Day 8, Part 1 UK Snooker Championship


Day 8, Part 1

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Transcript


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Hello in the long history of York there have been some memorable

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contests, involving among other the Romans and the Saxons. King George

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The Sixth once said the history of York is the history of England. But

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now York is bound up in the history of the United Kingdom snooker

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Championship. No blood has been spilled, but there has been some

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suite and tears. A short walk from here in the Barbican we have the

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makings of another memorable contest involving two men whose

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roopts to the semi final have been -- roots to the semi final have

:01:11.:01:21.
:01:21.:01:35.

Barry Hearn isn't doing what the players want. He changes the sport

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as he see fits. Everyone who voted for him knew what they were getting

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:01:50.:01:50.

themselves in for. I wasn't one of them. The positives are I'm the

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underdog and to beat Steve is a fantastic win and I will be the

:01:57.:02:07.
:02:07.:02:16.

It was only an opinion and the last time I checked, it was freedom of

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speech and I'm entitled to my With the best you can go out and

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know there will be a result. I would like to see the world stay as

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:02:41.:02:50.

they, but this format suits me at I dug deep at 5-4 and produced two

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good frames. I have been the underdog in all three games and I

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dealt with that pretty good. I'm happy with that. I crept into the

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semis, hopefully I can creep into the final. He has been outspoken

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all week and now Mark Allen has his wish and will play the quiet but

:03:15.:03:19.

capable Ricky Walden, the lowest ranked players left in the UK

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Championship. But those two are going to have to go some to match

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last night's thund rows conclusion to the first semi final. --

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:03:39.:03:40.

thenderous. It was between Judd Trump and Neil Robertson.

:03:40.:03:44.

COMMENTATOR: What a match this is likely to be. Two of the greatest

:03:44.:03:54.
:03:54.:03:55.

potters we have seen for some time and both are left-handers. That is

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a nice start. You have got to take your hat off to Neil Robertson, he

:04:03.:04:09.

was 2-0 behind and struggling. It is 2-2. He has stopped the flow

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from Trump. Oh my goodness. I think it is anything you can do, can I do

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better coming up here. How do you like those apples? Not many of

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those in a pound. This is tricky. Well for us mere mortals any way.

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What a shot that was. Robertson has been playing catch up all afternoon

:04:36.:04:43.

and he's going to have to do it again. He needs the red to slow up

:04:43.:04:53.
:04:53.:04:54.

and it has. We're all square at 4-4. Well, that was frame ball and Judd

:04:54.:05:04.
:05:04.:05:10.

frump -- Judd Trump missed it. is just pure tension. What about

:05:10.:05:18.

that for an attacking shot? advice not vintage snooker, but boy

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is it exciting. -- it is not vintage snooker sh but boy is it

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exciting. What about that for a shot? If this goes in, he has a

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great chance and in it goes. And he can just sit and wait. Just the

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brown needed. And the crowd erupts here at the Barbican centre. Both

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players have had a fabulous reception from this terrific crowd.

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What a match these two boys have provided for us. We'll be seeing a

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lot of them down the years. But it us Judd Trump's night and he goes

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through to his first ever UK final. It is topping off the year. It has

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been a brilliant year, to reach the final and now the UK final it is

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just a sign that I'm improving as a player. Even though I'm not playing

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my best I can scrap it out. What a fantastic semi final yesterday

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between Judd Trump and Neil Robertson. It finished 9-7 and some

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game? Yes Neil will be disappointed. But Judd Trump is asking a lot of

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his opponent and putting the heat on. In the potting department, it

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puts pressure on their game to beed a gooz. What about Mark Allen and

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rbgy Walden? Ricky has been doing excellent. And he is playing with a

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freedom and could be the player, but Mark Allen is a tenacious

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player. A different set up, one table, all eyes on you. Best of 17.

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He must be strong, there is a controversy talking about the

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change in the format. But he has put it behind him and look a tt way

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he has played. That bunker mentality has stood him in good

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stead, now we're at the sharp end of the tournament. One of the

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reasons why I became a player, you know? I know, go indoors. It is

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freezing! We have a red hot atmosphere here, because it is semi

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final Saturday at the UK Championship. Just one place left

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up for grabs in tomorrow's show down. It is all to play for. Please

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welcome a player having one of best weeks of his career. His win over

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Mark Williams was impressive and that over Shaun Murphy was superb.

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Putting together the kind of run which took him to Shanghai Masters

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title in 2008, here comes the stamina man, here comes Ricky

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:08:26.:08:49.

Ricky, an amazing receptionment -- reception. Shanghai was special,

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but I suspect this might mean more. Does it feel as though it could be

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:09:04.:09:07.

a rung -- winning run. I have had a good run. Lady and gentlemen. Ricky

:09:07.:09:17.
:09:17.:09:18.

Walden. And his opponent, a player whose trade mark tenacity is back

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with force. After wince over Ali Carter and Marco Fu, he is on the

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verge of his first ranking event final. One of the most exciting

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players Northern Ireland has produced. Watch out, because he

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MUSIC: Ever So Shy by General Another great atmosphere. It has

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been an interesting week, but it seems as though you have

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rediscovered your fight on the table and more importantly your

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appetite for the game? Yes I'm enjoying it a lot more. Obviously

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if you can't play in front of a crowd like this, then you can't

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enjoy it. I'm here to win at the end of the day. It is going to be a

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great match. Mark Allen. HAZEL IRVINE: So the first of two

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sessions, eight frames this afternoon. And now over to Willie

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Thorne and John Virgo. JOHN VIRGO: well looking forward to this as

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much as the other semi final yesterday. I think this is slightly

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different in the fact that these two young players are coming into

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unknown territory. Well I think nerve could play a part.

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Particularly early on, Willie? We know that Ricky has won a

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ranking event, Mark Allen is yet to reach a major final. He is the

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person that is waiting to happen. He is a very remarkable potter, as

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all left-handers seem to be. We had two of the best in the game

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yesterday. It is amazing how left- hander seem to be better long

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potters. But I have been impressed with Ricky Walden. This week he has

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scored heavily in the balls and he is a very attacking players. --

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player. But now and again he does miss easy balls. Because he is such

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a quick player. He does not spend much time once he is down on the

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shot and times he needs to take more care. But I love watching him

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:11:56.:12:28.

play. He breaks very well. But Mark Allen needs to up that.

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Certainly room for improvement on those first two stats in the safe I

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-- safety success. But safety success you have got to be looking

:12:38.:12:48.
:12:48.:12:54.

at around the 90% mark for comfort. He could not have put that any

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As soon as you can get that black available into both corners, you

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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

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start thinking about a sizeable He has the choice of the reds to

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:14:36.:14:52.

He would like to get the white where it is now. That red was

:14:52.:15:02.
:15:02.:15:31.

It is a horrible pack to go into The reason, well he has overscrewed

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this. The reason not to play for the blue, was with the pink being

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separated from the reds, then hitting the pink full in the face,

:15:42.:15:52.
:15:52.:16:29.

But he can't get on another red, so why take the risk. That is a pretty

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good safety. He has covered the red on the left hand cushion. So he

:16:35.:16:41.

gave that full concentration. If Ricky was to try and play safe on

:16:41.:16:51.
:16:51.:16:55.

the main cluster, that red on the Is it hard enough? REFEREE: Foul

:16:55.:17:03.

and a miss. You'd expect him to mitt them first. Not one loose red.

:17:03.:17:10.

I wonder if there is a possibility of a double in the right middle. If

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:17:20.:17:23.

it was, then why have it replaced? Both players waiting at the table!

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The reason is John said have a go at the double, the next shot, Ricky

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will get the shot. If the double is on, take it on. Ooh and the worst

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thing. That is why as it happens it has run save, but you never know

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with a double. You can catch the jaw of the middle pocket. And this

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red was coming back to the cue ball. But fortunately it had enough pace

:17:59.:18:09.
:18:09.:18:09.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

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He played that well. Got a good line. The length a little bit short.

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He had to be wary of that red near the left hand cushion. As will

:19:02.:19:12.
:19:12.:19:20.

Ricky here. There is a possibility Close. But it has not worked out

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too badly, I promise you. That green is causing Mark Allen a

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:19:35.:19:48.

Obviously both these two young players are reaching the latter

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stages of the tournament not so often, but these players have

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brought the Walden family, there they are in the darkness there.

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There is mum in the middle there. And Ricky's girlfriend just being

:20:06.:20:16.
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hidden by the rail. But they will Off the mark. And this is a decent

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:20:38.:20:41.

chance. He came to the table 30 points behind. But a fluent player

:20:41.:20:51.
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Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

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A nice angle on the red to make sure he got the nice angle on the

:21:48.:21:58.
:21:58.:22:17.

Well the angle he has got on the black, he may be forced into

:22:17.:22:27.
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playing the red along the top He now takes the lead for the first

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time in this match. The next two reds are not too bad. So in a

:23:04.:23:14.
:23:14.:23:24.

relatively good position to take It's high is it? There you go. One

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we didn't expect him to miss. they're the ones, if people see

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this shot again, look how quickly he plays it. He takes one pull and

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that is something, when it is a slightly more difficult shot, I

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wish he would give it another second. I would suggest in this

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tournament he has missed ten of those easy shots and so far got

:23:45.:23:55.
:23:55.:24:01.

But in fairness, if that is the way you play your game and you let your

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:24:11.:24:16.

natural ability come to the fore. A couple of waggles and then through.

:24:16.:24:21.

The one thing you don't want to do, there will be a lot of nerves there,

:24:21.:24:31.
:24:31.:24:51.

you don't want to change your He hasn't played this well, unless

:24:51.:24:57.

he hides it behind the brown. That is a poor shot for someone of his

:24:57.:25:07.
:25:07.:25:20.

Ooh he hised it. Hit it much too thick. So another decent chance has

:25:20.:25:30.
:25:30.:25:51.

A good opening red. But a big ask to win the frame, the way the reds

:25:51.:26:01.
:26:01.:26:01.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:26:01.:27:00.

Well not certain about that shot. If he has got the snooker behind

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the black, fine, if not he was leaving an easy snooker for Ricky

:27:07.:27:17.
:27:17.:27:33.

A delicate shot. Nicely played. If he had hit that red full, he could

:27:33.:27:43.
:27:43.:27:58.

have stunned it up the table and Trying to nestle this behind the

:27:58.:28:04.

green. But not quite. Obviously a player would like to get in and win

:28:04.:28:11.

a frame with one visit, but from a neutral's point of view it is a

:28:11.:28:16.

good frame. Both players are having time to settle and get used to the

:28:16.:28:26.
:28:26.:28:50.

Mark Allen a bit like Judd Trump, likes to g through his shots. -- go

:28:50.:28:56.

through his shots. He will do well to miss contact on brown or the two

:28:56.:29:06.
:29:06.:29:25.

He managed to miss both cannons. But I think he has got away with it.

:29:25.:29:35.
:29:35.:29:50.

Does it pass the yellow? Yes it Well you're just looking now after

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he has potted the colour, leave a nice angle on the colour to bring

:29:55.:30:05.
:30:05.:30:26.

that awkward red away from the side That is nothing like where he

:30:26.:30:34.

wanted to be. He may not even play a pot here. Let's have a look.

:30:34.:30:44.
:30:44.:31:00.

Sounded funny, the white seemed to The extra two points is not really

:31:00.:31:10.
:31:10.:31:16.

any good to him. I don't know But, why would you want to put the

:31:16.:31:20.

yellow safe? I was going to pursue the same question, Willie. He needs

:31:20.:31:30.
:31:30.:31:53.

the yellow. He has still got the Quite easy just to sneak it in

:31:53.:31:58.

behind the yellow, here, and get it on to the baulk cushion. He's going

:31:58.:32:02.

to have to come off the black cushion to get up and down for the

:32:02.:32:08.

red. I don't know whether he's thinking about getting it round the

:32:08.:32:17.

brown as well. Just sneak it behind the yellow. Can he see the edge of

:32:17.:32:24.

it? Maybe just. Looks as though he can, he has to be wary of catching

:32:24.:32:34.
:32:34.:32:34.

that bump on the middle pocket. Well, he did, but it was a good

:32:34.:32:44.
:32:44.:33:20.

