Day 6, Part 2 UK Snooker Championship

We of good mates. I am short the I need to take my chances a lot

We are down to a one last two quarter-final matches at the

Barbican Centre. Ricky Walden, Shaun Murphy, Mark Allen Dicks --

Mark Allen and Marco Fu. They have a lot to live up to if they are to

match the class and quality of the first two quarter-finals this

What a clever shot that was. Really well worked out. Judd Trump takes

an interval 3-1 lead. He has played that very, very well. Judd Trump

He has now found his form again, Stephen Maguire. This has been a

top draw. Three centuries takes Judd Trump into the semi-final.

There was a turning point at 2-1. Stephen had a chance and did not

quite take it. After that, it was hard for him to take -- comeback.

Twice winner of this championship, Ding Junhui. You cannot separate

the two players. For the first time in the match, Neil Robertson takes

the lead, three frames against Ding Junhui's 2. He is just one frame

away from a place in the semi-final. In the end, the Australian has a

comfortable win. I tend to play a lot better when it is all coming

down to the line. The earlier rounds, in previous years, I used

to be really vulnerable in the first and second rounds. A

concentration was not there. I love winning tournaments and playing in

it semi-finals and finals. Today I felt so confident. I am delighted

to be joined in the commentary box by two former world champions. 1979,

Terry Griffiths. 1985, Dennis Taylor. Both players have been very

impressive. Who has impressed you most? How do you think the match

will go tonight? Marco Fu against Mark Selby. I know Mark Selby did

not play it at the top of his form but he showed great character. Mark

Allen, he has carried on through all the controversy and that seems

to make him a better player. He did he beat? Ali Carter, that's right.

It is time we had another player from Northern Ireland lift a major

tournament. It has been over 25 years. Terry, you are in the

unusual punishment -- position of having worked with all of them. How

hard well it before you to remain objective? I try my best in the

commentary box. It is difficult at times. The match tonight is my son

against myself! It is not easy to call it because they have totally

different styles. They are both very good scorers. We are all

expecting a great match. Without further ado, over to you.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. What a buzz in the arena tonight.

It's just a two places left up for grabs in this year's semi-final.

Please welcome a player who always travels with great support, victory

over Mark Williams yesterday was one of the biggest wins of his

career so far. The Shanghai Masters And his opponent, a player who had

to show real composure yesterday against Martin Gould. The winner of

this UK title in 2008. World champion in 2005. He is a class act

on and off the baize. He is a Shaun And here on table number one,

please welcome a true gentleman on and off the table. Here after a

fantastic victory over world number one Mark Selby, this is his best

run since reaching the Masters final in January. He is full of

And his opponent, great to see him back to his determined best, a

memorable week got even better yesterday with a 6-2 win over Ali

Carter. Bidding far a second successive UK semi-final, the pride

of Northern Ireland, here comes A reminder but Shaun Murphy and

Ricky Walden is on the red button and on line. We are staying with

Mark Allen's match. He is up against Marco Fu. Two contrasting

characters squaring up against each other.

Good evening. Looking forward to this match. Northern Ireland versus

are Hong Kong. Marco all smiles. One of the nicest lads the EU can

ever wish to meet. All smiles from He breaks off, Mark Allen. Not a

bad break off. A nice mixture out there. An Irishman, a Chinese

player and we have got a Welshman, the referee. An international

I think you saw as Marco came into the arena, he got fingers up from

his wife. She is an absolutely She has taken my job now from

picking up the balls from Marco. He said she was a lot prettier than me.

Everybody is prettier than me! sure you're lovely wife thinks you

That has pushed a red over the corner pocket. He is not going to

cover it. The only problem is that the black is off its spot. The pink

is available. The blue is also available from the spot -- from

He should be able to avoid the three reds. But he could not. It is

The trouble with this kind of shot is that the harder you hit it, the

Five semi-finals, Mark Allen, I know he wants to win it sooner

rather than later. The last man to stop him was Marco Fu in the

Masters. Marco had a wonderful one -- ran and went on to beat him. But

He needed a thin one. Site -- This is difficult because one of

the reds is not sticking out. They are all in a line. He has got to

He can just get past the pink to the red at the right hand side of

The tournament safety success rate of both players... Mark Allen way

out in the lead with 86%. You would not have thought that. That is high

for a player in a tournament although they have only played two

games. Especially for Mark. He is not really the best safety player

in the world, a long way from it. He has got to be careful here,

Marco. He could double-kiss the red as it comes off the side cushion.

