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Snooker is back on the BBC and back in York. After a five-year absence, | :00:15. | :00:19. | |
the championship returns to this magical city and tour newly | :00:19. | :00:28. | |
refurbished Barbican Centre. That is not all that is new. -- to a | :00:28. | :00:38. | |
:00:38. | :00:38. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :00:38. | :01:45. | |
John Higgins is the UK champion. Brilliant! | :01:45. | :01:49. | |
So take your pick. Any one of those champions and a whole host of | :01:49. | :01:53. | |
others besides could be the man to win snooker's second most important | :01:53. | :01:57. | |
event. Since we were last on air in May, times have been changing in | :01:57. | :02:07. | |
:02:07. | :02:08. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :02:08. | :03:51. | |
Yes, the players have certainly been notching up the miles, | :03:51. | :03:55. | |
travelling all the world. Steve Davis has a few stamps on his | :03:55. | :03:59. | |
passport this season. John Parrott has watched it all from the comfort | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
of his armchair. Lovely to see you both. Steve, it has been a full-on | :04:04. | :04:08. | |
start for everyone, hasn't it? There have been 10 PCT tournaments | :04:08. | :04:13. | |
and a couple of invitations. The players are certainly match sharp | :04:13. | :04:17. | |
coming into the UK Championship. They may not be as fresh as in | :04:17. | :04:20. | |
previous years but they certainly know what shot selection is all | :04:20. | :04:26. | |
about. It really is a beery -- a busy | :04:26. | :04:30. | |
period for everyone. There are one or two grumbles emerging about the | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
workload. How healthy is the situation if you're a professional | :04:34. | :04:38. | |
player these days? It has probably gone from the | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
sublime to the ridiculous for some of them. They have had hardly any | :04:41. | :04:48. | |
work and then suddenly they have had hardly a day off. It is | :04:48. | :04:55. | |
difficult to play in every event. All of this means that the world | :04:55. | :04:58. | |
rankings are chopping and changing all the time. These are the current | :04:58. | :05:03. | |
headlines from the top 16. We have a new world No. 1, Mark Selby, | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
taking over from Mark Williams. Judd Trump has moved up to number | :05:07. | :05:17. | |
:05:17. | :05:17. | ||
seven. Stuart Bingham has shot into Number 11. He will not is there is | :05:17. | :05:21. | |
no Stephen Hendry. He has dropped out after two decades. There is no | :05:21. | :05:31. | |
:05:31. | :05:34. | ||
Stephen Ebden either. I wonder how everyone will react to this new | :05:34. | :05:40. | |
format. John, give up the headlines from that. To win a match he | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
previously had to get nine frames, now you have to get six. There is | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
going to be a result in every single session. The disadvantage is | :05:49. | :05:54. | |
that the top players are thinking, the more frames to play the bigger | :05:54. | :06:04. | |
:06:04. | :06:05. | ||
the chance I have of winning. -- frames I play. It was reduced to | :06:05. | :06:09. | |
the best of five in the Grand Prix last year. I think it will happen | :06:09. | :06:15. | |
here as well. They will soon get used to the format. | :06:15. | :06:20. | |
It increases after the semi-finals. John Higgins has had something to | :06:21. | :06:26. | |
say about this. As a 6-time winner in the longer format, what do you | :06:26. | :06:33. | |
think and what is the current talk amongst the players? Players think | :06:33. | :06:40. | |
they have a longer chance over a longer distance. The players who | :06:40. | :06:43. | |
would like it to be shorter are the ones who perhaps take their chances | :06:43. | :06:50. | |
of it. Back in the past and I would have wanted it as long as it could | :06:50. | :06:57. | |
