:38.you catch it absolutely full in the face it will not hit the reds. Well,

:26:39. > :27:13.it hit one red. Hm. Not the best safety from Barry

:27:14. > :28:46.either. Needed to be thinner than that.

:28:47. > :28:52.He'd tried to play that with a lot of Czech side but courted to thin

:28:53. > :29:01.and that's why the cue ball has come back. -- check side. More than Barry

:29:02. > :29:03.would have liked. There is a red pottable, well, a couple of reds

:29:04. > :29:35.pottable, but risky. Taking this on. Boy, this is tough.

:29:36. > :29:40.At that pace, asking a lot. Yeah, he has not refused much, has he, today?

:29:41. > :29:45.Trying to be positive. You can't knock him for that. If he thinks he

:29:46. > :29:48.can knock it in that is what you've got to go with but you've also got

:29:49. > :29:50.to face up to the fact that when you miss one you will give your opponent

:29:51. > :30:04.a few chances. Yeah, and this chance could be the

:30:05. > :31:17.frame-winning one. Concentrating here, a round of

:31:18. > :31:24.applause for those two players in the Arena so it should die down now.

:31:25. > :31:28.If they hang on a few minutes they will get a treat to see this match

:31:29. > :31:32.as well because the dividing wall will come up and you can see the

:31:33. > :31:41.last few frames of this as well. A nice little bonus on your ticket

:31:42. > :31:56.that. There are two more frames to be played after this one. And big

:31:57. > :32:12.frames, one more red after the pink looks like a formality. Barry

:32:13. > :32:19.Hawkins earlier was not struggling, was helped in the last couple of

:32:20. > :32:30.frames by Maguire who has gone off of the blue and taken a couple of

:32:31. > :32:34.high tariff shots. That's a fair comments, you cannot just give

:32:35. > :32:43.opportunities to players of the standard. It's all right to be

:32:44. > :32:49.positive that sometimes you have to play percentages. I think the red

:32:50. > :33:03.that Stephen played, what was the success rate. ? Started the session

:33:04. > :33:09.to frames behind and now he is to frames behind again. He think he has

:33:10. > :33:14.to win at least one of the remaining frames, he has not made any ground

:33:15. > :33:28.up by being two down but hasn't lost any either so big final session to

:33:29. > :33:36.come. The session, if he was 10-6 up against some of Barry's

:33:37. > :33:47.capabilities. Nearly the perfect calendar doesn't matter, the frame

:33:48. > :33:52.is over. -- cannon. Didn't player. But he didn't need it and Barry

:33:53. > :33:57.Hawkins started the session to frames in France and has clawed back

:33:58. > :34:04.2-2 has one the first two frames after the mid-interval and he is now

:34:05. > :34:10.two ahead again 8-6. Frame 15 has been scrappy, not great and Barry

:34:11. > :34:22.has made a knock of 35 fair, he has a healthy lead.

:34:23. > :34:54.That can either lose you a few. He doesn't refuse much Stephen.

:34:55. > :35:02.He thought it would mess and so did I. Once it hit the top cushion there

:35:03. > :35:06.was no way it could drop. When you consider he had a pink today which

:35:07. > :35:17.was much better than that and didn't going how has that one gone in. If

:35:18. > :35:28.he hit the one on the left to bring the one on the right out. All of a

:35:29. > :35:34.sudden this is rife for the clearance. Stephen McGuire's

:35:35. > :35:38.decision earlier in the frame to bring the brown of the cushion might

:35:39. > :35:49.be the best thing he has done in -- Maguire. He took the opportunity to

:35:50. > :35:55.bring the red into play but as we say if you try to bring the red into

:35:56. > :36:00.play when potting it you are never guaranteed on a colour, I know he

:36:01. > :36:03.has the brown on the far corner, he will have to play this first I think

:36:04. > :36:09.to get the cue ball anywhere near this end of the table. I was going

:36:10. > :36:14.to ask which row would you prefer to play this because these are horrible

:36:15. > :36:17.shots, it's easy to track the white. My favourite cushion first, he's

:36:18. > :36:25.going to play a direct and then hit a placenta.

:36:26. > :37:11.How many times have we seen him do that? Even in the session when he

:37:12. > :37:18.won three of the first four,... He knew how important that was. He had

:37:19. > :37:36.a massive chance to win the frame. That's how far away he was, he

:37:37. > :37:44.thought if he could rattle the jaws. What about the pace, he played the

:37:45. > :37:50.pace that could bring a redback. And if he had just stunned up to the

:37:51. > :37:51.side cushion, only things like this happen at the Crucible folks I

:37:52. > :38:17.promise you. The green in the brown, getting from

:38:18. > :38:20.the green and brown will be tricky, I don't think you can plot the brown

:38:21. > :38:36.and then get down for yellow city might have to take it on her.

