Quarter-Finals UK Snooker Championship Highlights

MUSIC PLAYS. MUSIC PLAYS Good evening.

Quarterfinal day at the 2015 Betway 2015 championship and we have some

cracking snooker to show you this evening. To tonight's two

quarterfinal matches shortly but let's bring you right up to date

with this afternoon's matches, with Marco Fu taking on Liang Wenbo.

Liang accounted for Judd Trump in Round 3 and survived against Tom

Ford yesterday had breaks of 106, 132 and 138 in the first three

frames. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The way he's cueing, this is superb. Well, it doesn't get much better

than that. That was absolutely fantastic. Three of the best frames

I have seen for many, many years. At 5-2 Liang was poised to close out

the match but this missed pink offered Fu an unexpected lifeline.

He's going for it and he's got it. World number 14, who knocked out

Shaun Murphy in the previous found, levelled it at five-all. A KG final

frame between two good frames eventually won by Liang, the world

number 29 through to only his third ranking semifinal and his first here

at the UK Championship. Yeah, Marco is a good friend and I

just concentrate to play, enjoy to play. I play today is fantastic, the

first season, the four frames, I make it to three centuries and the

fourth century I make 49. I missed the red. I got very good chance to

make four centuries. But Marco today gave me a lot of pressure. When I

missed, he cleaned up and made me a lot of pressure, just tough game,

yeah? Well, many congratulations to Liang. He really has been a breath

of fresh air this week in York. And so to this afternoon's other

quarterfinal match and what a cracker this was between Neil

Robertson, the winner in 2013, and a the three-time UK champion John

Higgins. Well, both men have been superb this week. It went right down

to the wire. The final frame, despite Robertson leading 4-1 at one

stage, also worth noting Higgins made his 600th century break in the

first frame. We pick it up in the decider. Robertson on a break of

nine. The eighth time they've gone to a final-frame decider.

Getting closer and closer to the semifinal. And that, I don't think,

has worked out. So it's not over just yet. One good split there and

the match was over. But he's stuck somewhat in the reds there. Is there

another twist in this deciding frame?

He's not quite just finished yet. It's just a separate forward safety

shot, you would feel, off the side cushion, in behind the green, tight

on the cushion. It looks a natural to be able to play that shot. --

it's just a straightforward safety shot, you would feel.

I think if he got off that red off the side cushion, puts the white

somewhere near the line, it will keep everything pretty safe. He's 53

in front. He'd love to push a red safe but he might have to sacrifice

that to get a good cue ball. If the pink goes off the red and

knocks the other red in, is it a three-ball plant? He can't knock

this red on to it at this stage. He can't attempt that. But... That's a

pretty good return. APPLAUSE

Super shot from John Higgins. Yeah, that was a possibility. It won't be

after the next shot. But you'd have needed to have got yourself into a

position to knock a red on to the pink to make the plant. But Neil's

got the play-off. -- got to play off the red that's two from the pink.

And that's another pretty good safety shot. If he misses the brown,

it's a beauty. APPLAUSE

Is there just a little bit sticking out here? Yeah.

John was just going to look at this red when he goes to play it. He

doesn't want to knock it over the right corner, obviously.

STEPHEN HENDRY: That's a good safety shot.

DENNIS TAYLOR: He might have to come off the side cushion and nestle on

the red off the side pocket. There's no easy return to the safety area.

That's the shot that's available to him, maybe not as close to the

green, but... It might not be a bad thing to play the red next to the

pink and bring it into play. As long as he can get a good cue ball and

just open the pink up, just in case he does get a chance. He's got to

find a good spot, though, for the cue ball.

He could possibly play to get in behind the yellow off one of the

other reds, but he would like that pink into play. The other possible

shot would be off that red off the bottom cushion in towards the

yellow, but that would leave the pink tied up. Yeah, that's got the

pink in the open now. That's a pretty good cue ball. Unless...

APPLAUSE I think the pink is -- I think the

pic is blocking the path into the corner. Having said that, I think

he'll have a go at this. I don't think he'll cannon the red that's

near the left side of the table. He's just brought the yellow into a

slightly better position. If John Higgins was to get a chance for a

counterattack in this frame... APPLAUSE

Well, that was a good kiss on the green. He's left himself a perfect

angle to come back down the table. And what a chance.

