03/12/2013 UK Snooker Championship Extra

in something. This performance ever was in the Chinese open in 2010. He

has had quite slim pickings since then. It is very tough in the

qualifiers getting through at venues. Not quite so tough getting

to play at this venue. Getting on in the draw, meeting players like

Melbourne -- Mark Selby other reason players like Tian Pengfei have

struggled to progress. Tian Pengfei has to be careful here.

You would expect to level these schools here. Everything is

portable. He is not putting them in the middle of the pocket at the

moment, still putting them in. Just lost the cue ball a fraction.

Imagine if it had gone into the middle of the pocket, it would be

right down at the fault line. -- fault line. The over ran that one

slightly in the middle. He has his second choice be low the pink.

As I mentioned earlier on, as far as cue action goes, he has a lovely cue

action. Gets through the ball nicely. I do not know what his break

building is like. He has not done anything wrong in this break yet.

Quite impressed. He only made the four centuries this season. His form

has been up and down. He played well in his first round here. He has been

impressive. Went to the left middle, could have

been in something better than this. He played like he knew it was frame

ball. The next colour is not there now. Thinking you the score before

he played that last Scott. I think he knew --.

Must break of 64 to Tian Pengfei. Barring seekers, mean sealevel

levels the match. -- means he levels the Mac.

This should give them a lot of confidence, the way he has played

this frame. Taken in a couple of goes to win it. He levels the match

with Mark Selby. The scores are even.

These are the kind of shots that Mark Selby is usually very good at.

He is slightly hampered with the Brown. Not his usual cue action

going on with the red. I do not blame him for taking it on. But look

with the red is going. -- we are the red is going.

Things could get interesting that this interval. At the moment, he has

played the better snooker, no argument there.

If the black case to go up in the blue spot, I was surprised he played

the red. He should have finished low in the black so he could move the

red away from the blackspot. Not too sure where pink will go. He will

have the pink in the brown spot. He may have picked -- missed a trick

there. Not finishing low in the black. We know he can get top side

of the black to pay for the red in the black. A lot of work to do. More

than it should have been. He needs to get off the blackspot. He over

ran that by a mile. He has a straight pack in the corner. Very

fortunate. He will be if he does play the blacks. The bottom line is,

he needs to get them away from the blackspot. He does not think the

angle is quite right. It is going to play that shot, which did surprise

me, he had to be in the red. It was not good. I was singing his praises

a while ago with the way he played this match but that was very poor.

Regardless of whether he thought he missed the jaws. The black was the

ball to play. Take that little rattle in Mark

Selby jaws. It has worked in his favour. The best of the safety

shots. An excellent shot. Having been kept

off the table for the last couple of frames, never easy. He bought the

black into play here, just wants to get rid of the red in the blackspot

as quickly as possible. The pink has got its own spot. Not too sure from

here. I can only presume the pink spot is still covered. He might have

to play the black and play into those four reads. Clearly to bring

the pink spot into play. I would surprised he could hold the

spot en masse red. That would have bought the bat into play. At the

centre the table. This time, he has got top side of the black. Should be

able to get rid of that red now that is causing all the problems. That

goes to the left corner, it must be tight.

That has worked out really well. It was beautifully played. He has

decided to take the blackspot still out of play.

Perfect to get the red in the blackspot. The pink goes back on to

the brown spot. Not straightforward yet. Until he gets the pink or

blackspot free, hard when you have to go in and out of ball and up to

the other end of the table. He is seven points in front. You would

expect to win the frame. Until the gets one of those balls at the

beginning of the table, it is not a certainty. The slightly unusual

nature of the frame and the colours in the role -- wrong spots is making

him concentrate harder. Making him think about what he is doing. This

clears the pink spot. Cannot tell. That is where the black will go

next. He had plenty of room. Now he has a chance to win the frame at

this visit. Now it is just a practice situation.

Just to stun the next four shots. He keeps the ball under control.

Certainly, all the hard work has been done.