The amount of side he had on that to avoid that! That was a very good

shot. The natural angle would have So difficult to play with that

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 60 seconds

It is amazing what can happen with the side as we see another good

safety there. It is amazing what the ball does. The angle it comes

off with that much spin! You can't help unless you have a cue ball

He has missed the red again. #ColourCyan REFEREE: Foul and a

You never know how a game of snooker is going to start off.

Every frame is different. Two very attacking players. Here we are

watching a bout of tactical play to see who will what -- make a mistake

to let the other one in. The red on the right side of the table is

causing a problem. He does not want Mark will be able to take this on.

He will not cannon into the reds this time. He will probably end up

In the end, because he tried to hold it for the blue, he got too

thick a contact. The first real That was a shocker from Marco. That

really was a poor shot. He might have to play a little cannon on to

the brown coloured. A thin one down A test of safety at the moment.

Both players had a chance and did I thought Marco could have played a

better shot. He left the escape route for Mark talent and now he is

in trouble. He might be able to get between the green, blue and pink.

His previous shot off the blue should have had Mark Allen in

He played that with a lot of right- hand side. He left the cue ball to

run but it stopped short. The red is on. Can he get to the potting

angle? Clearly not. He is now in a He is trapped somewhat, that is why

he is having to think about it. could play the red nearer the

pocket. Then he could leave the I do not think he can see enough to

play that shot. He would have to play a bit of Serb to get around

He played for the pot! I think he was concentrating more on getting

the cue ball back. Even Judd Trump could not knock it in at that pace!

I don't know! He likes a pot, doesn't he? I said back at the

World Championship, I have never seen anything in my 30 odd years as

a professional, I have never seen anyone pot balls like it. What

Back was a big shot for Marco and he made a bit of a mess of it.

suppose with all of the tactical play, but with that straight pot,

he never got any where near it. In a couple of shots time, this could

be a good opportunity for Mark Allen. I'm not sure if the pink is

The black is more or less out of commission unless he could get the

It might be OK, it might be If the pink goes to the right

corner, he has very little to do Our referee, I am his next door

neighbour now. He let -- he lives next door to my son's flat where we

have just moved. A former policeman living next door to a former

postman! We used to have do work when we turned professional as well

These days, the boys turn professional went they are 16. I

feel they miss out something in life, not having jobs. But that is

how it is in sport now. A little The black is available, as well as

Mark Allen from County Antrim in Northern Ireland. A lovely part of

Just talking about jobs, by worked 12 hours -- 12 hour shifts in the

paper mill when I first moved to Don't throw your contact list away,

He has played these well, he has kept his cue ball well under

It is OK. I thought he was going to land on top of the red. Absolutely

perfect. He can get the black into play now. It was tied up for quite

a while. If he is dead straight, he He has missed it. Simply because he

had to raise the top of the cue to stun it. If the red had been up

dead straight, he would have dropped it in. The butt of the cue

was up in the air and you get a little bit of unwanted side on it.

Marco missed his last attempt on a long red. Let's see if he can get

It is not happening at the moment. He pushed the last one to the left.

I think he over-compensated this One of the hardest shots that

amateurs find. The dead straight. They prefer to be cutting a ball

He is taking the red on and bridging over the #ColourYellow --

A good pot and a good kiss. A good positional shot. He could be in

He did not get a great contact them. The white ball jumped as it hit the

The referee had to asking them what Paul he was playing. If there is

any doubt to the referee, because the #ColourGreen And pro-you ask

the player to nominate. He knows he has had a couple of chances to

clinch the frame. The heavy contact The green is not too badly placed

if he could spring the white Cover to that side. -- the white over to

Marco Fu is not going to be very impressed with his next position. -

- with this next position. Somehow, Marco has got to get to the red

that is near the cushion. Look at this very good long pot. How does

he get to this red that is next to the cushion? He could play it with

a lot of cider. -- a lot of side. REFEREE: Foul and a miss.

