:00:36. > :00:39.Hello again. Dur a sporting weekend in which Freddie Flintoff found a
:00:39. > :00:44.new career David Beckham finds himself house hunting again.
:00:44. > :00:53.England's rugby player found the all blacks try line and we are
:00:53. > :00:56.finding our feet at the start of this Will yam Hill.com Championship.
:00:56. > :01:01.John Higgins was doing that earlier on on BBC One earlier, he was
:01:01. > :01:07.playing Michael Holt, the world number 29 and it was poised at
:01:07. > :01:11.three frames apiece when we were forced to leave it. It is best of
:01:11. > :01:21.11 frames. First to six going through and let us get straight
:01:21. > :01:54.
:01:54. > :02:04.It is causing the players some Opening day of the tournament,
:02:04. > :02:04.
:02:04. > :03:09.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:03:10. > :03:19.Just make sure you don't leave He missed a chance there, he had a
:03:20. > :03:28.
:03:28. > :03:38.great chance. He had John under You get the impression every time
:03:38. > :04:12.
:04:12. > :04:22.he has a grasp on this match, So John Higgins, with that clear
:04:22. > :04:24.
:04:24. > :04:29.raps of 51 had got himself back in HAZEL IRVINE: Oneast third 50 plus
:04:29. > :04:39.break and it included a century of 116. The three time European
:04:39. > :04:52.
:04:52. > :05:02.champion with his nose in front. That was a big my take. That is
:05:02. > :05:41.
:05:41. > :05:45.what you mentioned. He had to watch This is a fabulous chance. Once
:05:45. > :05:55.again, this match, it has been Michael Holt who has had the
:05:55. > :05:55.
:05:55. > :09:08.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:09:08. > :09:13.Could have played it better. He He has been consistent here, this
:09:13. > :09:23.afternoon, John. Made a few errors. Missed a similar type shot to that
:09:23. > :09:31.
:09:31. > :09:41.He had 42 break in the opening frame, then 116. 47 if frame five.
:09:41. > :09:49.
:09:49. > :09:53.He is still at 93 % success rate. He is playing all right, but I will
:09:53. > :10:03.hark back to the same point. Michael Holt has had some chances
:10:03. > :10:03.
:10:03. > :10:43.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:10:43. > :10:53.That was a very good 75 break from Egyptian jirbgs and it puts him 5-3
:10:53. > :10:53.
:10:53. > :10:58.ahead. A very good break from John Higgins. Very soon thereafter he
:10:58. > :11:08.managed to achieve that. Michael Holt is out of the way. Higgins
:11:08. > :11:09.
:11:09. > :11:13.closes it out 6-3 and on his way to a current run. He has a date back
:11:13. > :11:20.home in Scotland with his wife tonight. He is still an old
:11:20. > :11:25.romantic. Well played John. I was on edge all through the match. The
:11:25. > :11:31.table conditions were, the cushions were very very slow, it was hard
:11:31. > :11:34.getting to grips with them. The two of us struggled, I think. But
:11:34. > :11:39.obviously they will speed up. It is hard being the first match on, it
:11:39. > :11:43.is good if you get through and you can feel as if you are part of the
:11:43. > :11:49.tournament. But if you you lose early, it is not the nicest place
:11:49. > :11:55.to watch everybody playing. Luckily for me I won, and I managed to go
:11:55. > :11:59.up the road and celebrate my wife's birthday. She will have a better
:11:59. > :12:02.bottle of wine after I have won! Tables slow, in the opening part of
:12:02. > :12:08.the Championship. Was that something you were wear of when you
:12:08. > :12:14.were watching the match?. Yes, John made more position a-- made more
:12:14. > :12:17.positional errors than I have seen in a long time. If you are not
:12:17. > :12:22.concentrating 100%, you can make error, but he showed the champion
:12:22. > :12:27.as he came through. The important thing is to win it. In this
:12:27. > :12:31.Championship in the past when it was best of 17 and 19 later on,
