Second Round: Part 2 UK Snooker Championship Highlights

Seconds out, round two of this

year's Betway United Kingdom

championship, here in your. We've

seen a couple of knockout blows

delivered in this championship

already and this afternoon two

former champions, Ronnie O'Sullivan

and Shaun Murphy, were both aiming

to avoid the kind of fate that

befell the world number one, Mark

Selby, yesterday. Now for one of

them it was a torturous afternoon

today. For the other, it was plain

sailing.

Welcome to the Ronnie

O'Sullivan show.

There's no one else in the game who

has cue ball control. Scary. Scary

shot.

Ronnie O'Sullivan goes into

unexpected two frames to nil lead.

First point on the board, his first

long pot. Oh, my goodness.

Marvellous pot.

Michael Georgiou does avoid the 6-0

whitewash. 4-1. What a shot. OK,

just fantastic.

Well, the handshake comes. It was

all about the win today for Ronnie

O'Sullivan. He goes through 6-1 in

front.

It was very workmanlike kind

of performance, trying to keep it as

businesslike as I can about the game

and my approach to the game, and,

businesslike as I can about the game

and my approach to the game, and,

you know,

and my approach to the game, and,

you know, there was a few little

spells there when I went off the

boil but if you can limit the time

that you go off the boil that's the

key, really, because everybody has

spells where they are feeling it and

not feeling it. It's just about not

losing the game in them moments.

Ronnie through, but Shaun Murphy was

going through the mill. World under

69 Liam Highfield had come swinging

back off the ropes from 2-4 down and

looked like he'd complete the

comeback with a 6-4 win until that

miss in frame ten. And it handed

snooker's Triple Crown winner a

lifeline on the black, which he

took, to force the final decider.

Then followed the most dramatic 40

odd minutes. Murphy miscue in,

handing the advantage to Highfield,

and are quite fascinating, torturous

turn of events thereafter, Murphy

crossed the line. It's a match that

neither man will forget, nor anyone

watching.

It was just a few mistakes

here or there that cost us and made

the game that sort of tents,

exciting affair. On another day one

of those runs away with the match

and wins 6-2, 6-3, but there were

those small twists and turns, the

difference between winning easily

and winning badly is so fractional.

So I'm relieved.

There's obviously

every frame that he won and every

frame I won, we probably could have

won each other's frames. It was one

of those matches where I felt there

were chances either way and may be

the only thing that decided the

match was the experience in the

bigger arena.

Davis' phrase of

playing like it means nothing is so

difficult and on another day I'd

have been down the M1, home.

Fairplay to Liam Highfield for

taking the fight to the magician.

The last we saw of Shaun, he was

mopping his brow, scratching his

head and wondering how on earth he

got himself into such a pickle in

the first place. Aiming to avoid

such a scrap to get over the line

was John Higgins this evening, a

four time world champion, and at the

age of 42, John just keeps adding to

his trophy collection. 29th world

ranking title came earlier this

season at the Indian in September.

Well, tonight, the three times UK

champ was pitted against 27-year-old

Cao Yupeng, known as Eric over here.

Interesting to note these two have

played only once before, five years

ago, and it was Eric who won that

one, 6-3 in his home city, a half

decent stab that, although there are

plenty of others that would point to

Higgins as a winner tonight.

Well, this was a very intriguing

start the match. It was Higgins who

edged two frames ahead, but Cao

Yupeng had levelled it by "Again,

the Scot went two up and thereafter

to lead 4-2, and we're going to pick

them up in the seventh frame. The

Chinese player 11 points in front on

this one. Commentary from Alan

McManus and Taylor. -- Dennis

Taylor.

COMMENTATOR:

That's far too thick. It's opened

the reds up. The pink and the black,

as he slumps back in his seat, Cao

Yupeng, he knew he hit that all

wrong. He can get out on the blue

here. Have a look at the pink, it's

not tied up.

And that's helped to clear the pink

spot a little. Further. So it's a

good chance here for John Higgins.

Can he keep his focus this time, and

not make a careless mistake? He's

done it on three or four occasions.

He could win the frame here, just

taking all pinks. He's got the blue,

if he needs it.

Can't believe it. It's amazing. It's

just another lapse in concentration

on an absolute sitter.

