05/12/2013

:00:41. > :00:50.And established tournament. An expanded event.

:00:51. > :00:55.Balls potted. Matches won.

:00:56. > :00:58.And winners regress. The losers fall.

:00:59. > :01:12.Now, eight remain. Hello, good afternoon, it is

:01:13. > :01:21.quarterfinal day he wrapped the Barbican in York at the 2013 William

:01:22. > :01:24.Hill .com UK Championship. Mark Selby and Barry Hawkins are

:01:25. > :01:27.practising ahead of the match this evening and what a quarterfinal draw

:01:28. > :01:31.it is shaping up to be. Mark Selby takes on World

:01:32. > :01:35.Championship runner-up Arie Hawkins tonight, that starts at 7pm on table

:01:36. > :01:45.one. One table to this evening it is Mark Allen who dumped Judd Trump out

:01:46. > :01:49.yesterday. This afternoon will bring you action from table to come an

:01:50. > :01:52.intriguing match between world number one Neil Robertson and

:01:53. > :01:57.Scotland's Stephen Maguire, that is later, but we will be concentrating

:01:58. > :02:00.on world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. He destroyed his

:02:01. > :02:02.opponent in just 68 minutes last night. He takes on world number ten

:02:03. > :02:16.Stuart Bingham. The pressure is off for me now, I

:02:17. > :02:26.have won lots of tournament 's so it is about enjoying the game.

:02:27. > :02:31.You know what you get with Ronnie. He is making the quarters and SMEs

:02:32. > :02:35.in most events he turns up in. He is one of the most consistent players

:02:36. > :02:41.on the circuit. He is missing a few but he is getting through at the end

:02:42. > :02:46.of the day so it will be tough. I will try and enjoy it, have fun,

:02:47. > :02:53.and if we both play well it will be a great match. If I fancy it, I will

:02:54. > :03:00.go for it, if I don't, I don't. I am still in it, so I have a shout.

:03:01. > :03:04.It is nice to be doing something like this on my birthday. I don't

:03:05. > :03:08.want people to start singing happy birthday to me before I go out

:03:09. > :03:13.because I will not be in the mood to be celebrating, it is just another

:03:14. > :03:19.day to me. Happy birthday, Ronnie. These two

:03:20. > :03:26.have met nine times, Bingham won just once in 2010, Ronnie O'Sullivan

:03:27. > :03:29.the most recent winner with that 10-8 victory in the Champion of

:03:30. > :03:35.champions last month. Good afternoon, fellows, will that recent

:03:36. > :03:40.defeat by Ronnie O'Sullivan play on the mind of Stuart Bingham today?

:03:41. > :03:43.No, they play each other a lot of times with the tournament these

:03:44. > :03:49.days, you quickly forget that and move on to the next.

:03:50. > :03:51.Not at all, you heard Stuart Bingham talking about being confident, he is

:03:52. > :03:56.up for it. There is one of those consistent

:03:57. > :03:59.performers in the last few years. Winning that first big tournament in

:04:00. > :04:03.Australia has given him that extra confidence that you need against

:04:04. > :04:06.better players. Until you win your first big tournament there is always

:04:07. > :04:11.the seed of doubt, can I do it when it is needed? I think winning that

:04:12. > :04:15.it has been proved he can beat anybody on his day.

:04:16. > :04:18.Ronnie this week has been playing down his chances, we expect that,

:04:19. > :04:24.but last night he showed just why so many people said he is the man to

:04:25. > :04:29.beat. I commentated on that match last night and Robert Milkins made

:04:30. > :04:32.it easy in the first couple of friends by missing too easy balls in

:04:33. > :04:37.the middle pocket, but Ronnie had to do some hard work.

:04:38. > :04:43.He had some superb clearances and then on it was the O'Sullivan show.

:04:44. > :04:47.He is looking really sharp. Let's bring you the action, then, this

:04:48. > :04:51.match started at 1pm. Stuart Bingham won a scrappy first

:04:52. > :04:54.frame. We join it in the second frame, O'Sullivan at the table,

:04:55. > :05:09.there is no score. COMMENTATOR: Just a containing

:05:10. > :05:16.safety instead. That may be a bit loose, Dennis. He

:05:17. > :05:17.played to get on the yellow, but he couldn't, and that red is available,

:05:18. > :05:28.John. Pretty careless from Ronnie. And

:05:29. > :05:35.with four reds opens in May to be sitting there for a while. -- he

:05:36. > :05:39.might be sitting there for a while. He has the four loose reds but I am

:05:40. > :05:45.sure that is pretty much a plank at the back, as well. -- plant. He

:05:46. > :05:47.could put the plant and open up the reds a bit more, so this is a great

:05:48. > :06:34.opportunity. Not quite how he played it there,

:06:35. > :06:39.the cue ball has gone on a bit further. That is sometimes what you

:06:40. > :06:43.have to do when you are making breaks, you cannot be perfect in

:06:44. > :06:45.your position all the time. You have to take an alternative if it is not

:06:46. > :07:02.absolutely plumb. Yes, he got plenty of action on that

:07:03. > :07:09.cue ball. That prevented it from sticking in the reds.

:07:10. > :07:12.It is just an awkward angle there, he cannot run through for the black

:07:13. > :07:18.on that one, not straight enough, so taking on the other.

:07:19. > :07:22.Just going back to the Champion of champions a couple of weeks ago, it

:07:23. > :07:33.was the first to ten and a was a very close final, because Stuart

:07:34. > :07:38.only lost 10-8. I think the biggest thing the

:07:39. > :07:42.victories have given Stuart is the confidence to be out in the big

:07:43. > :07:45.arenas playing against the best players and feeling comfortable

:07:46. > :07:50.doing it. I always thought he had plenty of talent. But he can

:07:51. > :07:55.certainly now produce his best on the big stage. He is also one of the

:07:56. > :08:03.nicest lads you can meet, isn't he? Yes, smashing lad, Stuart. As you

:08:04. > :08:09.know, not bad on the old golf course. He plays off a high -- five

:08:10. > :08:11.handicap. His handicap will be going up, instead of down, like yours did,

:08:12. > :08:23.John. I cannot believe you went up to 12

:08:24. > :08:45.handicap at one stage, you are back to where you should be at two.

:08:46. > :08:54.He nearly went astray there, you just glanced off that, but he's OK.

:08:55. > :09:03.A bit straight on the black so he will have to take the loose red.

:09:04. > :09:11.He made just screw right back, he may have to leave it to the right

:09:12. > :09:19.middle. In fact, you cannot do that from that angle.

:09:20. > :09:27.That is a good shot, he tried to disturb a few more reds, but he is

:09:28. > :09:32.on that one. A lot of topspin on that.

:09:33. > :09:36.Yes, he played it well, he sought. Street cue ball, it has a pause,

:09:37. > :09:42.then it gets forward momentum. The good news with that, if he wants to

:09:43. > :09:46.go for the blue it is ideal to go into the pack of reds. Before, the

:09:47. > :09:56.pink was at the top, which would have made it more difficult.

:09:57. > :10:10.I don't think anything else is going.

:10:11. > :10:22.He is OK, it is not going to drop in the middle, it looked as if it was,

:10:23. > :10:26.but maybe he is out of position now. Once again, striking down on the new

:10:27. > :10:32.ball to create the backspin. This time it did not work out too well

:10:33. > :10:39.for Stuart. If he can pot that, it is good to be very awkward. -- it is

:10:40. > :10:42.going to be. Does this one go? Even this is awkward. He could push this.

:10:43. > :10:55.I don't like this very much. As you say, Dennis, it has push and

:10:56. > :10:59.shove written all over it, that shot. The referee will keep his eye

:11:00. > :11:09.on it. Well, it wasn't that bad after all.

:11:10. > :11:12.He lifted the cue in the air, I thought he was gone to have to

:11:13. > :11:18.really get down on it quickly but it wasn't that bad. Yes, the one time

:11:19. > :11:24.he wanted to put a little steady cue action in to get the tip out of the

:11:25. > :11:29.way. And that is a good split. 61 ahead. Just a couple more pots and

:11:30. > :11:50.he will be 2-0 in front. And, really, this will be the first

:11:51. > :12:25.test for Ronnie O'Sullivan, following 2-0 behind.

:12:26. > :12:31.We already know he is over the line on this, and this may sound a bit

:12:32. > :12:35.daft, but I would be trying double hard to make a clearance on this. I

:12:36. > :12:41.would want to make sure this was a top clearance and keep Ronnie

:12:42. > :12:46.sitting in that chair. Yes, John, we have had 72 centuries

:12:47. > :12:49.so far in this year's UK Championship. The standard is just

:12:50. > :12:55.getting higher and higher. Stuart has made 216 in his career,

:12:56. > :13:10.18 this season, 36 last season. This is great stuff, it really is,

:13:11. > :13:16.he is hitting the ball beautifully in this break.

:13:17. > :13:54.There is the century, well done. You cannot do much better than that.

:13:55. > :14:02.He can equal his highest break in this year's UK Championship, Stuart

:14:03. > :14:10.had 131 earlier. He has had all sorts. He has had a yellow, two

:14:11. > :14:12.greens, for Browns, three pinks and seven black 's. He has been all

:14:13. > :14:18.around the table. Well, that certainly has given The

:14:19. > :14:36.Rocket The Rocket something to think about.

:14:37. > :14:40.He reached 2-0. A fine break and a solid start by Stuart Bingham.

:14:41. > :14:45.Could Ronnie O'Sullivan bounce back in frame three? Let's find out.

:14:46. > :14:56.DENNIS TAYLOR a little bit PC, he needs the brown to come to his

:14:57. > :15:06.rescue. It has not. What a positive shot this would be,

:15:07. > :15:08.he is cueing so well his confidence will be high, but they are not

:15:09. > :15:28.Guineas by any means. -- gimmes. Yes, in the context of the match,

:15:29. > :15:33.the way the balls are positioned, you would fancy Stuart to make a few

:15:34. > :16:17.there. He doesn't quite get the pressure on Ronnie.

:16:18. > :16:23.He has got such a quick snooker brain, he sees everything

:16:24. > :16:28.immediately and knew what he wanted to do there. He wanted that black in

:16:29. > :16:37.the open, and it will be after this next shot, you would feel. But he

:16:38. > :16:45.may not be on a red here. He has cleared the black spot area but he

:16:46. > :16:56.hasn't got a pot, so just a safety by the looks of it.

:16:57. > :17:03.Yes, obviously he was not happy with the cannon he was going to get off

:17:04. > :17:07.the black. It didn't look like it would be that difficult to do it,

:17:08. > :17:13.but he decided to play it more positively. A strange one. I thought

:17:14. > :17:17.he could have screwed it back and nudged the other red away, but maybe

:17:18. > :17:24.he did not quite have the angle. He did not play a great safety, either.