:12:31. > :12:36.there was more chance for you to get you feet under the table, but
:12:36. > :12:40.it is much shorter and the new look UK format. That is rite. There are
:12:40. > :12:44.no dead frames in the way. Some of the frames in the early session,
:12:44. > :12:49.you felt as if nothing much was happening. There is no hiding place,
:12:49. > :12:52.very little room to breathe if you get off to a bad start, but you get
:12:53. > :12:58.your chance, and I think it's a fair test, best of lerpbgs it is
:12:58. > :13:02.the same of the Masters. Michael Holt, we didn't see much of him
:13:02. > :13:06.playing there, did have some good chances and it could have gone
:13:06. > :13:11.either way. That is what John Higgins is World Champion, he does
:13:11. > :13:15.make the best of the bad games, or the average games, more so than any
:13:15. > :13:19.other players. If you know your concentration level is not as it
:13:19. > :13:26.should be in an early part of the a Championship, as a multiple World
:13:26. > :13:28.Champion yourself, Steven, how do you write that? I don't think there
:13:28. > :13:32.is anything you can do hopefully you have done the preparation
:13:32. > :13:36.before you come to tournament and you are ready to win, no matter how
:13:36. > :13:41.well you play. That is the mind set. You go down, you want to win the
:13:41. > :13:45.match. You are not bothered about how well you play. If you expect to
:13:45. > :13:50.play well, sometimes it doesn't happen. So winning the match is the
:13:50. > :13:54.most important thing. Performance comes second. So the wine is on
:13:54. > :13:58.John tonight! That was not the first match to be concluded. It was
:13:58. > :14:03.Barry Hawkins who is the first man through to the last 16 day today.
:14:03. > :14:09.He is the new Australian champion. He is 33 years old and he has gone
:14:09. > :14:13.16 years without a major title, that came in Australia. He went up
:14:13. > :14:18.in front of Liang Wenbo. Liang Wenbo playing only for the second
:14:18. > :14:23.time in the TV stages of this event. Despite a good effort from him, it
:14:23. > :14:31.was Hawkin, the porter from Dartford, who did steel himself for
:14:31. > :14:37.the conclusion of this match. He topped thins off to go through 6-4.
:14:37. > :14:40.The Hawk is flying. We will update you with the progress of a double
:14:40. > :14:50.UK champion Ding Junhui. He had a rotten end to his season last time
:14:50. > :14:50.
:14:51. > :14:56.round at the crucible, when he fell at the first hurdle. In fact, he
:14:56. > :15:01.was so, well, hacked off to use a current phrase, that in his press
:15:01. > :15:07.conference, he was fined thereafter for swearing, and expressing his
:15:07. > :15:11.feelings. We didn't realise because our knowledge of Mandarin naughty
:15:11. > :15:21.words isn't what it should be. He only had positive things to say
:15:21. > :15:23.
:15:23. > :15:28.about this event. The 2005 UK champion Ding Junhui. I played
:15:28. > :15:37.Steve Davis. It was a very good performance, all the way, down to
:15:37. > :15:44.the venue and tournament. Some very good memories to me. I feel like
:15:44. > :15:49.long time ago. It is so many matches and tournaments happen now.
:15:49. > :15:59.Every year, you always playing, sometimes you don't have time to
:15:59. > :16:05.
:16:05. > :16:09.get rest. Sometimes I need to be away, because OK for one, to do
:16:09. > :16:19.some interview or play some guy, but between the tournament, I don't
:16:19. > :16:22.
:16:22. > :16:32.want to do many things, so somebody else's, they just keep quiet. A bit
:16:32. > :16:39.difference to when I am back to China. Quite hard to practise. It
:16:39. > :16:45.is more easy in the UK, so that is why I am always back to the UK, and
:16:45. > :16:51.enjoying the tournaments happening in the UK. But also, snooker is
:16:51. > :16:55.getting bigger in China. Get the snooker fans coming more and more.