I mean, all his Mrs, they've been so

easy.

Yes, and it's not pressure

that's doing it. He can handle that

side of things. He's just not on it

tonight, John Higgins. Right from

the word go. Stop start, as we said

before. He's struggling. Cao Yupeng

must make hay while the sun is

shining here.

Well, he wouldn't call that making

hay. That's for sure. I know he had

to forfeit a little bit, but -- he

had to force it a little bit, but

put a little quick one in there.

Doesn't look as if he passed the red

to cut the other one in, but he must

be able to.

Even that shot, look

where he's left the cue ball. So his

timing is not there at the moment.

Yeah, you could argue with that shot

there, the yellow and pink as they

are, he would have been playing

topside of the blue, but probably

farther from a choice of three or

four colours, three feet short of

pace playing that. This is a good

shot. Deserves to be on one. That

was brilliant, to find the gap.

As I say, he's intending, he played

for the blue, believe it or not.

Look where it's finished.

I think he

just thought he knows he's not

timing it, I'll give this one a bit

more, and of course, he overscrewed

it. That was sweet as a bun, the way

he hit that. Might not have looked

much, but useful screw shot. It's

got such grip on the cue ball.

Yeah,

it turned out to his advantage, the

pink going in a game. The pink is

back on its spot, which helps.

Those two reds, one of them should

be available into the same pocket as

the pink. He's overscrewed it

slightly, he might have to cannon

into them. I think he can avoid them

and leave the read on for the same

pocket. Let's have a look, yeah,

he's OK.

Yeah, they both go. He's just coming

around to have a look from this end.

The red is a bit of a distraction

for his cueing.

A better piece of timing on the

pink. Perfect now, play for a choice

of a couple of reds, off this next

pink. Quick scoreboard check, 38,

the lead, 44, probably still need

the two reds. Two loose reds, that

is.

Overscrews it again. I mean, the

pink is still the better ball to get

on to the red next to the black, and

he's going to need that to secure

the frame. And put himself in a

very, very strong position in this

match. Once again, just overscrewing

a bit, but it's a natural angle to

get onto the red to the right of the

black.

Nicely played. 51 in front, with

just 51 remaining. This red to

secure the frame.

He did not think he was going to

finish on the black for the middle

pocket. He just made sure of the red

and that was a bonus.

Not at his best, Murphy. That 49

break is more than enough to secure

the frame.

-- Higgins. Yes, Higgins in a good

position, but as Alan and Dennis

have mentioned, he is labouring

tonight. His top rate in this match

is 59, and if he wants to get over

the line, he will require snookers.

Trying to stay on the black.

He is looking at the scoreboard.

56 the difference. He now needs two

snookers.

Yes, if there's black can go in and

he can avoid the movie mag on the

next red, his interest levels will

be raised. You would expect John

Higgins to get a decent snooker from

the last red.

As always, he will be trying to get

the red in baulk. Justin baulk would

be good, some were up behind one of

those colours.

He has got to the red away from the

cushion. This is a big swear. The

green is slightly in the way going

down the right side escape route.

The same applies to the yellow on

the other side of the table.

Yes,

the equation is pretty simple for

me. You play dead weight through the

gap. Whether it is yellow or brown

or green and brown, do not leave EA

free ball, end of story.

I am 100%

with you.

If Cao misses this, and

John Higgins snookers you, all fine

and well, but let him snookers you.

Well, that is one of the snookers.

We are actively snookers required

stage. John Higgins is looking at

the scoreboard. That is why I am

surprised when he potted the pain

cannot be black, because he could

tie with one snookered if he took

the pink.

This is fine. Up behind

the yellow. Even if he drops nicely

on the yellow for a pot, he can use

the green, but he will be playing in

behind it. He does not want to be

stuck on the baulk cushion.

That is

where he will land by the look of

it, but he will still play the

snooker in behind the black. Or he

could roll the yellow pass the black

and get it with the blue, pink and

black.

He has made sure there is enough

room to go round the back of the

yellow. He will need lots of side,

but he should be able to escape.

Look where the yellow is going.

Another inch and he could have

rolled tight in behind the blue. He

might still be able to. C-Coupe. --

he could.