be. Barry Hearn has come in in the last two years, he has increased | :06:57. | :07:04. | |
the price money -- the prize money. He has ruffled a few feathers | :07:04. | :07:08. | |
because he has shortened some of the formats, perhaps tinkered with | :07:08. | :07:15. | |
them too much for some of the purists. My take on it is, if you | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
were inventing the tournament tomorrow, what type of tournament | :07:19. | :07:22. | |
would you invent? We live in a faster world and people want | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
results quicker. I think the best thing would be a balance. I think | :07:27. | :07:33. | |
there is so little between the players at the top. I did a preview | :07:33. | :07:38. | |
for the BBC website and when they mentioned each of the players I | :07:38. | :07:45. | |
said, yes, he could win it, he could win it. It may prove to be a | :07:45. | :07:49. | |
masterstroke. Here they are around here is how | :07:49. | :07:59. | |
:07:59. | :08:03. | ||
they all line up. -- here they are and here is how. Stephen's route | :08:03. | :08:11. | |
here was trickier than usual. looking forward to playing at York | :08:11. | :08:17. | |
again. Steve Davis is playing against | :08:17. | :08:25. | |
Ronnie O'Sullivan. He is excited. People have to stop talking | :08:25. | :08:29. | |
pathetically. It is a game of snooker, 11 frames. It is the same | :08:29. | :08:36. | |
for everyone. Dominic Dale will try to bring down | :08:36. | :08:42. | |
Judd Trump. I am going to focus on winning, | :08:42. | :08:48. | |
whereas before I was just focusing on getting through the first frame. | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
If I play like I did in the World Championships I think I have a good | :08:52. | :09:01. | |
chance. Matthew Stevens won the UK in 2003. | :09:01. | :09:09. | |
He meets Marcus Campbell. Graeme Dott's book hit the shelves | :09:09. | :09:19. | |
:09:19. | :09:20. | ||
recently. He takes on Matthew Selt. No matter what, it will be a world- | :09:20. | :09:27. | |
class player who wins the event. Mark Williams has been runner-up in | :09:27. | :09:37. | |
:09:37. | :09:40. | ||
both of the major ranking events already. He is up against Joe Jogia. | :09:40. | :09:50. | |
:09:50. | :09:54. | ||
London's Martin Gould is at last in the top 16. I think the fact that | :09:54. | :09:58. | |
there will be two tables in York this year, every match will be | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
televised and you can watch it. I think that makes a massive | :10:01. | :10:09. | |
difference. For me, that balances it out. | :10:09. | :10:19. | |
:10:19. | :10:20. | ||
Ali Carter is up against Robert Milkins. It has been a big season | :10:20. | :10:30. | |
:10:30. | :10:32. | ||
for Stuart Bingham. He is up against Marco Fu. The world No. | :10:32. | :10:36. | |
is Mark Selby. It was only a few years ago that we | :10:36. | :10:39. | |
only had six tournaments and we did not know where the next one was | :10:39. | :10:44. | |
coming from. Now we're playing week-in week-out. It is just a few | :10:44. | :10:53. | |
frames less, it does not bother me. Among the more tasty morsels in | :10:53. | :10:57. | |
round one has to be Ronnie O'Sullivan and Steve Davis. Steve, | :10:57. | :11:07. | |
:11:07. | :11:08. | ||
you have played two qualifying matches. We got 96 on the tour. I | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
am delighted to be here. When I knew I would be playing Ronnie I | :11:12. | :11:20. | |
was delighted as well. There will be a lot of eyes on it. It is only | :11:20. | :11:28. | |
the best of 11. It is like the best of one, best of 11. Anything else | :11:28. | :11:36. | |
leap that you -- we power to achieve from that draw? | :11:36. | :11:45. | |
The all-Scottish encounter. It is always fascinating to see Stephen. | :11:45. | :11:49. | |
He is in here at the moment knocking a few balls around. He is | :11:49. | :11:53. | |
obviously getting geared up for it. It is always fascinating to see | :11:53. | :11:57. | |
what standard his game is at. It will be a good match. | :11:57. | :12:02. | |
