Third Round - Part 2

:00:34. > :00:39.Hello and a very good afternoon to you and welcome to the York

:00:40. > :00:49.Barbican. The big names continue to struggle here at the 2015 Betway UK

:00:50. > :00:53.Snooker Championship. The current world champion Stuart Bingham was

:00:54. > :00:58.dumped out by Peter Ebdon yesterday and in the early hours of this

:00:59. > :01:02.morning, the current world number one Mark Selby just scraped through

:01:03. > :01:13.against Jamie Jones. Introducing at the reigning champion of the world,

:01:14. > :01:19.Stuart Ballrun Bingham! Stuart struggled and was trailing 2-1 when

:01:20. > :01:24.this massive kick effectively cost him frame four. Despite only

:01:25. > :01:29.finishing his previous day's match at 1:30am, Peter was still full of

:01:30. > :01:35.fight. Frame number 7 and a man from Basildon was hanging on. A bad miss

:01:36. > :01:39.cost him another frame and the 2006 UK champion ground relentlessly

:01:40. > :01:42.forward and wrapped up a memorable 6-3 victory. Lesser men might have

:01:43. > :01:52.buckled under the pressure of late-night finishes but not Peter,

:01:53. > :01:56.the force was strong with him. I'm a vegan, we are used these things, we

:01:57. > :02:02.can take it! A bit of fruit and I'm buzzing! It just shows you what a

:02:03. > :02:07.class act he is. He's come out and played like that. It just sort of

:02:08. > :02:11.didn't happen for me today. Obviously a bit disappointed but I

:02:12. > :02:14.can't really grumble. I just thoroughly enjoyed it out there, I

:02:15. > :02:18.was absolutely loving it. It's been a while. I felt like a professional

:02:19. > :02:24.snooker player again today to be perfectly honest, for the first time

:02:25. > :02:29.in a long time. Nobody was danger of falling asleep in a late-night

:02:30. > :02:34.thriller between Mark Selby and Jamie Jones. Selby laid a sublime

:02:35. > :02:41.snooker on the Welshman in frame eight. The snooker gods were smiling

:02:42. > :02:50.on the world number one, as Jones heartbreakingly went in-off. It was

:02:51. > :02:55.now 4-4. Certainly not on his A game, Selby hung on by his

:02:56. > :02:59.fingernails. This great escape saved him in frame number ten.

:03:00. > :03:07.And then he closed out the final frame decider with a break of 67 to

:03:08. > :03:12.stay in the tournament. I thought I would have won it 6-4. I had him any

:03:13. > :03:16.good snooker. It just wasn't to be. It was one of those games, I felt I

:03:17. > :03:22.was the better player but the better player than always win. I don't

:03:23. > :03:32.think it was even my B game, eye think it was my Z game. He deserved

:03:33. > :03:33.to win the match. I just kept hanging in there and making friends

:03:34. > :03:45.that I didn't deserve to win. I don't know but I just get the

:03:46. > :03:49.feeling that he's trying to prove himself why he is worthy of being

:03:50. > :03:51.world champion. He just looks under pressure and does not look

:03:52. > :03:58.comfortable at the table at the moment. He has to get his game back

:03:59. > :04:02.quickly. The Masters is next month and in the World Championship in

:04:03. > :04:07.April. Mark Selby, the World War I, should have gone out last night. You

:04:08. > :04:11.have played in tournaments when you have sometimes just fallen over the

:04:12. > :04:15.line in a match. Many times. Sometimes you relax in the next

:04:16. > :04:19.round and play your best snooker. The bookmakers have now made Mark

:04:20. > :04:24.Selby the favourite. Arguable whether he should be. Who do you

:04:25. > :04:31.fancy there? John Higgins has got an error about him. He looks really

:04:32. > :04:41.relaxed around the table. -- he has got an air around him. 33-1, Peter

:04:42. > :04:46.Ebdon. Has he got a chance? He will have loved coming up against the

:04:47. > :04:51.world champion yesterday and beating him. Shaun Murphy can win this,

:04:52. > :04:56.can't he? He's always a contender in any big event. I'm looking forward

:04:57. > :04:59.to seeing how he plays. That forward to it. Thank you.

:05:00. > :05:07.Thank you room last night. Onto today's

:05:08. > :05:14.We will see Shaun Murphy, the 2005 up this afternoon.

:05:15. > :05:19.We will see Shaun Murphy, the 2005 world champion, in his third-round

:05:20. > :05:25.match. Seven years since he won the UK title. Can he do it this year?

:05:26. > :05:27.Murphy takes on Ben Woollaston, ranked number 30 in the world.

:05:28. > :05:34.Murphy takes on Ben Woollaston, has never beaten Shaun and three

:05:35. > :05:37.previous meetings. Mark Allen from Northern Ireland will take on Martin

:05:38. > :05:41.Gould. The world number 24 reached the final of the Austrlian Open this

:05:42. > :05:46.season and will be a tricky opponent for Mark Allen. Don't get you can

:05:47. > :05:50.get in touch on Twitter, Facebook and e-mail.

:05:51. > :05:56.Do get in touch with us, we would love to hear from you. Our live

:05:57. > :06:01.match this afternoon is Shaun Murphy taking on Ben Woollaston, and Murphy

:06:02. > :06:06.has lifted that trophy, of course. If Wollaston is to cause an upset

:06:07. > :06:12.today, he will have to be on his A game. It's my best tournament

:06:13. > :06:16.definitely to date. It was amazing to play in the final. I didn't play

:06:17. > :06:20.as well as I would have liked to in the final but it was great to be

:06:21. > :06:27.involved. It was just the best week of my life, snooker-wise.

:06:28. > :06:33.I've been playing well over the last few months. I had a good tournament

:06:34. > :06:39.in China which is a tournament nearly as big as this one. Feeling

:06:40. > :06:42.confident. I played well in my last match and if I play to the same

:06:43. > :06:48.standard I think I have a good chance of winning. I think it will

:06:49. > :06:54.be fast. He's pretty attacking always. I'm pretty quick as well. It

:06:55. > :06:58.will be a good match. I've known him since I was about nine years old.

:06:59. > :07:04.I'll is looked up to him. But now is just another match. -- I always

:07:05. > :07:09.looked up to him. We have been married since 2011. She is a snooker

:07:10. > :07:16.referee. She has been here for the first two matches but she is not

:07:17. > :07:21.here today, she's looking after my little boy who has hurt his foot. We

:07:22. > :07:26.met in Germany at a PTC in 2010. She actually refereed my game and ever

:07:27. > :07:31.since we have got together, she is not allowed to referee me any more!

:07:32. > :07:37.She's pretty good at understanding how hard it is and that I can be a

:07:38. > :07:41.bit miserable after a loss for AQ hours. -- for a few hours.

:07:42. > :07:49.It's a tough one for Ben because Murphy is of course a triple Crown

:07:50. > :07:54.winner, having won the World Championship, UK champion should and

:07:55. > :07:59.the Masters. We are all set for another thrilling day at the York

:08:00. > :08:04.Barbican. The players are set to enter the arena. Let's say good

:08:05. > :08:08.afternoon to our MC, Rob Walker. Good afternoon. Yesterday we had a

:08:09. > :08:11.little bit of everything. The world champion knocked out and the World

:08:12. > :08:15.War I taken all the way. I can tell you today promises to be just as

:08:16. > :08:20.good, here in Yorkshire at the dried for the fourth round of the Betway

:08:21. > :08:26.UK championship continues in earnest. -- the world number one.

:08:27. > :08:33.Please welcome first of all a player who appeared in his second ranking

:08:34. > :08:42.event final this, what a classic at Austrlian Open. He winner of

:08:43. > :08:49.snooker's shoot out in 2013, he's a consummate pro, Martin Gould!

:08:50. > :09:03.And his opponent, he played his part in an incredible final here in 2011

:09:04. > :09:07.against Judd Trump. Twice a ranking event winner in China, runner-up at

:09:08. > :09:12.the Champion of champions just last month, he's coming into form at just

:09:13. > :09:14.the right time, the pride of Northern Ireland, here comes The

:09:15. > :09:34.Pistol, Mark Allen! And on table one, please welcome a

:09:35. > :09:41.player who made it through to the third round after a 6-5 thriller

:09:42. > :09:46.against Ross Muir. He showed all that potential making it through to

:09:47. > :09:55.the Welsh Open final back in April, here comes Leicester's flame haired

:09:56. > :10:03.assassin, Ben Woollaston! APPLAUSE

:10:04. > :10:14.And finally, a class act on and off the baize, a world Campion, a UK

:10:15. > :10:19.champion... He completed snooker's triple crown when he won the Masters

:10:20. > :10:22.back in January. World number four. Always sharp, always ready. He is

:10:23. > :10:39.the Magician, Shaun Murphy! Fascinating music choices from the

:10:40. > :10:43.four players there, a contrasting playlist. On table two you can watch

:10:44. > :10:49.Mark Allen take on Martin Gould, that is available on the red button

:10:50. > :10:52.and the BBC Sport app and online and connected televisions, in the

:10:53. > :10:56.company Willie Thorne and Ken Doherty. Here on BBC Two it is Shaun

:10:57. > :11:06.Murphy against Ben Woollaston for us, in the company of Steve Davis

:11:07. > :11:16.and Dennis Well, I thought it was going to be a

:11:17. > :11:21.good break off, but it has just slipped past the green and he has

:11:22. > :11:27.got a pot on to the left corner. OK, the black is not available, but

:11:28. > :11:35.it's the only red he can see, and it's the type of shot that Shaun is

:11:36. > :11:40.so good at, but it's his first shot this afternoon. How close will he

:11:41. > :11:50.get this? There is your answer! He really is a superb Key -- superb

:11:51. > :12:00.cueist. Locale still he keeps his head. I love watching Shaun play,

:12:01. > :12:05.he's got such a flowing cue action. Without doubt. Probably consistently

:12:06. > :12:13.in the top three long potters in the game. The way he plays his matches,

:12:14. > :12:19.you normally expect him to be up at 60%, 70% for his long potting. I've

:12:20. > :12:23.not seen him play this week so far, so I'm looking forward to seeing how

:12:24. > :12:28.Acra Sean performs this afternoon. He's always one of the favourites,

:12:29. > :12:34.among the contenders for the big events. I thought he was going to

:12:35. > :12:37.win the World Championship this year, but he was outdone by Stuart

:12:38. > :12:49.Bingham in the final. Shaun Murphy, five. Well, that is

:12:50. > :12:55.unusual, for Shaun Murphy to miss with the rest. One of the best in

:12:56. > :13:00.the game. It wasn't an easy pot, but he misses very little with the rest.