He will settle for that, trusting to luck, coming out of that snooker.

:33:20.:33:30.
:33:30.:33:32.

Not too bad at all. He could double the red up to this end of the table

:33:32.:33:42.
:33:42.:33:49.

but there is a risk of getting a Whichever way he plays, the double-

:33:49.:33:55.

kiss is on. Just managed to avoid the double-kiss. Where is the red

:33:55.:34:02.

going? That is another poor shot. He knows he was doubling over to

:34:02.:34:12.
:34:12.:34:18.

the corner. This World Cup. -- will cut. I don't know if he can get to

:34:18.:34:23.

direct. He may have to bend it, just to get the potting angle. If

:34:23.:34:33.
:34:33.:34:37.

he knocks this in, he is a big Now, well the blue or pink, to his

:34:37.:34:44.

rescue? I don't been so. That dry smile tells you there was a gap,

:34:44.:34:54.

and directors. -- and there it is. Mark Allen now, favourite for this

:34:54.:35:04.
:35:04.:35:25.

Obviously, lot of pressure on the first frame. It has been scrappy,

:35:25.:35:29.

but we can promise you better snooker from these two players,

:35:29.:35:37.

both have been hitting the ball very well this week. He's worried

:35:37.:35:42.

about getting the wrong angle from the green to the brown. If he pots

:35:42.:35:48.

the yellow, he can only hold it, half ball. That is one way he could

:35:48.:35:58.
:35:58.:36:09.

He decided on John's wrote. Well try now to get round the back of

:36:09.:36:19.
:36:19.:36:49.

Just blue and pink needed, and that Just this pink for the first frame.

:36:49.:36:54.

Scrappy affair, Mark Allen won't mind that, Ricky Walden had a

:36:54.:36:58.

couple of chances and will be disappointed not to have taken them.

:36:58.:37:04.

Mark Allen was to the dressing room with a 1-0 lead. Yes, it was a

:37:04.:37:09.

nervous start here in the Barbican. In the studio we have got Ken

:37:09.:37:13.

Doherty practising hard, chipping in with discussion throughout the

:37:13.:37:19.

afternoon. John Parrott and Steve Davis also joined us. Before a ball

:37:19.:37:23.

was struck, what was you're feeling about the way these players matched

:37:23.:37:30.

up? I was impressed with a Ricky Walden in getting this far and I am

:37:30.:37:34.

always impressed with Mark Allen, his competitive spirit is

:37:34.:37:39.

marvellous. Completely different styles. I like the way Mark Allen

:37:39.:37:44.

hits the ball. Noel exaggerated backswing, he's very compact and

:37:44.:37:51.

shot, there is not much that can go wrong with his cueing action.

:37:51.:37:56.

key has won a world-ranking event in Shanghai three years ago. But

:37:56.:38:02.

does Mark Allen edge it in terms of his experience? He has five ranking

:38:02.:38:05.

semi-finals and one at the Masters. He has not got through to a final

:38:05.:38:11.

yet but he's used to playing on the big stage. Ricky has not really

:38:11.:38:17.

been in the final stages. In terms of experience, our lives on, we

:38:17.:38:27.
:38:27.:38:29.

might see that. -- early on. It was a so defeat that Mark Allen had at

:38:29.:38:32.

the Masters in earlier this year, and it took a long time for him to

:38:32.:38:36.

get over that. Does that become a mental barrier when you reach

:38:36.:38:40.

another semi-final? You need to be in that situation to have the

:38:40.:38:44.

opportunity to do it. He's one of those players we have been looking

:38:44.:38:49.

at and thinking, when he wins his first tournament, he is going to

:38:49.:38:54.

win a few more, but of course it is there to go to win that first one.

:38:54.:38:59.

Ricky Walden does not trumpet his opinions. It is very much a

:38:59.:39:05.

contrast not just all styles but of personalities. The modern-day

:39:05.:39:10.

player has just a playing machine. I don't think personality comes

:39:10.:39:17.

into snooker as much as it used to. Ricky Walden he is just a great

:39:17.:39:25.

cueist. Ricky Walden is great to watch, are amongst the balls. It is

:39:25.:39:30.

nice that this is a best-of- 17 match. There is more of a storyline

:39:30.:39:35.

that unfolds in a best-of- 17 match. Both of these players need to have

:39:35.:39:39.

something of a story line against each other. Both of them likeable

:39:39.:39:43.

characters. We see them in the practice room in the studio area.

:39:43.:39:53.
:39:53.:39:54.

It is going to be a great game over the next Euros. -- few hours. You

:39:54.:40:00.

would think they would have met a couple of times before. Mark Allen

:40:00.:40:06.

won their last meeting in the 2008 World Championship. The red on the

:40:06.:40:12.

cushion might cause a problem. Purposely got into the black, but

:40:12.:40:18.

was unlucky enough to knock the black on. He has played the cannon

:40:18.:40:28.
:40:28.:40:28.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:40:28.:42:31.

He has decided to come off the side Good pot. May have been better

:42:31.:42:37.

served if he was able to run past the blue. Has the choice of baulk

:42:37.:42:47.
:42:47.:43:08.

Ooh, wide. That was a blue you would expect him to pot. Looking at

:43:08.:43:11.

the body language of the players, we talk about how people handle

:43:12.:43:21.
:43:22.:43:23.

nouns, Mark Allen is very quiet and subdued at the moment. -- nerves.

:43:23.:43:33.
:43:33.:43:38.

He is not in the zone yet. He's a very fluent break-builder. It would

:43:38.:43:44.

suit the key of this does not go back on its own spot, and goes on

:43:44.:43:54.
:43:54.:43:59.

the black spot. -- it would sit Looking at the demeanour of the

:43:59.:44:09.
:44:09.:44:15.

players, you would think that Ricky Mark Allen was slight favourite to

:44:15.:44:25.
:44:25.:44:28.

win this game. Mark is a round of ting, 14, in the rankings. Ricky

:44:28.:44:38.
:44:38.:44:39.

Walden, in the 20s. -- around 13, 14. Decided to play for the black.

:44:39.:44:45.

I assume there must be a plant available, because he is not going

:44:45.:44:49.

to be potting this black and smashing into the cluster. I can

:44:49.:44:55.

only assume there is a plant to the corner pocket. Black goes on the

:44:55.:45:00.

highest available which is the blue spot and then you see the plant,

:45:00.:45:10.
:45:10.:45:13.

two reds at the bottom of the He would have been hoping that the

:45:13.:45:18.

first red would have stayed available, but it has not, so he is

:45:18.:45:22.

going to have to play a cannon off the pink, of the top cushion lots

:45:22.:45:30.

of pace. It is more difficult when you come off the cushion because

:45:30.:45:33.

you don't know quite how much pace you need to open up the reds. But

:45:34.:45:39.

he has given it a go. It could have worked out better. He has got a

:45:39.:45:46.

chance but no easy red to carry on with. You see the white here

:45:46.:45:52.

striking the pack, but he was unlucky not to get an easier shot

:45:52.:45:59.

than this. When you play into the pack you do not have to play with

:45:59.:46:06.

any side, the arc comes from the speed of the spin. That is an

:46:06.:46:12.

excellent shot, deserves to win the frame now, for that. He just wants

:46:13.:46:17.

to award the cue ball now. Coming off the cushion, though, it can go

:46:17.:46:27.

wrong. The red just below the pink should be OK. And of course, when

:46:27.:46:32.

he has potted the black, the black spot will be available, and into

:46:32.:46:40.

both corners. This shot is so important. It is OK. He decided to

:46:40.:46:46.

play round the red rather than the pink, but he is holding the cue

:46:46.:46:55.

ball in the middle of the table. Players often ask why you plea can

:46:55.:47:00.

ins and things, but you cannot afford to risk getting near the

:47:00.:47:05.

cushion. If you win the frame at this was a Jew cannot afford to let

:47:05.:47:09.

the cue ball run away. What's of cannons are played when there are

:47:09.:47:19.
:47:19.:47:20.

loose reds around, just to slow the white down. -- lots of. When you

:47:20.:47:25.

are in and around the black spot area, you just use little stuns and

:47:25.:47:35.
:47:35.:47:35.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:47:35.:48:27.

That is the first half century of Just not got the right angle on the

:48:27.:48:33.

pink. He may have to play for the red to the right centre. He has

:48:33.:48:37.

decided he was straight enough so that he could hold the pink spot,

:48:37.:48:41.

and that would leave them the red to the left corner. If he pots this

:48:41.:48:51.
:48:51.:48:56.

red, he goes 61 points in front. He has taken it very well. We could

:48:56.:49:03.

see the first century of the match here. It was key when he played for

:49:03.:49:10.

that black on the cushion and spotted that plant. It has been an

:49:10.:49:14.

excellent break and it probably deserves a century. Needs a good

:49:15.:49:24.
:49:25.:49:30.

As well as he has played, Ricky Walden has yet to have a century in

:49:30.:49:40.
:49:40.:49:47.

this tournament. He has made well He has obviously made plenty of 70

:49:47.:49:57.
:49:57.:49:58.

and aboves in this tournament, but he is yet to have a century. The

:49:58.:50:03.

black is perfect. But he has decided to play the pink. Never

:50:03.:50:06.

looked at the black, but it would have been better to kiss the red

:50:06.:50:16.

out. This is what we were saying about Ricky Walden. He is very

:50:16.:50:22.

quick and effective when he is on form. He has done this absolutely

:50:22.:50:32.
:50:32.:50:48.

brilliantly. This will settle him Well played Ricky Walden, his first

:50:48.:50:56.

century of the tournament, number 113, of his career. This tells you

:50:56.:51:00.

what a good break-builder he is. And we are witnessing exactly that

:51:00.:51:09.

right here, right now. A left- handed shot - I have never seen him

:51:09.:51:19.

playing left-handed. He lost the first frame. Perhaps he thought he

:51:19.:51:24.

should have won it. An excellent leaders of 124. Ricky Walden levels

:51:24.:51:33.

the scores at 1-1. -- excellent clearance. The foundation of that

:51:33.:51:38.

century break was the pink when it was on the black spot. Ken Doherty

:51:38.:51:42.

you were watching this closely. A great shot back, straight into the

:51:42.:51:50.

pack. Yes, here was a situation, he had a full pack, and instead of

:51:50.:51:55.

playing the cue ball directly in a straight line, what he does, he

:51:55.:52:00.

hits it with lots of top-spin, so the cue ball hits the pink, it

:52:00.:52:04.

marks into the pack, that top-spin takes the cue ball through the pack

:52:04.:52:09.

and splits the red, and it is a top-spin that generates the pack to

:52:09.:52:15.

split open, and he subsequently won the frame. Great shot. His first

:52:15.:52:19.

century in this championship. That has got to be a huge confidence

:52:19.:52:24.

booster. We mentioned about him settling down and it being a big

:52:24.:52:29.

occasion for both players. He struck the ball beautifully in that

:52:29.:52:36.

break. Top break before this, 98, I suppose it is always a nagging at

:52:36.:52:40.

you and so you make your first century break in a big championship.

:52:40.:52:46.

You just want to get over the line in the frame. Deja notice that Ken

:52:46.:52:51.

did not try to replicate that shot?! We will try to get them to

:52:51.:53:01.
:53:01.:53:02.

do it at the next opportunity, Mark Allen gets frame three on the

:53:02.:53:07.

way. We said when he missed the blue that let Ricky Walden in

:53:07.:53:15.

format wonderful break of 124 that he was looking a little bit subdued.

:53:15.:53:19.

Sometimes that can relax a player. You see the appalling starting to

:53:19.:53:25.

play well, you know that you have got to play well. -- you see your

:53:25.:53:35.
:53:35.:53:37.

