Day 3 UK Snooker Championship Highlights

Will can do highlights from the williamhill.com UK Championship at

the Barbican Centre in York. The were what might places left up for

grabs in the last 16 of the tournament at the start of today,

so let us start the show by showing you what happened in this

afternoon's matches. Former world and current Masters champion Neil

Robertson produced his best performance of the season so far,

defeating Tom Ford, of Leicester, 6-1. The left-hander from Melbourne

scored four centuries on his way to setting up a secondary clash with

Barry Hawkins. -- second round clash. On the table next door,

Matthew Stevens came out on top against Dominic Dale. He went ahead

with the match despite his concern that he had contracted shingles.

Stevens took the match 6-1 to seal his spot in the next round. I have

put -- he had a great first frame but I am pleased with my

performance. It does not it any easier, Marco Fu next. Tonight, we

concentrate on appeal of two Marks, Williams and King. I am winning

matches at the moment, which is the I qualified for her small

tournament, and in the German Masters, and I just want to keep

winning, really. Playing OK, I suppose. I am not potting any long

balls, for the last couple of years. But, if I get in amongst the balls,

I am not too bad. Mark Williams is a great player, and he has done a

lot more than I have in the game, world champion, UK champion, he has

done a lot, and he still hard to beat, so I have got to be on top of

my game. I have played Mark quite a few times. It makes a difference to

me whatsoever. I got there and try my best. Waco always do. And, if I

So more surprisingly given the pedigree of Mark Williams these

this might have shared the spoils and head-to-head clashes with six

wins apiece. Williams was quickest out of the blocks, winning the

first frame with a break of 57, but Mark King to the second and but, to

lead 2-1, John de goal and Stephen Hendry are your commentators. --

Could have done with kissing that red little bit harder, then the

pink would have been available into the left middle. That's just clears

the pink. Points are level at the moment, 22 each. Well, Mark

Williams, four. Well done, Mark, some great snooker championship,

the referee did not see it, but he felt it. The fall, there. -- foul.

That is the standard of sportsmanship that we have always

had at this game. I am not quite certain what it was he did. We will

try to show you, here. It could have been a red near the cushion,

it might have been his farm. You would not be able to feel the ball

underneath your body, would you? You would not have thought so.

was a costly, careless mistake to make. I have said this was a big

frame, this could be a big moment We can have another close look, is

at his farm that touches that red? It could only have been at, he felt

that red against his thumb. Certainly, Michaela Tabb did not

see it, but he felt it, and declared the foul on himself.