:13:01. > :13:12.His opponent here, Ben Woollaston, is starting to come into his own. He

:13:13. > :13:15.has served his apprenticeship and he got through to that final in the

:13:16. > :13:24.Welsh, when he lost to John Higgins. Smashing lad. His mum is here today,

:13:25. > :13:29.I saw her in the players lounge. She's got a snooker club recently in

:13:30. > :13:54.Leicester, so plenty of tables for this young man to practice on.

:13:55. > :14:03.I think the third red, the middle one of the three below the pink,

:14:04. > :14:08.that will go to the right corner, I think. You can play it as a shock to

:14:09. > :14:16.nothing. He's come to have a look at it now. You would err on the side of

:14:17. > :14:19.missing this thin rather than thick. He missed it thick and that

:14:20. > :14:28.is why he has not thick. He missed it thick and that

:14:29. > :14:35.the Shaun Murphy. This one is fraught with danger, the way the

:14:36. > :14:38.reds are. It's amazing how all the reds have gone over to the right

:14:39. > :14:44.side of the table. You very rarely see that. So, can he manoeuvre this

:14:45. > :14:57.cue ball? Can he pot the red? Well, he's got away with it

:14:58. > :15:11.somewhat. He hasn't left an easy starter for Ben. He missed that by a

:15:12. > :15:35.fair distance. That doesn't fill you with confidence, when you do that.

:15:36. > :15:44.Well, that's a bad miss Ron Ben, there. He would have been nicely on

:15:45. > :15:52.the black, but look what he's left the Shaun Murphy. -- left for Shaun

:15:53. > :15:58.Murphy. Yeah, that was a very nervy one, wasn't it? He hit that so

:15:59. > :16:07.hard. He's got that type of cue action, but that was very twitchy.

:16:08. > :16:16.This is just the sort of chance you want in the first frame of a match.

:16:17. > :16:23.It looks almost impossible to get out of position, the way the reds

:16:24. > :16:26.are. You can just keep potting and you're going to be on something.

:16:27. > :17:06.It's just a matter of keeping your concentration.

:17:07. > :17:15.Yeah, if you watch Shaun Murphy, if you were thinking of taking the game

:17:16. > :17:21.up, you can model yourself on this player and his cue action, how still

:17:22. > :17:25.he keeps his head, his stance, everything. Absolutely first class.

:17:26. > :17:30.It doesn't matter how hard he hits the ball, he seems to be able to

:17:31. > :17:35.keep that head perfectly still. OK the secret of the game of snooker is

:17:36. > :17:36.getting the balls into the pockets, but technique certainly plays a big

:17:37. > :17:45.part. He has not had the best of seasons,

:17:46. > :18:08.Shaun. So he would be hoping to have a good run this year in the Betway

:18:09. > :18:10.UK Snooker Championship. He lost out in the final in China, 6-0 he was

:18:11. > :18:45.beaten by John Higgins. Just talking about Shaun's form, he

:18:46. > :18:51.made 52 century breaks last season. This season he has only made 11. But

:18:52. > :18:59.he's well on his way to a sizeable break here in this opening frame.

:19:00. > :19:11.Not that many more pots needed to secure the frame.

:19:12. > :19:29.Yeah, that red that then missed in the middle pocket, there was an

:19:30. > :19:37.awful lot of pressure on because he knew he was putting Shaun right in

:19:38. > :19:41.amongst the balls. As Stephen said, maybe he just hit it a bit too hard.

:19:42. > :19:47.He would have been on the black. He had to punch it to try to get the

:19:48. > :19:51.angle. But that is the one that has left these four Shaun.

:19:52. > :20:16.Well, the number of times in the 90s I sat in the commentary box and

:20:17. > :20:20.watched my colleague Stephen Hendry start his match, or most of his

:20:21. > :20:23.matches, like this. Always seemed to get off to a flying start. It

:20:24. > :20:32.certainly gives your opponent something to think about.

:20:33. > :20:48.Yeah, that's one of the reasons why it was such a disappointing miss

:20:49. > :20:55.from Ben, because you really need to be on it, as it were, from the first

:20:56. > :21:03.frame in these big events. You can't afford to let someone like Shaun

:21:04. > :21:09.Murphy get into their rhythm by giving them easy chances. He will

:21:10. > :21:16.know himself, no need to tell him, that it was a poor miss.

:21:17. > :21:41.The children's Hospice has already have more than ?10,000 from our

:21:42. > :21:47.title Bonser, and he got a kick on that, so they are not going to get

:21:48. > :21:56.any more in this particular frame. -- from our title sponsor.

:21:57. > :22:57.He will not be too disappointed, 1-0.

:22:58. > :23:08.Always interesting to see those stats on the players. 16 appearances

:23:09. > :23:24.he has made. Where does the time go? Well, that is not a bad break-off.

:23:25. > :23:30.He has covered everything, I think. Maybe you can just get past the

:23:31. > :23:34.blue. Yes, he's OK. He can play a safety off that red, because it's a

:23:35. > :23:52.bit risky to take the pot on, he would be going towards the black.

:23:53. > :23:53.Best of 11, so as usual we will have an interval after the first four

:23:54. > :24:24.frames. He could have a go at this red to

:24:25. > :24:29.the left of the blue and play it in such a way that he could finish on

:24:30. > :24:36.the lack and the only red he could leave would be the 1 he had a go at.

:24:37. > :24:40.But if he leaves the pot, who knows where that red is going to go? He

:24:41. > :24:49.has had a look at it and he may decide it's worth the risk. Great

:24:50. > :24:52.shot! Terrific pot. As bad as his miss was in the first frame, this

:24:53. > :25:08.was the opposite end of the spectrum. This was a fantastic shot.

:25:09. > :25:12.Into the bunch here. Oh! He can't afford to miss too many blacks off

:25:13. > :25:17.the spot today if he's going to beat Shaun Murphy. It's amazing the

:25:18. > :25:21.number of times we see that, when a player is concentrating on what he's

:25:22. > :25:33.doing with the cue ball and he forgets about the pot. Not going to

:25:34. > :25:36.be easy to score, though, with the black on the side cushion and a pink

:25:37. > :25:45.up the other end of the table at the moment.

:25:46. > :25:56.It's not going to be a chance like had in the opening frame.

:25:57. > :26:15.Well... That is as bad a shop as Shaun will play in this

:26:16. > :26:16.championship. Obviously he was not expecting the cannon off the second

:26:17. > :26:32.red. CHUCKLES

:26:33. > :26:37.Well, what does he play? He has given himself a bit of a headache

:26:38. > :26:44.here because if he plays one of the baulk colours he's going to have to

:26:45. > :26:46.-- he could leave the red at the top end of the table. If he got the

:26:47. > :26:55.spider out and played the black. Green?

:26:56. > :27:00.CHUCKLES Let's see, Shaun. Let's count the

:27:01. > :27:05.questions here. What an escape this would be. One two, three, there is

:27:06. > :27:08.the fourth question. Here comes the cue ball. Here comes the cue ball!

:27:09. > :27:32.Oh! Wow! Well... There is Paul Callier making

:27:33. > :27:36.a decision there. He didn't call a miss and it didn't quite touch it,

:27:37. > :27:42.but a lot of the referees would have automatically called a miss, there.

:27:43. > :27:46.I'd Paul decided it was such a great effort. But the other way of looking

:27:47. > :27:53.at it, it was quite easy to hit the black of the top vision. It is one

:27:54. > :27:58.to debate. But personally I think it was the correct decision. -- off the

:27:59. > :28:09.top -- the top cushion. And probably a

:28:10. > :28:13.decision that has helped them, because he asked the referee if he

:28:14. > :28:20.was going to call a miss and he said no, not a miss, and Ben has cracked

:28:21. > :28:26.that -- knocked that cracking long red in, so that is much better than

:28:27. > :28:35.having it replaced. He doesn't really want to pot the pink here

:28:36. > :28:38.because it's still going to go back on its spot and that it will be tied

:28:39. > :28:43.up, so not much point in playing that at the moment. He has an angle

:28:44. > :28:45.here, he could get on the blue and then get into the bunch and possibly

:28:46. > :28:59.clear that ink Yeah, that's what he played, the

:29:00. > :29:04.shot that Stephen suggested. He may have come up a little bit short. He

:29:05. > :29:12.could still take the blue and cannon into the reds. Just making sure

:29:13. > :29:15.there are no plants on. That plant is an but there is no chance of

:29:16. > :29:19.knocking it in from this position, so that's why he's just

:29:20. > :29:24.knocking it in from this position, blue in, so he's got the red

:29:25. > :29:27.knocking it in from this position, left or the plant. I'm really

:29:28. > :29:32.supplies to didn't go into the bunch. I know there are plants on

:29:33. > :29:48.but it is a big target. -- really surprised.

:29:49. > :29:53.He didn't really time that well. That wasn't good cueing from Ben

:29:54. > :29:57.because he didn't really get the action on the cue ball that he

:29:58. > :30:05.wanted. He wanted that to come back much further. Now to negotiate the

:30:06. > :30:13.brown and green to get back up to the reds. It's all about trying to

:30:14. > :30:31.keep yourself as close to the next pot as possible.

:30:32. > :30:56.He could choose to go into the bunch of six reds. It is a big target.

:30:57. > :31:03.There is a red at the bottom of the bunch that will plot. Just missed

:31:04. > :31:10.the middle of the bunch. End of break. He did not get enough bottom

:31:11. > :32:12.on the left-hand side of the cue ball.