We saw Ricky Walden playing an excellent pack short, this is what

:53:37.:53:44.

top-spin is. If he needs to follow through at pace, look how stops

:53:44.:53:50.

then you can see this been seeking. It takes a couple of seconds, and

:53:50.:53:53.

that is what happened when he played that shot into the pack. And

:53:53.:53:58.

the reason you get the arc is that the spin generates and you get that

:53:58.:54:02.

little arc on the cue ball. It is not played with sight spin, just

:54:02.:54:12.
:54:12.:54:15.

top-spin. -- side spin. He got the red, but he could have done with a

:54:15.:54:20.

nice a kiss than this. He has a chance with the green, but that is

:54:20.:54:28.

too risky. It was nice the way Ken Doherty did it. He just pushed the

:54:28.:54:35.

ball through with his hand. I wish we could have done that when we

:54:35.:54:45.
:54:45.:54:45.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:54:45.:55:42.

were playing! It would have been a He is giving these a close look. It

:55:42.:55:49.

is not straightforward, just to come off the side cushion. Just one

:55:49.:55:52.

loose red to the left of the pink that he is a little bit concerned

:55:52.:55:58.

about leaving. Doesn't want to one past it. He has judged that to

:55:58.:56:06.

perfection. Good shot. He has proved a couple of times, in hour

:56:07.:56:16.
:56:17.:56:17.

there planes that he has got the pace of the table off. -- earlier

:56:17.:56:25.

frames. Just looking at the very thin safety shot, to get behind the

:56:25.:56:29.

brown. The only thing that could go wrong is that he could catch the

:56:29.:56:39.
:56:39.:56:52.

jaws of the middle pocket, if he is That was amazing. He had to hit it

:56:52.:57:00.

so thin. The only thing that could go wrong was going near the middle

:57:00.:57:09.

pocket, but he got nowhere near anything. I am certain there has a

:57:09.:57:17.

red that will go to this right hand,. If he knocks this in, he

:57:17.:57:22.

will be in and around the black spot area, where you want to be. He

:57:22.:57:32.
:57:32.:57:38.

has played that before. That was a Ricky's lovely to watch when he

:57:38.:57:48.
:57:48.:58:01.

gets in a row and this end of the I remember when he scored the 81st

:58:01.:58:11.
:58:11.:58:13.

competitive maximum in the TPCs. And who is the other top player

:58:13.:58:21.

that does that? Mark King? Yes, he is a tall lad, but it is about what

:58:21.:58:26.

you fall into when you first start playing. That is why you enjoy

:58:26.:58:31.

watching Ricky Walden, because he is a natural. There is nothing

:58:31.:58:36.

manufactured about his style. you walk by and gave him a match,

:58:37.:58:44.

he would fall over. And I do not think you are allowed to do that!

:58:44.:58:53.

What I was trying to say is that it is not a solid stance! He has an

:58:53.:58:59.

angle on this red to bring another couple of reds into play. You have

:58:59.:59:08.

got to generate a lot of top-spin to force through the pack. He just

:59:08.:59:13.

played the thin flick. The problem when you play that is that if you

:59:13.:59:19.

get on the wrong side of the pocket, you can play it too thick. He was

:59:19.:59:22.

expecting at the thin contact and he was the wrong side of the pocket

:59:22.:59:27.

and he caught the other red. If he thought that was going to happen he

:59:27.:59:37.
:59:37.:59:41.

would have put more pace on the One other colleagues have a

:59:41.:59:51.
:59:51.:59:53.

slightly bent at the knee stands, John Parrott. -- stance. It is just

:59:53.:00:01.

what you get used to, when you first start playing. As long as the

:00:01.:00:05.

stance does not stop the cue going to straight when you strike the cue

:00:05.:00:15.
:00:15.:00:38.

ball, but he will be disappointed Is he going to play an attacking

:00:38.:00:47.

safety? That is what he has decided to do. And he has played it well.

:00:47.:00:52.

Okay, they red be a possibility of a cut in to the right middle pocket,

:00:52.:01:02.
:01:02.:01:03.

but it is the very risky shot to take on. Yes, looking at the angle,

:01:03.:01:11.

he could maybe get back up to the end of the table. He has got to be

:01:11.:01:21.
:01:21.:01:21.

a little careful if he takes this on. If he does take it on, it is a

:01:21.:01:28.

precious shot. It could be a frame or when or if he gets on a colour.

:01:28.:01:38.
:01:38.:01:41.

Is it worth the risk? Yes, I think the two reds which would be left

:01:41.:01:51.
:01:51.:01:53.

available are what is stopping him There is the path of the cue ball,

:01:53.:01:57.

but these two reds are going to be available into the middle. He

:01:57.:02:06.

thought it was worth the risk, but it could cost him the frame. He is,

:02:06.:02:16.
:02:16.:02:19.

Mark Allen saw Ricky Walden was made of and the last frame, so what

:02:19.:02:29.
:02:29.:02:33.

can he do with this very good Yes, it would be quite amazing of

:02:33.:02:38.

Mark Allen went 2-1 in front, because he has done very little in

:02:38.:02:48.
:02:48.:02:49.

Ricky Walden will be thinking he could be three frames ahead with

:02:49.:02:56.

the amount of chances he has had. But Mark Allen is definitely the

:02:56.:03:06.
:03:06.:03:18.

Okay, he is perfect on their red, but it would have been very easy

:03:18.:03:28.
:03:28.:03:30.

for into bomb Pinter that cluster In his defence, each of these reds

:03:30.:03:38.

is available. If he pots them all with colours, then that will be

:03:38.:03:48.
:03:48.:03:59.

more than enough to take this third It does inspire you sometimes when

:03:59.:04:04.

you're opponent hits a century. It makes you realise that only your

:04:04.:04:10.

best is going to be good enough. In some ways, it actually helps you

:04:10.:04:20.
:04:20.:04:20.

Ricky is pondering about a red he missed. I do not blame him for

:04:20.:04:30.
:04:30.:04:32.

taking it on. There was not an easy The secret to this game is that you

:04:32.:04:36.

should never doubt at the decision you need and you should not beat

:04:36.:04:46.
:04:46.:04:50.

Just have a look at this again. As you say, there was not really a

:04:50.:05:00.
:05:00.:05:06.

Now, if Mark can get on this red nicely - he would like to get up

:05:06.:05:13.

for the bloke - it would Nicky easier for him to get on the

:05:13.:05:19.

remaining three reds at the top end of the table. He just got the angle

:05:19.:05:29.
:05:29.:05:41.

25 points the lead, with 51 points remaining. These three reds, which

:05:41.:05:51.
:05:51.:06:31.

are all nice positions, will be He is making his highest break of

:06:31.:06:41.
:06:41.:06:51.

On the chances, Ricky Walden should be leading. But Mark Allen is going

:06:51.:07:01.
:07:01.:07:02.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:07:02.:07:42.

A little bit of an exhibition shot, but I do not think the cue ball is

:07:42.:07:52.
:07:52.:07:57.

It did not matter. The frame was over. That was a good reply from

:07:57.:08:02.

Mark Allen. A lovely break of 85 showed us just what he is capable

:08:02.:08:12.
:08:12.:08:17.

Now, it is now the best of 17 frames. As you will have cared, the

:08:17.:08:26.

format was changed in the early rounds. How it different is that

:08:26.:08:36.
:08:36.:08:36.

for the players? If I think, from the purists point of view, it suits

:08:36.:08:46.
:08:46.:08:49.

them. Do you think Mark Allen will feel happier about the best of 17,

:08:49.:08:59.
:08:59.:08:59.

having wanted this from the start of the tournament? It is quite

:08:59.:09:02.

ironic that the main grievance about the tournament season in the

:09:03.:09:11.

semi-final. Although he did not like the former been changed, it

:09:11.:09:21.
:09:21.:09:28.

could lead to his first victory. -- Yes, this is a big frame for Ricky

:09:28.:09:38.
:09:38.:09:41.

Walden. If he came out of this 3-1 down, I think he would be mortified.

:09:41.:09:51.
:09:51.:10:05.

But that is not the best break off I am just having a look. He can

:10:05.:10:15.

certainly create an angle off this red. A good shot and he played the

:10:15.:10:25.
:10:25.:10:29.

He is on the black. I am not certain where it will goal when it

:10:29.:10:39.
:10:39.:10:49.

is re-spotted. Maybe the pink would Jan Verhaas our referee is asking

:10:49.:10:59.
:10:59.:11:01.

mark to give him the second to see if the export will be available. --

:11:01.:11:11.
:11:11.:11:30.

The hands of a surgeon - steady as That is just about perfect. There

:11:30.:11:40.
:11:40.:11:42.

But Mark Allen went straight into them and caught them really well.

:11:43.:11:50.

He could have hoped for something a little bit better than that. Just

:11:50.:12:00.
:12:00.:12:09.

watch the back spin he created here. A good pot. Okay, he is not on the

:12:10.:12:14.

right side of the blue, but there is a red in the top half of the

:12:14.:12:24.
:12:24.:12:26.

table. He is just looking to see if red ball goal in past the yellow.

:12:26.:12:36.
:12:36.:12:59.

If it does not, he has a bit more He is going for the gap between the

:12:59.:13:09.
:13:09.:13:18.

yellow and brown and that case on He looks to have found his stride

:13:18.:13:28.
:13:28.:13:32.

now, Mark Allen. He played a shot in the previous frame on the blue.

:13:33.:13:39.

Do you see how the weight stops and then how it generates that spin.

:13:39.:13:47.

You really have to follow through to get that sort of spin. Now, the

:13:47.:13:57.
:13:57.:14:00.

black is only available now in the This is not a frame-winning

:14:00.:14:10.
:14:10.:14:49.

Amazingly, they have just potted exactly the same amount of balls.

:14:49.:14:59.
:14:59.:15:09.

But Ricky, of course, is probably There is just that middle red in

:15:09.:15:19.
:15:19.:15:19.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:15:19.:16:29.

Just coming up to 60 minutes of play. Mark Allen will be pretty

:16:29.:16:34.

pleased with what has happened so far, even if he did get a bad

:16:34.:16:44.
:16:44.:16:45.

contact there. Actually, it may have done and a favour. It is now

:16:45.:16:55.

easy to screw off the blue round He needs a good angle off the

:16:55.:17:02.

colour to get on the next red. Let us see what sort of angle here has

:17:02.:17:11.

got. Pretty good. There is a chance here. I would favour cannoning into

:17:11.:17:21.
:17:21.:17:25.

You could come in then, but the one down there would be better. You

:17:25.:17:29.

could do the ones on the side cushion and not actually develop

:17:29.:17:39.
:17:39.:17:41.

But the way he is playing this, perhaps one of these balls actually

:17:41.:17:51.
:17:51.:18:06.

pots. It must be a planned, John. - All he needed to do was get the

:18:06.:18:13.

ball down here. But then again, when he was playing the shot, I am

:18:13.:18:17.

pretty sure he thought there was no way he could be snookered by the

:18:17.:18:27.
:18:27.:18:30.

But he has not left a good safety. He has left this red over the

:18:30.:18:40.
:18:40.:18:44.

OK, this is not going to be an easy opportunity, with the red lined up

:18:44.:18:54.
:18:54.:19:20.

He will be disappointed he did not That has helped him. If he had run

:19:20.:19:30.
:19:30.:19:38.

past he would not have been on He just requires us red. By will

:19:38.:19:47.

put in 63 in front, with only 59 it remaining. So, at the interval,

:19:47.:19:57.
:19:57.:20:00.

Mark Allen is going to have Eve 3-1 Ricky Walden has only himself to

:20:00.:20:07.

blame. He has not been outplayed in terms of potting or safety. He has

:20:07.:20:17.
:20:17.:20:29.

just missed too many shots. And Now, are their concerns for Ricky

:20:29.:20:38.

at this point? Yes, insomuch as that Mark Allen now looks very

:20:38.:20:47.

sharp. There have been less mistakes in this game and there was

:20:47.:20:54.

in yesterday's, but Mark Allen is looking sharp. It is amazing that

:20:54.:20:59.

everything he has said this week and it appears he will be in front

:20:59.:21:06.

of a disciplinary committee in the next few months, it appears to have

:21:06.:21:13.

galvanised him a rather than had an adverse affect? Yes, I do not have

:21:13.:21:19.

a problem with an having an opinion, but it is the way he expressed it.