:38:37. > :38:42.Still going to be left with that problem because the pink will go on

:38:43. > :38:55.the blue spots which is the highest available, get the brown on its

:38:56. > :39:07.spot. Can he hold that? Yes. He could. And it's so important he get

:39:08. > :39:14.the brown back on his spot. The middle pocket could come back into

:39:15. > :39:18.play, he has to be wary of that. What he doesn't want is to leave

:39:19. > :39:25.himself straight on the yellow and he hasn't, that is perfect. That's a

:39:26. > :39:39.natural anger to the green. Six colours needed. -- angle.

:39:40. > :39:54.This is a frame that Barry Hawkins always looked in control. What a

:39:55. > :40:11.chance now for Maguire. I presumably will pass the pink, ideally wants to

:40:12. > :40:15.play a screw shot. He will not be up to get a good angle on the pink to

:40:16. > :40:26.get back for the black that you have to take that. All about line and

:40:27. > :40:42.length now of the pink to get back to the black.

:40:43. > :40:58.Needs to slow and it has done. The black for a frame he never looked

:40:59. > :41:03.like winning. Well played. A big frame for Barry Hawkins, he looked

:41:04. > :41:12.in control all the way through. Everything looked in his favour.

:41:13. > :41:18.Both players go to the dressing room, it is 8-7, one more frame to

:41:19. > :41:23.play. And when they return Barry Hawkins had a contribution of 29

:41:24. > :41:29.points, a 29 point advantage earlier but Maguire who has been twice a

:41:30. > :41:48.semifinalist is back here and is determined to level the scores.

:41:49. > :41:57.These roads are still slightly awkward. You can see him looking

:41:58. > :42:10.there and he could have played cannon before. If he had the other

:42:11. > :42:20.cannon I don't think he would have played. Obviously this thread goes.

:42:21. > :42:37.May have to get the spider out now and play the red. It's the only

:42:38. > :42:48.thing he's got. It made easier by the fact it would be on the black.

:42:49. > :43:01.You have to hit the centre of the cue ball with the shop.

:43:02. > :43:13.Shot. The problem striking down like that he might get a bit of bounce

:43:14. > :43:18.with the cue ball, considering it did get a kick we have seen a couple

:43:19. > :43:51.this week. One good shot away. Because he had to flick the side on

:43:52. > :43:57.the overcome the black. -- overcoat. One of resignation. The only thing

:43:58. > :44:06.he had in his favour and I think I'm right in saying this, playing at

:44:07. > :44:16.that pace, I don't think anything will pass the blood. -- black. The

:44:17. > :44:27.question now is who gets the next chance? Whoever gets it you would

:44:28. > :44:29.fancy that they would win the frame. If Barry Hawkins Stephen McGuire

:44:30. > :44:38.snooker on everything that is excellent shot. And a nightmare to

:44:39. > :44:42.get out of. He can see that this is the only one who can play and

:44:43. > :44:55.pushing this up and down you have to be very careful. Could leave a red

:44:56. > :45:06.to the middle. Would do well to get this say. Would you believe it he

:45:07. > :45:07.has knocked the black in so the chance to win the frame now is Barry

:45:08. > :45:21.Hawkins. He was worried about the double-kiss

:45:22. > :45:26.with the red coming back, that's what he played that, try to get a

:45:27. > :45:31.bit more angle and because he did he hit the other red and really it

:45:32. > :45:41.could not have gone much worse. Lots of pressure out there. How is

:45:42. > :45:47.Barry's cue ball. He will settle for that. I'm not certain... He has

:45:48. > :46:09.finished absolutely certain. These four reds that are well and

:46:10. > :46:33.truly on more than enough to clinch the frame.

:46:34. > :46:38.You are a long way from winning the match but it is just a psychological

:46:39. > :46:44.advantage to maintain that is leading the session. It looked as

:46:45. > :46:47.though he would lose the session 5-3, if he wins this frame then they

:46:48. > :46:59.have shared the eight frames for peace. With Stephen McGuire winning

:47:00. > :47:08.three of the first four, Barry will be pleased to get back to two in

:47:09. > :47:20.front. -- Maguire. Could have played that one better. Trying to get

:47:21. > :47:24.everything correct and sometimes you don't hit it and he has a similar

:47:25. > :47:43.shot that Stephen has. That was well played. The pink up at 30 point --

:47:44. > :47:48.38 points with any five remaining. So he will retain that advantage,

:47:49. > :47:55.that to frame advantage going into the final session which starts at

:47:56. > :48:06.7pm. So they've not got much time to get themselves back together. Just

:48:07. > :48:16.over an hour really. And that will go in a bling, it usually does her.