As tradition dictates we are going to start with John Higgins, the | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
defending champion. You might remember that amazing comeback | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
against Mark Williams in the final last year against -- in Telford. | :12:12. | :12:15. | |
John has had a relatively quiet start to the season. We have been | :12:15. | :12:18. | |
chatting to him about this championship and lots of other | :12:18. | :12:26. | |
things besides. You might just get a clue that we spoke to him in | :12:26. | :12:36. | |
November. This is obviously one of the biggest events that we play in. | :12:36. | :12:40. | |
I would love to do well and give a good account of myself. It has | :12:40. | :12:44. | |
taken a little while to get used to this season again. I think when | :12:44. | :12:54. | |
:12:54. | :12:55. | ||
you're in that sort of bobble for the last year -- bubble, and you | :12:55. | :13:03. | |
were just playing match to match. Rory, a tough game. He does well in | :13:03. | :13:07. | |
the qualifying matches but when it is on the TV he maybe doesn't play | :13:07. | :13:12. | |
as well as he does in qualifying, but I am sure that will be his goal | :13:12. | :13:19. | |
this year. A player in his 21st year as a | :13:19. | :13:25. | |
professional, will they call them up The Highlander, Rory McLeod! -- | :13:25. | :13:35. | |
:13:35. | :14:05. | ||
MUSIC: "Jamming" by Bob Marley The defending UK champion, John | :14:05. | :14:15. | |
:14:15. | :14:32. | ||
We have had record advance ticket sales for the championship. | :14:32. | :14:37. | |
Remember, it is the best of 11. Just one session until the semi- | :14:37. | :14:43. | |
finals. The first to six goes through. Rory McLeod has taken a 2- | :14:43. | :14:51. | |
1 lead over Labour Scot in this match. The Southampton player is | :14:51. | :15:01. | |
:15:01. | :15:09. | ||
If he has gone far enough he might be able to come over and bring the | :15:09. | :15:15. | |
yellow into play. It looks as if it has the perfect angle to go off the | :15:15. | :15:19. | |
baulk cushion. I think he can force the angle of the plays it with a | :15:19. | :15:26. | |
bit of right-hand side. I am not sure if he can force that angle. I | :15:26. | :15:34. | |
think he might be able to pull this off. If he hits it hard he can move | :15:34. | :15:41. | |
them. He is going to try and get the snooker. Not many players would | :15:41. | :15:45. | |
have played to leave the snooker. A lot of players would have tried to | :15:45. | :15:50. | |
disturb both of those. If he did not get the cannon you still have | :15:50. | :15:56. | |
the chance of a snooker. Has he got the snooker? He does not want that | :15:56. | :16:06. | |
:16:06. | :16:06. | ||
yellow to career into the blue. He will be disappointed with that. | :16:06. | :16:13. | |
This yellow will certainly tie up the frame for John Higgins. Where | :16:13. | :16:23. | |
:16:23. | :16:23. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :16:23. | :17:08. | |
Barring a snooker we're going to If he can stand this white there is | :17:08. | :17:18. | |
a chance of getting a snooker behind the black. He has potted the | :17:18. | :17:28. | |
:17:28. | :17:34. | ||
green. Has he? I do not think he can get past the black. This will | :17:34. | :17:44. | |
:17:44. | :17:46. | ||
be some shot. He would have to come off of two cushions to get the | :17:46. | :17:54. | |
green. If he goes across the table he would have to get so much swerve | :17:54. | :18:04. | |
:18:04. | :18:10. | ||
on its. Not a bad effort but it is not there. | :18:10. | :18:20. | |
:18:20. | :18:37. | ||
NR25 points remaining. -- There are That will do very nicely. I think | :18:38. | :18:41. | |
he has an angle to miss the middle pocket and get nicely on to the | :18:41. | :18:51. | |
:18:51. | :18:51. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :18:51. | :19:35. | |
He played it well. He looks to have He has got that snooker and it | :19:35. | :19:45. | |
:19:45. | :19:46. | ||
looks as if he will tie the frame. That is a certainty now. When he | :19:46. | :19:49. | |