:21:19.:21:26.

But he is the top class player. The way he is when he gets in amongst

:21:26.:21:34.

the balls, we have said it about Judd Trump as well. We should say

:21:34.:21:39.

that Mark Allen has apologise for any bad language he used in that

:21:39.:21:49.
:21:49.:21:53.

press conference. Now, people have been sending in their tweeds. There

:21:53.:22:01.

is a lot of talk that pot percentage is crucial. Given that,

:22:01.:22:05.

how should you split your time in practice between safety play and

:22:05.:22:15.
:22:15.:22:15.

poteen? It is hard to factor in time for work safety play. There

:22:15.:22:22.

are bits and bobs you can do, a few routines you can do, but most of

:22:22.:22:30.

you're time should be focused on poteen. The very few players would

:22:30.:22:37.

practised safety play when they are practising Seoul. You practise your

:22:37.:22:42.

safety play when you're up against another good player in practice.

:22:42.:22:49.

You know, you might have a little bit on again, but that is when you

:22:49.:22:53.

want to break practise the safety because it is any real life

:22:53.:23:00.

situation. Here is another, if Steve could got back in time and

:23:00.:23:09.

play any other frame again which one it would it be? I think I can

:23:09.:23:19.
:23:19.:23:25.

guess that one! You all know which one it is! I played Stephen Hendry

:23:25.:23:30.

in the UK Championship and one shot went wrong and that cost me the

:23:30.:23:38.

match. And also, I was 7-1 up against Alex Higgins in this

:23:38.:23:45.

tournament and lost that. He it is funny that, given everything that

:23:45.:23:50.

Steve has done in the game, you always remember the ones that you

:23:50.:23:58.

lose. Yes, any time I ask you how many times you have won this

:23:58.:24:07.

tournament or that tournament, you can never remember. Yes, I can even

:24:07.:24:15.

remember the shot. I still have the nightmares. It is a bat like Doug

:24:15.:24:19.

Sanders when he missed that easy pot to win the open Championship

:24:19.:24:27.

and was asked, do you ever think about it and Doug Sanders said,

:24:27.:24:37.
:24:37.:24:39.

Now, we have got a technical question relating to you're barely

:24:39.:24:48.

a shot, Kane. Yes, this is to do with what you look at when you're

:24:48.:24:54.

about to pot. When you are getting down to the shot you're focusing on

:24:54.:24:57.

the cue ball, but when you actually play the shot, you are focusing

:24:57.:25:07.
:25:07.:25:07.

more on the object ball. Okay, let us discuss a bit about Ricky Walden.

:25:07.:25:14.

He is the world No. 22 and made that breakthrough at the Shanghai

:25:14.:25:20.

Masters in 2008. Since then, he has tried and largely failed, to live

:25:20.:25:30.
:25:30.:25:33.

What a week it has been for Ricky Walden. He has been the surprise

:25:33.:25:40.

package in York. He has beaten three top 16 players on the way and

:25:40.:25:45.

he aims to stay on track all the way to the final. Unlike his

:25:45.:25:50.

opponent, he is a quiet man who just gets on with his game. But he

:25:50.:25:58.

could book a place in his second major final today. I have been the

:25:58.:26:02.

underdog in all three games and I am quite happy with that. I just

:26:02.:26:11.

like to get on with my own game. Along the line, the man from

:26:11.:26:20.

Chester beat Stephen Lee in Rennes 1. Yes, we were going thick frame

:26:20.:26:24.

for frame through the first six frames. But I was lucky enough to

:26:24.:26:34.
:26:34.:26:40.

be able to string a few frames The next stop was Mark Williams and

:26:40.:26:50.
:26:50.:26:52.

not even the world No. 2 could derail Ricky. Yes, I made good

:26:52.:27:00.

breaks at the start of the match in a pinny and a good position.

:27:00.:27:05.

Luckily enough, I managed to nick the seventh frame to go for three

:27:05.:27:12.

and played solidly after that. the quarter-final, he was up

:27:12.:27:20.

against his good friend and playing partner Shaun Murphy. Again, he

:27:20.:27:30.
:27:30.:27:32.

rose to the occasion. Through my career I have managed to beat the

:27:32.:27:37.

top players at one time or another, but actually to string it together

:27:37.:27:44.

in one tournament has been very satisfying. Only Mark Allen stands

:27:44.:27:50.

between him and a place in the final. Mark Allen has beaten him

:27:50.:28:00.
:28:00.:28:03.

twice in their three meetings. always know you're going to have to

:28:03.:28:10.

play well any time you going there. With the 147 in his last event

:28:11.:28:20.
:28:21.:28:21.

before this, he is clearly in form and looking good. He is bidding to

:28:21.:28:26.

become the 4th qualifier to reach the final of the UK Championship.

:28:26.:28:36.
:28:36.:28:46.

Can you name the other three? Mountjoy, Stephen Maguire. Let us

:28:46.:28:51.

talk about recreate Walden. We notice coming into this

:28:51.:28:56.

championship that he has been in great form. He made his first

:28:56.:29:06.
:29:06.:29:07.

competitive maximum in the last event. What has changed? Yes, he

:29:07.:29:15.

says he has rededicated himself a bit. He has picked a bit more

:29:15.:29:20.

effort into it. What has been impressive is that in all three

:29:20.:29:27.

matches, he has not been pushed to the limit. He has won all of them

:29:27.:29:37.
:29:37.:29:37.

6-3. We have got so many more tournaments - we have had a few

:29:37.:29:44.

moans about this - but a lot of the players now can see it as a full-

:29:45.:29:51.

time jaw and it has really inspired a lot of the players. It has

:29:51.:29:56.

inspired me back to playing the game a bit more. When there were

:29:56.:29:59.

only six ranking events, it did make you feel that you were

:29:59.:30:08.

something of a part-time player. Yes, and it is harder to practise

:30:08.:30:12.

when you get a bit older when you think that the next tournament is

:30:12.:30:22.
:30:22.:30:29.

We took Mark Allen to the railway institute to talk about the game.

:30:29.:30:33.

started when I was 1 or 12. My dad used to play and take me and my

:30:33.:30:40.

brother down to the social club. I used to play every Sunday morning.

:30:40.:30:44.

If you look around, this hasn't changed much in 40 years. If you

:30:44.:30:50.

look at the table, it is a bit damaged. That is from people coming

:30:50.:30:54.

and having a bit of fun and the social side of it too. The

:30:54.:30:58.

traditions of snooker are part of what the game is about and in the

:30:58.:31:03.

longer format and you look at club like this, this what is snooker's

:31:03.:31:08.

all about. It was concern about traditions that led The Pistol to

:31:08.:31:13.

shoot from the lip and there was that bizarre press conference. Did

:31:13.:31:17.

a certain Welshman have anything to do with it. I felt I couldn't say

:31:17.:31:23.

what I wanted. I got criticised from what I said. That is unfair in

:31:23.:31:28.

the world we're living, everyone should be entitled to their

:31:28.:31:33.

opinions. Griff is a funny man, he didn't put me up to it, but he

:31:33.:31:37.

didn't disagree either. I don't mind the media attention. Will go

:31:37.:31:41.

out there and try win. Now the focus is on firing to his first

:31:41.:31:47.

ever ranking final A step that has tripped him up five times. I don't

:31:48.:31:56.

think I play thrated well. -- that well. I played more solid. Against

:31:56.:32:03.

Marco, I done what I needed to, from 5-4 down I produced the best

:32:03.:32:07.

two frames of the match in my opinion. I don't deliberately go

:32:07.:32:14.

out to lose in systemy finals. I have tried my best, but haven't

:32:14.:32:22.

done well. -- semi finals. But who will the better player? Allen has

:32:22.:32:27.

won their only long distance match. You have no right to turn up and

:32:27.:32:33.

expect to win. Ricky is such a good player, if I don't play well I will

:32:33.:32:38.

lose. He can keep you out for long periods and win frames in short

:32:38.:32:43.

periods of time that. Is a bad combination. He has a good all

:32:43.:32:47.

round game. But I'm confident about my chances. It would be nice to

:32:47.:32:53.

prove a lot of people wrong. So can he win a first major final? And

:32:53.:32:57.

what a good year it would be if he were to do that? Because he has

:32:57.:33:01.

been open and honest about the depression and the battle against

:33:01.:33:04.

depression that he was going through earlier in the season. He

:33:04.:33:12.

was not in good shape coming to the Crucible earlier and he was very

:33:12.:33:17.

honest about it. Yes, nothing I know a great deal about it. But it

:33:17.:33:21.

affects people in different ways. Obviously, he was open about it.

:33:21.:33:27.

But he seems to have coped with it. He says he is on the way back to

:33:27.:33:31.

full health. I don't think that Mark would be a great fan of a

:33:31.:33:35.

suggestion that has come in from Pete who, says do you think the

:33:35.:33:40.

shot clock should be brought into all competitions? I can probably

:33:40.:33:44.

speak for Mark, not a chance. What do you think? I think is the shot

:33:44.:33:49.

clock is an awful invention. I really do. It doesn't need to be in

:33:49.:33:56.

snooker. Snooker's good enough. The only one it is OK in is the Sky

:33:56.:34:01.

shoot out. The other tournaments, it ruins them and it doesn't need

:34:02.:34:06.

it. Snooker is fast enough as it is. That is my opinion. Some people

:34:06.:34:11.

like the shot clock. For me it just makes fast snooker, but with no

:34:11.:34:19.

tension. It has gone down to 20 second s in some competition.

:34:19.:34:27.

Tension is part of the game and if you have dissipated the tension.

:34:27.:34:31.

You had a shot clock in the seniors. We couldn't work it out. We didn't

:34:31.:34:36.

know what was going on. Another technical one for you, this is from

:34:36.:34:42.

Bradley who says when playing with side, how do you know, sorry, how

:34:42.:34:46.

do you know how much to use. In other words how can you judge how

:34:46.:34:54.

much side to put on a ball. It is basically you can see a shot f I

:34:54.:34:59.

don't use side, the white will come back into the red. If I use the

:34:59.:35:04.

left side of the cue ball, it widens the angle. You have to

:35:04.:35:08.

understand where the cue ball is going to go without side and with

:35:08.:35:14.

side. This brings the cue ball over here and you're on the red. Thank

:35:14.:35:24.
:35:24.:35:25.

you. Thank you to all of you who have been sending us mess adges. It

:35:25.:35:30.

is time for the rest of the four frames that we have this afternoon.

:35:30.:35:36.

Here comes Mark, he is holding that 3-1 advantage as we back to Willie

:35:36.:35:44.

and John. JOHN VIRGO: thank you, it is an interesting conversation and

:35:44.:35:54.
:35:54.:35:56.

Ken, as ever, showing us how to flay shots. Ken lost 6-5 here. Of

:35:56.:36:02.

course we all know how hard it is to qualify to get to this stage and

:36:02.:36:08.

Mark Allen being in the top 16, he didn't have to go through all that.

:36:08.:36:16.

And it he will be pleased with himself to have a 3-1 lead and for

:36:16.:36:20.

Ricky Walden, there is another four frames in this first session. You

:36:20.:36:28.

feel that he would like to win three of the four. We will see how

:36:28.:36:34.

it unravels. WILLIE THORNE: The key thing is to hang on to his coat

:36:34.:36:40.

tails, even 3-3 wouldn't be a bad result. But as we say, with matches

:36:40.:36:43.

of this distance, you can't win the match in the first session, but you

:36:43.:36:50.

can certainly lose it. So he can't afford to lose three of the next

:36:50.:37:00.
:37:00.:37:39.

I think you're lookings at about 66%, which is fair. But they're

:37:39.:37:43.

quite low and quite low from Ricky. We have seen him miss a couple of

:37:43.:37:53.
:37:53.:37:53.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:37:53.:39:00.

what you could only describe as The danger red is the one over the

:39:00.:39:10.
:39:10.:39:17.

far left corner. There is plenty of A slight tactical advantage to Mark

:39:17.:39:21.