:32:13. > :32:23.Very fortunate. He hit it far too thin. How he managed to come off the

:32:24. > :32:30.cushion and off it again... He mis-hit completely and got away with

:32:31. > :32:33.it. Have a look at this. He wanted to avoid cannon ink into the red but

:32:34. > :32:58.hit it too thin. A good outcome. It was always going to be a bit of

:32:59. > :33:33.an awkward frame. He has a free shot. He can take this

:33:34. > :33:38.thread into the left corner. As long as he keeps the white away from the

:33:39. > :33:44.middle pocket, he will pass the black. It is a natural angle. He is

:33:45. > :33:50.stunning it. No, he is not stunning it.

:33:51. > :34:07.Not a very favourable case on the brown. -- kiss. There is an easy

:34:08. > :34:16.sneaker in behind the yellow all the green. -- and easy snooker. That is

:34:17. > :34:23.the right shot. Well played! It looks like he is

:34:24. > :35:31.starting to relax a bit now. He will need one of the three reds

:35:32. > :35:38.on the cushion. If he pots to pinks, he will be 49 up and there is

:35:39. > :35:41.51 on the table. The red is on the black cushion. If he gets it nicely

:35:42. > :35:45.he will not have to play for a colour. He has not played the best

:35:46. > :36:15.positional shot. Plenty of cue power. If the white

:36:16. > :36:29.keeps on running, he must come up a little bit short. He is checking the

:36:30. > :36:38.school board. -- score board. He is 41 ahead.

:36:39. > :36:50.He did not really want to kiss that bread. He could have finished nicely

:36:51. > :36:53.on the blue and got on to the red that Stephen mentioned. That has

:36:54. > :37:05.taken that possibility out of the equation. If he can avoid the

:37:06. > :37:13.black, key compartment pink to the corner and come for the red that is

:37:14. > :37:18.closest to the left corner. He is in a good position. He needs to get it

:37:19. > :37:21.to win the frame. It looks like he is moving on round the table. He

:37:22. > :37:31.looked at the pink and then the blue.

:37:32. > :37:38.Looking at the pink, I am not sure he will go close to hitting the

:37:39. > :37:45.black. He might need a bit of action on it. He could not have avoided

:37:46. > :37:51.that. He is just settling for his 48 point lead.

:37:52. > :38:01.If you were really ambitious comic you could take the double on. The

:38:02. > :38:02.other two reds are fairly safe. Up behind the green and tight behind

:38:03. > :38:14.the cushion is the shot here. You need to make sure you do not

:38:15. > :38:28.push the red over a pocket. Not the best shot he has ever played. A

:38:29. > :38:51.chance for Shaun. He needs to be careful.

:38:52. > :39:15.He needs a high value colour if he knocks this in.

:39:16. > :39:24.At the moment, he needs high value colours if he does get the chance.

:39:25. > :39:33.He could get away with to pinks and black. Look where the black is! So,

:39:34. > :39:59.he is a favourite for this frame at the moment.

:40:00. > :40:06.That red is not easy, the 1 that has gone near the top corner pocket, by

:40:07. > :40:16.the yellow. If he could see enough of that, he

:40:17. > :40:26.would love to send it around the ankles and into the baulk area. If

:40:27. > :41:00.you have three reds, three pinks and all the colours, he could tie Shaun.

:41:01. > :41:12.He had a look at that red to the left of the yellow but it is no good

:41:13. > :41:16.to him. If he potted it he would finish on a lower value colour,

:41:17. > :41:34.which would leave him needing a snooker.

:41:35. > :42:05.He has been thinking about it for almost a minute.

:42:06. > :42:21.This helped Shaun's cause. He has brought the black into play. It is

:42:22. > :42:32.not a straightforward cut into the corner pocket. It is a frame-winner.

:42:33. > :42:43.He thought he might have covered it but he has not. Shaun, as we show

:42:44. > :42:47.you it again, the pockets are so tight, it did not drop and he can

:42:48. > :43:00.get himself back on to the black, or a pink.

:43:01. > :43:17.They say he does not have to take all blacks. I'm not sure if he can

:43:18. > :43:28.can earn that one out. It was never going to be easy but that was

:43:29. > :43:37.definitely worth the risk. He is never one to shy away from an

:43:38. > :43:45.aggressive shot. This other red, it must be typed on the cushion. This

:43:46. > :43:47.is not easy, more difficult than the 1 that then tried. That is the

:43:48. > :43:58.reason he took it on. All of a sudden, he is right back in

:43:59. > :44:14.this frame. What a great shot that was! Side cushion, baulk cushion.

:44:15. > :44:35.A great effort. Look where he has put the red! The double is on. Check

:44:36. > :44:39.the score board. 32 the difference. You can double this red, a pink or a

:44:40. > :45:01.black would be enough. Well, you are faced with a long

:45:02. > :45:10.straight pot to clinch the second frame. A bit of pressure on this

:45:11. > :45:19.one. If you missed the part you might get the snooker. Well played!

:45:20. > :45:33.It was the kind of shot as a professional you practice a lot.

:45:34. > :45:47.Practice into the four corners. Two snooker is needed. This yellow

:45:48. > :45:57.to make absolutely certain. Three snookers now required. Shaun

:45:58. > :46:43.may decide to stay in his seat. He is thinking about it. Yes, he has

:46:44. > :46:50.conceded. He has conceded. The opening frame with a break of 83. No

:46:51. > :46:57.breaks in that. That little smile tells you he is delighted. He is

:46:58. > :47:03.1-1. Dennis mention the confidence pot from Ben Woollaston. You just

:47:04. > :47:06.saw his confidence getting back into the second frame. They always say

:47:07. > :47:10.you do not settle until you win your first frame. He had a chance in the

:47:11. > :47:16.first frame of the match he let go. As long as that goes on, you get a

:47:17. > :47:21.bit nervous. He will settle down now and get a nice break. He is in the

:47:22. > :47:29.match. What have you made of Shaun Murphy? He came out of the traps

:47:30. > :47:37.really quickly. The boys are saying he has not had a brilliant Stephen.

:47:38. > :47:42.He could kick-start it in the UK. Do you see Shaun Murphy these days? He

:47:43. > :47:46.has the job. He is really comfortable with his game

:47:47. > :47:50.generally. He has the balance right. He has been three times where he has

:47:51. > :47:55.tried to search for answers as to whether he has the tactics right and

:47:56. > :47:59.what is the right balance for him as a player. I think he is happy that

:48:00. > :48:04.the way he plays is the best way for him. When he is playing against Ben

:48:05. > :48:09.Woollaston, it is interesting that modern players like this just get on

:48:10. > :48:13.with it. They let their talent flow. Around the table, he does not waste

:48:14. > :48:24.any time or over think things he has a good balance to his game as well.

:48:25. > :48:31.Well, Ben Woollaston gets the third frame under way. We always say, from

:48:32. > :48:36.the break off, whatever you do, do not hit the blue. He may have left a

:48:37. > :48:43.possible plant on here. If Shaun Murphy takes the plant on, watch

:48:44. > :48:49.out! It is on and there will be reds flying all over the place.

:48:50. > :49:14.You never know when they will finish when you play it like that. A bit

:49:15. > :49:17.unlucky to knock the black safe. He will leave himself near the side

:49:18. > :50:13.cushion with the cue ball. It could have worked out better.

:50:14. > :50:33.It is that you know this man, answers or

:50:34. > :50:34.It is that letters to Santa clause. See if you

:50:35. > :50:50.can find out who it is. That is all right. Better going in

:50:51. > :50:54.the pocket and bubbling in the jaws and staying up in among the reds. He

:50:55. > :50:58.just did not get it. In fact he hit the wrong red. He wanted to hit it

:50:59. > :51:17.thinner. There was not a lot of room passed

:51:18. > :51:44.the other red. Falling little awkward at the moment

:51:45. > :51:48.for Shaun Murphy. Another inch also with the cue ball and a nice angle

:51:49. > :52:18.to get back to the reds. He looks to be straight on it.

:52:19. > :52:25.He is looking at the red closest to the left corner. He could leave

:52:26. > :52:32.himself on the black. He has gone back to his original plan.

:52:33. > :52:45.He just hit them so well. shots differently. He hates it the

:52:46. > :52:53.same way. He is a great calendar. I am glad there were no statistics

:52:54. > :52:59.around in my day. I would get zero out of 100. He is the best.

:53:00. > :53:08.Jimmy White is one of the best I have seen with the rest. It

:53:09. > :53:09.Jimmy White is one of the best I very awkward table when he started

:53:10. > :53:24.this. Sometimes you concentrate much very awkward table when he started

:53:25. > :53:29.like the pink will go on the black spot, which will help his calls. --

:53:30. > :54:28.his cause. He would like to have that one over

:54:29. > :54:48.again. He can just about see enough of it.

:54:49. > :54:58.He is hampered slightly with the pink. Good cueing. This time, the

:54:59. > :55:16.correct side of the blue to get back to the reds.

:55:17. > :55:20.He does not have to worry about the black, just concentrate on the pink

:55:21. > :55:38.and the blue. He has to be careful he does not

:55:39. > :55:49.lead himself hampered. He has played the cannon. That was a good shot.

:55:50. > :55:59.He is still on this red. So much reaction from the cue ball.

:56:00. > :56:07.These clocks are very lively. That one certainly came back further than

:56:08. > :56:11.he intended. Listing to the players talking about the tables, Peter

:56:12. > :56:15.Ebdon said it was the finest table he has played on for years and

:56:16. > :56:23.years. Other players want to have the tables burned. He is using the

:56:24. > :56:29.spider. He wants to make it easier to play that shot. It all stems from

:56:30. > :56:34.the careless positional shot from the pink. If you use a normal rest,

:56:35. > :56:44.you are more intended to play a per shot. This would hurt Shaun Murphy.

:56:45. > :56:50.He had to get the cue out of the way. He did not hit it. It makes you

:56:51. > :56:58.look a bit silly when that happens. It was not easy. He is having a

:56:59. > :57:03.little smile about it anyway. He has such a good temperament, Shaun

:57:04. > :57:05.Murphy. That is why he has won the three big ones, the Masters, the UK

:57:06. > :57:14.and the world. You need a good temperament but a

:57:15. > :57:36.lot of ability as well. He has that in abundance.