He is very straight in the blackspot. You can see the angle

there, not much. He did not have to play it. It is risky playing the

straight one, if it does not get enough side, he will want to put the

black in the same pocket. I'm surprised he has taken this. He

should finish perfect, but not guaranteed. He has finished

perfect. An excellent shot. As long as he wasn't straight on

this red down the cushion he was going to be a K. Yes he may have

missed a trick here. He was in first and the balls were perfect. He is

looking at the chance now of losing this frame and realising he will be

too at the interval when he should be three and one in front. He is

used to being in situations where you is to work hard. Tian Pengfei a

pretty new player. It hurts you sometimes when you go into an

interval mind you should be three and one in front. Mark Selby

beginning to play now. He certainly is. His matchplay is

supreme. The one player who has just about everything tactically. His

break building is very good as well. Seen a few long pots going in. No

weakness with this game. A strong temperament. Others might

occasionally might play at the brilliant best, the likes of

O'Sullivan, and trump and a few others in their day. The rest of the

time, he is always there. Competing hard and scoring breaks like this.

This has been top drawer. He had to work really hard for the first 30

point in this break. Now we has them at the business end of the table.

Looking quite straight or would at the moment. -- straightforward. An

excellent break of 66, puts in control the frame. It does, he has

not won it yet. Especially if this plant goes in in Willy. All of a

sudden, he will not be in control for much longer. These two reds

could be made into a plant. He will be nicely in the black now, won't

he? Amazingly enough, he could go favourite with the next shot. No, he

has missed it. Not an easy shot. It did look good from that low camera

angle. The reds are a few good inches apart. He might have a

reprieve if he can pot this red. Wow. That has annoyed to more than

the previous must. -- must. He knows how important this shot is. Another

chance, he knows it. A little bit of the acceleration there. Need to stun

runthrough on the white. He will be in order to that. The only real

problem is brown to blue. The next three reds should not be a problem.

These are important points in in a match. Frame four. If Tian Pengfei

can take this frame, these are the kinds of frames he needs to win.

What is this? If you played in the red to the left middle, it was miles

away. I do not know if it was tension. It was a mile off. He needs

to play both the reds. You've got both on the table. Both in the

corner pocket. Still got the spot on. A little bit more difficult.

Good recovery. But he was so lucky. It was a good shot. Given a

reprieve. Cannot afford to make any more positional eras. He cannot keep

pulling balls. Can he afford to play the pink of this red. He gets a good

angle in the next colour, pink or red to get up for the yellow. Brown

to blue looks the only stumbling block.

The other thing is with the brown where it is, he needs to be in the

green nicely. That is not the best. Still the

right side of the table. Needs to knock this in. Have some kind of a

shot in the brown. Pressure is building. You sense that with this

break. If he plays it did wait, he will flick the brown on the

left-hand side. You have to play a little done runthrough to widen

angle. He would like to finish is close to the brown as possible. He

does not want to play the white two feet away from the brown. Because

the brown but it will not block it in.

I do not think he can get nasty in the brown hair. Hard to judge with

the extension in the queue. If he could play normally, he would be

fine. He did very well. The lot better

shot than it looked. What was the angle like in the brown. He had to

reject into the cue ball. That is the key shot.

Mark Selby will be kicking himself. Two glorious chances to win the

fourth frame. Natural once again. What a steal

this would have been. He had first chance with the frame and should

have scored more than he did. He had a second bite at the cherry. In a

fabulous break of 49 to pinch it by one point. Mark Selby will be very

disappointed, trailing by three frames to one.

Mark Selby, trails by three and one. A bit of work to do. Breaking off in

frame five. Think we expect Mark to raise his

game against Tian Pengfei. He probably knows he has to play

better. If he will make this a win. Apec shot it would be. -- a beacon.

The beauty of these matches, the best of 11, it feels different. Only

one frame potentially to win. Three point down as a long way from being

beaten at this stage. Just a bit short of pace that. He

can still roll it into the black. The redder the lack of a black, it

may come in his way. The stunning runthrough hasn't worked. He could

have played the black that, but he has played the shot somewhere in

between the two. At the moment, Mark is just missing

one or two pots. Maybe things will change the second half of this

match. It is one thing getting a 3- one lead, and playing as he has, but

I suspect he will have to raise his game again if he will go on and

cause a big shock of this match. We would expect Mark Selby to win

every tactical battle. He is not scoring enough. Tiang Pengfei has

had virtually three changes of frame at the moment.