:16:55. > :17:05.They love snooker. And they love all the players, they enjoy the
:17:05. > :17:09.
:17:09. > :17:19.game. I like it. I am enjoying it in the Barbican Centre. There is a
:17:19. > :17:20.
:17:20. > :17:25.lot of Chinese students. I have good memorys in York. So, day
:17:25. > :17:30.facing -- Ding facing Ryan Day and for the Welshman who was once rank
:17:30. > :17:35.as number six he has never been beyond the second round of this UK
:17:35. > :17:40.Championship since 2004. He was completely out of sorts 12 months
:17:40. > :17:45.ago, when Mark Selby thumped him 6- 0 in his opener. I would imagine
:17:46. > :17:49.memories are still fresh in Ryan's mind, no doubt of that great win
:17:50. > :17:55.over Ding at the crucible seven months ago. We will get into this
:17:55. > :18:03.one. Ding set out very briskly, going to a 2-0 lead. Day has it
:18:03. > :18:13.back to two frames apiece. We will join them in frame five.
:18:13. > :18:13.
:18:13. > :19:45.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:19:45. > :19:55.He didn't play that hard enough to Ryan is prone to miscueing
:19:55. > :20:09.
:20:09. > :20:13.So in goes the pink and it is three frames in a row for the Welshman.
:20:13. > :20:19.Good come back from 2-0 behind and he must be pleasantly surprised
:20:19. > :20:23.with his game at the moment. He leads by one frame. HAZEL IRVINE:
:20:23. > :20:27.And that is you right up-to-date. We are going to cross into the
:20:28. > :20:34.arena now, live, to join the six frame -- sixth frame and join
:20:34. > :20:44.Willie and Dennis. What is happening? Well Ryan made a pretty
:20:44. > :21:15.
:21:15. > :21:20.That can han -- that can happen hen You have a sense, both players, are
:21:20. > :21:30.playing well, you have a sense this could go down to the wire this
:21:30. > :22:06.
:22:06. > :22:13.It has been a top match this, so far. That is what we expected.
:22:13. > :22:19.Ding's English is getting better all the time. I went out with Ding
:22:19. > :22:29.and all his friends, 15 people, and the place we went to, the street,
:22:29. > :22:35.
:22:35. > :22:45.they come out of the shops to greet But he loves York, and he is twice
:22:45. > :22:45.
:22:45. > :24:45.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:24:45. > :24:55.The middle red will pot but he may What a fabulous effort. Unlucky for
:24:55. > :25:02.
:25:02. > :25:08.HAZEL IRVINE: Nicely formulated break, but isn't that typical. You
:25:08. > :25:14.do all the hard work. You are back to square one. Incredible match.
:25:14. > :25:18.Ding was a positional shot away from being 3-0 up. It is back to 3-
:25:18. > :25:24.3. It could go all the way. I was remining myself of the details of
:25:24. > :25:29.that first match they played at the crucible. Day was 6-9, beg your
:25:29. > :25:34.pardon, yes, he was 6-9 down and won the last four to beat Ding in
:25:34. > :25:42.that match. I suppose the memory of that has got to play on the mind of
:25:42. > :25:46.both guys at some point. Ding would know that Ryan, not Darren, Ryan is
:25:46. > :25:51.very capable. Perhaps he is a good singer as well, we don't know! But,
:25:51. > :25:54.in the frame before, I was watching, keeping my eye on it, Ding was
:25:55. > :25:59.under pressure, was all over the place compared to what we see
:25:59. > :26:05.normally. He is not as comfortable as we have seen him on a table in
:26:05. > :26:08.the York arena. As long as Ryan sticks to his guns he has a chance.