:57:37. > :57:48.He could play a cannon but I do not think he well. The two reds may be a

:57:49. > :57:53.plant. He knows he could make a plant otherwise he would have played

:57:54. > :58:02.a little cannon. This will take him nicely on to the pink. But now, when

:58:03. > :58:10.he pops the pink, it will be tied up. If there is room for the pink to

:58:11. > :58:19.go on to its spot, he will need to play a cannon on to the three reds.

:58:20. > :58:28.That could not have turned out any better. Absolutely spot-on! If then

:58:29. > :58:38.could somehow pinch this frame, what a boost! Shaun was completely in the

:58:39. > :58:59.driving seat until he took the spider out and miss hit the shot.

:59:00. > :59:09.It will be interesting to see how Ben negotiates it. If he is not

:59:10. > :59:21.going to play for the black he will have to move it.

:59:22. > :59:34.The best colour to move that led from would be the blue, you would

:59:35. > :59:38.have to say. The pink, you would have to be so precise. He is having

:59:39. > :59:44.a think about how to go about the last red. If he gets an angle, he

:59:45. > :59:52.can follow through. Cannon the red. That is what he played. He has gone

:59:53. > :59:59.to throw -- too far. A shake of the head. It would leave a cannon on the

:00:00. > :00:03.black. An angle to the pink. He may still be able to play the cannon of

:00:04. > :00:11.the cushion. He has played it. Well done excavation mark a little bit

:00:12. > :00:18.fortunate. He played the angle the other way. -- well done! He will

:00:19. > :00:20.have to leave himself a tough read on the cushion. You cannot really

:00:21. > :00:42.get too close to it of the black. That may be too straight as well. It

:00:43. > :00:50.is tough. He will need some pace. The harder you hit them, the tougher

:00:51. > :00:56.they are. That was well played. Not a bad chance of getting around the

:00:57. > :01:02.back of the brown and yellow. Just show you that very good pot. A nice

:01:03. > :01:06.angle to get around the yellow here. Gone round the back of the brown and

:01:07. > :01:17.he has played this perfectly. Very well played!

:01:18. > :01:34.Yeah, one good pot on this yellow. What a good clearance this has been.

:01:35. > :01:45.That was a bit of a nervy one. Just didn't cue that as smoothly as he

:01:46. > :01:47.had been up until that point. He just hit that one slightly harder.

:01:48. > :02:06.And he should have done. It depends how he wants to play the

:02:07. > :02:12.cue ball. It's awkward with the spider. We've seen what Shaun did

:02:13. > :02:22.with the spider. This is a different type of shot, but... Tough. Well

:02:23. > :02:26.played. If it keeps on running, he's absolutely... Well, it's gone a bit

:02:27. > :02:34.awkward. It's weeks and between, amazing. He only needs the brown as

:02:35. > :02:40.well. Shaun sits there wondering if he will get back to the table.

:02:41. > :02:44.That's amazing, he must have thought I'm bound to be on the brown nicely,

:02:45. > :02:53.corner or middle. As you say, right in between both.

:02:54. > :03:04.Ben Woollaston, 62. He has got second prize. That's a great effort

:03:05. > :03:09.from Ben. OK, he has flipped the snooker, but he was unlucky not to

:03:10. > :03:14.finish on the brown. He took the brown on in such a way that he had

:03:15. > :03:19.half a safety shop in mind, so he will be hoping that Shaun knocks

:03:20. > :03:22.this brown towards a pocket, because after doing all that hard work he

:03:23. > :03:36.wouldn't want to be losing the frame now.

:03:37. > :03:44.He's having a little think about this one. He is a pretty attacking

:03:45. > :03:53.player, Ben. So this round into the left corner is frame ball. Where's

:03:54. > :04:06.the brown going? Look where it's finished! And now Shaun can pinch

:04:07. > :04:12.the frame, after that 62 break from Ben.

:04:13. > :04:50.So, a couple of minutes ago Shaun Murphy thought he had lost the

:04:51. > :04:55.frame, when he made that blunder with the spider. Then hit a 62 break

:04:56. > :05:00.and was unlucky not to drop on the brown. Then Shaun pinch the frame

:05:01. > :05:03.and he leads to frames to one. STUDIO

:05:04. > :05:10.The mark of a champion, the mart of someone ranked in the top five in

:05:11. > :05:13.the world. Ben has got a bit unlucky, a great shock to knock the

:05:14. > :05:19.green in but he should really have been plumb on the green and then it

:05:20. > :05:23.is frame over. It's a tale of two spiders in a way, inasmuch as it was

:05:24. > :05:26.the shot with the spider that cause the problem getting position. Shaun

:05:27. > :05:30.Murphy let that chance go when he was at the top of the table and just

:05:31. > :05:34.underhit the shot. At Ben Woollaston will be very upset to have lost that

:05:35. > :05:38.frame. You don't get many chances and when you do get your chances to

:05:39. > :05:42.clear up at the end of the frame, you're supposed to take them. It's

:05:43. > :05:48.the equivalent of missing a double at darts. When you're in that

:05:49. > :05:55.position, he is obviously replaying that frame in his mind, isn't he?

:05:56. > :05:59.How important is that next frame? He had such a margin for error as well

:06:00. > :06:03.on the yellow. The 1 thing you shouldn't do it overscrew it.

:06:04. > :06:07.Anywhere between six inches and a foot and a half and he would have

:06:08. > :06:12.been perfect. To do what he did, it will make him think. What he's

:06:13. > :06:17.doing, he's scoring. The next chance he gets among the balls, that's not

:06:18. > :06:19.necessarily a problem. As long as he gets equal chances, it could be a

:06:20. > :06:34.decent fight. COMMENTATOR: The mid-session

:06:35. > :06:37.interval coming up after this frame. Ben could do with taking this one

:06:38. > :07:05.after the way he lost that previous one.

:07:06. > :07:12.John mentioned in the studio the margin of error he had when bringing

:07:13. > :07:16.back the white for that green. Anyway in that circle would have

:07:17. > :07:19.been perfect but he just hit it too hard and left himself hampered by

:07:20. > :07:24.the blue. He was still very unlucky when he blotted that green with the

:07:25. > :07:31.spider. Meanwhile, Shaun has made a very good break off. That might be

:07:32. > :08:42.touching. No. Well, this would be some shot,

:08:43. > :08:46.wouldn't it? The cueing would have to be perfect.

:08:47. > :08:55.Foul. Well, it was just off straight. Every chance that that

:08:56. > :09:03.could happen, but it was a good effort. Worth another look. Kept

:09:04. > :09:07.perfectly still and was not too far away. -- he kept his head perfectly

:09:08. > :09:12.still. This is the sort of shots even mentioned in the first frame,

:09:13. > :09:14.the shot that players practice our after hour. It's such a key shop in

:09:15. > :09:35.the frame, Stephen. Well, he played it very positively.

:09:36. > :09:42.He played for the black. But unfortunately he has left a red

:09:43. > :09:51.along the back cushion. Tricky. As long as you don't hit the left-hand

:09:52. > :09:58.knuckle. That little triangle of reds, that is where we will -- he

:09:59. > :10:02.will bring the Whites in. Leave the red to the left-hand corner. Well,

:10:03. > :10:08.he played that but I thought he might hit it a lot harder. He's like

:10:09. > :10:16.that, Shaun. He doesn't necessarily go in and smashed the reds up, he

:10:17. > :10:17.likes to pick them off. He's got another couple of reds available to

:10:18. > :11:05.him. He looks to have a lovely angle on

:11:06. > :11:10.this black to go into the bunch. Lots of top spin, right-hand side.

:11:11. > :11:15.Park were cue ball into the pack. Just didn't get the cue ball moving

:11:16. > :11:20.within a top spin. Still a bit unlucky and would expect to be on

:11:21. > :11:24.something. He thought the cue ball would move other to the left after

:11:25. > :11:43.he hit the cushion, but it didn't take effect quickly enough.

:11:44. > :11:52.Just a safety shot. He can glance off this red and back up the table.

:11:53. > :11:58.He might be able to get behind the green. That is the sort of shot that

:11:59. > :12:02.is available to him. He doesn't necessarily have to do that, he's

:12:03. > :12:06.got a few choices. But that doesn't look like a bad choice. Somewhere

:12:07. > :12:16.near the line would get it perfectly safe. That says if he's stunning

:12:17. > :12:26.it. -- it looks as if he's stunning it. Well, he didn't play it well.

:12:27. > :12:33.That's very careless. REFEREE: Shaun Murphy, 24. It seemed

:12:34. > :13:00.a straightforward escape, that. He just hit it too pick -- too thick.

:13:01. > :13:08.He has to watch that sleeve. Paul Collier having a close look at it!

:13:09. > :13:19.The black wobbled few before dropping. I think we've got new

:13:20. > :13:29.cloth is on, Stephen. The pockets played just that bit easier when the

:13:30. > :13:32.brand-new clots are on. -- clots are on. It definitely makes pots along

:13:33. > :13:39.the cushion is much more comfortable.

:13:40. > :13:45.Sometimes it's a good thing, when you almost miss a pot and you get

:13:46. > :13:49.away with it, it sharpens your mind a bit. You think right, I got away

:13:50. > :13:59.with that one. I'm going to make sure I concentrate even more now. He

:14:00. > :14:10.would like to take that last shot again! It's finished very awkward.

:14:11. > :14:17.Just played to open some of the reds up and didn't quite catch it how he

:14:18. > :14:25.intended and we are back with the spider again. That's a lovely little

:14:26. > :14:36.comment from Steve Davis, "a tale of two spiders". He's always very, is

:14:37. > :14:48.Steve. Oh! This is another spider, this is the extended spider. Have a

:14:49. > :14:52.look at that little baby. Oh! Well, was tough. The natural angle would

:14:53. > :15:27.take it towards the black. Foul and a miss. Then Wollaston,

:15:28. > :16:28.four. -- Ben Woollaston, four. He needed a thin contact, but... It

:16:29. > :16:34.cost him four points. And it might just work to his advantage. Ben

:16:35. > :16:47.fancied that read into the middle pocket. -- that red. Now, what angle

:16:48. > :16:52.has he got on this red. Can he get back to the blue and pink without

:16:53. > :16:55.cannon then you to the reds? He did it without touching them. That was

:16:56. > :17:16.down to the cue action. He hit that so well.