He was hoping it would be a shot to nothing. I do not know whether

marking the red in the middle. The red has crashed into the pack. My

word, if he gets away with this, he is lucky. He is not far enough away

from the cushion to get a stunt in the middle. That is a result and a

half. It looks like he will play safe for

the red he is nearest to. The prize is that he has got Tiang

Pengfei in big trouble here. It will be very difficult to do.

He looks very deep in thought. He said very quietly in the midsession

interval. -- sat very quietly. This could be the biggest game of his

career. He could be the defending to be in. -- beat the defending

champion. The fact that it is so in the pocket, you would expect in the

play right. The way this event has gone so far,

with 128 please share, he has seen one or 21-sided matches. There are

times when shocks have taken place. The system is working. This is what

we are doing for the game, giving amateurs a chance. Obviously, Tiang

Pengfei is far from that. He is a low rents player, 64 in the world.

It would be a big shock if he could get a win. For now, he is in all

kinds of trouble here. Once again, playing as if he has clear shots.

Certainly looking at playing, rolling up to a red, perhaps.

Rolling around two cushions is the plan. I do not see this shot being

on. He has played the shot. He has been a bit fortunate again.

It would not surprise me if he tried to go into them from this. He will

not go into them at any pace. He trailed 3-1 in his previous

round. He would be near the top of your

list if you had to pick a man to win a final frame decider. A little bit

like the previous frame, which obviously he should have won.

Everything is hard work. The pink is in play, but there are a lot of reds

in play. If he got into the gap, he could get the red on the blackspot.

Everything should start to be a little easier. He has played it at

pace and it has not worked. He has flipped when out. He did not play

that. It has turned out to be perfect. Not a good shot, but just

about as close a right-handed player could get to this. He is not feeling

too comfortable at that. He did not want to be in this position. There

is more difficulty about the shot them they should have been. -- then

they should have been. It is to look perfect on the thread.

There was a gap in between the black and red nearest the cushion. He may

get a full bull kiss on this. He will play to the gap on the red and

black. Now it should start to get a bit easier.

Aside from just win the frame, it would be good for his confidence if

he could make a sizeable break you. He has not been flowing all that

well in this match just yet. There are in mind that he had a similar

frame just before the interval. It was his for the taking. The

high-value colour is all he wants this time. It is all he wanted in

the previous frame. A very simple red. He will be taking his time to

make sure. Knowing this is frame ball. The break has not been easy,

low value covers, mostly pinks. If he was feeling edgy or nervous, this

will settle him. He has taken these well. He deserves

a century, he has worked so hard on the spread. -- on this break.

That was hugging the cushion they -- they are.

24 centuries this season, he has not started as well as he could. I

suspect on the other side of Christmas we will see him at his

best. Here comes 51. A lot of matches, of

course. 64 1st-round matches. A lot of very good players around. Very

few better than Mark Selby. This is something he needed. This is

potentially a tough match, but it is much better for Mark Selby, the

defending champion, because he is still trailing, 3-2.

Another poor break therefrom Tiang Pengfei. A schoolboy error. This one

is slightly easier than last time. I do not expect him to miss it. He

would never miss that in front. To put in a quick one after blocking

a century, it is something that will play against some rhythm. He has to

sit and watch now and hope that Mark Selby -- Tiang Pengfei is not make

one here. At 3-1 he must have been feeling good.

He hit the ball nicely. We were discussing this player earlier. He

can hit through the ball beautifully.

He seems to be a player that would work hard at his technique. The

summit comes easy, others really drill yourself into playing the game

in a certain way. Hitting the ball a certain way under pressure. Times

like this when they come under scrutiny.

What a great pack to go into from the black. I don't know if people

play for the black the pink. It is his choice. Can he get back to that

one loose red that is just below the pack? A poor shot he played better

get back onto black. He needed to be half ball on the

black, not where he is. He will try to swing the ball around. What a

result he has had that. A tremendous shot before he put his hand up.

I think they might claim that shot. It was a shot that he absolutely

meant. He looks a little thin on the blue

to guarantee getting into the pack. It was a little thin. I think he had

to hit slower. It would have swung wide. At that pace it was always

going to go too narrow. 38, which is OK. He has necessarily done enough

damage. That is not the best of safety shots. Mark may have got away

with it in the bit that. When you are 38 behind, he liked to get the

ball is open. He has a great chance there.