:17:25. > :17:28.Well, he wants that to pull up. What a difference that has made. He

:17:29. > :17:55.looked like he nearly got away with that, Stuart.

:17:56. > :17:58.Second chance here, and he has to take it just to get his confidence

:17:59. > :18:59.up and running. They are the nicest shot in the

:19:00. > :19:05.game, the stun run-throughs, you never get fed up of looking at that

:19:06. > :19:09.type of shot. He makes it look so easy, and it takes much practice to

:19:10. > :19:15.perfect them. Yes, you need to know where to hit the cue ball, how

:19:16. > :19:27.softly or how hard. It is a shot that is quite difficult to teach.

:19:28. > :19:43.The blue might be slightly in the way. No, he is OK.

:19:44. > :19:52.He had a couple of chances in this frame, Stuart. Not completely easy,

:19:53. > :19:56.they were long reds, but he needs to knock at least one of them in, just

:19:57. > :20:04.to keep the pressure on. He knew at some point, Dennis, O'Sullivan would

:20:05. > :20:10.start scoring. Yes, it was just a matter of time, wasn't it?

:20:11. > :20:20.Your form just does not disappear overnight. The thing is, when he

:20:21. > :20:23.does start scoring it is very quick. He is already over the line in this

:20:24. > :20:30.frame. This has been in a blink, this break.

:20:31. > :20:39.Three minutes, Dennis. Cliff would not have his cue out of the case by

:20:40. > :20:41.then! John, talking about the grinder,

:20:42. > :20:54.Cliff Thorburn. Well, he nearly pulled up trouble

:20:55. > :20:58.off. Stuart coming to the table, but that

:20:59. > :21:02.break of 59 should be more than enough to give Ronnie the third

:21:03. > :21:06.frame. Indeed, that break was enough to

:21:07. > :21:11.give Ronnie O'Sullivan his first frame of the afternoon. Let's show

:21:12. > :21:13.you what happened in the next frame. Bingham is 34 points ahead and is in

:21:14. > :21:37.the middle of a break. We have had three fairly quick

:21:38. > :21:39.frames, one just under 15 minutes, the other just over ten minutes, the

:21:40. > :22:10.other just over 11. Still at 96%. That is fantastic. You

:22:11. > :22:29.have to be in the 90s, Ronnie is just an 86%.

:22:30. > :22:40.Yes, good break this, but one shot I was very impressed with, this pink.

:22:41. > :22:44.Tricky, blind pocket, but never in doubt. A lot more difficult than

:22:45. > :22:46.they look, those shots, but that was beautifully played and he deserves

:22:47. > :22:56.everything he gets. And, of course, the red that he got

:22:57. > :23:05.into get on for that pink. It was not easy, it was a long putt -- it

:23:06. > :23:07.was a long part, this was the one. The black was tied up, this was

:23:08. > :23:21.superb. I was just about to say this is the

:23:22. > :23:25.last hurdle in this frame for him. Tricky little shots, these, and if

:23:26. > :23:35.you look at the front job they do not go in. That is what has

:23:36. > :23:39.happened. -- front jaw. Now, can there be a counter

:23:40. > :23:42.clearance? This could be quite a big turning

:23:43. > :23:50.point in the match. It is so difficult, but you know with Ronnie

:23:51. > :23:54.that he relishes this sort of situation. It is a tall order, but

:23:55. > :24:04.if anyone can do it it would be Ronnie.

:24:05. > :24:14.The cannon isn't how he wanted it and so far his mid to long range

:24:15. > :24:24.potting has been a bit awry. How is he going to cue this one?

:24:25. > :24:36.Pretty good, is the answer. Now, how is the cannon going to,? -- come

:24:37. > :24:42.out? Once again, pretty good. Ordinarily, Dennis, the red on the

:24:43. > :24:47.left-hand cushion would be a problem, but Ronnie being so good

:24:48. > :24:53.left-handed, you always fear the worst, don't you?

:24:54. > :24:54.There is the lovely little cannon he played, but it is still going to be

:24:55. > :25:07.difficult, isn't it? He has over screwed that. He has

:25:08. > :25:19.over screwed that by about 6-12 inches there. He can still cut this

:25:20. > :25:23.in. He is just looking at the school, he has plenty to play with

:25:24. > :25:29.at the moment, he does not have to get down for pink or black. Brown

:25:30. > :25:35.around the ankles if he wants it, to come back for the red, or the green.

:25:36. > :25:43.It looks like it is the brown. Look at this short, for cushions to

:25:44. > :25:50.drop on this red. -- look at this shot, four cushions.

:25:51. > :25:54.Well, three cushions, he didn't quite make the fourth.

:25:55. > :26:13.Beautifully cute. -- cue. Well, that is the one around the

:26:14. > :26:28.ankles, if he tries it. It needs to Mr brown. Didn't quite get his first

:26:29. > :26:30.line right. -- he needs to miss the brown. He is back in this, that is

:26:31. > :26:53.for sure. He screwed that with left-hand side

:26:54. > :26:59.but he wanted to be somewhere around the baulk line, rather than on this

:27:00. > :27:04.side of it. That is a great shot, very clever

:27:05. > :27:05.from Stuart. In fact, a little bit harder and he would have had a

:27:06. > :27:27.snooker. He might just be able to see this.

:27:28. > :27:32.If he takes the pot on the right will go towards the right middle

:27:33. > :27:43.pocket. But if he pots it the frame is safe. It was a short you could

:27:44. > :27:47.not get sick, that. That is exactly what he has done. You always have

:27:48. > :28:01.two error on the side of caution, those, he has left Ronnie a chance.

:28:02. > :28:11.He is definitely heading across a future day. -- a phew.

:28:12. > :28:15.Yes, I think the more power he puts into his cueing he seems to come

:28:16. > :28:18.across it. You could just see the hand coming out on the left, as we

:28:19. > :28:33.look at it. Well, with a series of flicks he has

:28:34. > :28:37.managed to knock the black safe. From a psychological point of view,

:28:38. > :28:41.it is such an important frame, this, because it looked almost certain it

:28:42. > :28:49.was going to be 3-1, and if Ronnie can somehow pitch this -- pinch this

:28:50. > :28:56.Stuart would not enjoy his cup of tea at the mid-session interval.

:28:57. > :29:02.How thinly can you hit the ball? Strictly on what they have done so

:29:03. > :29:06.far in this match, Bingham has been the better player.

:29:07. > :29:17.If they came out 2-2 at the interval he would be very disappointed.

:29:18. > :29:23.He didn't want to, but he didn't have much choice there, he had to

:29:24. > :29:34.bring the black into play, saw only the yellow ball is safe.

:29:35. > :29:42.A snooker would help, but I think it is a bit too PC, and another chance

:29:43. > :29:49.for Stuart to maybe snick that read in. He would love to see it into the

:29:50. > :29:57.corner pocket. -- a bit too PC, another chance for Stuart to maybe

:29:58. > :30:00.snick that red in. You also has a little bit of insurance of the cue

:30:01. > :30:02.ball comes down behind pink and black.

:30:03. > :30:07.It would have done if he had headed anywhere near the angle but he

:30:08. > :30:10.completely missed it that one. A chance for Ronnie to bring the

:30:11. > :30:11.yellow into play and play a good safety here. It could be anyone's

:30:12. > :30:19.frame. And all of a sudden... And if he

:30:20. > :30:27.gets the snooker he might just go favourite.

:30:28. > :30:50.and interesting way to play. He played it the other way around.

:30:51. > :30:56.Anyway, they are all there. If the red bounces, that is a mistake. A

:30:57. > :31:12.chance therefore money now. -- a chance of there for Ronnie now.

:31:13. > :31:36.And that was Ronnie's turned to hit it too thick. It is pretty tight.

:31:37. > :31:54.Definitely some of it is snooker -- snookered.

:31:55. > :32:02.He decided to play the clip across, and that is OK, but if Ronnie's is

:32:03. > :32:12.good, it could be behind the yellow. He decided to play it

:32:13. > :32:17.another way. I thought he might have pushed it down the table. But he

:32:18. > :32:46.decided to play this one. Everybody is having a look. It must

:32:47. > :32:50.be very, very tight. If you were 12 inches behind it, you could pull

:32:51. > :33:09.this pot off. But he is a long way from it. Yes, but what have you got

:33:10. > :33:23.to play safe fit? -- safe off it? It's not great this.

:33:24. > :33:34.If you were in behind the red, you could knock a capacity yellow -- you

:33:35. > :33:46.could knock it past the yellow. But not at such a distance away. If you

:33:47. > :33:49.tried a little thin stick to put it on the cushion, you could get the

:33:50. > :34:05.double-kiss. That is the shot I like.

:34:06. > :34:13.It was nearly good. If you are Stuart Bingham, you have got to take

:34:14. > :34:38.this on. He only needs the red. And that is a terrific shot! That

:34:39. > :34:47.was a great pot to secure the frame. He will be quite believed

:34:48. > :35:25.after that earlier break of 61. -- quite relieved. Yes, he will be

:35:26. > :35:33.delighted with this first session, playing against Ronnie O'Sullivan

:35:34. > :35:45.and to take it 3-1. He goes to the interval quite pleased with himself.

:35:46. > :35:49.At a fixed up by Stuart Bingham. The players are on an interval, we will

:35:50. > :36:01.join them live in a few minutes. But final red showed the confidence of

:36:02. > :36:06.Stuart Bingham. Yes, you have to get a good start in the match against

:36:07. > :36:11.Ronnie O'Sullivan. Ronnie is on the back foot little bit. He is not

:36:12. > :36:18.looking as sharp as he did last night. What is interesting, looking

:36:19. > :36:24.at Stuart's performances so far, he has not been tested yet, but he

:36:25. > :36:32.seems to be rising to the challenge. He likes the challenge. A few years

:36:33. > :36:39.ago, he might have felt more nervous. But he is more confident

:36:40. > :36:43.and self-assured. He is working with a different culture that is giving

:36:44. > :36:56.him confidence as well. Looks very comfortable out there. He is not

:36:57. > :37:02.afraid of any of the top players. He looks a lot more assured. Have we

:37:03. > :37:06.now got to the point where we expect to see Stuart Bingham in the final

:37:07. > :37:13.four of big tournaments like this? I think so. You have got to consider

:37:14. > :37:18.him as one of the winners of these events. He is still not looked upon

:37:19. > :37:23.as one of the glamour players, but you have to consider him for every

:37:24. > :37:34.tournament. Ronnie O'Sullivan's long game is not as good as it should be.

:37:35. > :37:44.His long ball game, we have seen a few instances, particularly this

:37:45. > :37:47.type of shot. Look at his back R, it has come out a little. -- look at

:37:48. > :38:14.his back arm there.