:17:17. > :17:21.REFEREE: Touching ball. This time it has finished a little awkward for

:17:22. > :17:49.Shaun. This is a test of his cue action,

:17:50. > :18:00.here. APPLAUSE

:18:01. > :18:08.Maybe it's a light white, Dennis! He just hit that so well. He hit it too

:18:09. > :18:16.well. He's had a couple like that. Look at that pause before he

:18:17. > :18:37.delivers the cue. A couple of times he has overscrewed position. Well,

:18:38. > :18:42.that's a great recovery. Yeah, that last red was a very comfortable

:18:43. > :18:48.shot. He's got down and played it as if it was over the pocket. No

:18:49. > :18:55.thoughts of the consequences, should he miss it. I think that's when

:18:56. > :19:30.Shaun is at his best, Dennis, when he's playing aggressive snooker and

:19:31. > :19:41.going potting balls. It's all to do with the mental

:19:42. > :19:54.strength side of the game. 33 ahead. If he scores ten or above, he won't

:19:55. > :19:59.need one of the difficult reds. Nice angle on the pink to force down

:20:00. > :20:12.behind that red to the left of the yellow.

:20:13. > :20:30.This red, and green or brown or above, would be enough to leave then

:20:31. > :20:45.needing a snooker. -- to leave Ben needing a snooker.

:20:46. > :20:55.Looks to be straight on the brown. Unable to pot the brown unscrew the

:20:56. > :21:00.cue ball into those two reds. He's taking the green, so he's definitely

:21:01. > :21:07.wanting to move the two reds, he's not making sure the pot.

:21:08. > :21:11.Yeah, he's over stunned that as well. It is very, very lively, this

:21:12. > :21:24.table. But still got to be a little bit

:21:25. > :21:31.careful. He only needs one snooker, does Ben.

:21:32. > :21:39.REFEREE: Shaun Murphy, 45. APPLAUSE

:21:40. > :21:42.So, barring that one snooker, you would think Shaun Murphy would be

:21:43. > :21:57.going to the mid-session interval with a 3-1 lead.

:21:58. > :22:05.Well, he got a good cue ball, but he's left the red near the pocket.

:22:06. > :22:12.Now, this is a test of your cue action. When you're tight on the

:22:13. > :22:18.cushion. The man I'm sitting -- the man sitting next to Steve Davis in

:22:19. > :22:28.the studio, John Parrott, was the best in the world at playing off the

:22:29. > :22:36.cushion. Maybe Shaun not have to buy John's book on potting balls off the

:22:37. > :22:41.cushion. -- maybe Shaun will have two.

:22:42. > :22:57.Now then. If he can roll this black in, he could be back in this fourth

:22:58. > :23:04.frame, but this is not easy. Yeah, good cueing, and all of a sudden he

:23:05. > :23:21.has got a bit of a chance here will .

:23:22. > :23:33.Oh! That's unforgivable. As soon as there is any pressure, like the

:23:34. > :23:38.yellow that he overscrewed in the first frame and this one, you just

:23:39. > :23:42.hits them pretty hard. Whenever there is any big importance to a

:23:43. > :24:22.pot. As long as then can keep the red

:24:23. > :24:34.safe, he's telling this frame. -- he's still in this frame.

:24:35. > :24:40.He can't get down the right side of the table and it's more difficult

:24:41. > :24:50.going the left side. REFEREE: Foul. That was the green,

:24:51. > :24:55.had a free ball as well. He can take a colour as the extra red.

:24:56. > :25:12.REFEREE: Green ball. It doesn't matter what happens here,

:25:13. > :25:27.then will concede this frame. Hang on a minute! He will have a

:25:28. > :25:32.quick look at the scoreboard all of a sudden.

:25:33. > :25:37.REFEREE: Shaun Murphy one, Ben Woollaston seven. Because that going

:25:38. > :25:42.in-off is the equivalent of two snoopers. What was Shaun Murphy

:25:43. > :25:50.doing there? If he tucked in behind the black, Ben would concede and and

:25:51. > :25:56.have a cup of tea. And now he can win! What have I done there? He's

:25:57. > :26:04.saying to himself. If this drops tight in behind the black... Oh!

:26:05. > :26:08.He's a fraction short. I'm sure Ben was on his way to the mid-session

:26:09. > :26:14.interval and all of a sudden Shaun goes in-off the black. Interesting

:26:15. > :26:20.to see if he knocks this in after doing what he did. And there's the

:26:21. > :26:35.answer. He still looks a bit confused with himself.

:26:36. > :27:36.That's terrific cueing. Tight on the cushion again. 19. 25.

:27:37. > :27:44.What a bit of a bizarre finale to that frame. Shaun Murphy must be

:27:45. > :27:48.delighted. It could quite easily have been 3-1 the other way. But he

:27:49. > :27:53.goes to the mid-session interval leading Ben Woollaston by three

:27:54. > :27:56.frames to one. STUDIO

:27:57. > :28:02.Remember that Ben Woollaston has never beaten Shaun Murphy. What is

:28:03. > :28:05.it about Shaun Murphy? One moment he makes that big mistake and we're

:28:06. > :28:09.thinking he's lost the frame, and then we see the fluent side of his

:28:10. > :28:16.game. I think Stephen Hendry summed up what we all feel about Shaun's

:28:17. > :28:21.game and what he has worked out, he is better off playing an aggressive

:28:22. > :28:24.game than trying to get involved in tactics. Sometimes strange things

:28:25. > :28:29.seemed to start to happen to Shaun Murphy if he does decide what is and

:28:30. > :28:31.isn't the right shot. Playing the black and screwing into the pocket,

:28:32. > :28:36.maybe you shouldn't have been going anywhere near there, and then he is

:28:37. > :28:40.over the line. For some people when they mess that up it could affect

:28:41. > :28:45.them. But not for Shaun. The next chance he gets, he's completely

:28:46. > :28:49.clear his mind of that and he just waxed this red in. And that's his

:28:50. > :28:53.strength. We're sitting in this privileged position watching these

:28:54. > :29:02.boys practice, one thing that you notice about Shaun is that he very

:29:03. > :29:09.often pots those reds practising. It is a huge part of the game. He's got

:29:10. > :29:14.one of the best games you can get. He has won the triple Crown that

:29:15. > :29:18.way, playing aggressive snooker. He has steam-rolled his opponents and

:29:19. > :29:23.knocked everything in. If it's working, keep doing it. Our other

:29:24. > :29:26.match this afternoon, Northern Ireland Mark Allen's taking an

:29:27. > :29:36.England's Martin Gould. Mark Ireland Mark Allen's taking an

:29:37. > :29:42.bead Ryan Day in the final of the Bulgarian open last week, to win his

:29:43. > :29:45.first final in 15 months. He's up against Martin Gould, a man who

:29:46. > :29:55.almost gave up the sport if you years back.

:29:56. > :30:04.I did give up back in 2004/. I had a lot of personal issues going on at

:30:05. > :30:09.home. Snooker took a back burner for a couple of years. I did not miss

:30:10. > :30:14.it. When you stop enjoying something and you do not miss it, after a

:30:15. > :30:23.while, you kind of think, that journey has gone. A couple of people

:30:24. > :30:28.persuaded me to give it another go. I did. I just looked at it in a

:30:29. > :30:34.completely different way. I said to myself, it does not matter to me any

:30:35. > :30:38.more. It is not everything in my life because of everything that had

:30:39. > :30:42.gone on previously. I started playing quite well. The enjoyment

:30:43. > :30:47.came back. The love for the game came back. My results started to

:30:48. > :30:52.improve. I started to change my whole game plan. I went from being a

:30:53. > :30:59.negative player into a very attacking player. That was working.

:31:00. > :31:06.Before I knew it, I broke into the top 64 in the first year coming

:31:07. > :31:12.back. I move myself up, 48, 32. All of a sudden, bang, top 16. That was

:31:13. > :31:18.my ideal dream and I first started, to get into the top 16 and win

:31:19. > :31:22.events and play on BBC and play in all the TV tournaments. Now I have

:31:23. > :31:27.done that, it is now getting to the point where I want to be lifting

:31:28. > :31:31.those trophies at the end of the week. Any normal pro will tell you

:31:32. > :31:34.the same thing. You have good moments and bad moments. At the

:31:35. > :31:39.start of the season I cannot complain. I got to the final of

:31:40. > :31:42.Australia and lost 9-82 John Higgins. There was one of the best

:31:43. > :31:49.matches I have ever been involved in. That was good. Me and Mark

:31:50. > :31:54.normally tend to have a good game. Our records are quite even. I know

:31:55. > :31:58.what I have to do and I am sure Mark is the same. Hopefully when we both

:31:59. > :32:04.go out there, all guns blazing, we will put on a good show.

:32:05. > :32:12.It is 2-2 in career head-to-head matches. Mark Allen took the first

:32:13. > :32:44.frame. We join it in frame two. He will be disappointed with that

:32:45. > :32:47.break off. He has not covered in red to the left centre. A

:32:48. > :32:49.straightforward natural angle to get down for the black. Lots of reds in

:32:50. > :33:01.the open. It is a pet hate for any snooker

:33:02. > :33:07.player. They win the first frame and they popped some really tough balls

:33:08. > :33:14.to get over that and get it on the board. Give your opponent the first

:33:15. > :33:19.chance from the break. A pet hate of eco-players. People break off as

:33:20. > :33:23.regularly as clockwork. It is a natural thing. -- of snooker

:33:24. > :33:33.players. It really is one of the most important shots of the frame. A

:33:34. > :33:37.lot of players will win the toss and let an opponent break. More times

:33:38. > :33:48.than not read come over to the corner pocket and give your opponent

:33:49. > :33:53.first shot to nothing. It is hard to get that cue ball in behind the

:33:54. > :33:58.green and close to the baulk cushion. Sometimes when you slide so

:33:59. > :34:06.much, this has left a good opportunity now for Martin Gould.