Oh... John Higgins - 1. Did that kick? I'm not sure whether he mishit

it. He's having the cue ball cleaned. I think it did kick a

little bit. That's unfortunate after the fantastic pot on the red. What a

way to go out of this year's UK Championship, because he's 52 points

behind. After such a fantastic quarterfinal, what a shame that it's

decided on a heavy contact. He didn't react the way you would

normally react if it was a kick. I think he'd be, you know, a lot more

disgusted. I think he was really disappointed in himself. But that's

possibly one of the worst positional shots Neil Robertson has played in

this match. He's actually on nothing. Dear me. He's 59 in front.

There's 59 possible points on the table. I mean, it's as if he just

thought the pink was enough and that he'd won the match. He has now.

APPLAUSE Well, only John will be able to tell

us if he got a heavy contact on the green or he mishit it slightly but

what a quarterfinal we've had here. John Higgins has made three century

breaks, a 69 and a 66. And he's going to come out on the losing end.

An amazing standard. But you've got to give it to this Australian. He

played an unbelievable match against Steven Maguire and equally as good

here. We've had everything in this quarterfinal, some brilliant

tactical frames, and a lot of the frames won with one visit. It

doesn't matter about the rest. John Higgins will come forward and

congratulate him. Too would have graced any final, this match, and

what a comeback from John Higgins. He was 4-1 down, 5-3 down and he

took it to a decider. It's a very relieved Australian that goes

through to the semifinal, winning the match six frames to five.

The way I started off the match, to go 4-1 up, was similar to how I

played yesterday. And, you know, John being the champion he is, he

came back at me and, you know, froze me out the next couple of frames. I

didn't even attempt to pot. The decider, you know, I think John will

be disappointed because he had a couple of chances to get in and, um,

we both made a couple of mistakes, but luckily for me, I made probably

one less mistake than him. Neil Robertson is an unbelievable player.

You can look at all the players down the years and whatever, Neil would

rank with a lot of players, because the - the top ones, because he's a

fabulous player. Great long ball and, as I said, he's been a top

player for the last four or five years, good cuist. There's no reason

for it to not continue for the next five or ten years. He's that good.

I'm a little bit gutted I didn't put him under pressure at the start. But

other than that, no complaints. As I said, the best man won. So Liang

Wenbo, who was knocked out in the second round at the UK Championship

last season, has made it to the semifinals, where he plays either

Martin Gould or David Grace and Neil Robertson will play either Mark

Selby or Matthew Selt. And it is time for us to see if Selt can cause

another big upset here at this year's UK Championship in knocking

out the much-fancied Mark Selby. We pick up the action in frame four.

Selby leads by two frames to one. He's at the table, 35 points behind.

JOHN VIRGO: Oh, wide. So Matthew Selt doesn't have to wait too long

for his next opportunity to clinch the frame. It's here now.

He played that very well. It's easy to underscrew or overscrew those. He

played it to perfection. Inch-perfect.

There's the barometer. 66 points required and he's already got 49 of

them. Don't tell me he's not on the black. STEPHEN HENDRY: IT DOESN'T

LOOK LIKE IT. UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN HE -- it doesn't look like it.

Unfortunately, when he pots the pink, it will go to the brown spot

and he's on a red, an easy red to the left corner. Yeah, just a little

bit more pressure on the pink than there would normally have been.

Matt's assuming that the pink doesn't go on the spot - and

Stephen's right, it goes on the highest available, which is the

brown spot. So he wants to mind his work here. It nearly went wrong from

nowhere. Well... Mmm... You could feel it coming, couldn't you? Yeah,

just... It's hard to explain. You just, you just feel when someone is

around the table or when they get down to the shot, they just don't

look settled. Well, this will hurt Matthew Selt.

Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth. As we look at it now,

it would be an incredible clearance from this position. But the bad

thing for Matthew Selt, as we've seen is that Matthew Selt may have

an angle to take the red off the right-hand side cushion and leave

himself on the other red. Here it goes...

Ooh, just another roll as he knocked it on. It's one of those, isn't it?

You have to drop it and hope gravity takes over when he gets to it. Can

he nudge it out this time? That's the idea. That's the idea! Couldn't

have played it better! Beautiful shot. Good chance, Stephen.