:38:15. > :38:21.Thank you. Let's rejoin our match commentators. First of all, I told

:38:22. > :38:32.you that Everton would Godwin last night.

:38:33. > :38:37.I know. Next to me is a Manchester United fan, so I do not want to say

:38:38. > :38:43.too much. Ronnie needs to do a little bit better. We know that the

:38:44. > :39:03.mid-session interval can change things around a little.

:39:04. > :39:19.He gets his first frame after the interval and the. -- underway.

:39:20. > :39:32.Ronnie is not quite sure what is law -- wrong with his long game. He

:39:33. > :39:34.leads to improve on that. -- he needs. That is where Stuart is way

:39:35. > :39:55.ahead. That was a pretty good break. It has

:39:56. > :39:56.got him in a spot of bother. They could not have played that much

:39:57. > :40:34.better. He could do without touching ball --

:40:35. > :40:40.he could do with our a touching ball. That is more or less identical

:40:41. > :40:57.to where it was previously. Where was it the last time? Let's

:40:58. > :41:06.have a look. Not far away. Just a matter of inches. What is he looking

:41:07. > :41:13.at here? He would have to get a cannon to make the plant. I think he

:41:14. > :41:20.is going to take this on. He is going to play a cannon of one red.

:41:21. > :41:26.Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Have a look at the reds. That was a

:41:27. > :42:06.superb cannon. He is keeping the pressure on

:42:07. > :42:21.Ronnie. That was a good shot from Stuart. With the way the reds are

:42:22. > :42:28.spread there, he may have to pot his way out of trouble. There is no

:42:29. > :42:39.other shot. He may have to take it on and played a lot of pace -- and

:42:40. > :42:41.play with a lot of pace. This could go wrong. He pleaded on the wrong

:42:42. > :43:04.side. -- he played it. He nearly got away with it. He hit

:43:05. > :43:10.it so badly that he could not get back up there. It is a tricky start

:43:11. > :43:23.to this break. He needs to get the cue ball right. This is a very big

:43:24. > :43:31.black. This is a big shot in the context of the match. Can Stuart

:43:32. > :43:39.pull off a John Parrott special? John is the best in the business .

:43:40. > :43:44.Terrific. But was excellent. No problem at

:43:45. > :44:22.all. That was a great pot from Stuart of

:44:23. > :44:33.the cushion, but as it came through, it just clicked that red.

:44:34. > :45:43.This is how you would set the ball is on the table if you were in the

:45:44. > :45:51.club and having a practice session. What a chance to take a 4-1 lead. He

:45:52. > :45:59.looked very relaxed in the players lounge. He was having a cup of tea

:46:00. > :46:09.and chatting to people. To his coach.

:46:10. > :46:25.A little bit disappointed with that shot, should not have been hampered

:46:26. > :46:37.playing there. Once again, beautifully struck. It

:46:38. > :47:06.is all coming very easy for Stuart this afternoon. He is playing well.

:47:07. > :47:19.Can you believe it? 42 ahead, the reds sitting as they were and all of

:47:20. > :47:26.a sudden, he misses the black off the spot.

:47:27. > :47:36.He has hit that too hard, that is very careless. It was a delicate

:47:37. > :47:50.little screw shot, but what a great chance he had to come right back.

:47:51. > :48:03.It is a good cue ball. He just ported it into the left of the

:48:04. > :48:10.pocket. Also one of those shots that he thought he might have dropped in.

:48:11. > :48:12.He obviously thought he could hold it, playing it like a stone, but it

:48:13. > :49:00.ran away. -- like a stun. When you knock the ball like that

:49:01. > :49:19.in, you deserve a good case and that was a good case. You deserve a good

:49:20. > :49:35.kiss. I agree with you. He deserves to win the frame of that. Ronnie has

:49:36. > :49:38.let that chance slip away. Leave the fight tight on the cushion and then

:49:39. > :50:09.see Stuart knocked out in. Just the blue needed now. What a

:50:10. > :50:16.test for Ronnie O'Sullivan now. He will have to produce the snooker

:50:17. > :50:19.that he produced against Robert Milkins last night. Keep one the six

:50:20. > :54:21.frames with one chance per frame. That is better, straight through the

:54:22. > :54:42.ball. He hit right through that one. The wrong side of the blue, but he

:54:43. > :55:01.can get back up to the reds. That is careless, to catch the

:55:02. > :55:07.yellow. It is as if a little bit of focus is missing. This is tough.

:55:08. > :55:21.Brilliant. A bit unlucky with the kiss. But

:55:22. > :55:43.this is first class. A bit more like it.

:55:44. > :55:50.When you were on a break like that and you lose the cue ball, sometimes

:55:51. > :55:58.you can be struggling to get it back. But he has got it back now.

:55:59. > :56:17.This is a good chance. This is a must win frame for Ronnie

:56:18. > :56:23.O'Sullivan. 5-1 behind would not even give Ronnie much of a chance.

:56:24. > :56:25.It makes it even more fascinating just to see what he can produce

:56:26. > :56:55.here. just to see what he can produce

:56:56. > :57:22.It makes it even more fascinating just

:57:23. > :57:30.What a shot that was. But how has he not got a cannon? He has done it

:57:31. > :57:55.again. Unbelievable. We have seen some amazing shots,

:57:56. > :58:24.there was a lot of distance between the two reds.

:58:25. > :58:37.He has made some unbelievable breaks in his career, but this one is up

:58:38. > :58:39.there with the best. I think the one with the blue with the rest is the

:58:40. > :59:01.one for me. The frame safely in the bag now for

:59:02. > :59:08.Ronnie. A frame that he really did need badly. This break has been

:59:09. > :59:32.quite amazing. Watch the blue. Perfect on the red

:59:33. > :59:40.to bring the black into play. Be difficult to make the century, the

:59:41. > :59:53.two reds at a bit awkward. But he made.

:59:54. > :59:59.He has made 721 century breaks in his career, and that is up there

:00:00. > :00:09.with the best of them. He is creeping ever closer to

:00:10. > :00:13.Stephen Hendry's record, I think he is about 50 centuries ahead of

:00:14. > :00:27.Ronnie. Absolutely phenomenal thing that

:00:28. > :00:33.Michael break, so many good shots in it. In no time at all, as well, just

:00:34. > :00:36.six minutes. Incredible stuff. We knew he needed to go to work,

:00:37. > :00:47.Dennis, but that was just worth watching.

:00:48. > :00:53.His highest break before this was a break of 108. He has superseded

:00:54. > :01:06.that. Stephen Maguire still holds the

:01:07. > :01:15.highest break in this year's UK Championship of 142. But what break.

:01:16. > :01:26.-- what a break you have just with West. He needed it, and he produced

:01:27. > :01:33.it. Ronnie O'Sullivan compiles on -- and unbelievable break of 135 and he

:01:34. > :01:37.gets himself back to 4-2. Sometimes as we are sitting in the studio in

:01:38. > :01:41.broadcasting and you say it is a pleasure to be here, when you see

:01:42. > :01:43.Ronnie in full flow it is a joy to watch, isn't it?

:01:44. > :01:50.He has made some centuries and sometimes but that -- at sometimes

:01:51. > :01:57.but that is up with the best. Look at this, down for the Kubo ice

:01:58. > :02:02.cue ball, reminiscent of Alex Higgins in 1982. Without this, he

:02:03. > :02:08.screwed it in off to cushions to keep the break going. He has missed

:02:09. > :02:12.the plant there, but he plays this point, the cue ball going into the

:02:13. > :02:17.baulk area, but still a lot of distance to keep the break going. A

:02:18. > :02:20.collection of God shots. Yes, you started to think as he

:02:21. > :02:27.bothered with this match, throwing caution to the wind sort of thing.

:02:28. > :02:31.Most players can play these shots but to think for a split second that

:02:32. > :02:35.gets Bernard play them casually, that is what separates them. That is

:02:36. > :02:40.what makes him so different and that is why people watching him now love

:02:41. > :02:44.to see Ronnie O'Sullivan at these big tournaments.

:02:45. > :02:47.Yes, watching it he looked as if he had given up, he does not work

:02:48. > :02:51.focused, but he gets a chance like that and switches on.

:02:52. > :02:55.The thing about Ronnie O'Sullivan is, when you look at him when he is

:02:56. > :02:57.at the table you would not know whether he is behind or in front.

:02:58. > :03:01.Some players you can tell immediately from the body language.

:03:02. > :03:06.With him, he just plays the same shot, as soon as he sees it. A lot

:03:07. > :03:10.of players may play those shots when they are in front, but when you are

:03:11. > :03:18.4-1 behind and you know that Michael those shots would not come into

:03:19. > :03:22.Europe thinking at all. -- those shot would not comment to your

:03:23. > :03:27.thinking. You may think looking at Ronnie and

:03:28. > :03:33.the shots he has missed, Stuart Bingham might be thinking I have

:03:34. > :03:35.Ronnie here, but then he hasn't. That is what makes him so special.

:03:36. > :03:45.Back to the boys. DENNIS TAYLOR: as we always say, a

:03:46. > :03:51.century break always -- only wins one frame. Stuart Bingham still has

:03:52. > :03:56.the highest break of the match, he is still in the driving seat,

:03:57. > :03:59.leading by two frames. No attempt at the pot there, just a

:04:00. > :04:09.safety. You always feel, as long as your

:04:10. > :04:17.opponent needs to frames, you always feel that you have a chance. -- two

:04:18. > :04:29.frames. Stuart does need to frames to get to the semifinal. Ronnie

:04:30. > :04:41.meets four. -- Stuart does need two frames, Ronnie needs four.

:04:42. > :04:48.I am not sure if he is dead straight on this red to the right of the

:04:49. > :04:54.pack. If he was, he might take it on and follow through and finish on a

:04:55. > :05:35.baulk colour. It must not be, he's just playing a safety shot.

:05:36. > :05:40.He is fully focused now all right, that was a great shot. One of the

:05:41. > :05:44.disconcerting things about Ronnie, despite the fact he is very good, is

:05:45. > :05:50.that the scoreboard changes quite quickly. You think you have a nice

:05:51. > :05:55.lead and all of a sudden you are all square or behind very quickly. Some

:05:56. > :05:59.players, to frames behind it may take them an hour to get back. --

:06:00. > :06:22.two frames. But not O'Sullivan. A bit difficult to get down on the

:06:23. > :06:24.right side of the table, but he can just get past the pink to sneak the

:06:25. > :06:38.red. The extra flicked on that red

:06:39. > :06:45.helped, he was still going to be down there anyway. He played a good

:06:46. > :06:54.shot. Ronnie just playing a safety shot, no attempt at the pot.