was probably being too much attention to the side cushion and

I used to playing a snooker club, and I would start by saying, are we

playing Queensberry Rules? In other words, if you happen to touch of

all, it was not a full, and there was would say, of course we are

playing Queensberry Rules, but some people in the snooker clubs did not

Mark King is going to need one of these safe reds to win the frame at

this visit. As a left-hander, those are on the wrong side of the table

for him, so it is not a formality. There are two points, the lead at

the moment. Another collar and red required, at the moment, 51 points

remaining. -- colour and red. Too straight on the pink. He will not

be able to get behind any of the reds. He could roll it in and

neatly it double. He is 37 points in front after the pink and would

just need one more red. surprised he didn't stun that last

red in, with the pink to right In an exhibition you would be

flashing this pink in and screwing the Crewe ball -- cue ball across

Looks like he's going to take your advice and play the double. It is

worth the risk because the other red is safe. If he did not this in

and Co 35 in front with the take remaining... It is not there, so

two very good chances that Mark King has had to clinch the frame,

but Mark Williams is still in it. He needs to get this safe. He could

have done with that the kiss on the yellow. -- without the kiss. The

yellow is making it awkward cueing for the red and a bit and side of

the table and the blues covering the potting angle for the red in

the middle of the table, so that Considering he was hampered by the

yellow, that is an excellent shot. Mark Williams now common of the two

cushions, trying to leave this safe, that is on he can hope for, trying

not to leave the pot on. -- that is all he can hope for. Does this red

pass the black along the top cushion? Remember, just the red,

Any more pace I do not think it would have dropped, but, he had the

insurance that if he stayed in the jaws of the pocket, he would have

had the snooker with the black. It is going to be 3-1 at the mid-

It is not there, but the five points of what difference, 35

remaining - is it worth carrying on? If it isn't, 3-1 at the mid-

session interval to Mark King. That moment of honesty the richly cost

Mark Williams frame four as he could not muster at the snookers

required and found themselves in further trouble as Mark King took

the fifth frame, and now leads 4-1. This is the sixth frame and there

I can't believe he played for this red. When you're getting so close

to the ball, you have to be absolutely perfect. It can't that

Just having will look to see whether the black is available. It

is pretty tight. It will just about In an ideal world you would like to

get in on the black and nudge those two reds so that he could be near

to the black spot, to free the black Cup when it is re-spotted. -

free the black up. I think he might have run on a little bit too far

for that. He is on the black, but I think he could move the reds away

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He tried to. Where is the black If he could get somewhere near that

circle, he may just about have an angle to be on the red second left

of the black, to cannon the red Has he got the right angle to play

the little cannon? I thought, when about that circle would have been

perfect. -- round about. He is just about there, he can just about

force the cue ball there. Hmmm. He may still be on this black. He's

mighty close to it. The referee looking very closely. He played

that nicely, as he has done most things tonight. This is as good as

I have seen Mark King play for quite sometime. He has been pop in

all departments, long potting, safety, break-building. -- he has

Now, you see the pot success rate, 91%. That is good enough, 77% for

his opponent, not good enough. Safety success, well, 42% isn't bad.

What safety and pot success, you have to be looking at round about

90%. His safety success has been helped by Mark Williams not potting

too many long balls. But, Mark A little bit further down for the

blue, that is why he is shaking his head slightly. He did have a slight

angle, so he could get close to the reds. He has made a couple of

opportunities in each frame, he hasn't ever won a frame in one

visit. But he certainly has a Well, does this red go? I think

this might have gone wrong. Does that red go? It is tight, isn't it?

I think he played for the one closest to the pocket, so he has

run out of position slightly here. Mark Williams might be getting back

to the table with still a chance to win this frame. It is very tight.

He has got an alternative red to the far right corner, but that is

Nice pot on a red, probably with a slight element of safety, now it is

going to be a straight blue across the table, just dropping this blue

in, following through a few inches, for the red that is close to the

He's definitely getting stronger, as he gets closer to the winning

line. No sign of weakness. And now, that red has gone in, he only needs

the black. He pots the black he is 69 points in front with 67

When he pots this black, that will certainly keep Mark Williams in his

Just playing the cannon there are, on the two reds. Brings them all

Highest break in the tournament so far is jointly held by Marco Fu and

Stephen Maguire, at 131. He just keeps playing for this red and

cannot get straight on it to play for the black, otherwise he could

have a more sizeable break. Now, he is playing for the blue again. It

will be a nice 100, though. Well played, absolutely super stuff, he

took that well, taking the frame at one visit. He will not be bothered

about the yellow, he could not better the high break, and Mark

Williams left pondering what he is going to do about this. At the

moment, nothing, because Mark King is only one frame away from a place

in the last 16. He leads 5-1. He was one frame away from making it

through to the second round for the first three years, but Mark

Williams took frame seven to reduce the deficit to three frames, here

is frame eight, Mark King at the He missed that by a long way.

Giving the immediate chance to Mark Playing for the black, but can he

guarantee to be on it? That is why he has gone back up for the blue.

And finished up with the perfect angle. As soon as he gets on the

black and gets the black on its Sometimes, in the match, when a

player gets to the stage where you only needs one frame for victory

and he does not win that frame, sometimes you can get at him.

Obviously, Mark Williams cannot afford any more mistakes. He has

No, an opportunity. He just needs to stun into that main bunch, just

listen a few more reds, he's bound to be on one of those reds to the

right of the black. Why played so hard? That as an example of where

his timing is out tonight. That was a straightforward shot, he did not

He has recovered, with a good pot. He seems to be hitting his shots,

rather than stroking them. To get the action on the white, you need

He wants to be straight on this red, and he is. Still got two wits to

the right of the black available. - He is on it, it could have gone

He won the last rain in just under 12 minutes and that would tapping

quicker, if Mark King had conceded when he knew about four snookers.

He has been going for four and-a- 58 points for the lead, two reds

Another red and the blue would put him 70 points in front with 67

remaining. Mark King played that long red and missed it by a long

way. Mark Williams has not looked at the scoreboard. And certain that

he is aware of the situation. Just the blue needed, and he will come

round off two cushions to try to bring those reds into play, he

needed the cannon and he got it. He APPLAUSE this is more like it.