rolled to the green to play the snooker he was up as if he had | :19:49. | :19:59. | |
:19:59. | :20:12. | ||
You always want to win the toss and put your opponent in. Rory wins the | :20:12. | :20:20. | |
toss. John goes to the table. In the old days you played it up and | :20:20. | :20:28. | |
down the sports to leave the black tights to the cushion. It will be | :20:28. | :20:33. | |
interesting to see which way John plays it. You just have to avoid | :20:33. | :20:43. | |
:20:43. | :20:45. | ||
the double-kiss. He has played that very well. He has the cue ball near | :20:45. | :20:50. | |
the cushion. But you always leave the possibility of the double. | :20:50. | :20:53. | |
the cue ball up against -- up at the other end of the table. If he | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
tries to flick the black on to the top cushion behind the black spot | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
that can go wrong, so why not have a go at the double and leave plenty | :21:01. | :21:10. | |
of distance between the balls? This may go close to the left corner | :21:10. | :21:20. | |
:21:20. | :21:33. | ||
He got us like double-kiss but he will settle for the outcome. -- a | :21:33. | :21:43. | |
:21:43. | :21:50. | ||
He has played it better this time. I do not think the double is on | :21:50. | :21:59. | |
this time. That is a great shot that John Higgins has played. It | :21:59. | :22:02. | |
looked very simple and straightforward but it was judged | :22:02. | :22:06. | |
to perfection. The only advantage from Rory's point of view is that | :22:06. | :22:16. | |
:22:16. | :22:27. | ||
the cue ball as a little further Where is the black going to finish? | :22:28. | :22:32. | |
He can cut this in but he has to keep an eye on the cue ball. It | :22:32. | :22:42. | |
:22:42. | :22:57. | ||
will be flying up and down the He safely avoids the in-off. It | :22:57. | :23:02. | |
looked like Rory McLeod was going to pinch that frame. He did not. It | :23:02. | :23:05. | |
is all square as we got to the mid- session interval. | :23:05. | :23:08. | |
Rory is proving pretty stubborn and problematic for John Higgins, just | :23:08. | :23:11. | |
as he was in the second round at the Crucible a few months ago when | :23:11. | :23:18. | |
it was a very hard-fought match, something like seven hours. When | :23:18. | :23:21. | |
they come back from the interval, Rory McLeod has taken the fifth | :23:21. | :23:27. | |
frame. He leaves it 3-2. We're going to join them live now. This | :23:27. | :23:36. | |
is frame six. And it is hello to Dennis and John. | :23:36. | :23:40. | |
Hello to you, Hazel. Great to be back at the Barbican Centre and | :23:40. | :23:48. | |
great to see Rory McLeod making the world champion work very hard here. | :23:48. | :23:52. | |
That was a good friend that he won with a nice break of 54 that helped | :23:52. | :23:59. | |
him on his way. He is proving he has quite a good temperament. | :23:59. | :24:08. | |
He is certainly relishing the fact of playing the world champion. John | :24:08. | :24:11. | |
Higgins is slightly up against it. He has not really produced his best. | :24:11. | :24:17. | |
He had a break of VAT on the first. Since then he has not really been | :24:17. | :24:21. | |
scoring that well when he has had his chances. He certainly had a | :24:21. | :24:30. | |
chance in the last frame and broke down prematurely. | :24:30. | :24:36. | |
He has hit is a bit hard. I do not know if the first red passes the | :24:36. | :24:46. | |
:24:46. | :25:02. | ||
black. -- hit this. He made decide -- he may decide. The reds had been | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
split beautifully. You are always trusting a little bit to luck as to | :25:06. | :25:12. | |
where the cue ball goes. It needed to run through another six inches | :25:12. | :25:22. | |
:25:22. | :25:32. | ||
APPLAUSE It went in, and that was the most important thing. | :25:32. | :25:39. | |
There was a lot of pressure on that at 3-2 behind. He needs another | :25:39. | :25:49. | |
:25:49. | :26:04. | ||