:06:55. > :07:04.That has put the brown out of commission now, so only yellow and

:07:05. > :07:07.green to try and get in behind. At first glance, it is not

:07:08. > :07:11.straightforward to get back down the table here. This will have to be a

:07:12. > :07:24.thin one. That is one way of getting the fight

:07:25. > :07:26.back down the table. He looks a bit disappointed, but if this red does

:07:27. > :07:28.not pass the black you will have to take the other one to the left of

:07:29. > :07:52.the red and black and pot it. Good long pot, that, and I think

:07:53. > :07:55.when he is dropping on the ball and playing run-through is they are just

:07:56. > :08:01.going as smoothly as they have ever done. When he is putting screw or

:08:02. > :08:03.stun on these long pots it is going slightly awry. Lastly we were

:08:04. > :08:08.talking about that, Stephen Hendry and I were doing a match and we were

:08:09. > :08:10.talking about he was floating those in.

:08:11. > :08:13.-- last night we were talking about that. He knocked them all in last

:08:14. > :08:31.night. Not an easy table, by any means, as

:08:32. > :08:32.you can see. The moment, the black, hampered slightly with that red next

:08:33. > :08:56.to it. Generally, they are not too many

:08:57. > :09:03.puzzles on a table O'Sullivan cannot solve. The mode of times I have seen

:09:04. > :09:07.him come to the table and I think there is nothing on here, the next

:09:08. > :09:13.thing they all go. He has over screwed that one by although --

:09:14. > :09:19.quite away. He will do well to keep it going now.

:09:20. > :09:23.Just deciding whether to take the risk. He might be better just to

:09:24. > :09:33.play a good safety, and that is what he is going to do.

:09:34. > :09:45.And he has covered all the reds. There is a route back down the table

:09:46. > :09:49.of the red next to the black but he will have to use quite a bit of side

:09:50. > :09:55.to swing around and Mr reds. He is close to the cushion, -- and missed

:09:56. > :09:59.the reds, not always that easy to get the aid of side -- the amount of

:10:00. > :10:11.side. You felt it was too difficult, in

:10:12. > :10:13.fact it might have been better to attempt that, because he has left a

:10:14. > :10:39.half chance here. Not very good. Needed to miss those,

:10:40. > :10:45.because he is straight on the black comedy is raging over all the rents,

:10:46. > :10:51.-- Street on the black, he is bridging over all the reds.

:10:52. > :10:59.It was always going to be difficult to get onto a red there. He said

:11:00. > :11:07.that too hard, you can end up bouncing the cue ball.

:11:08. > :11:11.-- if you hit that too hard. That would be big trouble with Peter

:11:12. > :11:20.Ebdon, the brown being there, for Peter Ebdon, there is colourblind.

:11:21. > :11:23.-- he is colourblind. Hard to believe as good a speaker player as

:11:24. > :12:11.he is. That would be no help to Peter.

:12:12. > :12:17.Now Stuart is having a look to see if he can possibly make the plant

:12:18. > :12:18.with a safety shot in mind. I did not think the second red would pass

:12:19. > :12:37.the other red to go to the pocket. Well, it was on. That was a bit of a

:12:38. > :12:51.free shot. He did well to put that on, but he

:12:52. > :13:06.did look at it. And it is not bad, because it is not

:13:07. > :13:16.easy. He cannot, of the side cushion and just land on the one to the left

:13:17. > :13:27.of the think. -- he can come off. That is pretty good. I think Stuart

:13:28. > :13:31.missed a trick there, he should have been making sure that when he laid

:13:32. > :13:36.up behind the green. He should have had to made -- he should have made

:13:37. > :13:37.sure Ronnie would have to go the other way because that was always

:13:38. > :13:48.going to be on. He would have liked to stay on the

:13:49. > :13:59.right-hand side and tighter than that. Little shots those. Especially

:14:00. > :14:03.on these very, very quick class. -- cloths. I do not think he has a

:14:04. > :14:08.natural angle to get behind the yellow year. You will have to do a

:14:09. > :14:14.bit of work on the cue ball. The best he can do is the jaws of the

:14:15. > :14:21.pocket, you would feel. He has managed to get a little bit of stun

:14:22. > :14:29.on it, but not quite hard enough. Ronnie is looking at a planned now.

:14:30. > :14:32.And there you go. -- plant. You would think Alan Titchmarsh was out

:14:33. > :14:44.there playing, there has been that many plants.

:14:45. > :14:51.He must not have been able to get to it before that, that would be the

:14:52. > :14:52.only reason you would refuse that, but unfortunately there is nothing

:14:53. > :15:15.on. It is a totally opposite frame to

:15:16. > :15:19.the previous one, where Ronnie made that unbelievable 135 break with all

:15:20. > :15:26.sorts of difficult pots in the middle of it. This is a more

:15:27. > :15:30.awkward, tactical frame. But just as important, because 5-2 behind, he

:15:31. > :15:58.would have to win four in a row. Quite a good shot, that, it looks

:15:59. > :16:06.like he has cut off the right-hand side of the table.

:16:07. > :16:16.He has to be a bit careful here, Stuart. He can play down the table

:16:17. > :16:20.of the one in the circle, on the left-hand side as we look at it, but

:16:21. > :16:24.he would have to get a good length. Yellow and green are in a good spot,

:16:25. > :16:34.I think he can just click the edge of that one. A bit too thin. The

:16:35. > :16:39.white is coming back up. A funny sort of shot, that. It is

:16:40. > :16:42.one of those ones if you try and be too precise with it, sometimes you

:16:43. > :16:53.have just got to find the baulk ocean. -- cushion.

:16:54. > :17:04.What a mistake that is. Has he got away with it? He had a couple of

:17:05. > :17:08.possible pots there and I think he just lost a little bit of focus.

:17:09. > :17:13.There is one that will go. The safety was so good and all of a

:17:14. > :17:19.sudden he just played a careless one there.

:17:20. > :17:26.Now, that is the first time a little bit of tension has crept into

:17:27. > :17:31.Stuart's game. He is leading 4-2 and has been so smooth, but he did not

:17:32. > :17:37.cue that one very well. That is a sign that he is maybe getting a

:17:38. > :17:37.little tight, which is understandable after what happened

:17:38. > :17:49.in the previous frame. Yes, good news and bad news in that

:17:50. > :17:55.one. The bad news is he missed the pot, the good news it was difficult

:17:56. > :18:06.to get on a collar of the red. Brown and black are tied up. Good cueing

:18:07. > :18:10.that is. Absolutely superb. I tell you what, John, if you show a

:18:11. > :18:16.little bit of weakness to Ronnie, that is the sort of thing you will

:18:17. > :18:25.do. He was surprised that Stuart missed that previous chance.

:18:26. > :18:43.Yes, no hesitation to get on the pink and back in the scoring zone.

:18:44. > :18:50.How many chain -- how many times have we seen matches turnaround just

:18:51. > :18:55.because of one or miss. That is the first time in a while Stuart has

:18:56. > :19:14.missed one I thought he was going to get.

:19:15. > :19:20.Just glancing over at the other table, Stuart. He knows that this

:19:21. > :19:38.frame is gradually slipping away. And, all of a sudden, that 4-1

:19:39. > :19:42.advantage Stuart had has disappeared rapidly.

:19:43. > :19:47.I think if I was Stuart I would be having a little comfort break at the

:19:48. > :19:57.end of this frame to collect my thoughts a little bit. A solitary

:19:58. > :20:01.team talk. Yes, the way that Stuart has to think now is, before the

:20:02. > :20:04.match started, if they had given him a 4-3 advantage he would have

:20:05. > :20:31.snapped your hand off. And his pot success rate has jumped

:20:32. > :20:37.up to 93%. You are right, John, Stuart is going

:20:38. > :20:42.to take comfort break, so after leaving 4-1, we have seen Ronnie

:20:43. > :20:48.O'Sullivan close the gap to just one frame, it is 4-3 to Stuart Bingham.

:20:49. > :20:52.We thought this was going to be a terrific match, it is turning out to

:20:53. > :20:55.be, Ronnie is turning the screw. I asked you before that frame weather,

:20:56. > :21:01.psychologically, Stuart might be thinking I am on such a great start,

:21:02. > :21:04.Ronnie has made a 135 break and whether Ronnie is on his way to

:21:05. > :21:07.victory. I thought whoever would win that

:21:08. > :21:11.frame would win the match. That was a really big frame. We have seen the

:21:12. > :21:17.first signs of tension in Stuart Bingham, he missed here by quite a

:21:18. > :21:22.long way. These are shots that you would expect to pot, that was a long

:21:23. > :21:25.way off. That let Ronnie in and a couple of minutes later, Ronnie got

:21:26. > :21:31.in and played a bad position of shot, and this blue, if he misses

:21:32. > :21:34.this he leaves Stuart in, but this is hit as good as you can hit a

:21:35. > :21:40.ball. Let's pick up on some of Stuart's

:21:41. > :21:52.Mrs Connor in the first few things he was making those sorts of pots.

:21:53. > :21:56.-- some of Stewart's missed shots. It would have been so nice for

:21:57. > :22:01.Stuart Bingham to be able to keep that gap of three frames, just one

:22:02. > :22:04.from victory, such a huge frame. There are signs, some evidence he is

:22:05. > :22:08.feeling the pressure now, even though he still has the lead. It is

:22:09. > :22:12.bound to happen, everyone feels pressure. Everybody feels nerves and

:22:13. > :22:15.pressure can do is just a matter of... Especially if you are playing

:22:16. > :22:19.Ronnie O'Sullivan knowing what he can do.

:22:20. > :22:23.It doesn't matter who you are playing, all of the top players feel

:22:24. > :22:28.it, it is a matter of being able to control it, deal with it, and keep

:22:29. > :22:33.the cue arm straight, we topped about it being kept a straight and

:22:34. > :22:37.straight action, but it did not happen for Stuart Bingham. You know

:22:38. > :22:40.you have to come yourself down, you don't know what is good to happen,

:22:41. > :22:43.it is just a matter when the cue is delivered it does not go through

:22:44. > :22:47.right. As John said, you would expect

:22:48. > :22:51.Stewart to have got that shot but he missed it, and that stays in the

:22:52. > :22:55.memory. What is also fascinating is hearing ex-players talking about the

:22:56. > :22:59.pressure of these big tournament 's when the camera is in.