:48:17. > :48:21.The opportunity presents itself and you have to go do it and he has. An

:48:22. > :48:26.excellent safety shot that he played. I know it is all about

:48:27. > :48:30.potting and break-building but he get a good safety shot and you can

:48:31. > :48:34.force a mistake, not bothered about the green. They will shake hands and

:48:35. > :48:39.say I will see you in over an hour, a smile from Stephen Maguire and one

:48:40. > :48:44.from Barry Hawkins as well so it's as you were Barry Hawkins, starting

:48:45. > :48:53.two in front and ends the second session two in France. Now it is

:48:54. > :48:57.9-7. Stephen is still chasing and Jason will be hit with the 7pm

:48:58. > :49:01.programme to see a possible nine more frame is played by those two to

:49:02. > :49:09.bag the last spot in the semifinal is because one of them will be

:49:10. > :49:17.playing John Higgins tomorrow. We have seen 8143 break from Mark

:49:18. > :49:26.Selby, one of the most unlikely positions, he beats Marco Fu and he

:49:27. > :49:32.is into his fifth Crucible semifinal. The world 11 marches on

:49:33. > :49:35.but we saw that break topped by 146 by Ronnie O'Sullivan but in a

:49:36. > :49:41.spellbinding final session it was Ding Junhui who closed out 13-10

:49:42. > :49:46.with his third century of the match powering over the line. What a

:49:47. > :49:55.reaction this was from both men, pure sportsmanship and pure class.

:49:56. > :50:00.I've really enjoyed myself a brilliant to be involved in good

:50:01. > :50:05.matches, didn't play fantastically well so well done to him, a great

:50:06. > :50:10.lad and brilliant for China, brimful snooker so not a terrible results, I

:50:11. > :50:19.had a fantastic results and it has been a good holiday. I know growing

:50:20. > :50:27.up I wouldn't say he idolised me but I was doing the business when he was

:50:28. > :50:31.a young kid so we have a great relationship and I think it was 2007

:50:32. > :50:35.in the Masters and now we're ten years on and instead of me hugging

:50:36. > :50:40.him beating him he's hugging me beating me so it's nice he has come

:50:41. > :50:44.through that period and is now a different player. Still young and

:50:45. > :50:49.and is a great lad and great for the game. Ronnie O'Sullivan is out of

:50:50. > :50:56.the World Championship, how are you feeling? Sad, we are big Ronnie fans

:50:57. > :51:00.from Germany, near Cologne and we are here to watch him and we are sad

:51:01. > :51:09.about it. Did you travel from Germany just you watch this? Yes.

:51:10. > :51:15.What about you? Weed bets, it was close, we bet 39 so it was close. Do

:51:16. > :51:23.you think he can go all the way now, Ding Junhui? Yes. He faces Mark

:51:24. > :51:31.Selby next, what do you think will happen? I think Mark will get the

:51:32. > :51:38.championship. Maybe Higgins will win it because I think the final is easy

:51:39. > :51:42.for him. Thank you guys and as always your thoughts of them coming

:51:43. > :51:46.through on social media so thank you to all of you, Richard has said

:51:47. > :51:53.shame Ronnie has been knocked out of the snooker championship, we have a

:51:54. > :51:57.sneaky critic calling himself the critic saying Ronnie is making the

:51:58. > :52:04.space, time to learn mistakes, you are the anyone that can perfect it.

:52:05. > :52:11.Well played to Ding Junhui and hope he goes on to win. -- win. Darren

:52:12. > :52:14.says great show at the end, disappointed to see him going out

:52:15. > :52:20.but I'm looking forward to Ding Junhui Mark Selby. Sven has said I

:52:21. > :52:23.have to tell you that embrace was one of the nicest moments I have

:52:24. > :52:29.ever seen in World Snooker, well played chaps. And so say all of us,

:52:30. > :52:33.it was pure sportsmanship and pure class from the two of them, one

:52:34. > :52:37.question remaining will Ronnie O'Sullivan win another world title

:52:38. > :52:42.because it has been hailed at the end of an era in many respects, the

:52:43. > :52:49.defeated a? It is tough to see somebody of his standing completely

:52:50. > :52:53.collapse but sometimes form sometimes strangely evaporates but I

:52:54. > :52:58.think we would see him in the final stages and on the one-table set-up

:52:59. > :53:06.I'm sure we will see that. Speaking of a changing of the guard will Ding

:53:07. > :53:08.Junhui win, he has Selby again tomorrow he has

:53:09. > :53:15.he has to do it all again, it's only one match and I know it's one of the

:53:16. > :53:19.biggest of his life but he has to go and climb that mountain against Mark

:53:20. > :53:22.Selby tomorrow, that'll be fascinating. The repeat of the

:53:23. > :53:27.semifinal and John Higgins awaiting the winner of the match this evening

:53:28. > :53:31.which you can see at 7pm but what an afternoon of pure sporting theatre,

:53:32. > :53:42.hope you have enjoyed it, we certainly have goodbye.