You were right, John. What a golden opportunity he has left for Rory | :26:04. | :26:14. | |
:26:14. | :26:19. | ||
McLeod. Off we go with the sort of chance that you would set up for a | :26:19. | :26:29. | |
:26:29. | :26:44. | ||
John Higgins did have a little bit of a goal at the Association about | :26:44. | :26:49. | |
the change to the number of frames. Players do like longer friends, | :26:49. | :26:54. | |
especially someone like John. It adds a bit more pressure to him. If | :26:54. | :27:04. | |
:27:04. | :27:12. | ||
he loses this friend he has a lot You can see Ding Junhui in the | :27:12. | :27:15. | |
background. Usually there is a curtain that comes down, a dividing | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
wall, but this is open plan. It is the sort of thing that the players | :27:20. | :27:30. | |
:27:30. | :27:30. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :27:30. | :28:34. | |
have got used to. It means the If he gets a nice angle on this red | :28:34. | :28:38. | |
he will play for the blue. The pink is available. It is plain sailing | :28:38. | :28:48. | |
:28:48. | :28:59. | ||
Going way back to the second frame, it looked like Rory was going to | :28:59. | :29:04. | |
fall behind. But he did make a nice break and won the frame and it has | :29:04. | :29:09. | |
certainly given him the confidence to go on and produce this kind of | :29:09. | :29:19. | |
:29:19. | :29:19. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :29:19. | :30:27. | |
He is in the driving seat at the Not bad. It is a little bit more | :30:27. | :30:37. | |
awkward than he would have liked. He is having to use the rest. | :30:37. | :30:47. | |
:30:47. | :30:48. | ||
I think he has got an angle for the black. Pink to the middle, black to | :30:48. | :30:58. | |
:30:58. | :31:10. | ||
Just about perfect. I am seeing signs of a growing confidence in | :31:10. | :31:18. | |
Rory. He is not the quickest player, I do not mean that as a detriment | :31:18. | :31:28. | |
:31:28. | :31:32. | ||
It is all about confidence. He is on the verge of getting himself | :31:32. | :31:42. | |
:31:42. | :31:48. | ||
into the top 32. Before I retired, I went to practise with him and he | :31:48. | :31:52. | |
never missed in practice. He has never really produced the snooker | :31:52. | :32:02. | |
:32:02. | :32:33. | ||
that he consistently produces in Pot this red, goal in front... A | :32:33. | :32:43. | |
:32:43. | :32:46. | ||
formality, surely? Not much fun, practising with people who never | :32:46. | :32:56. | |
:32:56. | :33:01. | ||
I think that is one of the great pet hates of the snooker player. | :33:01. | :33:09. | |
Playing with someone who never misses. Get the worst player in the | :33:09. | :33:19. | |
:33:19. | :33:29. | ||
club! That is the way I used to John Higgins currently has the | :33:29. | :33:34. | |
highest break in this match. The break of 80 that he made in the | :33:34. | :33:37. | |
opening frame. Sometimes when his back is against the wall, that is | :33:37. | :33:42. | |
when he produces his best snooker. A remarkable comeback in last | :33:42. | :33:52. | |
:33:52. | :33:52. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :33:52. | :34:44. | |
That is now the highest break of A terrific break. I do not know | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
whether it was the UK Championship one year, he was when -- well down | :34:48. | :34:52. | |
but he some the produced three centuries, it might have been in | :34:52. | :34:57. | |
four frames. He did not win the match, but he certainly played some | :34:57. | :35:05. | |
marvellous snooker. He has run out of position their slightly. I think | :35:05. | :35:11. | |
he had so an eye on bringing the last red away from the pressure. | :35:11. | :35:20. | |
Can he make the century? He needs to pop the blue. Not quite. John | :35:20. | :35:30. | |
:35:30. | :35:32. | ||
Higgins, world champion, in trouble, against Rory McLeod, who leads. | :35:32. | :35:37. | |
Looking calm and composed. We know he has been playing well over the | :35:37. | :35:44. | |
past few seasons. I think this is the story of things to come in the | :35:44. | :35:48. | |