:34:07. > :34:12.His highest break in tournament play is 139. I am surprised he has not

:34:13. > :34:19.had a maximum break in snooker because he is a very good

:34:20. > :34:25.break-builder. He will get a nice angle on the black. If the perfect

:34:26. > :34:31.angle is there, he will play into them. He has put the cue ball to the

:34:32. > :34:38.1 directly above the black. Ronnie O'Sullivan plays this shot.

:34:39. > :34:51.He is now thinking about playing for a loose thread because he does not

:34:52. > :34:58.fancy it. -- red. That is not bad. Well played! A good chance. He did

:34:59. > :35:04.that perfectly. He played that very well, didn't he? He purposely went

:35:05. > :35:10.off the corner. The cue ball is going to push through and still be

:35:11. > :35:15.on this red. The other red has gone over the middle pocket. That is a

:35:16. > :35:27.bonus. He can keep that in case he runs into a bit of trouble.

:35:28. > :35:34.His first priority is winning the frame. Five reds, five blacks. He

:35:35. > :35:37.did mention he has not had a maximum. If he stays on the black

:35:38. > :35:54.here, he has half a chance. It is a massive prize this week as

:35:55. > :36:00.well. No one has set a maximum now for a few months and it has rolled

:36:01. > :36:11.up to almost ?40,000. 4000, 5000 for the break. All that money for a 147

:36:12. > :36:18.break this week. A nice Christmas box. He can hold for the 1 directly

:36:19. > :36:26.above the black. That is the shot he has played really well. This is a

:36:27. > :36:30.really good chance. Certainly is. When he pots this red, the red to

:36:31. > :36:37.the right will go into the corner pocket. Very nicely situated, the

:36:38. > :36:45.reds, at the moment. I am sure without doubt the maximum is on his

:36:46. > :36:52.mind. He will not be too pleased with that shot. He would only have

:36:53. > :37:03.one option, to screw back. A slight angle. Not dead straight. He needs

:37:04. > :37:08.to get topside. He played with the wrong side. If he played with the

:37:09. > :37:13.right side it would have come higher up. I am sure he could easily go and

:37:14. > :37:19.play for a baulk colour. Plenty of value potting this red into the

:37:20. > :37:26.middle, up and down, side cushion, into the black.

:37:27. > :37:39.He needs to slow down. That looks pretty good. Not slow down too much.

:37:40. > :37:47.This is the time when he can possibly use the red for the middle

:37:48. > :37:52.pocket. Unless he tries a lot of side, left-hand side, and go into

:37:53. > :37:57.the pack, he can go above two cushions. What would be your choice?

:37:58. > :38:02.I would want to get near the green and the brown. I think it is a

:38:03. > :38:21.little bit risky. Whatever he plays is tough. He plays it playing ball.

:38:22. > :38:25.He will not leave an angle. -- plain ball. He will be disappointed

:38:26. > :39:15.because he has not won the frame yet.

:39:16. > :39:27.That little bit of side has taken it away from the gap between green and

:39:28. > :39:30.brown. He can see the brown. He can see the black full ball. He needs to

:39:31. > :39:36.hit it on the left-hand side and swerve round. If he can get onto a

:39:37. > :39:45.red from the brown, that is the 1 he will take.

:39:46. > :39:54.He will know more -- you will know more than anybody what a body blow

:39:55. > :40:00.this will be. It would have been a lot easier not going for the maximum

:40:01. > :40:02.but you only get one chance to go for 45,000. You're going to play it.

:40:03. > :40:07.but you only get one chance to go It is not within the realms of

:40:08. > :40:11.possibility that Mark Allen will clear. Talking about pivotal frames

:40:12. > :40:22.in matches, this could certainly be one of them. He still has a lot of

:40:23. > :40:27.work to do. If you had to have ?1 on somebody to win the frame, you would

:40:28. > :40:29.favour Mark Allen because he is in the balls. Absolutely. He played

:40:30. > :40:47.that shot very well. Trying to get on the red. That will

:40:48. > :40:57.open the two reds into the opposite corner.

:40:58. > :41:04.The red is. Very close. There is loads of room. An excellent chance

:41:05. > :41:16.for Mark Allen. He needs an angle on the pink. He

:41:17. > :41:26.has that. He would like to take the blue because the pink hands tied the

:41:27. > :41:52.two reds up. -- has tied. He will be favourite now to win this frame.

:41:53. > :41:58.Would you believe it? believe it? What a

:41:59. > :42:01.Would you believe it? Martin Gould. You

:42:02. > :42:05.Would you believe it? disappointment. I'm not quite sure

:42:06. > :42:11.whether that was a kick or not. It looked like he put some side on it.

:42:12. > :42:15.Maybe it was a bad contact. I did not hear anything from our

:42:16. > :42:21.commentary position. Maybe he is concentrating on clicking a bit of

:42:22. > :42:28.side on it. I am not sure. I think he just did not get through it. It

:42:29. > :42:31.was almost a proper stun shot. He did not get any bite on the cue

:42:32. > :42:37.ball. That may be did not get any bite on the cue

:42:38. > :42:43.ball over. What a reprieve! Martin Gould will be absolutely delighted.

:42:44. > :42:47.He would have been sitting there thinking it is one each, but it is

:42:48. > :43:09.2-0. He is just making sure of the black.

:43:10. > :43:15.A little bit surprised where the cue ball has ended up. The most

:43:16. > :43:23.important thing is he is 37 points ahead. That means that Mark Allen

:43:24. > :43:36.needs a 4-point snooker to win this frame.

:43:37. > :43:42.The frame is certainly not over yet. Barring the 4-point penalty snooker,

:43:43. > :44:38.Martin Gould would be 1-1. That was a nice pot. He will be

:44:39. > :44:57.relieved, Martin Gould. I am sure Mark Allen will be very

:44:58. > :45:01.disappointed. I might get a chance to ask him later whether it was a

:45:02. > :45:18.kick on that in the player 's room. If it was, it was very costly.

:45:19. > :45:35.Four tables in action at the same time. It takes their mind off

:45:36. > :45:40.things. You are always aware of what is going on at the other tables.

:45:41. > :45:58.They are so close and checking out who is playing well. So, Martin

:45:59. > :46:01.Gould pots the black in and gets his fourth frame on the board. A

:46:02. > :46:07.relieved Martin Gould levelled the match now. If you want to continue

:46:08. > :46:11.to watch that match it is available on the red button. Two other

:46:12. > :46:15.third-round matches to bring you right up to date with this

:46:16. > :46:30.afternoon. Let's show you how they are getting on. Stephen Maguire is

:46:31. > :46:42.leading Mark Davis. A break of 127 in frame three. This is him wrapping

:46:43. > :46:47.up frame four. Tom Ford, who got to the final of the reeger Open earlier

:46:48. > :46:58.is also in control in his third-round match. He is up. A break

:46:59. > :47:06.of 84, the highest break of the match so far. Our match live for you

:47:07. > :47:09.this afternoon on BBC Two is Shaun Murphy against Ben Woollaston.

:47:10. > :47:17.Layers of standing by. Let's rejoin the comedy team. -- the commentary

:47:18. > :47:19.team. Thank you. Lots of matches still going on at the Barbican

:47:20. > :47:44.Centre. This is the 1 on table one. And he gets the first frame under

:47:45. > :47:48.way after the interval. He needs to forget about what has happened and

:47:49. > :47:53.start afresh again. He could quite easily have led 3-1. A pretty big

:47:54. > :48:06.match. They are both very fluent, attacking

:48:07. > :48:08.players. Unless the balls run awkwardly, they will be fairly quick

:48:09. > :48:44.frames. The two reds, virtually dead

:48:45. > :48:55.straight. A pot to the left corner. You normally see Sean take this on

:48:56. > :48:57.and screw it back. A lot more aggressive if he played for the

:48:58. > :49:10.black. Lucky to get away with this. He has left a bed to the right

:49:11. > :49:18.centre. It is just at the edge of the pack. He will be breaking the

:49:19. > :49:23.reds up if he goes for it. He can play with top spin amp on the go for

:49:24. > :49:32.the pink all the blue if he gets it. He might feel at 3-1 term it is a

:49:33. > :49:38.bit risky. Sean was a bit fortunate the red when typed onto the cushion.

:49:39. > :49:40.The red does not pass the pink. The 1 that Stephen mentioned, he is

:49:41. > :50:11.turning down. I think he can get down on the left

:50:12. > :50:21.side of the table. He is worried about coming onto the 1 near the

:50:22. > :50:25.pocket. That is the reason he is taking the 1 like that. More of a

:50:26. > :51:21.safety shot back he might sneak it in. That one is just a safety.

:51:22. > :51:32.Dear me! What a cracking pot. How unlucky is that to finish in there?

:51:33. > :51:39.Amazing! This is a very aggressive shot. He bounced the cue ball of the

:51:40. > :51:41.main pack and gave himself a pot on the black to the corner. Struck it

:51:42. > :51:54.so well. Once again, we talk about his

:51:55. > :52:00.temperament, it is excellent. He has not bothered about the misfortune he

:52:01. > :52:06.has had. He did that in the previous black -- frame. He got down and had

:52:07. > :52:12.a cracking long red. It is putting bad shots to the back of your mind

:52:13. > :52:18.as quickly as possible. He certainly does that. He has nominated the

:52:19. > :52:25.blue. He should have nominated the brown, or the green. If he hits the

:52:26. > :52:30.blue fall ball, he will leave a read on.

:52:31. > :52:42.He can change his mind. He does not have to nominate it again. The thing

:52:43. > :52:46.with judging this type of shot, you are striking down on it. You're

:52:47. > :53:09.going to get a touch of unwanted side.

:53:10. > :53:28.That was a good shot! He did not hit it fall ball. The red to the right

:53:29. > :53:33.corner is much more difficult. He is itching to have a go at this read.

:53:34. > :53:38.He is closest to the right corner. Having looked where the cue ball is

:53:39. > :53:42.going, it is bound to be going into the bunch of reds. He would have to

:53:43. > :53:51.be prepared to lose the frame should he miss it. A big shot. It is

:53:52. > :54:39.important to play your natural game. And then commit 100%.