:23:00. > :23:05.Being on television ads to the drama and tension. It does, we will that

:23:06. > :23:08.matter we see a lot of players who have not been in front of the camera

:23:09. > :23:13.for long while or are new to the cameras, but these guys are well

:23:14. > :23:16.used to the cameras, it is not the cameras of the crowd, it is the

:23:17. > :23:19.occasion. It is a massive tournament and all

:23:20. > :23:23.of the guys want to get their hands on this trophy and that adds to the

:23:24. > :23:29.pressure, as well. It is going to be cracking. Back to John Parrott and

:23:30. > :23:35.Dennis. DENNIS TAYLOR: thank you, Jason. It

:23:36. > :23:39.is what you turn professional for. You spent years trying to get to the

:23:40. > :23:43.televised stages and then you get used to it, there is no better place

:23:44. > :23:49.to be. But you are on your own ad there. It is not like a team game

:23:50. > :23:55.where you can hide. -- you are on your own out there. There is no

:23:56. > :24:18.place to hide in a snooker or arena. -- arena.

:24:19. > :24:25.That is a good safety shot from stewards that. I think Ronnie can

:24:26. > :24:29.just get past the green to return the right to the baulk end of the

:24:30. > :24:35.table. -- that is a good safety shot from Stuart.

:24:36. > :24:38.He will hit this slightly thicker than he would have liked, he has to

:24:39. > :24:47.be careful not to promote one to a corner pocket, like that. Has he got

:24:48. > :24:54.away with it? He has covered the one on the left, that is for sure.

:24:55. > :25:00.Yes, what happened to Stuart in the devious frame, with the ball he

:25:01. > :25:05.missed, he wants a nice easy starter. -- previous frame. There is

:25:06. > :25:09.nothing easy out here, this is a tough one years looking at.

:25:10. > :25:14.He mentioned earlier he has been working with his coach on cueing and

:25:15. > :25:18.getting the ball straight, he will have to do that here.

:25:19. > :25:45.He kept his head still and delivered the cue in a straight line.

:25:46. > :25:51.A golden chance now for Stuart Bingham.

:25:52. > :26:14.Can he hold himself together? The ball are there for the taking.

:26:15. > :26:26.Yes, in matches like these this is all you can hope for - chances. OK,

:26:27. > :26:29.he saw a few dolls on the table and Ronnie wanted everything. But all

:26:30. > :26:34.you want when you are playing at this level is to get the chances. If

:26:35. > :26:37.you can make the most of them as you would do in the club when you are

:26:38. > :26:43.practising on your own, then you can win a lot more matches. As we

:26:44. > :26:50.mentioned earlier in this match, this is a bit like a little practice

:26:51. > :26:53.routine. You throw the ball is up. A good pick Michael on here for

:26:54. > :26:57.Stuart. And without having to do a lot of work. -- a good rate Michael

:26:58. > :27:04.on here. It is the circumstances that makes it difficult. -- a good

:27:05. > :27:11.break on here. Fourth black coming up.

:27:12. > :27:20.Last night, Ronnie against Robert Milkins, when he was flying, Stephen

:27:21. > :27:24.Hendry called it before he potted one red, he said Ronnie is going to

:27:25. > :27:32.go for a maximum here, and he did. This is all blacks so far, and

:27:33. > :27:38.Stuart Bingham has made three maximum breaks in competitive play.

:27:39. > :27:45.And there is a little matter of ?55,000, plus ?4000 for the high

:27:46. > :27:54.break, if a player can achieve that. That will buy a few Christmas

:27:55. > :28:20.presents. He just needed a slight cannon on

:28:21. > :28:27.that read, the cue ball slipped past it. -- on that red. He just wanted

:28:28. > :28:32.to cannon this one here, but not quite enough into the cue ball. It

:28:33. > :28:41.should not be a problem, knocking this red, but it has changed his

:28:42. > :28:48.position on for this break. He might just be able to drop it in.

:28:49. > :28:54.Well, he tried to screw off one cushion, he had a few shots

:28:55. > :28:58.available. He was trying to stay on black, but the most important thing

:28:59. > :29:03.was the frame. I don't know if that red jumped or not. Maybe he just did

:29:04. > :29:05.not cue it very well. At least he has got it safe, that is one

:29:06. > :29:22.consolation. He took that on in such a way that

:29:23. > :29:23.he would be on the black and if you missed it the only red could leave

:29:24. > :29:58.was the one he had a go at. missed it the only red could leave

:29:59. > :30:28.was the one he had a Absolute superb cueing. Really

:30:29. > :31:46.fluent. If Stuart does not win this frame,

:31:47. > :32:17.he has only got himself to blame. Good cueing required on this.

:32:18. > :33:19.He is well past the winning post. Good cueing

:33:20. > :33:35.Rowley signals there. -- Ronnie signals there. He now leads by five

:33:36. > :33:41.frames to three. That was such an important frame from Stuart's point

:33:42. > :33:59.of view. I supposed Ronnie was a bit unlucky. You never know what is

:34:00. > :34:14.going to happen. It was a little bit unlocking. -- unlucky.

:34:15. > :34:37.He his holding himself together very well.

:34:38. > :34:43.Pretty good break off from Ronnie, who has to win three frames in a row

:34:44. > :35:11.if he is to get in the semifinal. He played one of these earlier in

:35:12. > :35:38.the match. We have done it again. The natural angle would have taken

:35:39. > :35:40.him to the back there. When you play the full length of the table with

:35:41. > :35:54.the side, it is difficult. It is still a fascinating match.

:35:55. > :36:10.Ronnie knows he can't make many more mistakes.

:36:11. > :36:13.He did not do too much wrong in the last frame. It just didn't work out

:36:14. > :37:02.in his favour. He is on the pink, the black. He has

:37:03. > :37:05.played for that one. He has played it well. It is key that he gets a

:37:06. > :37:14.good angle. There might be one available to the

:37:15. > :38:10.left of the bunch. Yes. Has he stuck on the red? I think he

:38:11. > :38:11.has. The only possibility is that difficult one in the middle. It

:38:12. > :38:29.looks very tight. Fantastic. A brilliant shot into the

:38:30. > :39:53.middle pocket. They always like to see as planned

:39:54. > :40:01.going in. It really has been great to watch. It is a long way from

:40:02. > :40:06.being over yet. Ronnie O'Sullivan is in really good nick at the moment,

:40:07. > :40:14.the way he is hitting these balls. Shubin has been playing

:40:15. > :40:15.fantastically well. -- Stuart Bingham has been playing

:40:16. > :40:45.fantastically well. 74 centuries so far. This might be

:40:46. > :41:04.75. This is another important contribution.

:41:05. > :41:11.What a way to keep your thought in the match. Superb stop -- what a way

:41:12. > :41:21.to keep yourself in the match. Genius at work. Absolutely

:41:22. > :41:41.fantastic. He still has to do it another couple

:41:42. > :41:43.of times, hasn't he? What a way to keep yourself in the UK

:41:44. > :41:53.championship. The pink is safe. It might not be

:41:54. > :42:17.after the next shot. Bit unlucky. He is still firing on all cylinders.

:42:18. > :42:19.He keeps himself in the championship. He is still one frame

:42:20. > :42:32.behind. What a match. A cracking break therefrom Ronnie

:42:33. > :42:47.O'Sullivan. This is how the top ten centuries looks.

:42:48. > :43:04.All Ronnie can do is keep putting Stuart under pressure. Sometimes,

:43:05. > :43:11.when you get to that stage like Stuart, you hope for a chance to win

:43:12. > :43:17.it as soon as possible. Yet again, Stuart is sitting in that chair

:43:18. > :43:21.helpless. Yes, helpless. He only needs one chance. The way Stuart has

:43:22. > :43:34.been playing, he has been playing really well. He will be waiting for

:43:35. > :43:49.one chance. He has got to keep that cueing ball tight as possible. If

:43:50. > :43:52.you are Stuart, do you think, I am just one frame away from the

:43:53. > :44:00.semifinals and knocking out the current world champion? Is it

:44:01. > :44:07.concentrating on the game? It is different when you are playing the

:44:08. > :44:12.best player in the world. You can't get away from that fact that it is

:44:13. > :44:16.Ronnie O'Sullivan. There will always be that thing in the back of his

:44:17. > :44:25.mind. When you look at their body language now, Ronnie O'Sullivan

:44:26. > :44:29.hasn't got a care in the world. Yes. When he is in full flow like

:44:30. > :44:33.that, there is nothing better from a snooker perspective. The matches in

:44:34. > :44:43.the balance. It is anybody's game. Here we go.

:44:44. > :45:26.A pretty good cue ball. This is tough but he will have a go.

:45:27. > :45:37.That was a little bit unlucky. Stuart Bingham is looking for that

:45:38. > :45:49.one chance that would get him into the semifinal.

:45:50. > :47:20.I thought he was good to have a chance to take that red in the

:47:21. > :47:23.corner. That red on the right-hand side, he could've played out. --

:47:24. > :47:35.played that. That was a much better shot than it

:47:36. > :49:06.looked. He has managed to organise these

:49:07. > :50:14.balls into pottable positions. He seemed to get a bit of a

:50:15. > :50:24.surprise, the way that came off the cushion.

:50:25. > :50:56.Because of that, he has lost position.

:50:57. > :51:37.This is coming up to two hours of fascinating snooker. Very, very

:51:38. > :51:59.entertaining. He is going to play a screw off the

:52:00. > :52:38.side cushion. He has to be careful if he goes down

:52:39. > :52:49.the left side of the table that he does not catch that cushion.

:52:50. > :52:58.Pretty good, depending on what happens to the cue ball. The red has

:52:59. > :53:04.come up quite a way. Is he going to be tempted? I will tell you what, it

:53:05. > :53:29.is going to be some break even if he knocks it in.

:53:30. > :54:02.He has pushed that over the middle pocket.

:54:03. > :54:15.He given at the blacks simply because he didn't cue the red too

:54:16. > :55:27.well. It is amazing what can happen in this game.

:55:28. > :57:32.Still a lot of work to do here. That is much better.

:57:33. > :57:41.He will have to carry on with the brown one of the other colours at

:57:42. > :57:43.that end of the table. It is not a real problem. It is just making

:57:44. > :57:55.things the more difficult. He is a bit closer to the cushion.

:57:56. > :58:03.Not that easy to control the cue ball.

:58:04. > :58:41.This is going to develop into quite a tense affair, this frame. The

:58:42. > :58:46.frame that would keep Ronnie O'Sullivan in the championship, a

:58:47. > :58:54.frame that would put Stuart Bingham into the semifinal.

:58:55. > :59:10.This looks pretty good to me. What a terrific shot he has played.

:59:11. > :59:29.That is a long way off. He had a good margin for error there. He just

:59:30. > :59:37.seemed to watch that. -- he just seems to rush that.

:59:38. > :59:58.Still going to need one of the difficult reds on the side cushion.

:59:59. > :00:17.It is a lot more difficult money could have been.

:00:18. > :00:25.Not a bad effort, but, once again, it will cut back with the red, he

:00:26. > :00:27.will be heading up towards the colours at the other end of the

:00:28. > :00:37.table. And now, what sort of angle has he

:00:38. > :00:44.got here? He is a little bit straight on the brown and blue. He

:00:45. > :00:51.just had a quick glance at the scoreboard.