world of snooker. Rory has been a pro for 21 years. I could not | :35:48. | :35:54. | |
believe that! For many years, considered a journey man, going | :35:54. | :36:00. | |
nowhere. All of a sudden, instead of having six tournaments in the | :36:00. | :36:03. | |
season, now we have got so many tournaments where the general | :36:03. | :36:07. | |
standard has got better and a lot of the players who were considered | :36:07. | :36:13. | |
the Jenny men are getting enough matchplay to become better players | :36:13. | :36:17. | |
and also having enough confidence that they can perform at the level. | :36:17. | :36:21. | |
Seeing the likes of John Higgins and Rory in some of the smaller | :36:21. | :36:23. | |
tournaments, getting more opportunities to play, in that | :36:23. | :36:29. | |
respect, is the fear factor of diminished slightly, John? I think | :36:29. | :36:35. | |
so. Familiarity breeds contempt. Why not beat them in front of a | :36:35. | :36:39. | |
television camera? That should not make a difference. That has held | :36:39. | :36:49. | |
him back. If he was a race was, you would think that Rory McLeod never | :36:49. | :36:53. | |
produces it on the racecourse. When he comes to the television stages | :36:53. | :36:59. | |
and the camera, he never really did himself justice. He is now. He is | :36:59. | :37:05. | |
indeed. From John's -- from the John's perspective, he knows that | :37:05. | :37:11. | |
it is only best of 11 and suddenly he thinks, he has got to catch up. | :37:11. | :37:16. | |
That is slightly problematic in itself. He is be difference between | :37:16. | :37:23. | |
a best-of- 11 and best of 17. Perhaps John Higgins was looking at | :37:23. | :37:25. | |
damage-limitation to get out of recession and come back in the | :37:26. | :37:30. | |
evening. Now it is not damage limitation, it a couple of frames | :37:30. | :37:35. | |
and he could be out. It is much more cut-throat. Normally, the | :37:35. | :37:40. | |
players better under match conditions do come to the forefront. | :37:40. | :37:49. | |
Back we go to the match. It is fascinatingly poised, this | :37:49. | :37:54. | |
first round match with the defending champion slightly up | :37:54. | :38:04. | |
:38:04. | :38:17. | ||
Not quite. There is a possible pot here. He can get the cue ball round | :38:17. | :38:24. | |
the back of the black. His long hot success rate is much better than at | :38:24. | :38:34. | |
:38:34. | :38:43. | ||
This would be a nice one up to slot in. Let us see what he can make of | :38:43. | :38:53. | |
:38:53. | :39:19. | ||
Slightly awkward here. But he can screw back for the blue Label -- | :39:19. | :39:23. | |
for the blue from this, to try to get the white whip on the position | :39:23. | :39:32. | |
a little bit. -- away from the cushion a little bit. John normally | :39:32. | :39:42. | |
:39:42. | :39:48. | ||
goes into the pink fold ball. It is If he gets it right this time with | :39:48. | :39:53. | |
a slightly better angle, he will then cannoned into the pink and | :39:53. | :40:03. | |
:40:03. | :40:14. | ||
He has underhit it slightly again. Still a bright colour at the back | :40:14. | :40:24. | |
:40:24. | :40:41. | ||
of the bunch, if he can't get into No, he has underhit back. That is | :40:41. | :40:46. | |
probably the worst positional shot he has played for a while. He is | :40:46. | :40:51. | |
going to have to force up the position here. He underscrew it | :40:51. | :41:01. | |
:41:01. | :41:07. | ||
back by car it a way. -- by quite a Look at where the cue ball has | :41:07. | :41:17. | |
gone! That is a bit unlucky. Absolutely, very unlucky. Not only | :41:17. | :41:22. | |
did the cue ball run through and get past the blue, the red you | :41:22. | :41:32. | |
:41:32. | :41:39. | ||
think he would be looking at, but Made no difference. If it stops | :41:39. | :41:49. | |
:41:49. | :42:14. | ||
short of the bold line, he won How is the cue ball? It has come up | :42:14. | :42:24. | |
:42:24. | :42:37. | ||
The two reds are not even a plant so he can not get that. Can he get | :42:37. | :42:42. | |
past one of those reds to the left side of the table? It must be very | :42:42. | :42:52. | |