This is big trouble for Cao Yupeng.

He cannot hit above the middle

pocket. He will have to come down

this end, and he will not be playing

it with a spider straight up and

down. This is tough, regardless of

which way he plays it.

One other point to make, Shiggy

miss, how does he get the cue ball

safe?

-- should he miss.

Yes, the middle

pocket is in the way. He will have

to play with a massive amount of

side. If he is coming off two

cushions, if he misses the yellow,

and leaves a free ball, he could be

in all sorts of trouble.

It is the two cushion escape.

No. Where is the fight going to

finish? All of a sudden, just five

minutes ago, it looked like he was

still in this year's UK

Championship.

Yes, he is going to

play the soft cannon on the blue,

just to hold the cue ball. Not bad,

not ideal. You will probably need

the rest. It is potential match

ball.

It would be a great frame to pinch

after needing two snookers.

Amazing. It was the shot before.

Allen called the correct shot. John

Higgins did not get the cannon on

the blue that he intended. It was

the previous shot that cause that

for him.

This was the shot that Alan McManus

said, just land on the blue gently.

He hit the blue on the left side and

got into it too much.

Again, it is

not timing it quite right. John

Higgins in top form, you would fancy

him getting the full ball cannon.

What has he done? Will that be

locked in time? I do not think so.

He just needs the green. A bit of

pressure on this one.

Very well played indeed. He is not

out of the Betway UK Championship

just yet. It looked a few moments

ago that he was.

That is the start of the comeback.

He is now trailing 5-3. He needs

three in a row.

And the comeback continued. Cao was

the winner in frame nine, with 56.

He was within one of John Higgins.

It was all getting a bit twitchy. We

haven't -- we head into the tenth

frame, and the Chinese professional

is six points adrift.

There was so much pressure on that.

I thought he was going to stick that

red up, once he caught in the jaws

of the middle pocket. One will go

into the left corner, but it is not

as easy as it would have been if

that red had pass the blue.

It is not a straightforward table by

any means, with the reds at the

other end of the table, but at least

he is amongst them.

That did not

look like much, but that was a

fantastic shot. The control on the

pot was difficult, especially the

way he has been feeling, half ball,

blind pocket, to get the control on

the pink, he has set up a match

clinching chance. Well, let's not

see just yet. Considering what has

gone before. He has even lost the

cue ball on that shot. He missed a

little cut back not quite as easy as

this earlier.

He is certainly making it difficult

for himself.

Now he will have to head up the

other end of the table. Once again,

he could have played the positional

side of that better. He is hampered

slightly by those two reds.

That is a good recovery.

Just about OK. He can play this with

a little bit of left-hand side to

spin a drowned. He can just about

get middle ball. You do not win four

world titles without having bottle.

That is what John will have to show

right here.

Yes, not only four world titles, but

three UK titles as well.

One of the

all-time greats.

And you can see Cao Yupeng in the

background, fearing the worst. It

has been a good fight back. At 5-2,

it looked like it was all over.

Yes. Two more reds, and John Higgins

will be safely through, not without

drama, it has to be said.

Yes, they have only played each

other once, back in 2012. Cao Yupeng

was the winner in that match, 6-3.

55 ahead, no heroics with this red.

Just make sure.

APPLAUSE

You'll be seeing a lot more of Cao

Yupeng, that's for sure.

APPLAUSE

It's been a tough night for him. He

missed five sitters, doesn't matter

about Luke Rahane himself. --

doesn't matter about snooker in

himself. It all looked very

comfortable for the three-time

former champion.

APPLAUSE

In the end John Higgins will be

pleasantly pleased with his

performance. He's got to improve,

but he takes the match 6-4.

Wasn't

confident with my tap

but he takes the match 6-4.

Wasn't

confident with my tap at all there,

something similar happened in the

World, it started last night

practising, it was starting to do

funny things. It could have been me,

obviously, but today, I was thinking

that I text it Dale to see if he can

give me good tips but obviously he

lost to Graham last night and must

have drove home, so I'm going to

drive home tonight, see my mate,

Fraser Patrick, an ex-professional,

and he puts my tip on and come back

tomorrow.