It was not a bad attend. Marco may have to play that shot again if

Mark get a bad angle on this red. - Let's see if he can judge this a

This is a better effort. This looks to be absolutely spot-on. Superb

A good attempt to cover the five reds, but I am not sure if Marco

can get to the thin edge of the Very good line on the cue ball. A

bit short of pace to get behind the green. He has a choice here. He

potted a red similar to this, but I do not know if he is taking the pot

for the safety shot here. -- the If Marco would just roll the red

past the green and leave the cue ball and top of the green it would

leave Mark Allen in trouble. And not sure if he can do that. It is a

pretty good call, that, Terry. As long as he gets a snooker and gets

the red away from the cushion and leaves it on, it puts pressure on

Mark Allen because he will have to play the reds up the other end of

He has pushed the red over the pocket. That has given Mark Allen a

little bit of a headache. There are a couple of reds that he might be

able to try to pot. I think he can get past the pink to get to the

potting angle of one of them. The only safe place on the table for

the cue ball is over near the Yes, he has had a look at it. He

would have to get up white over to the right side of the table. -- get

the white. He might have covered it Such a straightforward shot, but it

was well picked out. The safety play has been very strong in this

What he was thinking about there was just rolling his red and

positioning of white so that he covers the red with the blue. He

He has covered the one with the blue but he has pushed the other

This might turn out to be the longest frame of the match, this

opening frame. He is not many pots In fact, the blue will do it, the

A pretty tactical opening frame. Mark Allen has been the player that

has been knocking the balls in. There were a couple of long pots

that market did not get near. -- that Marco. Marco Fu never got

going and the man from Northern Ireland takes the opening frame. He

leads 1-0. I think Dennis summed it up quite

nicely there. It seems that Mark Allen has the bit between his teeth.

You would expect so. Looking at the opening exchanges, Marco Fu does

not look as sharp as Mark Allen. He missed a couple of long balls and

miss been quite considerably. Terry said he tried to overcompensate and

the second one after missing the first one. He does not look as

sharp as Mark, especially when he gets in about them. It is nice to

get your first frame on the board. Marco needs this second frame to

settle down. The guys in the commentary box have been talking

about the fact that Marco has been to a major final before. Marco has

beaten Mark in the semi-finals before. Does that play on their

minds? Maybe when it gets down to the crunch and you're in a final.

Marco has been in a lot of finals and semi-finals, so he has a lot of

experience at this stage as well. The crunch will come when he gets

to a major final. He has not won any event yet. Getting that first

one on the board is always the hardest. It will not make a

difference at this stage. Mark Allen has been one of the

players who has made the headlines on and off the table this week. He

has a good start against Marco Fu, 1-0.

He has been pretty aggressive on the table and off. That is how he

He would be disappointed with that. Yes, he is too good -- so good at

that type of pot. I think the black The black obviously does not pot,

that is why he was trying to screw back off of the reds. A worrying

That is a worrying number - 20% pot success rate. They have all been

long or medium distance shots. His safety has been good enough.

his long potting has let him down a A good starter with the extension.

It is something that you could not have done in the old days with they

have butts, which we still keep up the side of the snooker table for

some reason. No -- nobody ever uses He could not generate a lot of top

spin there. I'd just mentioned the long tackle. You have a full length

resting cue 1/2 butt. They are never used these days. All the

players have their own extensions Once again, a good red to get in.