:42:52. | :43:02. | ||
He has done well. He put everything into the pot there and sacrificed a | :43:02. | :43:12. | |
:43:12. | :43:27. | ||
That looks much better this time. He has got a lovely little angle to | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
pot best red and leave himself nicely on the black for the same | :43:31. | :43:41. | |
:43:41. | :43:41. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :43:41. | :44:37. | |
He just went a little bit too far so had to play the cannon. He is OK. | :44:37. | :44:44. | |
This is typical of the defending champion and current world champion. | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
When his back is against the wall, that is when he does seem to be | :44:48. | :44:58. | |
:44:58. | :45:08. | ||
Look at that determination on his face when he his down on the shop. | :45:08. | :45:18. | |
:45:18. | :45:51. | ||
Needs a nice little cannon here to A couple of reds and a couple of | :45:51. | :45:59. | |
colours would see him well in this frame. A little bit of work to do | :45:59. | :46:09. | |
:46:09. | :46:16. | ||
How is it running? He will not be getting the red this visit. That | :46:16. | :46:26. | |
was careless. A positional shot on the blue back was the poor shot. | :46:26. | :46:36. | |
:46:36. | :46:42. | ||
Rory McLeod will be thinking he is This was the one that did not get | :46:42. | :46:48. | |
the right side of the blue. He could do with the lifting this red | :46:48. | :46:58. | |
:46:58. | :47:20. | ||
That middle jaws is trying to spoil He has not got many points to play | :47:20. | :47:27. | |
with. He can afford one pink. The rest will have to be blacks to win | :47:27. | :47:37. | |
:47:37. | :47:40. | ||
the frame in one visit. It may put him off playing the plant. Can he | :47:40. | :47:50. | |
:47:50. | :47:59. | ||
Looking at the angle, it he may be able to screw this white and get on | :47:59. | :48:09. | |
:48:09. | :48:16. | ||
He has not stuck anything up. Nothing easy, that is for sure. I | :48:16. | :48:21. | |
think Rory when he took the plant on, thought, if I do not get this, | :48:21. | :48:28. | |
I am going to lose the frame. was worth the risk, obviously. You | :48:28. | :48:33. | |
have got to take some risks. He has got away with it. He will be coming | :48:33. | :48:43. | |
:48:43. | :49:06. | ||
John has managed to get two reds near the question which is a big | :49:06. | :49:16. | |
:49:16. | :49:29. | ||
John will not mind back. A pretty good shot from Rory. The red has | :49:29. | :49:39. | |
:49:39. | :49:40. | ||
cornered near the back kitchen. -- bap cushion. If he can just get | :49:40. | :49:50. | |
:49:50. | :49:57. | ||
I thought he could only see the edge of it but what a great long | :49:57. | :50:07. | |
:50:07. | :50:07. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :50:07. | :51:47. | |
Terrific cueing going on here. Rory has not managed to score a point in | :51:47. | :51:56. | |
this frame. As you said, that is what you expect from John Higgins. | :51:56. | :52:06. | |
:52:06. | :52:28. | ||
You have got to scrape this man off He will not bother about that. Back | :52:28. | :52:33. | |
for tea break has a queue at the frame. He closes the gap. John | :52:33. | :52:39. | |
Higgins is just one behind now. The world and UK champion looks | :52:39. | :52:44. | |
like he is suddenly in the group. He is up against it. He is up | :52:44. | :52:49. | |
against someone who you do not win frames easily against. That was an | :52:49. | :52:53. | |
exemplary performance. Rory McLeod is very difficult to play against. | :52:53. | :52:58. | |
If it does not help from John's perspective that after the World | :52:58. | :53:01. | |
Championship he said that he did not get back into the start of the | :53:01. | :53:06. | |
season very quickly. It has taken him a while to find his feet. He | :53:06. | :53:10. | |
does have a tendency to produce the right form for the right moments. | :53:10. | :53:13. | |
Is that more difficult with a crowded schedule to be able to | :53:13. | :53:18. | |
manage? Possibly, but I think every player will get themselves in the | :53:18. | :53:22. | |