John clearly feels it's

worth putting in the miles, putting

in the effort, to make sure his cue

was absolutely right. It's a long

way to go to get a new tip on the

cue. We've seen him do this before

at the Crucible, only a few months

ago, and perhaps his partner --

perhaps it's part of the reason he's

facing Yan Bingtao, this fellow,

only 17 years of age, he cruised 6-1

through his match today and he's a

real up and comer. He made it to the

final of the Northern Ireland Open

at the weekend, a. He's going the

extra mile, quite literally, in his

preparations to face on Tuesday.

Back to this evening's bill of fare

and Barry Hawkins is a man for the

majors. You might remember he's

appeared in a Crucible final, he's

also appeared in a Masters final,

but world number eight has always

consistently struggled in this one,

the United Kingdom championship. In

fact, in 18 previous appearances the

best he's ever managed, 1/4-final

place. He's hoping that will change

this year. He found himself up

against Hartford's world mother 79,

Ahmed Maher, who had a great win

over a former winner of this trophy

in York, Matthew Stevens in his

first round. This is the third time

these guys have mapped in the last

year and Hawkins will remember he's

won the previous two matches but

what a start from mere. He raced

away 2-0 in front before Hawkins

raced back to take the next four. We

will pick them up in frame seven,

the Hawk in the ascendancy here and

looking on are Peter Ebdon and John

Parrott.

COMMENTATOR:

That was a miscue. There you go,

played a fantastic shot, forced the

error.

Absolutely. He will show me

what it's all about. High-quality

shot, forced the error, here is your

chance. Just needs to get his cube

all nice and tight into the next

ball, just to make this break easy

for himself. -- get his cue ball

nice and tight. Already he hasn't.

Lost it, already. Such a poor shot.

Massive margin for error.

The problem here is the cue ball is

going away from the reds. That's a

very good pot.

Yeah, that was

excellent. Credit where it's due.

That was really well controlled,

played it with a bit of drag just to

take the weight out of the cue ball.

He's got to pop this where he's got

to play a stunning run, stagger the

cue ball through, because the lack

certainly pots. It's what he will

want to be on. -- the black

certainly pots. There you go.

Stunned it and ran through slightly.

This really is a fabulous chance to

go 4-3. He will kick himself, if he

doesn't take it.

I think there have been a lot of

positive so far to take out of this

match from Miah's performance.

Fantastic long potter.

That's for

sure, he can certainly cue, and that

instance we just mentioned showed

him as well if he needs to look back

on this match that safety shot he

played was as good as he's played in

the match, and it's what's forced

the error.

Absolutely. That was a

world-class safety shot.

It was

interesting, a shots ago I was going

to say he made have played up for

the blue off the last red, because

it was a natural angle to go up for

blue, he'd only have to pot it, it

would have gone back on its own

sport, made the clearance a bit

easier, but he didn't really look at

that. Decided to go about it another

way.

I mean, we know it's not on cushion,

it's still in a pottable position

but it looked a natural to play on

it.

Yes, and consequently he now has to

not only pot the green and get a

good angle on the brown, but then

leave himself a good angle on the

blue to get to the pink. He played

that really well. That was an

excellent shot with the rest.

Yeah,

I think it's safe to assume it's not

the cue power is not the problem,

he's got plenty of that. He does it

it lovely when he times it. Here we

go, brown took blue. This is the

important shot office clearance. Can

he get the right angle?

And therein lies the problem.

This shot with the rest is made all

the more difficult because of the

power he will have to play with

here, to try to get back to the

pink. This is really tough.

Yeah, that was the problem.

He missed a trick there, definitely

should have played up for blue, off

the last red. It would have made his

job so much easier. Anyway, he's

hoping for a little bit of fortune

from Barry Hawkins missing.

He may yet be coming back to the

table, because that's not one of

Barry's best. A good pot, this is

horrible.

The only saving grace here

is he can get a good cue ball and

leave it behind the black on the top

cushion.

Well, he's left the cross table

double and I think is going to have

to take this on. Of course, he can

push the pink off the side cushion

towards the baulk cushion, but I'm

not quite sure what he played there.

Yeah, just decided that was going to

be a bit of trouble for Barry, just

left it where it is. In fairness,

it's not a particularly nice shot to

have.