APPLAUSE And now I think he can play for the

red on the left cushion in the knowledge that if he's not on it

properly, he's always on the red in the middle pocket. He'll be playing

for the difficult red here. Oh, well, he didn't, which surprises

me a little bit. He might not get the chance to get as close to that

red again. He needs to play a good shot here to get a good position on

the colour, or get a good angle on the colour, I should say. 20 points

behind. Matthew Selt having to sit there now

and suffer. He's got an angle to come up and

nudge that red into play but this black is missable. Don't take your

eyes off the pot. Good pot, but has he developed the red into a potable

position? So just a safety? He'd like a snooker from it. Yeah, thin

off the left-hand side of the red, try and get the cue ball behind the

black. Too thick on the red, but I think he has still got the snooker

with the blue and the pink, so it was a decent shot. From Matthew

Selt's point of view, Mark Selby shouldn't even be in this frame. We

should be in the interval by now. Yeah. And that's the problem when

you miss when you're in. Now, he's had a look to see if he can come off

the left-hand side and just miss the yellow. He's going to hit this --

he's got to hit this red just right. He needs to get it safe.

It's not safe. Just slightly in Matt's favour is the fact that the

cue ball is nestled near the yellow. It makes it an awkward pot. If it's

a natural just to pot it, then finish up on the black, then not

that much of a problem for Mark Selby. Well, it wasn't natural. He

was running into the black. But he'll settle for the little nudge.

Of course, if he hadn't got the nudge, he'd have just played the

snooker behind the black. The important point was pot the red.

What chance he's got now and what a steal and what a blow to Matthew

Selt's hopes here, if he can win this frame.

The cue ball just stopped in time. I'm not sure if it passes the green

to the brown corner. That's the shot he'd like to play. If not, he has to

screw back for the green into its own pocket and touch the right-hand

side. Well, he's favourite now. Yes. Just two points behind. He needs up

to and including the pink, so he doesn't have any problem of getting

from pink to black. This would be a steal. He's got more angle on the

green than I thought, John. So unless the brown pots in the green

pocket, it's not plain sailing yet. He can't stay for the brown in the

same pocket here. From our view, it looks very tight to get on to the

brown in the left corner. But it must go. He's played for it.

What sort of angle has he got on the brown? Follow through off two

cushions and the blue to the left centre. He needs to finish this side

of the blue, black side. Anything but straight. Well, not the right

side of the blue, but it's only a case of getting line and length as

Matt Selt is sat in his chair reflecting on the easy red he missed

when he was in with a chaps to win the frame and level the match. --

with a chance to win the frame and level the match. But it looks now

for all money that the mid-session interval is going to be 3-1.

And that's the way it is so Mark Selby will be very pleased. Matt

Selt has got a lot to think about in the interval, particularly when you

lose a frame like that. Mark Selby is 3-1 ahead.

Well, that was a key frame because the 2012 UK champion won the next

three frames in just 45 minutes to book his place in a mouth-watering

semifinal against Neil Robertson. And to think he was almost dumped

out of the tournament in the early hours of Tuesday morning against

Jamie Jones of Wales in Round 3. Here he is on the verge of yet

another final. I thought I played OK in patches.

Didn't really miss anything easy. Scored half OK when I got a chance.

I think I made a few 60 breaks. I would have liked to have converted

them into probably one or two centuries. Overall, happy with my

performance. Apart from the Jamie game, which I was lucky to get

through, I played well in the other four matches to get through. But,

yeah, I'm highly confident going into the semifinal. It's going to be

a tough game. Neil is probably playing the best of the tournament

so far. I know I need to be on my A game. Congratulations to Mark Selby.

Local lad David Grace from Leeds was telling us in the studio this week

about his love of art and he certainly put himself in the picture

this week for a possible place in the semifinal, with some outstanding

snooker. He was up against Martin Gould. Do not understatement Gould

because he reached the final of the Australian Open this season. Gould

dominated the opening season, thanks to a break 125 in frame three and

this 127 in frame five. Grace, ranked 81 in the world, has never

beaten Gould. Their last meeting ended 4-1 to the man from London. He

came so close to winning his first ranking title in Australia. They

shared the next two frames. We'll pick up the action in frame eight.

Gould to play, 25 points behind. If it wasn't straight, he may decide

to go round the two cushions because the safety shot is tough.