:00:52. > :00:59.I think he played to leave a double, but maybe he has gone a bit

:01:00. > :01:02.too far. Particularly with the other red being on the cushion maybe he

:01:03. > :01:11.thinks this is good value to take on the double.

:01:12. > :01:27.Yes, 35, the difference. Still 35 on the table. This is to win the match,

:01:28. > :01:34.you would say. And it is there. It has been a fabulous match we have

:01:35. > :01:38.commentated on, John, some superb stuff. It has been great stuff from

:01:39. > :01:43.both players. Stuart Bingham has played superbly well, Ronnie

:01:44. > :01:49.O'Sullivan tried as hard as he could to get back in this match. It has

:01:50. > :01:57.been brilliant to watch. Just over two hours, high-quality stuff.

:01:58. > :02:04.Still looking at the scoreboard, 42 the difference, 35 on.

:02:05. > :02:15.That is the first of the speakers, he might be able to swerve around

:02:16. > :02:31.it. -- the first of the snookers. Well played by Stuart, he didn't hit

:02:32. > :02:38.it hard enough so he could go in-off.

:02:39. > :02:45.Definitely a chance here. If he knocks this in it will be shake

:02:46. > :03:40.hands. The brown is now out of commission

:03:41. > :03:47.with regard is leaving a snooker behind. -- regarding leaving a

:03:48. > :03:55.snooker. That is pretty well played again. Not as easy to fit this time,

:03:56. > :04:03.there is a rim round the red, he only needs two snookers. -- there is

:04:04. > :04:07.a rim. The problem is you want to play it slowly so you don't leave a

:04:08. > :04:13.free ball, but with yellow and blue around there he needs a snooker.

:04:14. > :04:23.Careful. Great shot.

:04:24. > :04:29.He had to hit that, because the pace he pleaded that he did not want to

:04:30. > :04:31.leave the free ball and if he had missed it it would have been easy

:04:32. > :05:02.for a second snooker for Ronnie. Well, he did attempt that. He also

:05:03. > :05:10.attempted the snooker. This is awkward.

:05:11. > :05:17.He does not want to pot that red, but if it keeps on running it will

:05:18. > :05:23.go past the yellow, this could be Stuart's big chance.

:05:24. > :05:31.There you see it, and no you don't. What a performance from Stuart

:05:32. > :05:35.Bingham. Ronnie will be the first to congratulate him. He had a close

:05:36. > :05:40.match in the Champion of Champions with Ronnie, he beat him a couple of

:05:41. > :05:46.weeks ago 10-8, but Stuart Bingham has played a superb match here.

:05:47. > :05:53.Every credit to him. Ronnie came storming back from 4-1 down, at 4-3

:05:54. > :05:59.it was anyone's quarterfinal. He will not bother about that, Ronnie

:06:00. > :06:03.comes forward to congratulate him. They have played ten times, it is

:06:04. > :06:07.the second time Stewart has beaten him and he has beaten him twice in

:06:08. > :06:11.the UK Championship, but this will give him a lot of satisfaction. He

:06:12. > :06:19.really did perform to the top of his game, well done Stuart Bingham, he

:06:20. > :06:24.runs out when, 6-4. STUDIO: Well done that man, round one of the 2010

:06:25. > :06:33.UK jumping ship was the first time Stuart Bingham beat Ronnie.

:06:34. > :06:37.Ronnie's bid to lift the trophy is over. A titanic battle. That is the

:06:38. > :06:42.best way to describe that, well played Stuart Bingham. I think he

:06:43. > :06:47.has proved today by years one of the big contenders for the big events.

:06:48. > :06:51.He just stood his ground when Ronnie came back, he was focused on what he

:06:52. > :06:55.had to do and came through the winner. 56 years ago maybe he would

:06:56. > :06:57.not have done. All afternoon you have been saying he just needs a

:06:58. > :07:02.chance. Despite that great fightback I

:07:03. > :07:04.Ronnie O'Sullivan he just needed a chance and it came.

:07:05. > :07:11.Yes, when you are sitting in the chair, every -- even though he was

:07:12. > :07:14.5-4 up, Ronnie threw everything at him.

:07:15. > :07:16.There were a couple of times and incidents there was a little bit of

:07:17. > :07:22.tension creeping in, but when he got his chance in the last frame he duly

:07:23. > :07:26.took it and kept it tight. He potted some really good ball in the end, a

:07:27. > :07:32.lot of pressure balls. He felt himself well together and Ronnie was

:07:33. > :07:35.in fantastic form. What impressed you most about Stuart Bingham? That

:07:36. > :07:39.he managed the tension towards the end? Yes, I think he looks the

:07:40. > :07:44.complete player now, he just looks the real deal.

:07:45. > :07:48.He is probably the most improved player on the circuit. He looks like

:07:49. > :07:53.he belongs as one of the top players and one of the favourites for every

:07:54. > :07:56.tournament and he proved it there. Just congratulating you, Stuart, we

:07:57. > :08:00.were just saying the impressive thing today of course in that final

:08:01. > :08:04.frame was managing the tension. We looked at your body language when

:08:05. > :08:08.Ronnie was coming back, Ronnie swaggered into the arena and we

:08:09. > :08:14.detected some tension from you. Definitely, from 3-1, even at 4-1, a

:08:15. > :08:19.couple of shots when my cue action went to pieces but I felt myself

:08:20. > :08:21.together. It is different playing Ronnie

:08:22. > :08:26.because you know he is the favourite, it is a little extra.

:08:27. > :08:31.Yes, I knew he was going to come back.

:08:32. > :08:38.I put his back against the wall and he came out, like you said. I played

:08:39. > :08:42.a loose safety shot, he made 127 and I thought, here we go.

:08:43. > :08:47.When you are sitting there and you have only had one win in nine,

:08:48. > :08:51.sometimes you are thinking, this has got to be another match that is

:08:52. > :08:54.going to slip away, you think you have had him. Do you think about

:08:55. > :08:59.previous games you have played against you only played them last

:09:00. > :09:03.week. Definitely, there was a few negative shots, I missed the black

:09:04. > :09:08.off the spot. You always have a few negative thoughts in your mind. He

:09:09. > :09:13.said something after the final, not to meet, but in the media, he said

:09:14. > :09:17.about himself, going for your chances when you have a winning

:09:18. > :09:21.chance, and I tried to have that in my mind, if you get a chance, go for

:09:22. > :09:24.it. You kept going for your shots, you

:09:25. > :09:30.always played the aggressive shots which is the way to play, I think.

:09:31. > :09:33.When you are sitting seeing Ronnie clearing up is it difficult to

:09:34. > :09:37.remain positive and focused thinking, I am still in this and I

:09:38. > :09:40.am going to see this through? Definitely, you have to somehow keep

:09:41. > :09:45.your focus on your own game and cue action and hope it stands up when

:09:46. > :09:49.you get the chance. Before today you had only dropped a handful of

:09:50. > :09:52.frames, five frames in four matches and the boys were saying at the

:09:53. > :09:56.beginning of the afternoon that you play with a lot of confidence and

:09:57. > :10:00.seem to have a lot of them at the moment.

:10:01. > :10:04.Yes, I suppose I am beating people I should be beating, I am coming up

:10:05. > :10:08.against people like Ronnie and losing there and they are. I played

:10:09. > :10:12.David Morris a couple of weeks ago and he beat me 4-1, he did not miss

:10:13. > :10:15.a ball. I have been playing people playing a little bit better than me

:10:16. > :10:20.and I have been playing pretty solid most of the season. I much

:10:21. > :10:22.confidence will this game gives you? This will give you fantastic

:10:23. > :10:29.confidence for the rest of the tournament. I'm looking forward to

:10:30. > :10:31.see the winner of Neill and Stephen Maguire.

:10:32. > :10:36.I don't know if it is tomorrow or Saturday, but I am looking forward

:10:37. > :10:43.to it. The UK semifinal tomorrow for the first time. It is all grins. And

:10:44. > :10:45.you should be, you have beaten the world champion, many

:10:46. > :10:50.congratulations. You hung on in there. I had to, that

:10:51. > :10:55.is the only way to beat Ronnie, I think. I picked his back against the

:10:56. > :11:00.wall and he started firing, and I got over the line somehow. That was

:11:01. > :11:05.the tax it, to go out and get the two frame cushion two yes, 3-1, I

:11:06. > :11:09.have been watching Ronnie's games all week and people have not been

:11:10. > :11:17.taking their chances. He's giving loads of chances away,

:11:18. > :11:21.at 3-1 I was taking my chance. I thought, you have to try and put him

:11:22. > :11:25.on the back foot and when you get a chance, take it. You have to try and

:11:26. > :11:28.do it with one hit because his safety is so good that if you don't

:11:29. > :11:32.take that chance he put you in trouble when he gets the chance. We

:11:33. > :11:35.have thoroughly enjoyed watching you this afternoon, thank you very much

:11:36. > :11:39.indeed, congratulations and good luck for the rest of the tournament.

:11:40. > :11:43.In two will play the winner of Neil Robertson and Stephen Maguire, the

:11:44. > :11:47.other match we are concentrating on this afternoon. -- Stuart will play.

:11:48. > :11:51.Our experts have been running through.

:11:52. > :11:56.Neil Robertson's technique is absolutely superb. If ever you want

:11:57. > :12:02.an example of pushing the cue through, and barrel straight, that

:12:03. > :12:06.is what you get with Neil Robertson and that is what makes him one of

:12:07. > :12:10.the best long potters in the game. His temperament is absolutely

:12:11. > :12:14.superb. He would have made a great poker player, you never know when he

:12:15. > :12:18.is under pressure. He keeps that same poker face, whether he has just

:12:19. > :12:25.missed an easy shot or whether he has knocked in a century break.

:12:26. > :12:30.When you talk about appeal, you have to put Neil Robertson in that

:12:31. > :12:34.category. A consistent player, a great long potter and that is why

:12:35. > :12:39.the public love watching him play. Neil Robertson's break building has

:12:40. > :12:42.improved over the last four seasons and it shows in the fact he has now

:12:43. > :12:48.made over 300 competitive centuries. That is top drawer. He has certainly

:12:49. > :12:51.become one of the most consistent players of the game after dropping

:12:52. > :12:55.off the main tour in the early part of the millennium.

:12:56. > :12:59.He came storming back in the mid-tournament is all over the

:13:00. > :13:02.world. He is one of the big players who has won the big three, the UK,

:13:03. > :13:07.the Masters and the World Championships. Sometimes he goes

:13:08. > :13:10.into his shell, he does not play all-out attacking.

:13:11. > :13:17.I think the more attacking key is the more dangerous he can be.