Allen. He is the one who has the opportunity always to bring the cue

:39:21.:39:26.

ball back to the top cushion sm as long as he get it close to the top

:39:26.:39:33.

cushion, then all Ricky Walden's got is a little roll into the reds.

:39:34.:39:40.

But having said that, well, I was thinking for a minute Ricky maybe

:39:40.:39:43.

able to cut this red to the right middle. He is going around to have

:39:43.:39:48.

a look at the potting angle. That is a bit careless to have left this

:39:48.:39:56.

opportunity. He is taking it on. Or is he? It was a similar shot that

:39:57.:40:06.
:40:07.:40:22.

This was a similar type of shot, overcut it and it cost him dear. So

:40:22.:40:31.

decided not to take the risk. But it is still advantage Mark Allen.

:40:31.:40:39.

Well maybe more than advantage, can he get through to this red? Well he

:40:39.:40:43.

could! That was so careless from Ricky Walden to leave that. But it

:40:44.:40:48.

is amazing. How many times have we seen that in this game A player

:40:48.:40:54.

play a very poor shot and then if your opponent doesn't pot the ball.

:40:54.:41:04.
:41:04.:41:34.

Then that good chance now falls to John Spencer always said to me, he

:41:34.:41:38.

said it doesn't matter about the opponent getting a fluke, until the

:41:38.:41:42.

end of the match. Because that fluke could have won you the game.

:41:43.:41:48.

Because it changes the whole path of the game. What a fabulous player

:41:48.:41:58.
:41:58.:42:16.

he was, John Spencer. One of the And a great character as well. He

:42:16.:42:26.
:42:26.:42:30.

He played ha beautifully. A lovely touch around the black spot area.

:42:30.:42:35.

couldn't agree with you more. He has got one of the better games at

:42:35.:42:45.
:42:45.:43:00.

this end of the table. But he is And the advantage of this situation

:43:00.:43:05.

of course he will play to get on the blue to come on the business

:43:05.:43:12.

end, where all the reds are, but if he is short on the blue he has that

:43:12.:43:19.

red in the baulk end as a reserve. You could not ask for a better

:43:19.:43:29.
:43:29.:43:30.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:43:30.:44:22.

The settling in frame was the first frame. It has been pretty quick

:44:22.:44:32.
:44:32.:44:34.

since then. Both these players like to get on with it. Whoever plays

:44:34.:44:44.
:44:44.:44:54.

Judd Trump, we know he likes to get Maybe too hard. Just pulled up.

:44:54.:45:04.
:45:04.:45:10.

May decide just to play cannon here. You always have that red over the

:45:10.:45:17.

far left corner. But he has decided there is one red in the middle of

:45:17.:45:27.
:45:27.:45:43.

He is OK. He has got two reds available to the right corner

:45:43.:45:50.

pocket. He already has a 51 point lead. Just about getting the pace

:45:50.:46:00.
:46:00.:46:02.

right on this shot. He would like to be playing for the black. Two

:46:02.:46:12.
:46:12.:46:16.

more reds, two blacks would be Mark Allen knows these should have

:46:16.:46:21.

have been his. It was a straight forward pot. It is a frustrating

:46:21.:46:30.

place, that Claire, when you make a mistake. -- that chair. A problem

:46:30.:46:35.

here this blue will put him 59 points in front, because he is

:46:35.:46:41.

playing the blue and not the black, he will need another red, colour

:46:41.:46:51.
:46:51.:46:59.

He play play -- he may play a gentle cannon into that gap there.

:46:59.:47:09.
:47:09.:47:12.

He played it nicely. That is what we talk about, using the balls to

:47:12.:47:16.

slow the white done and that deserved to win any frame, the way

:47:16.:47:26.
:47:26.:47:39.

Would you believe it? Would you believe it? That was basically

:47:39.:47:49.

frame ball. Black off the spot. No excuse for that. And missed it by a

:47:49.:47:59.
:47:59.:48:05.

He couldn't, could he? Well... He has more prospect than he must have

:48:05.:48:10.

thought than when he was sat in his chair. Ricky Walden for all the

:48:10.:48:16.

wrld, -- world, that black and one more red was all that was needed.

:48:16.:48:26.
:48:26.:48:38.

The one thing you have got to do, never sacrifice a pot for position.

:48:38.:48:42.

The cannon into the two reds leaves him the pink perfect. So using the

:48:42.:48:52.
:48:52.:48:53.

balls as a stopper. There is nothing wrong with that at all, is

:48:53.:49:03.
:49:03.:49:34.

Well has just goon favourite.Less 44 behind and he is now favourite

:49:34.:49:41.

to win the frame. I don't know what can be going through Ricky's mind,

:49:41.:49:51.
:49:51.:50:03.

That is a bit careless. Should have had the right angle. He had a good

:50:03.:50:13.
:50:13.:50:33.

angle on the red. Should have been Does the brown pot? Ifs no he is OK

:50:33.:50:43.
:50:43.:50:44.

on the blue. -- If not, he is OK on the blue. He can pot the brown and

:50:44.:50:53.

be 26 points behind with 27 remaining. The brown will come down

:50:53.:51:03.
:51:03.:51:10.

This is the only shot that can go wrong and he has overscrewed this.

:51:10.:51:20.
:51:20.:51:31.

You can see him shaking his head. Where is the cue ball going?

:51:31.:51:35.

REFEREE: Foul. There have been more twists and turns in this frame than

:51:35.:51:42.

I can believe. You can only put it down to the occasion. He

:51:42.:51:46.

overscrewed that yellow by a good foot. Left himself straight on the

:51:46.:51:56.

green. As soon as he hit it, he knew it was heading to the middle

:51:56.:52:00.

pocket. Now Ricky Walden is 28 points in front and there is just

:52:00.:52:08.

25 remaining. So Mark Allen has missed a golden opportunity to give

:52:08.:52:18.
:52:18.:52:47.

On the other hand, Mark Allen will Doesn't matter about the foul on

:52:47.:52:51.

the pifpbg. It was a frame that could have gone either way. But the

:52:51.:52:55.

final mistake was from the young man from Northern Ireland and Ricky

:52:55.:53:00.

Walden will go back very relieved. Just one frame behind. HAZEL

:53:00.:53:06.

IRVINE: Oh yes a few twists and turns, a frame of two shots.

:53:06.:53:11.

dodged a bullet there. Because when he was on the black and he missed.

:53:11.:53:16.

It is a simple shot. He has lost his conseason traigs. For a

:53:16.:53:20.

professional to -- his concentration. For a professional

:53:20.:53:26.

to miss one of those, that is a stinker.Ty Difference between about

:53:26.:53:32.

four inches there for Mark Allen meant he was the wrong side of

:53:32.:53:36.

green. On these fast cloths, with talk about how fast they are,

:53:36.:53:40.

positional control, cue ball control, is critical and is the

:53:40.:53:43.

difference. You have to make sure you're always the right side of the

:53:43.:53:51.

ball. He needed to be short on that, to give himself a nice green. Well

:53:51.:53:56.

in the end, all of the small differences add up and positional

:53:56.:53:59.

play, at the top of the table, around the black spot, wrong side

:53:59.:54:03.

of the red and you're going away from the black. Right side you have

:54:03.:54:07.

all the room in the world. That is the difference between the great

:54:07.:54:13.

positional player and an average one. Or a bit of tension and you

:54:13.:54:22.

overhit it. But Ricky Walden's face was a picture. You were saying,

:54:22.:54:29.

that could take some getting over. Yes the boys mentioned, for Ricky's

:54:29.:54:35.

sake, thankfully, Mark didn't make the clearance. You would take a few

:54:35.:54:40.

frames to get over that. If he goes 4-1 behind, then there is no way

:54:40.:54:45.

Mark can be behind tonight and he had a chance to press on further.

:54:45.:54:55.
:54:55.:54:56.

So that was a huge frame. It plays on their mind. Back we go. WILLIE

:54:56.:55:01.

THORNE: That was a massive bullet he dodged. That could give him the

:55:01.:55:07.

confidence he needs to get right back into this match now. He

:55:07.:55:14.

wouldn't have been out of it at 4-1. But Mark Allen would be bound to go

:55:14.:55:24.
:55:24.:55:36.

in front going into the night Mark Allen's safety has not been up

:55:36.:55:40.

to scratch today. He has played a few shots where he has just played

:55:40.:55:46.

it to get a good white and not worried about the object ball and

:55:46.:55:56.
:55:56.:56:05.

He needs a good cue ball here. And that is very good. A good shot.

:56:05.:56:09.

Always like to see that. A very important match for both players,

:56:09.:56:19.
:56:19.:56:34.

but nice to see a bit of Is the brown going to be in the

:56:34.:56:40.

way? If not, it is OK. It is a good exchange. It is a bit short of pace,

:56:40.:56:45.

but the key was to get it past the baulk line. There is one more red

:56:45.:56:50.

below the pink, he could play the same shot again and then the safety

:56:50.:57:00.
:57:00.:57:07.

He played that with a lot of left hand side, but the red is going

:57:07.:57:12.

towards the pocket. Is it in the pocket? It is not. Well even if the

:57:12.:57:16.

blue's in the way it will be easy to knock one red on to the other.

:57:17.:57:22.

The red to the right of the red over the pocket. That is a simple

:57:22.:57:32.
:57:32.:57:49.

I thought that was unmissable. Well the way it rattled, I thought it

:57:49.:57:53.

was going to stay there. But it wouldn't have mattered, the other

:57:53.:58:03.
:58:03.:58:09.

He will play for one of the reds above the black. I don't think it

:58:09.:58:14.

was a situation where 4 could get the black into play. You have got

:58:14.:58:24.
:58:24.:58:30.

Just concentrate on building up a useful lead and don't miss anything

:58:30.:58:40.
:58:40.:59:12.

It is all about where this pink goes when it is repotted.

:59:12.:59:21.

referee I heard him say to mark, give' second.. The pink spot is not

:59:21.:59:31.
:59:31.:59:36.

It may be available to the left corner. If he could get on that, he

:59:36.:59:46.
:59:46.:00:23.

can bring those other five reds It may be worthwhile playing a

:00:23.:00:33.
:00:33.:00:40.

little can in order those once He just slid past it and it it has

:00:40.:00:50.
:00:50.:01:17.

For someone of his class, that is And decent safety shot, but he will

:01:17.:01:27.
:01:27.:02:06.

be disappointed to not make more of He is not on line to hit this red.

:02:06.:02:16.
:02:16.:02:16.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:02:16.:02:58.

He has a lead of 36 points and will be reluctant to bring the black

:02:58.:03:08.
:03:08.:03:11.

into play. 36 points is quite a big lead the way the balls are at the

:03:11.:03:21.
:03:21.:03:44.

That was not a bad effort, but unfortunately, he has left one on

:03:44.:03:54.
:03:54.:04:02.

Yes, it the white ball will be running a rather freely, but he

:04:02.:04:12.
:04:12.:04:19.

He got it too thick, but he knew that the safety shot would not be a

:04:19.:04:29.
:04:29.:04:29.

It may be a problem, because I think Ricky can get past the brown

:04:29.:04:39.
:04:39.:04:42.

and get it this one. Now, that cue ball has slowed up and given an

:04:42.:04:52.
:04:52.:04:59.

I am not sure if he has the angle to get down in disturb the reds

:04:59.:05:09.
:05:09.:05:17.

I am not quite certain what he played there. He has played it as

:05:18.:05:27.
:05:28.:05:36.

if there raid would go. If it does, He did have a look to see if there

:05:36.:05:40.

Redwood goal, but he would certainly not have played it that

:05:40.:05:48.

way to get on it. Now, he puts his hand up and apologises to Mark

:05:48.:05:58.
:05:58.:06:16.

Allen! It was the lucky positional He will be disappointed with that.

:06:16.:06:21.