Having missed times the previous thread so badly, he timed that

perfect. -- previous raid. A great pot. It could be that there is one

red he could land on. He came around to have a look at it. That is what

he will be playing for. He decided that it needed moving. It looked

like he potted from here. Obviously not.

That might be a very lucky kiss on the green. He tried to avoid, but

look where he has finished. Finishing over top of the yellow. It

may have been in his favour. Now, no damage done.

I do feel that this is a massive frame, especially for Tiang Pengfei,

he got in first. You would expect him to win.

He had a quick glance at the possible three balls here. It looks

to be a bit thin. You have to be careful not to leave it over the

pocket. That is why he played a single red instead. He thought it

may push it over the corner. That looks to be a fine safety shot.

All of these good safety shots. A player finding themselves in lots of

trouble. They give chances away in the end.

This is virtually a penalty kick. He also has one in the middle. He is

not quite on top form, Mark Selby. He has missed a few shots you would

expect in the pot. This will take the pressure off. He is not with it

at the moment. That was an absolute mile away. This

was horrible. We talked a bit about deceleration. He did not get into

the boards all. The pupil had time to move with the side he played. By

the time it got to the red, it has over cut it. -- the cue ball had

time. An unexpected opportunity for Mark. Mark will take something from

that. Nothing worse, sitting in a chair,

when you miss the ball as badly as that one. It is difficult to put it

out of your mind. The two reds looked very close

together, bang on for the right corner.

That is good. An important part of the match, the next few shots. A lot

of reaction on the cue ball back, he really got into it. Is what you have

to do when you get into a pack, you have to go into them twice. It can

spin so well after the first contact. He has developed this in

the way chance to develop the frame. It goes on to them first, then goes

on again. That is the art of good queueing.

The red up the table may come into play, depending on which covers you

takes. -- which colours he takes. Mark Selby does tend to move the

balls up. A very good traditional player. He will be a bit twitchy

there on that one. I was not so sure that one was in. To miss that shot,

it would have been the moralising. -- demoralising.

The red by the green is the one that he needs. He has taken the pink

bear. They will not be anything after it. He can roll in behind the

red. Neil mentioned earlier on that this

was the key ball. We saw him almost miss, so he has previous loss of

confidence on the rest. This is one of those where you can play the pot

slowly, but he doesn't have his full confidence at the moment. There is

no confidence in that shot, but don't forget he nearly missed the

red earlier in the break. And that was easier. You've got to do what

you've got to do. The bottom line is a think he played at the right way

under pressure. This might not be that easy to hit, actually. His got

a bounce it off the right question -- he's got to. I suppose now that

he's played it that way, in hindsight, it seems the wrong way.

He could have gone across the table. It cost him the frame. I don't eat

it and really criticise mark for the way he played that shot. -- I don't

think you can. But he is not quite timing it perfectly and when you are

behind your mindset is not the same, is it? He will feel better when he

brings the match level. Just the odd shot here and there shows that he's

not feeling 100% his game as defending champion. The next frame

is really important. He has had chances in his last two games. But

he could just see it slipping away from him if he doesn't take control

of the next frame. It hardly play someone like Selby. Nice exhibition

shot. He is decided that is enough. That is to very good breaks, taking

Mark Selby level at 3-3. -- two. I'm surprised how many bad breakups

there have been in this match. This was a good shot. He got a little bit

lucky, because the red and the cueball just flicked each other.

He's made the effort to speed his game up. Could be dangerous in this

frame now. Pressure in some ways is often. 3-1 up, for in a row. --

four. I don't blame him for trying to flick the blue. Very well played.

Perfect pace. He's tried to leave himself low on

the black so he can go into the bunch. He can play this powerfully.

Brought a couple of reds out, a lot of players would have gone a little

bit harder than that. He is cute. -- has miscued. That's quite rare when

you're playing the ball slowly like years. -- he is. This match has

taken a very similar pattern in a lot of the frames. He is going first

but he hasn't punished Selby enough. Here is our miscue again. --

a. It may not be so bad after the last shot Mark played, he is playing

recovery. Finished in the middle of nowhere there. It may be worth the

risk taking the rate for that, but he's decided to play safety. You

can't blame him, he is trying to keep things tight at the moment. He

is hoping for an easier chance. The cover that red with to Brown,

that is what his trying to do anything he succeeded. -- needs to

cover. I think they could conceivably be a

gap between the bulk of colours. Mark might be able to get the

potting angle. It's tight. He may not have gone for the pot, actually,

he certainly wasn't looking at the cueball.