:54:40. > :54:48.Well, that is a gem! The pace he has played that act, it is a little

:54:49. > :54:53.beauty. It is such a tough shot. To roll in at that sort of pace, look

:54:54. > :55:03.at the red, right in the centre of that pocket!

:55:04. > :55:11.Dear me! A couple of times, somehow, he has managed to get in amongst the

:55:12. > :55:16.reds. He did not play the cannon as he intended. He wanted to go

:55:17. > :55:21.straight into the bunch of reds. A bit too much side on it. To finish

:55:22. > :55:35.back in the middle of the reds is amazing.

:55:36. > :55:50.Two fabulous long pots from Shaun Murphy with nothing to show for it.

:55:51. > :56:11.Immediately it causes a stalemate. All because of the red up near the

:56:12. > :56:52.green. I think he has to look to re-rack.

:56:53. > :56:57.The first re-rack I have been involved with in their sheer's UK

:56:58. > :57:04.championship. I was so unusual, to finish up leaving the white touching

:57:05. > :57:09.three reds. I have never seen before. When he parted the black and

:57:10. > :57:16.played the cannon, he got too much side on it. Too can earn the red and

:57:17. > :57:29.comeback right in amongst the reds is amazing. Immediately he look at

:57:30. > :57:38.at Ben and said, let's set them up again! A good decision. Just a few

:57:39. > :57:41.late comers after the mid-session interval. They are not allowed to

:57:42. > :57:43.come in while a few late comers after the mid-session interval. They

:57:44. > :58:21.are not allowed to come in while frame is in progress.

:58:22. > :58:32.At Wantage, Ben, in this frame. -- advantage. You can see how short he

:58:33. > :58:40.was with the cue ball with the safety shot.

:58:41. > :59:06.It was a good chance for him to pop this and get nicely onto a read. --

:59:07. > :59:39.pot this. This will come up short. Play it to get up on that one.

:59:40. > :59:51.The green looks to be the shot to play here. Of three conditions to

:59:52. > :00:00.the left corner. He has taken a yellow. -- off three cushions. A lot

:00:01. > :00:13.more margin for error playing the green.

:00:14. > :00:25.Yes, he played that well. Just not come far enough. If he's playing the

:00:26. > :00:29.cannon, he's got to judge to knock the black possibly on and off the

:00:30. > :00:36.cushion. There's a problem because there is a red that might get in the

:00:37. > :00:46.way of the black to the right corner. So this is tricky, this

:00:47. > :00:50.shop. -- this shot. You called it right, Stephen. That red was always

:00:51. > :00:57.going to be a problem playing that cannon. If it misses the red there,

:00:58. > :01:05.you would have been perfect. But it was always in the way, that red.

:01:06. > :01:30.Shaun will play the red next to the black to bring it into play. He was

:01:31. > :01:41.a bit unlucky with that cannon, to be fair. I was just going to say, a

:01:42. > :01:52.choice of playing the aggressive shot into the pack.

:01:53. > :01:55.He has not played it well. That's another poor safety from Shaun

:01:56. > :02:37.Murphy. Well, he can only see one red, can

:02:38. > :02:41.Shaun. And it does what passed the black. But he have to play some shot

:02:42. > :02:45.to get position on to that. I do know if he can avoid the cannon onto

:02:46. > :02:50.pink and reds, or if he can screw across that he could get himself

:02:51. > :02:57.across and back. He does have the cue power to do that. A little bit

:02:58. > :03:16.of a mis-hit, there. But he has left everything safe.

:03:17. > :03:33.For Shaun Murphy, 56% with his long pot success, that is very poor.

:03:34. > :03:40.That's a clever little shot, there. I say a clever little shot, he knew

:03:41. > :03:45.he was leaving everything safe up this end of the table, but does the

:03:46. > :03:52.1 next to the yellow go? He thought, I can take this read on, I will get

:03:53. > :04:03.myself on the black if I miss it, if I get it, and be safe if I miss it,

:04:04. > :04:08.but I think you can see this one. Did Ben just forget about that red

:04:09. > :04:10.for a moment? Where is that cue ball? Perfect on the black, by the

:04:11. > :04:20.looks of things. So Ben thought he was playing a shot

:04:21. > :04:22.than nothing. Didn't think he was going to leave the 1 next to the

:04:23. > :05:07.yellow. I think if he can pot the black and

:05:08. > :05:13.get a bit of an art and cannon that read, I tell you what, he would open

:05:14. > :05:25.all those reds up. He needs a little bit of pace with it, though. It's

:05:26. > :05:29.OK. As long as he played it with enough pace to make sure he didn't

:05:30. > :06:29.stick right in the reds. This is the fourth time these

:06:30. > :06:39.players have met. Shaun won the last three. They haven't played each

:06:40. > :06:41.other since the 2013 German Masters. But he's starting to take control of

:06:42. > :07:33.this match here, it has to be said. The red at the top of the line of

:07:34. > :07:43.three nearest the pink I think goes to the right centre. He just

:07:44. > :07:56.overscrewed it a couple of inches. To make this, well, it makes it

:07:57. > :08:04.missable, now. Still shouldn't miss it. Right in the middle of the

:08:05. > :08:12.pocket. You just feel he is stepping up a gear now, don't you, Dennis,

:08:13. > :08:17.pulling away in this match? Yes, as I mentioned earlier, it could have

:08:18. > :08:26.been two frames each or even 3-1 to Ben just before the interval. But

:08:27. > :08:34.Shaun stepping up a gear. He would have had a century in the opening

:08:35. > :08:40.frame of the match but for a kick. The frame is well and truly safe

:08:41. > :08:45.now, he might try and bring that difficult read into play. Just make

:08:46. > :08:56.sure that the frame is safe and then cannon that difficult read out.

:08:57. > :09:04.Nicely played. If he can pot this in the middle pocket, every chance of

:09:05. > :09:08.that century. Well, he played the other one. I thought he was going to

:09:09. > :09:15.cut it in the middle pocket. So no century break, but 62 in front and a

:09:16. > :09:39.couple of snooker 's, another one for Shaun.

:09:40. > :09:50.Three snooker is needed at the moment. Make that end of frame. Ben

:09:51. > :09:55.just nodded to Shaun Murphy. Shaun has come out of the traps very

:09:56. > :09:58.quickly in this first frame after the mid-session interval. He extends

:09:59. > :10:02.his lead to four frames to one. STUDIO

:10:03. > :10:08.You have to wonder now whether the you can see this one even going 6-1.

:10:09. > :10:14.It could do, quite easily. The next frame is massive for Ben. If it goes

:10:15. > :10:18.five, you couldn't see him winning all the frames to get over the line.

:10:19. > :10:23.This is a massive frame coming up. I feel as though if he doesn't win it,

:10:24. > :10:30.it could beef the end of the match. Sean has Woody found his rhythm? Yes

:10:31. > :10:33.and no. When you're playing in a match, you play one ball at a time,

:10:34. > :10:37.you don't really look back and think about what it could have been, but

:10:38. > :10:41.sitting here watching you realise how much things can just change and

:10:42. > :10:45.turn with one shot and then the other guy looks totally dominant and

:10:46. > :10:49.the scoreline could be 6-1 and you would be going piece of cake,

:10:50. > :10:59.another great win for Shaun Murphy, that it wasn't necessarily the case.

:11:00. > :11:15.Well, we are back at the table here. Frame six, Shaun Murphy to break. As

:11:16. > :11:22.John Barrett said, this is a massive frame for Ben Woollaston. A must win

:11:23. > :11:28.frame, you would have to say. Yes, when he missed that red in the last

:11:29. > :11:36.frame he seemed to go at it like his head had dropped a little bit. Shaun

:11:37. > :11:41.Murphy still needs to frames for victory. It would be different if he

:11:42. > :11:45.were 5-1, his backward really still be up against the wall, but there is

:11:46. > :11:51.still margin for error here. It's just about belief. Do you still

:11:52. > :11:54.believe you can win from 4-1 down? Doesn't look like it. Things can

:11:55. > :13:05.change very quickly. When Shaun played that shot, it was

:13:06. > :13:15.obvious he was going to go -- it was going to go over the right corner,

:13:16. > :13:19.he was pretty fortunate that the White went behind the blue. I think

:13:20. > :13:23.safety play just gets in the way for Shaun Murphy, doesn't it? He just

:13:24. > :13:30.wants to be potting balls. Yes, Shaun has had all his success, with

:13:31. > :13:34.his three big titles, the World Championship, the UK and the

:13:35. > :13:42.Masters, playing attacking snooker. It's the way he loves to play and he

:13:43. > :13:50.loves to play like it. I used to practice with Shaun when he joined

:13:51. > :13:57.the circuit and I was still on it, and he was terrific to watch. Just

:13:58. > :14:04.needs to be careful not to follow the red into the pocket with the cue

:14:05. > :14:11.ball here. The double case has left one to the middle pocket. But he had

:14:12. > :14:17.to try and remove that one. Let's show you the swerve shop again. He

:14:18. > :14:21.can play for the pink here, he doesn't have to play for the blue.

:14:22. > :14:29.Pink is in a good position to part and go into the bunch of reds. Yes.

:14:30. > :14:33.He felt this was better than playing for the blue to go into them. He

:14:34. > :14:39.gets enough action on the cue ball but it needs plenty here with lots

:14:40. > :14:44.of side to get into that bunch. APPLAUSE

:14:45. > :14:49.He's opened the reds nicely, but he's a little unfortunate because

:14:50. > :14:53.it's covered the black, a red has gone next to the black. Worth

:14:54. > :15:00.another look at this one. Opened them very nicely indeed. But he was

:15:01. > :15:06.left with, well, a tricky little one into the middle pocket. But the pink

:15:07. > :15:10.now tied up as well. The black is available into the right corner

:15:11. > :15:15.only. But that will be for a few shots's time.