:13:18. > :13:22.These two have met 14 times since 2001, Robertson has six wins to

:13:23. > :13:27.Maguire's eight. We join them in the second frame, Neil Robertson won the

:13:28. > :13:46.first, your commentators is John Virgo.

:13:47. > :13:52.He needs to score heavily if he has any hope of beating the world number

:13:53. > :15:19.one, I think. His safety is not up to scratch, as well.

:15:20. > :15:47.He went after that full-blooded lay. -- full-blooded.

:15:48. > :15:56.Well, that was a nice pot, and he had purposely played it to leave a

:15:57. > :16:02.nice angle on the blue. He is making sure there are no planss to knock a

:16:03. > :16:07.red into the corner when he smashes into the pink, because that would be

:16:08. > :16:13.his intention. -- there are no plants. With all the players today,

:16:14. > :16:17.the safety is improving but they never refuse an opportunity to try

:16:18. > :16:23.and get all the Reds into play. It could have been better. All of a

:16:24. > :16:27.sudden, the red appeared into this left corner, that is all you are

:16:28. > :16:29.looking for, just one red to continue. But the reds could have

:16:30. > :17:29.opened better than they have done. I good little cannon there, and he

:17:30. > :17:32.is right in amongst them. The three reds below the bike will be a

:17:33. > :17:36.problem, he is always going to finish low, unless he tries to

:17:37. > :17:38.cannon one note. If he is above the black it will be hard to get onto

:17:39. > :17:51.the next red. -- cannon one out. Whether he is hoping to 91. If not,

:17:52. > :17:55.he can just screwed to the right of one to keep the break going.

:17:56. > :18:03.That is OK. Except it is just a little short of pace, which means he

:18:04. > :18:33.goes into the pack on the next shot. That is always the problem with that

:18:34. > :18:37.shot, you are never sure how the cue ball is going to react being so

:18:38. > :18:43.close to the -- being so close to the cushion. He may be able to leave

:18:44. > :18:50.himself a pot but it will be a little bit more difficult than he

:18:51. > :18:55.would have liked. This black is no gimme.

:18:56. > :19:02.A wonderful shot, when you are that close to the cushion, to play up our

:19:03. > :19:05.shot like that, top drawer. Well played. -- to placing all micropower

:19:06. > :19:20.shot. He is very confident. He has done a

:19:21. > :19:26.lot of hard work in this break just to get here. You would like to think

:19:27. > :19:29.that it should not be that difficult from this point to get to 60, 70.

:19:30. > :20:00.That should be enough. As King once again for the cue ball

:20:01. > :20:12.to be cleaned. He is OK, almost straight on this red, comfortably to

:20:13. > :20:15.the black. He is maybe just pre-empting getting a kick by having

:20:16. > :20:45.the cue ball cleaned before rather than after.

:20:46. > :20:57.He needs, you would think, at least three of these reds. It is not a

:20:58. > :21:20.formality that he wins the frame at this visit.

:21:21. > :21:30.It seems a slight angle, if any, that he has got. He had to hit that

:21:31. > :21:34.with pace, just to widen the angle. All of a sudden he may be looking at

:21:35. > :21:36.one of those reds down the cushion, and he certainly would not have been

:21:37. > :22:04.aiming to get on those. Well, it looked like a heavy

:22:05. > :22:09.contact, there seemed to be a bounce on impact between the cue ball and

:22:10. > :22:15.the object ball. I am a little surprised he went for that one,

:22:16. > :22:19.though. Having the bonus of having the red down the side cushion may

:22:20. > :22:24.have tempted him to play that, being left-handed, as you said. Yes, the

:22:25. > :22:28.fact that he would have needed one of those anyhow may have been a

:22:29. > :22:34.better chance to play on those. The bottom line is, he got a kick

:22:35. > :22:40.anyway. It is coming up to half an hour since Stephen Maguire's last

:22:41. > :22:49.pot. And we saw that a couple of times last night, Neil Robertson

:22:50. > :22:56.chocked Joe Perry out for more than 30 minutes twice. Maguire needs to

:22:57. > :23:13.get himself back into this match as soon as he can.

:23:14. > :23:24.He was having a laugh. I don't know what Stephen was thinking. The only

:23:25. > :23:43.place that would not have gone was straight, I think.

:23:44. > :23:52.There are plenty of points to spare for Stephen, 53 behind, 83

:23:53. > :23:54.available. The way the reds are, if you did get a chance he would be

:23:55. > :24:05.lucky to make 16. You would think his priority, I know

:24:06. > :24:09.there are reds in the open, when at all possible try and bring these

:24:10. > :24:19.reds close to the cushion is in play. -- close to the cushion four.

:24:20. > :24:23.There is no value in getting on a red if you cannot get a high-value

:24:24. > :24:25.colour. He has points to spare but he needs to bring his game about

:24:26. > :24:41.that. Well, he decided and half -- a half

:24:42. > :24:46.attempt at the pot, but I think he was more concerned about getting the

:24:47. > :24:50.baulk -- cue ball back to the baulk cushion. He has played that well and

:24:51. > :24:53.the fact he has covered the red in the middle of the table may force

:24:54. > :25:05.Neil into playing something. That black, I am sure he would have

:25:06. > :25:08.tried to play safety of one of the three reds of the cushion, but has

:25:09. > :25:26.the black covered that? He can just snick the red if it gets

:25:27. > :25:27.past the black. When you're behind, balls like this, you have to be very

:25:28. > :26:18.patient. At last, a mistake. But I tell you,

:26:19. > :26:25.things could have been a lot worse. He winces slightly, he knows that

:26:26. > :26:31.his opponent's opening red is far from easy. When he does make a

:26:32. > :26:38.mistake, which is rare, at the moment he is not leaving much.

:26:39. > :26:44.Well, name seven -- Stephen's has had a look to see if the black goes

:26:45. > :26:48.into the left corner. That is OK if this red is straight, but this is

:26:49. > :27:16.one of the toughest shots in the game, this.

:27:17. > :27:27.I think it was difficult, John, and the fact it was a really good shot,

:27:28. > :27:29.considering he was 35 minutes cold, having not potted a ball, a

:27:30. > :27:42.remarkable shot. Now, he doesn't really want the

:27:43. > :28:09.black to spot for once. Measurement time. Marcel Eckardt squeezing the

:28:10. > :28:14.black onto the spot. With both reds he is hampered. He has them in a

:28:15. > :28:22.nice pottable position, but the problem is if he pots it you looks

:28:23. > :28:25.certain to cannon the red. He will be on the black, but close

:28:26. > :28:39.to the cushion, once again. In the end, he tried to avoid the

:28:40. > :28:44.cannon on the red on the left-hand cushion. But he flicked it, so it is

:28:45. > :28:51.not good, he needs another good pot here, to be guaranteed position. The

:28:52. > :28:57.yellow as the ball to take on. Just looking at the scoreboard, he has

:28:58. > :29:00.plenty of points to play with. If he punches the yellowing he is bound to

:29:01. > :29:13.be on the red. Of course, there is pressure on it, it is not a gimme.

:29:14. > :29:23.Yes, the pressure was that he probably loses the frame if he

:29:24. > :29:31.misses it. There was always a chance if he did miss it he would thing --

:29:32. > :29:32.knock the red away. Robertson with an opportunity again. He doesn't

:29:33. > :29:58.usually need a second invitation. Whatever: He takes, one further red

:29:59. > :29:59.is all he requires. -- whatever colour he takes, one further red is

:30:00. > :30:23.all he requires. That will do. Not in complete control of the cue

:30:24. > :31:10.ball. That is break is enough for

:31:11. > :31:19.Robertson to go up. McGuire to play. -- Maguire to play.

:31:20. > :31:33.Stephen Maguire has drawn a blank so far, trailing 3-0.

:31:34. > :31:46.At the moment, all the safety exchanges have gone against him.

:31:47. > :32:07.Maybe he will pot one now. The problem is with this, you just know

:32:08. > :32:10.you were going to be running into other reds. The main thing here, pot

:32:11. > :32:37.the red. I wouldn't expecting to miss this

:32:38. > :32:39.under normal circumstances, but when you are 3-0 behind, there is

:32:40. > :33:12.pressure on every shot. The statistics do not lie. You can

:33:13. > :36:12.sense he's getting edgy there. Players have been missing these

:36:13. > :36:41.shots from on high with the black. It did not look as though they were

:36:42. > :37:03.going to break well. That is not good news for Stephen

:37:04. > :38:02.Maguire. He knows he has completely frozen

:38:03. > :38:37.Maguire out of the game. I do not think that is part of the

:38:38. > :39:04.game plan. I might have thought something

:39:05. > :39:07.little bit more adventurous than that. They may be a bit too clever

:39:08. > :39:52.there. It has been very one-sided, the

:39:53. > :41:17.first part of this match. In these situations, you cannot

:41:18. > :41:40.really play a positive safety, just contain it, that is all you can do.

:41:41. > :42:01.You hope that when it is resolved, you get the first chance.

:42:02. > :42:08.He took a long while over that shot. He has a lot of thinking to do in

:42:09. > :43:25.this match. Pretty good shot, isn't it? It has

:43:26. > :43:37.turned out a lot better, hasn't it? He is in big trouble now. 51 points

:43:38. > :43:39.behind. If he leaves his opponent one more chance, he will be 4-0

:43:40. > :43:58.down. You chance your arm. Or just trickle

:43:59. > :44:04.up to the back red. At least you would be leaving anything easy for

:44:05. > :44:34.your opponent. -- at least you won't be leaving anything easy.

:44:35. > :44:44.He has a smile on his face. If this back was tight against the cushion,

:44:45. > :45:08.but it is just off the cushion -- this black.

:45:09. > :46:05.Well played. Very well played indeed.

:46:06. > :46:10.The table creaked a little bit there. That sometimes happens. --

:46:11. > :46:29.the table creaked. The most important thing is just

:46:30. > :46:47.hold your concentration and do not look too far ahead. He has put that

:46:48. > :46:56.red into more portable position, and he has done that. -- into a more

:46:57. > :47:53.pottable position. He had looked as if he could put

:47:54. > :48:02.that red adjacent to the centre pocket. It is one of those where if

:48:03. > :48:20.you get nicely behind it, it is fine. Otherwise, it is tricky.

:48:21. > :50:48.He went into the mid-session interval 4-0 up. He has been Serena

:50:49. > :51:00.and not looked in any danger at any time. He started his matches very

:51:01. > :51:04.sharply. We were talking about Stuart Bingham and how many friends

:51:05. > :51:09.he dropped. He has got just five frames in his match performance. He

:51:10. > :51:21.is such a strong player. He has an aura about him. It is like the way

:51:22. > :51:32.O'Sullivan had. He gives off the aura that he owned the table.