If he can keep doing this, winning frames in one visit, it is going to

Nicely played, bringing that red into play, he can now try and bring

the other red, near the cushion, into play, now, and just could not

get quite enough of it. He's not one that worries too much about

But, if he kept going, there was a chance of bettering the highest

He developed the red, Peter fully Hand Mark King concedes, so there

is a little bit of light at the end Despite that magnificent century

offering a glimmer of hope, it was Mark King who managed to hold his

nerve and he took frame nine, thanks to a break of 52. He will be

hoping to repeat or even better his semi-final spot here back in 2004.

I played solid. Mark struggled a bit, but I thought I took my

chances well. Honing missed a couple of balls that I should have

cut. -- only. I thought my safety was really good and when I got in

by punished in and if there was nothing there I did not take risks.

I did not get going, it was probably one of the worst

performances I have played for quite a long time. I just seemed to

be getting worse. I was probably 20 points worse than was five or 10

years ago. I probably got what I deserved, I lost. Congratulations

to Mark King, he is through to the second-round. A reminder about the

One remaining match in the first round. Luca Brecel had to defeat

former world champion Peter Ebdon to get his place in the tournament.

There were never more than two framed between the pair and after

10 frames it was the full, meaning it was our third final frame

decider of the tournament so far. Dennis Taylor and Ken Doherty take

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KEN DOHERTY: Hat is not bad. -- Has he fluked another one? If he

can get tight in behind the green, How important could that fluke p? -

If he can see just below the centre pocket on the right-hand side then

he may be able to come off two cushions and clip the reds just

below the pink spot. He has to get somewhere down past the middle

Side cushion, top cushion, try and hit the two reds that are close

together, and then back up to the baulk cushion. I think that is his

That was very well worked out but Home wandering what is going

through the mind of a Ricky Walden. He is battling out a deciding frame

in a match he should have had won a long time ago. And this young man

has held his nerve. His highest break was a break of 66 in frame

That has, a little too far. He was playing for the two reds that Ken

was talking about little and here. He will have to roll up to the

prone and try and leave Ricky Walden in trouble again. -- that

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He is still holding slight It is going to need all Ricky

Walden's experience as a professional to get out of the

He was in total command of this match in the early part of it.

Somehow and he let his opponent back in and K pin that chance,

which he duly took. -- gave him a The dreaded double kiss and he can

take the red in tooth the right middle pocket. If he can get onto

the green he could get back into amongst the reds. The black is out

of commission but the pink is available. He is looking and the

He will settle for that. One good positional shot and he could be in

He has gone a bit too far. He could have been straight on one of the

reds and left himself the pink for the right corner. That was an

He went straight down for the pink but that is so careless. A little

bit of tension in his arm. You have to say it has to be expected pot

there was such a big margin for error there. Can you believe it?

That is two chances that he has had unfairness just got the better of

All of a sudden, the chance falls to Ricky Walden. He cannot just

drop the blue in. There may be an That was about the best that he

He has a red to left centre for red He may try to get to the red on the

extreme left of the pink. Not hard enough this time. But he was not go

to make the same mistake that Luca He is kidding himself but little

bit longer. He knows what trot he wants to play -- what shot. He is

giving himself that bit more time and hoping he does not make an

Can you believe it? Absolutely amazing. The only consolation is

that he did not get nicely onto a He is going through all sorts of

emotions in this match. He has been muttering away to himself most of

It is hard to predict the outcome of this. You will see both players

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Has he covered it this red? He has He tried to get on the blue so that

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Well played. He brought the other This is an excellent opportunity.

Three reds and three colours could Worrying times for Ricky Walden.

cannot believe what has happened in this match and I'm sure Ricky

What a result this would be for the That is a brilliant shot. That

should Centre in through to the last 16 of the williamhill.com UK

Championship. I do not think Ricky Walden will ever have played a

And in it goes. And look at that little fist. He is a very modest

young man. Perry rarely we used Hibbert from him but he must be

absolutely over the moon. He has missed the green, but par rink

snookers, he looks like he has got himself into the last 16.

Victory case to teenager Luca Brecel. Earlier this year he became

the youngest player to appear at the Crucible.

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The first round is completed and Bomb next on BBC two his Snooker