He's had a little bit of run in this

frame, Barry Hawkins, a couple of

little flicks and bits of form.

Another one he could have very

easily left something for Miah to

take there.

Up and down, sending the pink onto

the hawk cushion. Played it well. --

onto the baulk cushion. Played it

perfectly.

That really is a fabulous

one, very difficult shot to play.

The cushion is very reactive. To

play up there and get it that close

is tremendous judgment.

He'll need this to pull up. And it

hasn't.

So one good bit of cueing here, nice

stun, pot the pink, come off the

side cushion, black is waiting for

you. Didn't quite get into it, he's

potted the pink OK, but this black

is a little trickier than it could

have been. Still fancy him, but it

could be missed.

Oh, great pot. What a fabulous frame

of snooker that was from Barry

Hawkins. He had a little bit of

fortune in there and Miah will be

kicking himself he didn't take that

frame, but it Barry Hawkins who

Nexit and

frame, but it Barry Hawkins who

Nexit and its 5-2.

Is been a

relatively quiet start the season

for Barry Hawkins, he's only got

past this stage in a big event so

far so now is the time to progress

here in York. Can he get over the

line,

here in York. Can he get over the

line, in frame aid?

COMMENTATOR:

I don't expect Barry Hawkins is

going to miss this one. He'd have

missed that one, I'd have been

leaving the commentary box because

it's another chance for Barry. These

matches, you want to get them over

with. He's got his opponent rocking.

He's 5-2 ahead. Get over the line,

he just needs to give all the petrol

he's gotten a tournament like this

if you're going to get to the end,

it's going to be difficult to win.

Don't waste any mental energy on

matches you don't need to.

That could quite easily have gone

horribly wrong. Another role on the

cue ball there and it would have

made it very difficult. He's only

ever so slightly hampered now. But

it could have been a lot worse than

this.

He's craving to do something

with the cue ball but I don't think

he can do too much.

APPLAUSE

There's a couple of options here,

see if he can just run this through,

and the reds near the pink, one of

them will go in the middle. It's

what he's looking at I think, just

drop the black in. Yeah, so red in

the centre now and this is basically

frame and match ball for me, if he

can knock this in and screw back on

the collar, he should win the match

from here.

In potting this he just

may flick the red to the right of it

out and develop that. That's exactly

what he's done, and that's perfect.

Nice little cannon macro up into the

red above the black here.

He will play a little run through

and flick of the other red knew the

pink.

He's already 27 points in front.

He is getting very close to the

winning post, Barry. A little bit

between.

He may well have to take

the red into the centre. He is

hampered on the red into the right

corner. It should not be too much of

a problem. He has played it well.

Well, safe to say it has not been

vintage Barry Hawkins this evening,

but he will not mind too much. When

you are still in the tournament, you

can always improve. I was one of the

finest improvers are up the M6 when

I got beat. Once you're at the

tournament, our son the practice

table, it all comes together and you

find your top game. Whoever plays

Barry will know they will be in for

a proper test, that is for sure. As

for his opponent, Hammad, it is

great experience. He has let himself

down a little bit with his cue ball

control this evening, but he will

learn from the experience.

He has certainly got power, and he

can knock a few balls.

Yes, he is a very gifted player,

that is for sure. A very dangerous

player. The sort of player that you

can imagine, when he is playing

really well, he will be knocking

them in all over the place.

He has taken these very well. A

lovely touch and positional play. A

nice way to finish off the match. He

has not been his vintage best but he

has had breaks of 96, 70 one. With

that clearance, he gets through 6-2.

He will be very pleased with his

evening's work.

Barry Hawkins the

winner, 6-2. Yes, ropey start but a

strong finish. Progress from Michael

White who threw in a tournament high

break of 142 in his 6-1 drubbing of

Matz Sels. Success for Thailand this

evening. 6-0 against Leo Fernandez.

And a great victory for his fellow

countrymen. 6-4 against Michael

Holt. Snooker Extra follows next if

you're in the mood for a late-night

snooker. If not, we will be back

tomorrow. The last 32 players

remaining in York. A really

interesting contest from one o'clock

in the afternoon between the

flamboyant world number two Judd

Trump and the wily former world

champion Graeme Dott. And an all

Welsh match up