There are two ways to get in in this game, one is a long pot the

other is good safety -- one is good The tip of Mark's cue seems to be

well down. It is the sort of tip that players like Ray Reardon used

to play with. A lot of the modern players play with a fuller tip. It

It has a dome, it is just small. You are right, though, there is not

much left on that tape. It should get through this frame. -- on that

He will be hoping it will get in through the championship. -- get

him. That was completely mishit. He was going into the five reds. It

has too much action on it. He will There is a chance that he could get

the black into play, certainly with the pace that he hit it with the

last time. He hit it with less pace and he is stuck in them. He had to

hit the middle of those two top reds, and he did that. He thought

No big breaks as yet. Certainly no big breaks from Marco Fu, he has

only scored one point. He has not potted a ball wide for over 26

minutes. He has not had much to go -- he has not potted a ball. House

straight is he on this? Can he avoid the red that is to the left

of this one? Yes. He cued that one well. He has gone a little too far

down the table. You see that white picking up speed there. That is

because of the top spin he applied. Yes, it was as if the ball stopped

I mentioned about the ball stopping. You strike it just underneath 12

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 60 seconds

o'clock. It stops and then it goes You could see the back hand of Mark

Allen there. He has quite a light grip. Terry, you're the expert,

maybe you could just give us 40 minutes on. His back fingers are

light but the front fingers are not. That is what gives you the accuracy.

The field comes from the back fingers normally. He does not like

that. He plays a lot of cannons when he is in the balls normally.

It is unusual these days. The old players used to do that. That is

Mark's style. Once again, he is dominating this frame. He is using

the rest with his right hand, even though he is a left-hander. Most

left-handers seemed to do that, for some reason. He looked to have an

angle on the pink and pot it and go for the red that is just below the

That has opened up the whole game, just that little flick. That was

all he needed. He only needs one You have to feel a bit for Marco.

He has had a few long pots that he has missed and then about half-a-

dozen very thin safety shots where he has missed the ball back a few

The red stays out. Marco did not get off of his chair. Mark Allen is

2-0 in front. A good start for Mark Allen. We're

going to head the water table two and see what is happening between

Ricky Walden and Shaun Murphy. Ricky Walden, of course, in his

first quarter-final. Shaun Murphy has hit back here. He started off

really well against Martin Gould. Obviously both players are in good

form already. Yes. I watched the end of that match. There were a few

twitches towards the end. He looks to be cueing very nicely. He is up

against Ricky Walden who had a great win against Mark Williams in

the last round. It is going to be a cracking match. We talk about how

every match is a big one between these players. He has just got

another former champion in Shaun Murphy. It is never easy. All of

the match is a finely balanced. What do you make of Marco Fu? He

does not seem to be on his game. slow start for him. He looks a

little uneasy, a little bit nervous. He has made a few uncharacteristic

mistakes. He left Mark Allen at chance to win that frame. As John

Virgo always is, you never really settled down until you get that

first frame on the board. Worrying Even at shot, he has fitted a

little harder than he intended. The He did not get close with that. If

you knocked that in it would give you confidence. He has to get an

He will not pot many balls from that position, tight on the baulk

Marco plus mac coach will be watching -- Marco's coach will be

watching. We know that he was getting up at about three o'clock

in the morning to watch this match from Hong Kong. He is over there as

their head coach. He is a billiards coach for the Institute of Sport. I

do not know if he can hear the BBC, but if he is, we're thinking about

you, boy! In Hong Kong, we used to play at

the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. I remember the first time I played

Steve Davis there were nearly 3,000 people in the arena. They all came

to watch Steve, Bill! That is a great pot. -- to watch Steve,

though! He was in a spot of bother there

and he potted his way out of it. Good cueing. How did he find the

The one thing that Marco Fu has is an abundance of temperament. He has

a terrific temperament for the scheme was of it is being tested at

the moment. -- temperament for this The red on the right-hand side of

the table looks like a simple shot. But there is a red in the middle

He is looking to see if it goes. From this position it looks as if

it pots. It must be a bit tighter than it seems. Even the other one

will go. This is the better one. He will get on the blue if he rolls

this been. No, it is on the near jaw. And look where he has put it.

It is worrying times for Marco Fu. The yellow was a bit of a

distraction. It clearly shows you that there was enough room. The

pink is awkward, so is the black, but if he could get on that red to

the right of the black, he could pot that, can in the other red and

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 60 seconds

We're at the end of our coverage on BBC Two, with Mark Allen seemingly

in control of this quarter-final match against Marco Fu. If you want

to carry on watching, press your red button or go on line. We have a