That's what he's done. I think he's got away with it.

KEN DOHERTY: Well, that was the last thing he wanted, to kiss that black.

Oh, my goodness. I think this pots, you know. Anywhere but hitting the

black there full ball. He's nicely on the blue. WILLIE

THORNE: Chance now to win frame and match. He's got a chance to go round

the table to get on to the green. Six more pots for a place in

tomorrow's Betway UK Championship. His heart will be beating. There's

no doubt about that. He's never been this far before.

The cue ball will be coming back towards this left-hand middle

pocket. Watch the cue ball. Watch the cue

ball! Watch the cue ball! Oh! Wow! Would you believe it? Martin Gould

11. Well, the cue ball was always going that way I'm afraid. That was

a poor shot. What a chance he's given David Grace now. For somebody

with Martin's class, he just can't get... The natural angle is there.

Why finish straight on the blue? Just make sure you're short.

Well done, David Grace. He's pinched another one and kept this match

alive. The only break of significance in this frame was a

break of 38 but that won't worry David Grace and his supporters.

Martin Gould will be kicking himself. David Grace wins another

one! He closes to 5-3. Well, incredibly, Grace won the next

two frames to force another final-frame decider, the third of

the day. Grace is at the table on a break of 32, closing in on victory.

Red to leave Martin Gould needing a snooker. It didn't sounded good. It

sounded like a kick. Martin can't bear to watch. Oh! Would you believe

it! Just the red required and... Oh... 61 points with 67 left on the

table. Is there another twist? -- is there another twist in this story?

Well, he's nicely on the blue. He's got to play one good cannon here.

Play a slow cannon for the red to the left of the pink, and try and

play it full ball? Or do you try and bring the other reds into play? Just

try and pot the blue, Willie, and hope for a nice cannon. And he's got

it. Martin Gould has not made a 25 or 30

break in the last couple of frames. He's faced now with a chance of

pinching it. -- finishing it. He tried to get back up for blue or

pink. I'm surprised he didn't just stump for the black. This is tough

but he's got a nice angle on the black if he pots it and it will

certainly go into the two reds. Big shot, this. Oh! Great pot! Just

missed the kiss on the red zblvenlt but there was a lot of pressure on

that black. That was a fantastic pot.

It's OK. The cue ball was -- I thought the cue ball was going to

bounce too far up the table. He's got a nice angle on the black.

He's brought one red into play. The other red might be open. He's come

around to see if it is from the left-hand corner pocket. It doesn't

look like it from the commentary position. He's going to have to pot

the red, get on the blue or black, make one more good cannon and bring

that blue into play. In some ways he was a little unlucky there to put

the red on top of the pink. But if he can't bring this red into play,

it's a very, very simple snooker. Yeah. He's too straight again on the

black. So David Grace is going to get another chance. He has a choice

here. The red, I'm sure, pots into the green pocket. Does he play the

simple snooker? Or does he go all out and try and pot this red into

the green pocket? It looks like he's shaping up to take the red on. Well,

he's missed it but he's got second prize and David Grace will be

relieved to get another chance here. 31 points the difference. 35 left on

the table. He's got to miss the baulk colours

with the red. That's gone past the middle. So who's going to win this

safety battle? David Grace -- if David Grace wins the safety battle,

he wins the match. If Martin Gould wins the safety battle, he still has

to pot the remaining red, colour, and all the colours. Lovely shot.

Very good. He's got a full-ball snooker on the red. Well, it was a

good hit. All you're hoping for is that you get the red safe and that's

all he's done. But, again, the cue ball up into the middle of the baulk

cushion, you would have to say, up behind the brown, red somewhere near

the blackspot, it looks a good line. Excellent shot.

APPLAUSE Black may just be in the way for the

swerve. I'm sure... You'd want to be a brave man to swerve through the

black and blue there and around the brown. So, again, maybe the

two-cushion escape and try and hit the back of this red. I'm not too

sure, if he just goes past the middle pocket, whether he goes thin.