He can still pot this red, but he is going to be hampered by the

:06:21.:06:31.
:06:31.:06:33.

other red close to the cue ball. It makes it the red it permissible. --

:06:33.:06:43.
:06:43.:06:45.

But that was very well played. There was a little bit of pressure

:06:45.:06:50.

taken off it, because he could send the cue ball up towards the baulk

:06:50.:07:00.
:07:00.:07:22.

area, but never the less, and good Whichever one he decides to take on,

:07:22.:07:31.

the cue ball was going to be going twice across. But he is now looking

:07:31.:07:41.
:07:41.:08:07.

Is he going to be lucky again? Not With a little bit of luck, he could

:08:08.:08:16.

have hit that on the left-hand side and developed it. He is not looking

:08:16.:08:21.

at a plant, but just seemed we and the second red it will goal once it

:08:21.:08:31.
:08:31.:08:37.

has hit. He could not have judged I was thinking he might have left a

:08:37.:08:47.
:08:47.:08:48.

possible pot on, but it is not easy He is trying to get the ball back

:08:48.:08:58.
:08:58.:08:59.

in the same place, but it is very easy to hit that toothache. -- too

:08:59.:09:09.
:09:09.:09:14.

I thought that was a bit optimistic. He was trying to get it in the same

:09:14.:09:24.
:09:24.:09:34.

place! I did mean the same area of He is a few points behind, but will

:09:34.:09:44.
:09:44.:09:54.

the colours are all Kay, the reds The brown is pottable. He will have

:09:54.:10:04.
:10:04.:10:07.

to play this with the trace of If he misses the pink he is OK.

:10:07.:10:17.
:10:17.:10:18.

That is beautifully played. 16 points behind no and although he

:10:18.:10:23.

will do well to win the frame at this visit, he has given himself a

:10:23.:10:33.
:10:33.:10:48.

He appears to have the angle to hit the middle red of the fee. -- there

:10:48.:10:58.
:10:58.:11:09.

He still pushed one of them into Unfortunately, he has made the

:11:09.:11:19.
:11:19.:11:21.

He is now only eight points behind, but there are a few hurdles to

:11:21.:11:31.
:11:31.:11:45.

This could work in his favour, having to play for this more

:11:45.:11:55.
:11:55.:12:00.

He may have to move one of the red Sea off the other red, which is not

:12:00.:12:10.
:12:10.:12:20.

normally the done thing, but I He has moved to the red. He just

:12:20.:12:30.
:12:30.:12:33.

caught it a bit too full. Does that If he'd if it does, he will drop it

:12:33.:12:43.
:12:43.:12:53.

in and will be on one of the baulk I am not too sure if he can

:12:53.:13:01.

actually hold for one of the colours in the baulk area. Yes, it

:13:01.:13:11.
:13:11.:13:18.

just held up. He is now the This is a great chance to level the

:13:18.:13:28.
:13:28.:13:36.

He decided to play up for the blue, knowing that if he did so it would

:13:36.:13:40.

be easier to get on the yellow. But he has not played that particularly

:13:40.:13:48.

well. This could go wrong. He has to avoid a kiss on the brown. But

:13:48.:13:58.
:13:58.:14:10.

he has played that with left-hand How quickly it can turn. It looked

:14:10.:14:20.
:14:20.:14:26.

very lightly as if Mark Allen was We saw Ricky looking very relaxed

:14:26.:14:33.

and the practice the area at the interval. He was 3-1 down, but knew

:14:33.:14:43.
:14:43.:14:47.

that he should have been 2-2 at the He made a break of 60 in the

:14:47.:14:57.
:14:57.:15:04.

He needed to get a good start after the interval and that is exactly

:15:04.:15:14.
:15:14.:15:20.

what he has done. It is all square Yes, and what could have been a 4-1

:15:20.:15:27.

deficit, it is now 3-3. The key shot was as red baulk right along

:15:27.:15:37.
:15:37.:15:39.

the rail. 10, this is a key shot? Yes, it was just slightly off the

:15:39.:15:49.
:15:49.:15:51.

cushion. The shot is touching the cushion. Players like it to be

:15:51.:15:59.

catching the cushion because it makes the shot easier. It just

:15:59.:16:03.

makes the shot a lot simpler if the object baulk is holding on to the

:16:03.:16:13.
:16:13.:16:18.

Yes, which makes that shot of readies, with the ball slightly off

:16:18.:16:26.

the cushion all the better? Yes, I think that standard of shot has

:16:27.:16:33.

improved immeasurably down the years. So many of the players just

:16:33.:16:42.

get down and not resign now. Yes, under normal circumstances, I thing

:16:42.:16:48.

that shot is a bit harder. I do not know why, but on this table, the

:16:48.:16:58.
:16:58.:17:01.

shorts along the top cushion seen to be going in. Anybody who plays

:17:01.:17:06.

the game has been noticing how the ball falls towards that top cushion.

:17:06.:17:16.
:17:16.:17:32.

It seems to be helping. Hockey, we It is certainly bubbling up now,

:17:32.:17:42.
:17:42.:17:47.

At the very worst, going into this evening, one player can only be two

:17:47.:17:57.
:17:57.:17:57.

frames in front. I do not know about you, but although we like to

:17:57.:18:07.
:18:07.:18:10.

see the big breaks, I do like to Yes, that is the way the game has

:18:10.:18:20.
:18:20.:18:21.

been. No one is cleaning up at one visit. It has certainly made for a

:18:21.:18:31.
:18:31.:18:31.

very exciting match. These are perhaps not fee for players that we

:18:31.:18:36.

expected to be competing in the semi-finals, but we have had some

:18:36.:18:46.
:18:46.:18:55.

It looks as if Mark can actually just get through to that, but where

:18:55.:19:05.
:19:05.:19:07.

What a misjudgment that was. He was hoping that red would career in to

:19:07.:19:13.

another one. In all honestly, it probably should have done, but he

:19:14.:19:23.
:19:24.:19:27.

The problem here is that the black will go back on to its own sport.

:19:27.:19:37.
:19:37.:19:43.

Heaney ought to try for another He would like to get few he -- he

:19:43.:19:49.

would like to get rid of a few of the loss reds before attempting to

:19:49.:19:59.
:19:59.:20:19.

He is not ideal on it blue. It is He is having checked to see where

:20:19.:20:29.
:20:29.:20:40.

the pink will goal when it is we That could make a huge difference.

:20:40.:20:45.

They think the pink will go back onto its sport, but will it be

:20:45.:20:54.

pottable? Certainly, it is not going to go into either of the

:20:54.:20:59.

bottom pocket. He will have to concentrate on the blue for a few

:20:59.:21:09.
:21:09.:21:15.

He did not have a good angle, but he does now. Now, will he risk try

:21:15.:21:25.
:21:25.:21:38.

You can imagine, if he plays that, you have got control on either of

:21:38.:21:48.
:21:48.:21:58.

these to red. But he did not fancy I agree with you. He isn't a bit of

:21:58.:22:05.

trouble now, because he is not guaranteed to get on another red

:22:05.:22:15.
:22:15.:22:27.

Will he play it this time? It is He obviously felt he could get on

:22:27.:22:37.
:22:37.:22:49.

This could be the key shot in the frame. He has avoided playing for

:22:49.:22:57.

the black so far. I wonder if he will play for at this time. But he

:22:57.:23:07.
:23:07.:23:13.

is actually finished on the pink It was like the Sea of Galilee Year

:23:13.:23:23.
:23:23.:23:32.

There was three reds on either side and somehow they all moved and the

:23:32.:23:42.

pink did not. But he attempted to screw back and got nothing on the

:23:42.:23:52.
:23:52.:23:55.

Nor, in the end, he did not fully commit to that. I think he quit on

:23:55.:24:05.
:24:05.:24:16.

At least he has got rid of one of the problem reds. He is going from

:24:16.:24:26.
:24:26.:24:41.

the top pocket. These can be a Yes, it was a little bit wide, but

:24:41.:24:51.
:24:51.:24:59.

at that pace, the pocket accepted Now, we is the black going to go?

:24:59.:25:07.

Does the red above the black just bought? I think it does. If it does,

:25:07.:25:12.

I think he has to play for it. You do not want to be trying to screw

:25:12.:25:22.
:25:22.:25:27.

back for the bloke off this. -- for But this is now a frame-winning

:25:27.:25:37.
:25:37.:25:45.

The pot success - 93 % each. But this is the remarkable turnaround,

:25:45.:25:51.

when you consider that Mark Allen looked certain to court 4-1 in

:25:51.:26:01.
:26:01.:26:01.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:26:01.:27:00.

front. Now, it looks as if he made He made a break of 124 in frame two,

:27:00.:27:09.

and he is a chance to get another century here. A lot of players have

:27:09.:27:14.

been having problems with this back cushion. They seem to think it is a

:27:14.:27:24.
:27:24.:27:40.

It does not matter now. The frame is over. That blow will mean that

:27:40.:27:50.
:27:50.:27:52.

Mark Allen will not come back to the table. Now, he cannot be behind

:27:52.:27:56.

going into the evening session. At the very worst, he will be all

:27:56.:28:01.

square. But he will be looking to push on from this. There is one

:28:01.:28:11.
:28:11.:28:42.

He made a 124 in the second frame, Ricky Walden. He needs to try and

:28:42.:28:47.

get on this last red for the century and has decided to leave

:28:47.:28:57.
:28:57.:29:05.

That was unlucky, but once again, Ricky Walden was gifted an

:29:05.:29:08.

opportunity and the ease with his own mistakes by Mark Allen are

:29:08.:29:14.

helping Ricky Walden a lot. He now leads by 4-3. One more frame left

:29:14.:29:24.
:29:24.:29:28.

A gift of a chance. It was a straightforward safety shot by Mark

:29:28.:29:38.
:29:38.:29:41.

Allen. There were plenty of red for Yes, he was a bit careless. It was

:29:41.:29:51.
:29:51.:29:53.

a big target. I think Mark Allen Yes, he looked certain to go 4-1 in

:29:53.:30:00.

front and there was another frame that he lost when he missed an easy

:30:00.:30:07.

red into the middle pocket. This was the one. You have got to take

:30:07.:30:12.

advantage of your opponent's mistakes. At the moment, it, Ricky

:30:12.:30:22.
:30:22.:30:48.

He needs some help from one of the baulk colours because he has

:30:48.:30:58.
:30:58.:30:58.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:30:58.:32:48.

knocked a red over the corner, and There are a couple of easy staffers

:32:48.:32:57.

here for Ricky Walden. -- starters. Tough times for Mark Allen, at the

:32:57.:33:07.
:33:07.:33:19.

94% pot success no for Ricky Walden, just increasing that percentage

:33:19.:33:25.

since the start of play. Of course, it helps when you are getting

:33:25.:33:35.
:33:35.:33:35.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:33:35.:34:55.

He may decide to play a little cannon to get on that red, but it

:34:55.:35:04.

is not worth taking the risk. If he's going to win the frame at this

:35:04.:35:14.
:35:14.:35:14.

visit, he has to start thinking about going into that cluster. Does

:35:14.:35:19.

he play for the loose red, or does he play the cannon? I think he's

:35:19.:35:27.

got to play the cannon, here. only thing that can go wrong is

:35:27.:35:35.

that he hits the top of the pyramid of the reds in the centre triangle.

:35:35.:35:43.

We have does the red go? Well, he may just have a red to the red that

:35:43.:35:52.

will -- to the left middle. He hit this pretty well. You just got a

:35:53.:35:57.

little bounce off the white off the cushion which stopped it arcing

:35:57.:36:03.

round. Yes, it would have done that a fraction there were, if it had

:36:03.:36:13.
:36:13.:36:18.

not have bounced. -- earlier. there, and what a chance to finish

:36:18.:36:28.
:36:28.:36:35.

this first session with a two frame Mark Allen missed a trick with a

:36:35.:36:41.

careless safety shot. He should have led 4-1. Instead he is almost

:36:41.:36:51.
:36:51.:36:51.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:36:51.:37:37.

down to 55 and 3 behind. -- 5-3 55 points of a lead, so three reds

:37:37.:37:42.

and covers still needed. So it is just a little bit awkward. Finding

:37:42.:37:52.
:37:52.:37:57.

a place for the rest. -- and He has played that well. And the

:37:57.:38:07.
:38:07.:38:14.

delicate act of getting the rest of the table. -- off the table. He has

:38:14.:38:19.

put together some impressive breaks. Yes, but he had a lot of help from

:38:19.:38:26.

his opponent. If you're upon it leaves you chances, you have got to

:38:26.:38:36.
:38:36.:38:42.