:26:08. > :26:12.How would you characterise the change in Ding's game in the last
:26:12. > :26:17.couple of years? The season before last he was flying, he was winning
:26:17. > :26:22.the Master, he had a stack of tournament victories in that period,
:26:22. > :26:26.but it was quiet for him last time. I think two or three of the senior
:26:26. > :26:30.players are finding it difficult to come to terms with how much snooker
:26:30. > :26:35.they are playing. Maybe over the next two or three years might have
:26:35. > :26:39.to evaluate how many tournaments they play in to get the best out of
:26:39. > :26:44.their game. Ding practises so much, so maybe he has played too much.
:26:44. > :26:49.What is fascinating, something like five out of ten major events are in
:26:49. > :26:52.China in the current season. As Dennis alluded to, he is a
:26:52. > :27:00.superstar there, but the pressure is very very intense on him there,
:27:00. > :27:04.how does he respond to that, do you think? I would imagine that if it
:27:04. > :27:08.is excitable type of adulation, that could be wearing. Day in day
:27:08. > :27:12.out. It is OK if people are respectful from a distance. I get
:27:12. > :27:17.the feeling they are on him all the time. He probably likes to come to
:27:17. > :27:20.the UK, where everything is a bit more used, calmer, in that respect.
:27:20. > :27:25.So I don't know what is going to happen to all the players in the
:27:25. > :27:28.future when they have to spend more time out there. I think it is going
:27:29. > :27:35.to be a very crowded season, all year round and it won't suit
:27:35. > :27:40.everybody. But I think it probably suit Ding Junhui. Well, he has
:27:40. > :27:50.taken the lead again. It is 3-3 apiece, I beg your pardon as we go
:27:50. > :27:54.
:27:54. > :28:02.He did knock a red in previously in this match, rien day, it was more
:28:02. > :28:12.difficult than this one, and he hammered it in. -- Ryan day. --
:28:12. > :28:12.
:28:12. > :30:55.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:30:55. > :31:00.Ryan Day. He knocked a gem in And it is getting a little awkward
:31:00. > :31:10.now, they'll all covering each other. He will have to play a
:31:10. > :31:10.
:31:10. > :32:45.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:32:45. > :32:55.This is a bit of a test if he is to And the secret of that shot was
:32:55. > :32:57.
:32:58. > :33:07.that he did not move, he was still It sounds very easy, keep your head
:33:08. > :33:08.
:33:08. > :33:54.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:33:54. > :34:04.still, but it is one of the But he knows plenty about maximum
:34:04. > :34:26.
:34:26. > :34:36.breaks, he has made for maximum This match has chopped and changed
:34:36. > :35:04.
:35:04. > :35:14.and it looks like doing is going to There is only one difficult red
:35:14. > :35:24.
:35:24. > :35:34.that he will need, which is the He had to stun that came to create
:35:34. > :35:38.
:35:38. > :35:48.That meant he could get high on the two reds and has given him the
:35:48. > :36:22.
:36:22. > :36:29.chance to win this frame at one He will want to get as close as
:36:29. > :36:39.possible to the final red on the cushion. He will need a colour from
:36:39. > :36:44.
:36:44. > :36:54.it, it so he cannot just move it up He has an angle on the yellow to
:36:54. > :37:14.
:37:14. > :37:24.Not quite. Once again, you can see how life leave the cloth was there.
:37:24. > :37:42.
:37:42. > :37:47.The green is in the way of the one cushion escape. I do not think
:37:47. > :37:52.there is an escape. He taps the table and the reason for that is
:37:52. > :37:57.because the green is right in line for the escape shot and on the
:37:57. > :38:06.right-hand side, the black is in the way. Twice across looks like
:38:06. > :38:16.the only possible escape route. is bound to leave the red on if he
:38:16. > :38:33.
:38:33. > :38:43.That is some shot! You will not see any better than that. To miss the
:38:43. > :39:02.
:39:02. > :39:12.pink and then miss the black. That was not good, the bounce gave
:39:12. > :39:36.
:39:36. > :39:46.That was a bit fortunate. fairness, you would have expected
:39:46. > :40:00.
:40:01. > :40:10.Ryan has knocked a few pots like this in, but this is different
:40:11. > :40:38.