Like you say, Ken, he wants to hit it from behind. I'm not too sure if

he can see enough of the cushion past the middle pocket to hit it

full. Yeah, it was always going to be thin. Foul and a miss. Actually,

it's not too bad going into the middle pocket there because he could

have easily left the free ball. He could have come back off the knuckle

of the middle pocket and back towards the red. So he's seen the

line. The first line doesn't work. He can readjust here but... You'd

expect him to hit it this time. I'm not sure it's on, Ken. Well, it

could be a free ball here. Foul and a miss. Martin Gould four. Free

ball. Look where the cue ball has finished. I'd have it put back to

where it was, not there. I don't think it's on, the previous shot. I

suppose it's a little bit more difficult now but... Well, it's

almost, in this way it's almost impossible to get this safe. Mmm,

yeah, good thinking. He's got to go off one, two, possibly three or four

cushions here. Oh, boy, this is real tension now for David Grace

supporters. One shot away he was, when he was on the last red, to win

the match. If he sticks this red up, Martin Gould could clear.

Oh, that was so close. That's one of the times in snooker where I think

the rule is not right. It is the rule but what the referee is saying,

you've got to hit it, that was a hard snooker to hit and he missed it

by a cigarette paper. This looks good. Oh! Wow. Foul and a

miss. I thought it was going to hit the outside edge and another miss is

called. Well, just take a little breather

for yourself, David, because this is one of the most important frames and

shots maybe that you're going to play in your career so far.

Oh! Foul and a miss. Martin Gould 4. Well, how close was that? He was 31

points ahead on the last red. The difference is only seven now. This

looks better. Looks better. Oh! Foul. Martin Gould 4. No miss,

though. Well, the referee hasn't called a miss this time. No miss.

It's not a miss. Well, that's every credit to the referee there. Because

six on the trot and that's very nice of Martin Gould to accept that

decision. Every credit to Martin. I mean the rules are the rules but the

referee has used his discretion there and I totally agree with him,

even though I'd have agreed with him a little earlier than that. Well,

absolutely. It's a brave call from the referee. I think in the

situation, probably the right one. He may have got the cover here. I

knew he was going to get the cover from where he was going to put the

cue ball. So the drama still unfolds here in the Barbican Centre in York.

I hope he doesn't hit this ball and goes in off him.

How's his luck? He'll be pleased if he hasn't left a pot. Does the red

pass the pink? It looks like it does. It clearly passes the pink.

Great shot. It's in the heart of the pocket. Martin Gould has a chance

now. It's gone a bit betwixt and between here. That was a sigh

because he knows that normally this blue would be a certainty but this

is not normal now. Would you take the blue on, Will, or the pink

maybe? Well, a lot of players would. I'd have taken the black. If he was

going to play a pot, he'd have to play the blue. The black was too

tough. Well, a lot of David Grace supporters are getting excited and

what a chance now he's left with. That's the first of the five he

needs to -- five colours he needs to pot to win the frame and match. Just

the awkward cueing over this black. Oh, great shot. That's the second of

the five and that was a brilliant shot. Super shot that was. Brown and

blue required for a place in the semifinals. He's on the blue. Well,

this is remarkable. It really is remarkable what's happened in this

match. Both players have had frame ball at their mercy. David Grace has

been given a lifeline. And it's a lifeline that he's taken!

You can believe this? The biggest win of his career.

Very well played, David Grace! What a tremendous performance! 5-1

behind. Martin Gould virtually had frame ball. He won five on the trot

to get his place in the semifinal! Congratulations! A standing ovation

from this packed crowd! David Grace in the semifinal of the Betway UK

Championship. Very well done! He played fantastic in the middle of

the match. He wasn't putting a foot wrong. I was sat in me chair and I

thought there was no way back into this. But luckily enough, he missed

and I managed to mop him up, did a good 50 to just nick a frame back,

you know. I was happy that I weren't on me way home. I went to the toilet

and said to myself, "Make him win it. Don't just give him it." And

then, um, I think he was the next frame he was clearing up and he

landed a little bit smelly on the brown and just things started to run

against him and, yeah, just managed to scrape me way back into it. So

David Grace becomes the lowest-ranked player to reach the

semifinals of the UK Championship since Alan McManus in 1990. And Neil

Robertson will play Mark Selby, a repeat of the 2013 final, which the

Australian won. Quick look at the York Barbican. There were four

tables, then there were two and now just the one as we get ready for the

semifinals. Hazel will be back with live coverage at one o'clock on BBC

One. From all of us here, good night.

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