This black will mean that he is 71 in front with 67 remaining. What

:38:42.:38:48.

you're suggesting is, don't do anything silly on the black, like

:38:48.:38:56.

in the previous round. Make certain - and that is what he did. If he

:38:56.:39:03.

pots this red now in the middle, Mark Allen will concede. He will

:39:03.:39:13.
:39:13.:39:13.

not come back to the table to try for snookers. And it isn't. -- it

:39:13.:39:23.
:39:23.:39:25.

is in. He has had every chance. But good stuff here from Ricky Walden.

:39:25.:39:32.

You could say that he is on a roll. Perfect angle just to flick the

:39:32.:39:36.

outside of these three reds, pushing one towards the middle, one

:39:36.:39:41.

towards the corner, and that is exactly what happened. Their

:39:41.:39:46.

impressive. With a little bit of help from Mark Allen, but Ricky

:39:46.:39:50.

Walden, when he gets among the balls, has looked the real deal

:39:50.:39:56.

this afternoon. He has not had too much television time over the years

:39:56.:40:00.

but it shows you the standard of these players these days, there are

:40:00.:40:07.

lots of them. There are lots of them but not many of them can play

:40:07.:40:12.

with this sort of fluency. When this lad is on form, he's an

:40:12.:40:22.
:40:22.:40:22.

exceptional talent. He does it with such quickness of potting, he's

:40:23.:40:28.

very exciting to watch. Mark Allen needs to pull his socks up this

:40:28.:40:38.
:40:38.:40:39.

evening. Ricky Walden is finding top form. Century two for Walden in

:40:39.:40:46.

this tournament, and a possible 127 which will eclipse the 124, in

:40:46.:40:56.
:40:56.:41:25.

He played for the pink in the Very well played, Ricky Walden, 3-1

:41:25.:41:33.

behind, back against the wall, then breaks of 60, 66, 98, and a 127

:41:33.:41:43.
:41:43.:41:43.

clearance to take a fight I think the interval lead. -- a 5-3

:41:43.:41:50.

interval lead. Mark Allen was four or five inches away from a 4-1

:41:50.:41:53.

advantage if it had not been for that bad positional shot on the

:41:53.:41:57.

yellow. And he looked to be playing every bit as good as Ricky Walden

:41:57.:42:03.

has finished off. Had he made that clearance and gone 4-1, we could

:42:03.:42:07.

have been raving about 7-1 in front and it was all over. The margins

:42:07.:42:17.

are so small in snooker these days. Ken, what did you make of that

:42:17.:42:22.

session? Fantastic finish from Ricky Walden. I was delighted at

:42:22.:42:26.

the way that he expressed himself. He has been very prolific and

:42:26.:42:32.

efficient, got on with his game, he makes lovely little cannons and

:42:32.:42:36.

lovely little breaks, he looks as good as anybody this week when he

:42:36.:42:41.

gets in and around the pink and black spot. John, you made the

:42:41.:42:44.

point that he is very quick and animated among the balls when he

:42:44.:42:50.

gets going. But the downside is his finish, because the way that he

:42:50.:42:55.

hits the ball, he is going to not want to stop at 5-3. He now has to

:42:55.:43:00.

go away and think about this evening session, but if he kept

:43:00.:43:06.

going, he would definitely have voted for that one. When Mark Allen

:43:06.:43:11.

missed that positional shot as we spoke about, the momentum seemed to

:43:11.:43:17.

go all out of Mark Allen at that point. Yes, but at the same thing

:43:17.:43:21.

you're watching your opponent not miss a ball. One or two poor safety

:43:21.:43:27.

shots, but the rest of it has just been a badge of breaks. It is

:43:27.:43:31.

amazing how a one shot can define the entire session and they quickly

:43:31.:43:35.

the match can change around. That one missed position of getting onto

:43:35.:43:41.

the green. He could have finished the session for a fie frames ahead.

:43:41.:43:45.

But the match has been turned and a set now. -- four or five frames

:43:45.:43:53.

ahead. This is where the experience comes in because Mark Allen has

:43:53.:44:00.

been in this situation in longer events at semi-finals. How

:44:00.:44:04.

important roll that prove? He will beat in an awful state coming off

:44:04.:44:08.

the table, thinking he has thrown away the game, but he has time to

:44:08.:44:15.

regroup. That is not enough of a deficit to be a worry. He can come

:44:15.:44:19.

out and fire his engines again for the night-time session, and come

:44:19.:44:27.

out. But it makes it more of a difficult job, being behind. That

:44:28.:44:35.

is a massive frame coming up now. We're sandwiched between the

:44:35.:44:41.

strictly come Dancing and X-factor finals, but if you don't want any

:44:41.:44:46.

of that BBC Two is a place to be, for the semi-final. You're going to

:44:46.:44:50.

have to go some to beat the thunderous conclusion he had to

:44:50.:44:53.

yesterday's semi-final. It is worth reviewing some of this action

:44:53.:44:58.

between Judd Trump and Neil Robertson. We're going to join this

:44:58.:45:04.

in frame ten. Judd Trump is 55 and 4 ahead. He had been ahead most of

:45:04.:45:07.

the way, with the old Robertson playing catch-up in the first

:45:07.:45:11.

session, but this frame produced something of a cliff-hanging

:45:11.:45:21.
:45:21.:45:38.

From that angle, if he takes the double on, Judd can only sit in his

:45:38.:45:48.
:45:48.:45:55.

seat and see if Neil can create the Now, where is the black going to

:45:55.:46:05.
:46:05.:46:05.

finish? He is having the run of the ball at the moment, the Australian.

:46:05.:46:15.
:46:15.:46:29.

Judd Trump stays in his seat. He No, amazing, the first time he has

:46:29.:46:39.

a go, and misses, he sticks it up. Normally he would pop this black.

:46:39.:46:49.
:46:49.:46:51.

What a one of the ball new Robertson has had in this frame. --

:46:51.:47:01.
:47:01.:47:10.

Just look at the reaction from the Australian. He had two pieces of

:47:10.:47:13.

very good luck. He must be wondering how he ever won that

:47:13.:47:21.

frame, but he has, and he is all square at 5-5. Shades of Peter

:47:21.:47:25.

Ebdon in this their new a few years ago. Neil Robertson was certainly

:47:25.:47:31.

charged up after winning that one. -- in this venue. And it is Judd

:47:31.:47:40.

Trump, the 22 year old, 15 points behind, here. He missed the cannon

:47:40.:47:46.

on the second red. I think it was the pace that swung it past. Must

:47:46.:47:52.

have been. Looked certain to hit the second red. What sort of angle

:47:52.:47:58.

has he got on this yellow? The white is going to arc, if he screws

:47:58.:48:08.
:48:08.:48:17.

He is looking at the possibility of a plant, and the only reason for

:48:17.:48:27.
:48:27.:48:27.

doing that to be to play up towards the brown. But that is risky. It is

:48:27.:48:32.

not a bad choice to take the plant on and get the white up behind the

:48:32.:48:38.

brown. The only problem is with the plant, if you get too close to the

:48:39.:48:45.

pocket it might stick in the jaws. That is the best shot, behind the

:48:45.:48:55.
:48:55.:49:19.

He has played this a little harder than he intended, and with Judd

:49:19.:49:23.

Trump, you cannot afford to leave that cue ball out in the middle of

:49:23.:49:33.
:49:33.:49:34.

the table. And what about that for an attacking shot? He stunned that

:49:34.:49:44.
:49:44.:49:45.

into the other red. This is If he can take this frame after

:49:45.:49:55.
:49:55.:50:00.

what happened in the previous frame, He is straight on the black. What

:50:00.:50:07.

sort of angle has he got on the pink? If he rolls the pink in he

:50:07.:50:13.

has got a good yellow, and does not have much to do in terms of

:50:13.:50:23.
:50:23.:50:49.

He needs up to, and including, the Having to screw across the table.

:50:49.:50:57.

He can play right handed, Judd Trump. I would not say that he was

:50:57.:51:01.

in the Ronnie Oswell than class, switching hands. But he has played

:51:01.:51:11.

that nicely -- the Ronnie O'Sullivan class. Blue tits in 18

:51:11.:51:21.
:51:21.:51:29.

points in front but just 13 He might send this black into the

:51:29.:51:39.
:51:39.:51:43.

crowd, John. Well, the white! That was a good frame. It is one that

:51:43.:51:50.

Neil Robertson will fuel he had every chance to win. Boy, is this

:51:50.:51:56.

exciting. And in frame 12, Judd Trump went 7-5 in front, first time

:51:56.:52:03.

there had been a two frame swing. Robinson -- Robertson's 49 in the

:52:03.:52:07.

next frame was enough to put him within one frame of Judd Trump

:52:07.:52:17.
:52:17.:52:30.

Neil Robertson is back looking at the plant. He has caught that other

:52:30.:52:40.
:52:40.:52:53.

red that the white crashed into as That was a good pot, but maybe not

:52:53.:53:03.
:53:03.:53:14.

that good, just relieved to see a The only red he looks as if he can

:53:14.:53:24.
:53:24.:53:27.

get on to is the one to the middle The red goes in the corner with the

:53:27.:53:37.
:53:37.:54:08.

Interesting choice of shot. He can cut in this, but it is done,

:54:08.:54:18.
:54:18.:54:19.

thinner than it looks. It takes him into the cluster. It is not bad. He

:54:19.:54:27.

has got one, to the right middle. thought for a moment they were all

:54:27.:54:33.

going to cover each other. All of a sudden that one just emerged close

:54:33.:54:43.
:54:43.:55:04.

Just making sure he does not cannon That seemed to kick slightly. Which

:55:04.:55:08.

just meant the cue ball did not trouble and finish on the green as

:55:08.:55:13.

he would have liked. He is now looking at the long blue. He didn't

:55:13.:55:23.
:55:23.:55:24.

play for the blue. At the green is hampering him slightly. He will

:55:24.:55:34.
:55:34.:55:34.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:55:34.:56:26.

I don't know if the red's are available to the middle but if he

:56:26.:56:36.
:56:36.:56:51.

With that nicely. -- played that nicely. Has a good chance to build

:56:51.:57:01.
:57:01.:57:01.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:57:01.:57:56.

We talked about how this match could go all the way before it

:57:56.:58:01.

started. That still might apply. The black having a good clean,

:58:01.:58:11.
:58:11.:58:11.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:58:11.:58:54.

there, he must a spot of a chalk Neil Robertson calling on all his

:58:54.:59:04.
:59:04.:59:27.

experience. He has won six world His highest break this evening has

:59:27.:59:37.
:59:37.:59:37.

been a break of 56. This, coming at just the right time for the

:59:37.:59:47.
:59:47.:00:25.

62 points in front. Just this red and one colour. The match will be

:00:25.:00:35.
:00:35.:00:46.

He lost the first two frames of the match and then got it back to 2-2.

:00:46.:00:56.
:00:56.:01:02.

That no peace and 68 points in That makes it absolutely certain

:01:02.:01:12.
:01:12.:01:30.

He ran out of position. We have had 29 centuries in the tournament so

:01:30.:01:40.
:01:40.:01:41.

far. What a shot that was. You will not see a better pot than that.

:01:41.:01:51.
:01:51.:01:52.

Okay, there was not any pressure on it, but what the shot. Neil has hit

:01:52.:02:02.
:02:02.:02:17.

two centuries in this tournament. These reds, up one of the in the

:02:17.:02:27.
:02:27.:02:41.

pot in the bottom left-hand corner. This was a frame that we had the

:02:41.:02:48.

real break, when Judd was in front and the frame developed into a

:02:48.:02:57.

stalemate. No century, but Neil Robertson will not worry about that.