The fact that it's good to the question makes this safety very

difficult. The red behind the black is possible should he leave it on

this cushion. This is a very dangerous shot to

play but he has played it well. It's left him in a position once

again where it is hard to get the upper hand on the safety. No point

in playing the pot on the red in the corner pocket. If he plays the one

on the cushion, Selby could possibly play the red neither black, so he

want to do that. -- near the. If it flicks the rate it might leave pot.

-- red. I think there could be a snooker after this shot. Mark is

trying to get in behind the black, I think. It's very tight against the

black. I don't think he snookered him completely. He obviously played

that a lot harder than he wanted to end nearly left an easy open. It is

not straightforward. Once again an excellent safety shot

from mark. A very good shot. He played it quite positively. It

doesn't have to go that far away from the red for this, the angle

slightly against him. He nearly missed this because he or -- overcut

it. I think Mark is feeling the pressure even though he is in

front. You don't get many emotions out of Mark Selby, they call him the

just from Leicester and his normally full of laughs -- jester. From his

position, you just have to finish this off. It's been a long slog to

get there. Tens concentration. He keeps looking across at the other

table, which I find a bit odd. I suppose after a while, playing

someone like Mark, the grind of it, you don't get many opportunities and

it takes its toll. He is unlucky to finish where he

has. That's a good shot, natural. You look at Mark, you know he is

feeling it, but he seems to want to know what is happening on the other

table. Signs that maybe he not concentrating hours policy could

after three hours hours of play. The one to the extreme right hand side

of the table, it came off the side cushion. He found there was no

safety shot to play so he went all out for the pot. The pink or blue

would possibly be available but look at this shot. That's what they say,

if you can't find a safety shot, you might as well take the pot on. It is

difficult but it might win him the match. It struggled in but he has

the important chance now. It appears to have just got the top

side of the black. One more loose to get onto, the one at the yellow. If

it tries to do it off the next colour... A nice big target to go on

to the pink and hopefully the remaining five reds. We can see why

he's played for the pink. It's pretty straight onto the red. I

think you can just flicked the other red in turn, pushing the weight to

the right of the yellow, so it available in the middle. Maybe the

red won't be available. He looks purposeful about this shot. There

were a lot of things moving their. We saw a body on that shot and

things just moving around. That was probably the last shot he would need

to win this match. Hasn't left much there that is difficult.

Once again, Selby very tight, he hasn't got a snooker but he hasn't

given many chapels as a way in that safety exchange. -- chances away.

Unless he finds the cushion this red on the left-hand side will be easily

portable. -- pottable. It looks pretty good to me. Even if you can

see the red to pot it's a pretty difficult one. A brilliant shot from

Kang. By no means is that easy at all. Lovely killing. -- cuing. He

has over screwed that a little bit too much. Can still cut this one in

without too much problem. I think he flew to the red. -- flipped. He did

very nicely, to sound a bit extra in this break. -- just found. Selby is

giving him no chances. That's what I thought might happen at the start of

the break. He was very tentative on one. Selby was quickly out of his

chair for this chance. It's going to be tough to win the frame. Yellow to

green is going to be a massive problem. I just wonder if you could

be playing for the gap between black and red here. He likes to get onto

the in such a way that you can move the yellow nearer the pocket,

because yellow to green is going to be very tough. He'd like to bring

the yellow into play. He hasn't got the angles of the yellow so he's

trying to lock in an ankle when he can move from yellow to green. He is

looking at finishing low on the yellow. That's not the greatest

angle ever. At least it's close to it, though, which helps. Which way

is he going to go? That's quite well controlled. Green and brown needed.

That's a very well controlled shot. He is a real professional. He has

given chances away, but his comeback to win. And that is why he is

defending champion. A good match between the two of them. Selby

rattled off five in a row, tactically brilliant. You through to

the last 16.