right frame of mind for the event. The only difficulty is that | :53:22. | :53:26. | |
sometimes in the first round, the first day, that is when you can get | :53:27. | :53:32. | |
caught cold. He has got to switch his snooker brain on. He proves he | :53:32. | :53:38. | |
is able to do that. The alarm bells will be ringing. What makes Rory | :53:38. | :53:45. | |
such a tough opponent? Years have faced him a fair bet. -- him you | :53:45. | :53:53. | |
have faced him a fair bet. He is a top-class snooker player. The big | :53:53. | :53:56. | |
thing that has been missing his performance in front of the TV | :53:56. | :54:01. | |
cameras, as I mentioned before, but that looks like it is in the past. | :54:01. | :54:05. | |
He has taken flak for being a more methodical player. Fair or not? | :54:05. | :54:11. | |
do not think it is flat, it is just how he is perceived. He is a | :54:11. | :54:14. | |
quality player. He has the opportunity bit more events if to | :54:14. | :54:19. | |
flourish. There was not enough before and people were perhaps not | :54:19. | :54:21. | |
depressed but down in the dumps that they did not get enough | :54:22. | :54:27. | |
matchplay. The other thing was that when they are so few events, you | :54:27. | :54:32. | |
put so much effort in that sometimes you go up in trying not | :54:32. | :54:37. | |
to miss a ball rather than thinking you can win the event. Beck is not | :54:37. | :54:44. | |
a case of that at the moment. -- that is not the case at the moment. | :54:44. | :54:49. | |
In terms of motivation for John, I read early on the season that he is | :54:49. | :54:55. | |
now targeting seven world titles. He has clearly had to reassess his | :54:55. | :54:58. | |
ambitions. How realistic a target do you think that is for John going | :54:58. | :55:02. | |
forward? He is one of the few players I would think it is | :55:02. | :55:08. | |
possible for them to when it got a budget in their 40s. It has not | :55:08. | :55:16. | |
been done ball so long. -- to win the World Championship in their 40s. | :55:16. | :55:20. | |
He is one of those players. His strike rate is very good. To | :55:20. | :55:26. | |
compare him fog Ronnie O'Sullivan who says he has under-achieve, John | :55:26. | :55:35. | |
does get himself in the right state of mind for the big events. | :55:35. | :55:38. | |
Remember it is first to six who will go through. A few more minutes | :55:38. | :55:48. | |
:55:48. | :55:51. | ||
to enjoy the frame. Thank you, Hazel. A poor shot from | :55:51. | :56:01. | |
:56:01. | :56:19. | ||
Normally you would think, is he on a baulk colour? With the blue not | :56:19. | :56:25. | |
being on its spot, he has got a chance with the blue. With any | :56:25. | :56:34. | |
player playing Rory, for some reason, their style of play, you | :56:34. | :56:40. | |
feel as though you are sat in your seat quite a while. Looking at the | :56:40. | :56:46. | |
table time, Rory McLeod has 61% table time, John Higgins 39%. | :56:46. | :56:52. | |
Sometimes you never seem to get a rhythm going, do you? You have got | :56:52. | :56:55. | |
to readjust and concentrate that bit harder when you are playing | :56:55. | :57:01. | |
like that. You are always going to come up against different styles of | :57:01. | :57:04. | |
play and John has been able to cope with all of the styles that have | :57:04. | :57:14. | |
:57:14. | :57:14. | ||
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 67 seconds | :57:14. | :57:58. | |
That was a bit unlucky. He may only I said it was a couple of minutes. | :57:58. | :58:02. | |
Coverage will continue of both matches on this afternoon online | :58:02. | :58:08. | |
and on the red button. We are back on the air again on BBC Two at | :58:09. | :58:14. | |
4:30pm. Well under way here in York but we are certainly less jovial | :58:14. | :58:17. | |
than usual because we are missing a couple of great friends and | :58:17. | :58:21. | |
colleagues who lit up the snookers seen with their skills and smiles. | :58:21. | :58:30. | |
We miss them both. A tremendously well respected referee died in | :58:30. | :58:35. |