:02:57.:03:01.

That break of 83 is the highest break of the session and it draws

:03:01.:03:11.
:03:11.:03:13.

And in the next frame, we rejoin it when it is 7-7 that pinpoints as

:03:13.:03:23.
:03:23.:03:42.

But for Matt kiss on the all, he He just underscrewed it slightly.

:03:42.:03:52.
:03:52.:03:53.

It would have been perfect had it It has been a bit of a problem for

:03:54.:04:03.
:04:04.:04:10.

both players. They are both But this is a good recovery, but

:04:10.:04:20.
:04:20.:04:28.

needs a good case on the brown and Can he get round into that position

:04:28.:04:36.

I mentioned. He may be able to do it. He has come up the other side

:04:36.:04:40.

of the table. There is one red available into the bottom right-

:04:40.:04:50.
:04:50.:05:03.

Now, he can get the blue ball back With the pink in the open and the

:05:03.:05:13.
:05:13.:05:14.

blue in the open, this is a good He showed how good he was under

:05:14.:05:19.

pressure in the match against Ronnie O'Sullivan, when it went to

:05:19.:05:29.
:05:29.:05:29.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:05:29.:06:10.

A delicate little stone and screw shot there. Keep some nicely in

:06:10.:06:20.
:06:20.:06:24.

There are still a possible 75 points at remaining. Depending on

:06:24.:06:34.
:06:34.:06:41.

what colours he plays here, he may Let us have a look. 44 points the

:06:41.:06:49.

lead, so red, colour, red, could leave his opponent needing a

:06:49.:06:59.
:06:59.:06:59.

He does not want to be too straight on that peak. And he could not be

:06:59.:07:09.
:07:09.:07:13.

He cannot get anywhere close to and red. If he tries to screw it back,

:07:13.:07:21.

he is right in line with the middle pocket. He is going to have to

:07:21.:07:31.
:07:31.:07:36.

Yes, the pink will put in 51 points in front, but there will still be

:07:36.:07:44.

59 points remaining. Any sort of angle one that the shot and this

:07:44.:07:48.

frame would have been over. He could not have finished in the

:07:48.:07:58.
:07:58.:08:02.

So, he is going to play the cut down the side cushion or the long

:08:02.:08:12.
:08:12.:08:29.

And the last thing he wanted was to bring the black in to play. He was

:08:29.:08:35.

a little unlucky. Any sort of angle one that pink and he would

:08:35.:08:45.
:08:45.:08:47.

certainly have got a lot closer and He is looking for the safety. I

:08:47.:08:52.

thought he could have taken the pot on to the left corner. And he has

:08:52.:09:02.

made an ace of that safety shot. And that red that Judd Trump was

:09:02.:09:08.

looking for is here now. And he is now on the pink. The frame now

:09:08.:09:16.

looks as though it is going to go the way of Judd Trump. Neil

:09:16.:09:20.

Robertson has always been playing catch-up in this match. He has

:09:20.:09:30.
:09:30.:09:40.

never been in front. He has got to 58 points the lead, 51 points

:09:40.:09:48.

remaining. So, to snookers required, but Judd Trump, quite rightly, not

:09:48.:09:55.

taking anything for granted. But that will definitely mean that Neil

:09:55.:10:05.
:10:05.:10:05.

Robertson will not be coming back It did not matter about the black.

:10:05.:10:11.

I am sure Neil Robertson will concede. He is having a quick look

:10:11.:10:18.

at the scoreboard. He is 59 behind and there is only 43 remaining.

:10:18.:10:26.

That equates to four snookers. If he does not get them, Judd Trump is

:10:26.:10:36.
:10:36.:10:38.

He did not get these snookers and Judd Trump is now just one frame

:10:38.:10:43.

away from getting to the final of both the World Championship and the

:10:43.:10:53.
:10:53.:11:01.

UK Championship in the same here. - I do not believe it. How has that

:11:01.:11:11.
:11:11.:11:12.

It must be something to do with gravity in York. That is

:11:12.:11:22.
:11:22.:11:31.

What a chance. That is quite Just a reminder that if it did

:11:31.:11:41.
:11:41.:11:47.

suddenly drop in, it would be It wobbled and it warbled. And look

:11:47.:11:57.
:11:57.:12:01.

at Neil Robertson's face. And why This will make the points all

:12:01.:12:11.
:12:11.:12:19.

square. These remaining reds, with Judd did not know whether to get up

:12:19.:12:29.
:12:29.:12:34.

out his chair or not. This really There is just the one century break,

:12:34.:12:44.
:12:44.:12:53.

but some of the frames have been so Neil Robertson simply cannot

:12:53.:13:02.

believe that Greene did not drop. It does not always have to be about

:13:02.:13:12.
:13:12.:13:18.

tie-breaks to get drama in this To make do not get me wrong, I am

:13:18.:13:23.

sure both players will say afterwards, I did not play my best.

:13:23.:13:27.

Whoever wins will be pleased to just get through and the other will

:13:27.:13:36.

be disappointed with their But would you believe it? He has

:13:36.:13:46.
:13:46.:13:53.

Amazing. It was never going to be easy. It is going to be tense

:13:53.:14:02.

climax to this free now. But will it be the last frame? That is the

:14:02.:14:12.
:14:12.:14:18.

Neil has caught three victories against Judd. Judd has but two

:14:18.:14:28.
:14:28.:14:35.

There is nothing to play behind, with the green over the pocket and

:14:35.:14:45.
:14:45.:14:55.

he all out of commission. -- the At the moment, you could here a pin

:14:55.:15:04.

drop in the Barbican Centre. The crowd are enthralled in this battle.

:15:04.:15:10.

The reception both players caught when the Keane into the arena was

:15:10.:15:20.
:15:20.:15:35.

What about that for a pot? Unbelievable. We have watched both

:15:35.:15:40.

players missed relatively easy pot and then he goes and pulls out a

:15:40.:15:47.

shot like that. But has he got the angle to can in one of these reds?

:15:47.:15:54.

I am wondering if he can just run through and flick the second of

:15:54.:16:04.
:16:04.:16:04.

these reds. If so, that will really Look where it has finished. Can you

:16:04.:16:14.
:16:14.:16:15.

believe it? What is going to happen If he hits the cushion first, he

:16:15.:16:25.
:16:25.:16:32.

Is he going to try and get in behind the all off this red. -- the

:16:32.:16:42.
:16:42.:16:42.

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 51 seconds

:16:42.:17:42.

But he has got the red safe, which It is a straight forward twice

:17:42.:17:48.

across. He just has to be a little careful that the red does not go

:17:48.:17:57.

into the pink. He has played that nicely. How it is the length

:17:57.:18:06.

correct? You bet it is. This is now a tough shot for real to get this

:18:06.:18:16.
:18:16.:18:17.

Yes, he could push a ball for the pocket. He has got to be very

:18:17.:18:24.

precise. He did push it over that way, but I think the pink has come

:18:25.:18:34.
:18:35.:18:41.

A little thin shot is required of the side of but one next to the

:18:41.:18:47.

pink. But he has got to be careful he does not catch the other red

:18:47.:18:57.
:18:57.:19:00.

There was a lot of sidespin on that to make sure he did not get that

:19:00.:19:09.

contact. It went a bit close to the green. Neil is looking to see if

:19:09.:19:16.

there is a possible gap between the black and the red. But what a pot

:19:16.:19:26.
:19:26.:19:47.

As you say, this would be some pot He is thinking long and hard. He

:19:47.:19:57.
:19:57.:20:10.

knows that if he does not get it Brilliant! The week went perilously

:20:10.:20:20.
:20:20.:20:26.

It was absolutely superb. Believe me, if he does not hit that right

:20:26.:20:31.

in the heart of the pocket, he would not have found the gap. But

:20:31.:20:41.
:20:41.:20:49.

it is not going to be easy to get The difference in the frame is now

:20:49.:20:59.
:20:59.:21:04.

He could have played that a bit better. He wanted the thinner

:21:04.:21:14.
:21:14.:21:17.

contact. If he had done it, the shot would not be available to Judd.

:21:17.:21:27.
:21:27.:21:40.

What any for that was. -- what an He has hit that too thick. The pink

:21:40.:21:50.
:21:50.:22:01.

Just looking at it, the all is going to be at key ball here. --

:22:01.:22:11.
:22:11.:22:26.

In it goes. A fabulous pot. I think the red is available. He could not

:22:26.:22:35.

have played that much better. As you said earlier, the yellow ball

:22:35.:22:45.
:22:45.:22:46.

is the key to this frame and the Although he is the left-hander, we

:22:46.:22:56.
:22:56.:22:59.

know that he can play right handed. The brown is likely in the way.

:22:59.:23:09.

Neil can just sit and wait. He has got a slight angle, so if he screws

:23:09.:23:19.
:23:19.:23:23.

back, it could take the cue ball 14 points ahead - yellow, green and

:23:23.:23:33.
:23:33.:23:45.

It is safely in the pocket. These two boys have given us a

:23:45.:23:55.
:23:55.:24:02.

fascinating semi-final. Just the The crowd erupted here at the

:24:02.:24:06.

Barbican Centre. Both players have Hardy terrific reception from this

:24:06.:24:15.

crowd. Judd Trump must be absolutely delighted inside. He

:24:15.:24:23.

misses the pink, but that does not matter. It is Judd Trump who goes

:24:23.:24:33.
:24:33.:24:45.

through to his first ever UK final. It was a bit scrappy in the

:24:45.:24:52.

afternoon. This evening, I think the standard was better. The

:24:52.:24:56.

pressure was building a bit and I think both of us were just trying

:24:56.:25:04.

to fall over the line. I played a pretty good game in that I was

:25:04.:25:08.

leaving him shots that he may be was not comfortable with. But I was

:25:08.:25:15.

not able to make the most of my chances. I lost control of the cue

:25:15.:25:19.

ball and just put myself under pressure and started second-

:25:19.:25:28.

guessing myself. It has topped off a great ear for me. Having reached

:25:28.:25:33.

the World Championship final and now the UK Championship final and

:25:33.:25:38.

although I am not playing my best snooker, I am managing to scrap it

:25:38.:25:48.
:25:48.:25:49.

out. In what departments of the game was the one and lost? Yes, as

:25:49.:25:53.

Neil said, he was giving itself the opportunities, but just could not

:25:53.:26:00.

score as heavily as he needed to. It was not a grey standard quality

:26:00.:26:05.

wise, but it did just show was the type of shots that these guys can

:26:05.:26:14.

play. The cue power that they have got is amazing. And that last break

:26:14.:26:21.

that Judd made was fantastic. There was some terrific pot. It was not

:26:21.:26:24.

the best quality, but if he can play like that when you're not

:26:24.:26:33.

playing at your best, it says a lot. Yes, there were only four or breaks

:26:33.:26:39.

over 50 from Judd Trump in this match, which is very low compared

:26:39.:26:46.

to what we have seen for of been in the rest of the tournament? Yes, he

:26:46.:26:54.

will be actually very happy with that. As he said, he showed that he

:26:54.:27:04.
:27:04.:27:06.

can tough it out. I think the crowd are very much behind Judd Trump and

:27:06.:27:15.

the love to watch him play. He is a very brave player. And if that is

:27:16.:27:20.

his level of scrapping, at the other players have to beware.

:27:20.:27:24.

Because if he matures in the next couple of years, he is going to be

:27:24.:27:32.

very hard to knock off the table. Now, we will find out who will join

:27:32.:27:37.

him in the final in the final session this evening. For those of

:27:37.:27:47.
:27:47.:27:50.

you coming in, the match largely came down to this one shot. As you

:27:50.:27:55.

can see, Mark Allen had a chance to court for one ahead but fell the

:27:55.:28:02.

wrong side of the screen and ultimately, ended up losing the

:28:02.:28:12.

session 5-3. Yes, he has to win three out of the first four frames.

:28:12.:28:20.

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