:40:38. > :40:48.He had to hit it quite hard to stop other red stain over the left-hand
:40:48. > :41:12.
:41:12. > :41:22.He might have to have a couple of goes at this. It is the second
:41:22. > :41:53.
:41:53. > :42:02.He will have to get much closer to the blue. This is the natural angle.
:42:02. > :42:07.Look how close it is to the blue. The black is in the way. He perhaps
:42:07. > :42:16.could swerve around they black and miss the left-hand pocket in the
:42:16. > :42:26.middle of the table. He needs side to miss the blue but in playing
:42:26. > :42:26.
:42:26. > :43:08.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:43:08. > :43:18.with side I think he comes to He could do with a little touch of
:43:18. > :43:27.
:43:27. > :43:35.swerve on this but that is not easy You could say that that is a bit of
:43:35. > :43:45.a result! Both players have had the run of the ball but that was a
:43:45. > :43:45.
:43:45. > :45:08.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:45:08. > :45:17.Well, fortunate and unfortunate. This frame could have gone either
:45:17. > :45:27.way. Ding hammers the pink into the pocket and will be delighted to get
:45:27. > :45:28.
:45:28. > :45:37.himself back into the lead. Ryan had a 40 break and Ding replied
:45:37. > :45:47.with 59 and he's back into the lead. Ryan look by tears could come right
:45:47. > :45:52.
:45:53. > :45:58.back after Ding made the 91 break He got plenty of power on this and
:45:58. > :46:08.top spin, but it was the next shot that was the problem. I fancied him
:46:08. > :46:08.
:46:08. > :46:15.to knock this one in but he got the kick. That cost in the game. Once
:46:15. > :46:24.again, Ryan has lost to make games on the trot. Last time that he did
:46:24. > :46:30.that, he won the next three. Both players are in terrific form. The
:46:30. > :46:40.top break for Ryan was 90 and he has had three breaks over 40, so it
:46:40. > :46:40.
:46:40. > :47:37.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:47:37. > :47:42.has been a high standard. This The fact but it was touching ball
:47:42. > :47:52.meant he could cope twice across and get the white as close as
:47:52. > :47:52.
:47:52. > :48:43.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:48:43. > :48:49.There is always a chance that you can't spring a red out of the pack
:48:50. > :48:59.and towards the corner pocket, and that is what has happened here.
:49:00. > :49:12.
:49:12. > :49:22.Ryan can get himself on to the That was terrific cueing but he was
:49:22. > :49:22.
:49:22. > :50:47.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:50:47. > :50:57.unlucky because he has gone too far. He took it on but he hit it far too
:50:57. > :50:57.
:50:57. > :53:36.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:53:36. > :53:46.thick, which meant that the kiss Ryan Day has a terrific reach. He
:53:46. > :53:57.
:53:57. > :54:06.is about six foot three, and He played to cannon that red full
:54:06. > :54:16.ball but he just skimmed past it. He will still have to play a cannon
:54:16. > :54:16.
:54:16. > :55:08.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:55:08. > :55:18.This has been an excellent match, we have never known for one minute
:55:18. > :55:25.
:55:25. > :55:34.We thought we work in at quick match when Ding led by two frames
:55:34. > :55:44.but it has turned out to be a fascinating tussle. -- thought we
:55:44. > :56:12.
:56:12. > :56:22.Ryan has every chance now of He is one of those players way you
:56:22. > :56:29.
:56:29. > :56:39.love watching him when he is in He has a good rhythm and has a
:56:39. > :56:39.
:56:39. > :57:42.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 65 seconds
:57:42. > :57:52.He finished a little bit low on To make the century, he would have
:57:52. > :58:02.to develop a few of the reds. That looks like the possible end of the
:58:02. > :58:27.
:58:27. > :58:37.chance of a century, unless he can HAZEL IRVINE: It there I am afraid
:58:37. > :58:46.
:58:47. > :58:52.we have to leave it, with Ryan A quick look at table number two.