:51:33. > :51:37.Players pick up on that. He feeds off it. He is very confident. The

:51:38. > :51:41.fact that even got into the quarterfinals, he was the first man

:51:42. > :51:55.into the quarterfinals a few nights ago, beating John Higgins, does that

:51:56. > :52:01.make a difference? I don't think so. Going back to Neil, his long potting

:52:02. > :52:07.is so strong. He creates so many opportunities for himself. It is

:52:08. > :52:10.probably one of his biggest assets. So the winner of this match will

:52:11. > :52:16.play Stuart Bingham. The news if you have just come in. The big news is

:52:17. > :52:20.that Ronnie O'Sullivan, the world champion, is out, beaten by Stuart

:52:21. > :52:25.Bingham. After the mid-session interval, the question is can

:52:26. > :52:46.Stephen Maguire haul themselves back into this match?

:52:47. > :53:34.He may have the shot to get in behind the brown and yellow.

:53:35. > :53:49.That cue ball could have gone anywhere. When you are in front and

:53:50. > :53:56.playing well, things seem to go your way. It was nice of Neil to

:53:57. > :54:15.apologise, but I do not think you will be holding back. -- I do not

:54:16. > :54:43.think he will be holding back. It means Maguire is back at the

:54:44. > :56:14.table. There is a possibility he could win

:56:15. > :56:33.the frame at this minute. He needs good control of the cue ball.

:56:34. > :58:31.He should be able to get enough points.

:58:32. > :58:47.They look easier from that angle, but the distance between the reds is

:58:48. > :59:09.greater than what you think. It was one of those, if you get

:59:10. > :59:16.straight behind it. He might be able to get a run through and disturb

:59:17. > :59:31.something. He is trying to disturb them. That has not worked out. He

:59:32. > :59:36.has got a nice lead. The reds are awkward. It is a good lead. He

:59:37. > :59:42.doesn't want to bring that black into play. He wants to keep that

:59:43. > :59:52.tied up if he can. He might be a bit disappointed. He

:59:53. > :00:32.is a clear favourite for this frame. I think that is all he could have

:00:33. > :00:53.tried. And a very clever shot. He freely to

:00:54. > :01:53.the black and the red. -- he freed. Not quite sure what he achieved by

:01:54. > :02:31.playing that. He might have lost the advantage.

:02:32. > :02:54.He will be pleased with that outcome.

:02:55. > :02:58.Does this red go to the corner? Can he see enough of it. He is having a

:02:59. > :03:36.good look? He has over cut it. But he has not

:03:37. > :03:41.left it too nice for his opponent. Every time Stephen has had a chance,

:03:42. > :03:56.there has been something a little bit tricky about it.

:03:57. > :04:06.How frustrating this game can be at times. I know what Stephen is going

:04:07. > :04:39.through. Immense frustration. Just a little bit short of pace. He

:04:40. > :04:42.will have to play for the green. But ES having a good look at the

:04:43. > :05:09.scoreboard. -- he is having. He has held it for the blue. Now he

:05:10. > :05:12.can play for the loose red. At the new would prefer the loose red. -- I

:05:13. > :06:01.think you would. It depends how he that is very close to where he

:06:02. > :07:02.wanted to be. I do not know if it drifted a little

:07:03. > :07:38.bit. It was a decent chance. I figure it did pull in.

:07:39. > :08:55.That was a good shot from Stephen. He did well to get it safe.

:08:56. > :09:03.He has given this plenty of thought. He is worried about the red on the

:09:04. > :09:26.left. It is the red over the middle that

:09:27. > :10:14.is the big problem. He was in an impossible position.

:10:15. > :11:57.Good thinking. He has had a couple of chances now.

:11:58. > :11:58.He is looking at the red. He is just wondering whether the red Bull pass

:11:59. > :13:16.the black -- red will. He has left exactly the shot he did

:13:17. > :14:01.not want. Yes, his worst fears. He was a little frightened of

:14:02. > :14:17.pushing that red ball towards the cushion.

:14:18. > :14:34.He has hit it all wrong. Here is your chance, Stephen.

:14:35. > :15:35.And that was enough. At least he has avoided the whitewash. But he still

:15:36. > :15:39.trails. It will take a fightback to get back

:15:40. > :16:13.into this match. He has been a little bit subdued

:16:14. > :16:50.since the mid section interval. He can't believe it finished --

:16:51. > :18:07.where it finished. That was a let off for Stephen

:18:08. > :18:44.Maguire. You would expect him to score a lot

:18:45. > :18:48.heavier. You need encouragement when you are trailing. You need a little

:18:49. > :20:28.bit of help from your opponent. It is not the best scoring

:20:29. > :21:08.opportunity. That is the perfect way to play that

:21:09. > :24:04.shot. He is having to think about this

:24:05. > :24:54.break because he cannot quite get into prime position.

:24:55. > :25:07.Giving every shot 100% concentration.

:25:08. > :29:46.It has gotten into prime position. At last.

:29:47. > :29:58.He has run into life, once again. -- sprung into life.

:29:59. > :30:04.Excellent work. That is 55 centuries this season so far. We pick it up in

:30:05. > :30:22.the next frame. Robertson to play. It is very congested. Most inviting

:30:23. > :31:50.table for Maguire to come to. Wonder if the red could possibly

:31:51. > :33:27.squeeze past the black. You would have to be right behind that.

:33:28. > :33:52.There is a chance for this red. Nicely played.

:33:53. > :34:05.The blue is the easiest. He has to negotiate those callers. -- callers.

:34:06. > :34:19.The pink is miscible, but the blue should not be. -- missable.

:34:20. > :34:25.That went a little bit further than he was expecting, but it is OK. It

:34:26. > :35:44.has not turned out to bad. Second month -- Maguire was not

:35:45. > :37:35.blessed with a lot of opportunities early on.

:37:36. > :37:44.That puts him fall to find in front. He should have potted the black. He

:37:45. > :37:53.is still in it. Stephen Maguire hanging on in there.

:37:54. > :37:57.We will show you what happens in frame eight. It is Maguire at the

:37:58. > :38:22.table -- it is Maguire at the table. That was a terrible misjudgement.

:38:23. > :38:24.Yes. He has left the chance on here for Neil Robertson. He cannot afford

:38:25. > :38:45.any more mistakes, Maguire. Maguire was not in a lot of trouble.

:38:46. > :39:06.That wasn't one of Robertson's best, either.

:39:07. > :39:40.Their only appears to be one red available. You would think it would

:39:41. > :39:50.be looking to try and bring other reds into play. Can he screw

:39:51. > :40:00.directly into the reds? That is what he has attempted. He will be pleased

:40:01. > :41:47.with the results. The two reds have both become portable. -- pottable.

:41:48. > :42:44.There is a surprise. He missed that by quite a distance.

:42:45. > :44:30.He is playing low so he must be playing the Canon. He has played for

:44:31. > :45:20.the loose red. Can he pot this red just below the black? It is tight.

:45:21. > :45:36.That is not a very kind split of the bunch.

:45:37. > :45:57.It is easy to say played with a bit more space. -- it is easy to say

:45:58. > :46:14.play it with a bit more pace. I think his mindset is to try and win

:46:15. > :46:45.the frame in one visit. Disappointed as he goes back to his seat.

:46:46. > :47:59.It will infuriate Stephen Maguire. There is his reaction.

:48:00. > :48:13.This is what has he done wrong here? Gone a bit too high. He has put

:48:14. > :48:45.himself under pressure. Frustration for Neil Robertson. He

:48:46. > :48:52.should never have been in that position to be playing that shot. An

:48:53. > :49:07.unexpected reprieve for Stephen Maguire.

:49:08. > :51:14.The frustration is there. I feel for him. I hope it does not hurt himself

:51:15. > :51:22.doing that. Robinson was very quickly out of his chair there. --

:51:23. > :51:30.Robertson. He got himself in a bit of a tangle the previous visit to

:51:31. > :51:49.the table. It cost him the frame. He has the chance to put that right

:51:50. > :51:52.here. This looks a bit speedy. His cue ball control today has not been

:51:53. > :52:34.up to the standard we expect from him.

:52:35. > :52:57.Identity had much of a clue where it would finish. Frame and much. At his

:52:58. > :53:43.mercy now. It has not been his day. We said at

:53:44. > :53:51.the start, these two heavyweights were both great players. Sometimes

:53:52. > :53:56.it is just about all on the day. Stephen Maguire got a chance and

:53:57. > :54:08.didn't make the most of it, then didn't really get much of an

:54:09. > :54:35.opportunity after that. It was good snooker. Neil Robertson will be

:54:36. > :54:43.quite relieved. He is through to the semifinals.

:54:44. > :54:56.The whole game just changed. I had a wee chance to come back but I do not

:54:57. > :55:12.think it would have made any difference. There have been a lot of

:55:13. > :55:17.big bounces off the cautions. It is a tough sport to play. So many

:55:18. > :55:29.elements can affect your shots when you have done nothing wrong. I felt

:55:30. > :55:42.for Stephen. I think I just properly dealt with it a little bit better

:55:43. > :55:45.and was a bit more solid on the day. How do you react to players who

:55:46. > :55:51.start talking about the conditions and the state of the table? You are

:55:52. > :55:57.in a better position when you have one, otherwise it's a fact sour

:55:58. > :56:16.grapes. If the players don't say anything perhaps nothing will be

:56:17. > :56:23.done about it. It can be annoying. Neil had quite a comfortable ride.

:56:24. > :56:29.You have sympathy? Yes. Conditions can change. It is amazing. I know

:56:30. > :56:43.they are in the same arena and next to each other. Sometimes a bands can

:56:44. > :56:48.have cost you the frame. It is important that the players say

:56:49. > :56:57.something. If they don't, then nobody knows. It is important you

:56:58. > :57:09.mention it. We are taught by Stuart Bingham and the fact he has thrown a

:57:10. > :57:18.few friends. If they players while we're in for a cracker a semifinal.

:57:19. > :57:24.Neil Robertson will no doubt be glad that Stuart Bingham one. He would

:57:25. > :57:50.rather play him then Ronnie O'Sullivan. He gives the ultimate

:57:51. > :57:56.respect to every single player. We will look ahead to this evening.

:57:57. > :58:02.First, Mark Allen and Ricky Walden. Ricky can hear us. He is practising

:58:03. > :58:15.there. Who do you fancy? It is hard to pick a winner. They're very

:58:16. > :58:29.evenly matched. I am commentating tonight. Barry Hawkins is fantastic.

:58:30. > :58:33.You I have enjoyed your company. Thank you very much. We are back

:58:34. > :58:42.this evening. Hazel will be in the hot seat when you live coverage. Can

:58:43. > :58:44.Mark Selby lift this trophy? Goodbye.