:15:16. > :15:41.The reds looked to be ideal, but they are covering each other

:15:42. > :15:50.somewhat. They're not covering each other into the left corner pocket. I

:15:51. > :15:53.think he's looking at a way of getting that read to the left of the

:15:54. > :15:58.black to the corner. There are other reds available should he not get

:15:59. > :16:02.that one on -- get on that one properly. Three cushions around the

:16:03. > :16:56.top side 12. I think he's just playing for

:16:57. > :17:03.one of the loose reds, the way he has cued. He needs to be absolutely

:17:04. > :17:13.straight on this. To get onto the black again. And then possibly

:17:14. > :17:17.while... Well, if he runs that through he's going to be a bit

:17:18. > :17:24.closer to the blank then he would like. You don't want to try and

:17:25. > :17:29.pinch a bit of the pocket to make sure you get a good cue ball. Yeah,

:17:30. > :18:03.if he pots the red into that side Play it in between the green and

:18:04. > :18:09.brown with lots of right-hand side to come off the baulk cushion

:18:10. > :18:14.right-hand side. He could even play that shot and play for the red left

:18:15. > :19:12.of the black to the corner, if he plays it with even more pace.

:19:13. > :19:20.You could have had a choice of two or three red splaying the other way.

:19:21. > :19:42.Just got to make sure that he avoids scanning into that read on the right

:19:43. > :19:52.side of the table there, which he has done. I'm just wondering if that

:19:53. > :20:06.one next to the pink pots, because there's a back down the table if it

:20:07. > :20:07.does go. That's the one he could take, and that's the sort of angle

:20:08. > :22:00.the white would take. Yeah, he was hoping to just miss the

:22:01. > :22:15.red on the way up and just land on it, but he caught the red direct. A

:22:16. > :22:19.tester to the left middle pocket for Ben, which wouldn't have been

:22:20. > :22:34.available if Shaun had got in behind the red.

:22:35. > :22:53.There are never easy, those. Especially if you are 4-1 down.

:22:54. > :23:04.Made it look very easy, that. Lots of right-hand striking to square the

:23:05. > :23:09.cue ball up so that he can finish on the black. Without the side, this

:23:10. > :23:16.would have come across the table and he would have been snooker behind

:23:17. > :23:18.that red. But it put it in the perfect spot, and a great chance now

:23:19. > :25:02.for Shaun to extend his lead. It's all looking very comfortable at

:25:03. > :25:08.the moment for the former World and UK champion.

:25:09. > :25:32.Just the pink needed to leave Ben at the Leuchars required stage. Pot

:25:33. > :25:47.success rate creeping up now at 92%. 44. Yeah, it's become very

:25:48. > :25:48.comfortable for Shaun Murphy now. He's not been put under any pressure

:25:49. > :26:01.at all. He has just overscrewed that one

:26:02. > :26:14.slightly. I think he's going to have to change the plan here.

:26:15. > :26:24.I think Ben missed his chance before the mid-session interval, he could

:26:25. > :26:26.easily have been 2-2 or even 3-1 ahead, as we said, but now it's

:26:27. > :26:29.looking pretty straightforward. 58. Still a bit of a chance of

:26:30. > :26:53.getting a century here. 83 in the opening frame, 72 in the

:26:54. > :27:17.last frame. He knows he's going to need the

:27:18. > :27:19.green if there's any chance of that century.

:27:20. > :27:36.And once again! At the same pocket that the black stuck in when he

:27:37. > :27:40.almost made a century in the opening frame. It's not looking good for Ben

:27:41. > :27:41.Woollaston at the moment. Shaun Murphy extends his lead and he now

:27:42. > :27:53.leads five frames to one. Well, here I am in the practice room

:27:54. > :27:59.with Leicester's own deep McQueen! The world number one. What a game

:28:00. > :28:06.that was. I played really poor and Jamie deserved to win 6-2 or 6-3 on

:28:07. > :28:10.paper. I showed my real self and dug in and ground it out. Be honest, how

:28:11. > :28:16.many times did you think you were going home? Quite a few times. I won

:28:17. > :28:21.a frame at 4-4 and I thought it might rattle him that he came out

:28:22. > :28:28.and made a century in the next frame and put me under pressure. I was

:28:29. > :28:33.snooker on the last red. You have many talents to get to 11, but it's

:28:34. > :28:37.a classic case of just keeping going. Amazing what can happen on a

:28:38. > :28:41.snooker table. I missed so many easy balls last night but the 1 positive

:28:42. > :28:45.thing I can take out of it is that when I needed support the tough

:28:46. > :28:51.balls, I potted them. I ported the pink to go for -4 and that is a big

:28:52. > :28:52.clearance out to go 5-5. Luckily enough I got to The Shires

:28:53. > :29:05.clearances. If you go on and win a tournament

:29:06. > :29:09.nowadays you very rarely play fantastic every single match, you

:29:10. > :29:14.always have a match when you probably should have lost but you

:29:15. > :29:16.managed to get through it. Well done and the clean enjoy it, he was here

:29:17. > :29:23.till about half past one! Yes, the Jester from Leicester there

:29:24. > :29:37.with our own John Parrott. Meanwhile we've got another player

:29:38. > :29:46.come to the table from Leicester. Ben Woollaston. We've had a few good

:29:47. > :29:54.players from that neck of the woods. When you mention Leicester,

:29:55. > :30:03.you've got to mention the great WT, our colleagues. Willie Thorne. He

:30:04. > :30:07.used to be called Mr Maximum. I think he's changed

:30:08. > :30:13.used to be called Mr Maximum. I Mr Minimum! We will be going for a

:30:14. > :30:33.bite to eat later and he will give me a bit of stick for that comment.

:30:34. > :30:48.Pop he is a fantastic talent. Great to watch. I used to practice with

:30:49. > :31:09.them at Leicester and he wanted to be knocking maximum breaks in. He

:31:10. > :31:13.will be opening the reds appear so he should make sure he gets a good

:31:14. > :31:28.white. In behind the Brown would be ideal. To do that he has to hit this

:31:29. > :31:41.thread quite thick. That is pretty good. He has stopped shone from

:31:42. > :31:56.having the easy escape down the right-hand side of the table. He

:31:57. > :32:02.seems to think he can get past the green to flick the red, but I doubt

:32:03. > :32:07.it. It is a safety shot, but you would think he is trying to pot at

:32:08. > :32:14.the way he's playing it, but it is just a safety shot. He hit it too

:32:15. > :32:24.thin. The pink and black are out of commission. When the red is right

:32:25. > :32:28.over the pocket like this, it is difficult to control the cue ball.

:32:29. > :32:35.He could think of plugging the one read on the cushion, that would make

:32:36. > :32:47.it slightly easier to get onto the blue. He is going directly to it. As

:32:48. > :34:02.I say, not easy to control the cue ball here. That is the last place he

:34:03. > :34:09.wanted the cue ball to stop. A big shot coming up. You would think if

:34:10. > :34:18.he missed it it would be the last shot he played today. If he plays a

:34:19. > :34:26.little cannon onto that, I would say it would be perfect and it has

:34:27. > :34:38.finished awkwardly. A little bit unfortunate there. It might have

:34:39. > :34:44.needed a little bit of Ston on it. Then the weight would have stayed in

:34:45. > :34:50.between the pink and black. This is a tricky shot because he is so close

:34:51. > :34:53.to the black he cannot see the angle with his eyesight. It is like a

:34:54. > :34:59.total blind pocket he is playing into. He is looking at the cushion

:35:00. > :35:10.and the pocket is a way to the right. It is difficult to judge.

:35:11. > :35:32.Well played. It is a bit of a chance for Ben. It would be nice to see him

:35:33. > :35:39.locked in a sizeable break here. He is coming round to see the angle he

:35:40. > :35:44.wants on the black. He wants to cannon the red in immediately above

:35:45. > :36:09.the black. In between the black and the pink. He has come to straight to

:36:10. > :36:15.play that. That is not too bad. He did claim the cannon, but he still

:36:16. > :36:26.has the comparable red to the centre. -- he did not play the

:36:27. > :36:39.cannon. He may have a nice angle on his pink. The reds are covering each

:36:40. > :36:44.other at the moment. He has blocked the black off, but it does not

:36:45. > :36:48.matter, the paint is open to all four pockets. To middle and two

:36:49. > :37:17.quarters. A great chance to get another free on the board for Ben.

:37:18. > :37:22.-- free on the board. There are three easy read as he glances at the

:37:23. > :38:09.scoreboard. There are difficult ones to negotiate if he is to make enough

:38:10. > :38:29.to clinch this badly needed frame. He has lost the cue ball. He didn't

:38:30. > :38:34.leave himself an easy pink. The only consolation from that last shot, as

:38:35. > :38:39.we showed it again, is that the blue has gone safe which helps then. He

:38:40. > :38:49.is 38 in front. The black is tied up. The blue is now out of

:38:50. > :38:53.commission. He has developed one red and if he has an ankle on the pink

:38:54. > :38:57.he might develop the two raids on the left side of the table, because

:38:58. > :39:13.the other one is pretty pocket, he would be position. -- guaranteed

:39:14. > :39:23.position. There is another one in play. He has an ankle when potting

:39:24. > :39:41.this trickle-down of the cushion. I do not know whether he can hold it

:39:42. > :39:49.or not. Maybe he can, yeah. He will play to cannon the red and the black

:39:50. > :39:56.of one cushion. He is looking at possibly can knowing this red. This

:39:57. > :40:00.is a bit ambitious. He is trying to come off at half ball and go over to

:40:01. > :40:03.is a bit ambitious. He is trying to develop the red and black balls.

:40:04. > :40:06.That is how he was aiming at. That is a very ambitious shot. Let's see

:40:07. > :40:18.the outcome. I just wonder is a very ambitious shot. Let's see

:40:19. > :40:37.pot this red in the middle pocket. I am not too sure about that. It is

:40:38. > :40:43.not a good angle. He might still be able to take the pot on. I do not

:40:44. > :41:09.know if he can hold it enough for the black. I think you can pot the

:41:10. > :41:20.red, but I do not think you the black. I think you can pot the

:41:21. > :41:48.pocket and not get a colour. -- pot it.

:41:49. > :41:55.Just at the moment, area is the cushion behind the black

:41:56. > :41:59.and those two red is next to the yellow and green. -- the safety

:42:00. > :42:27.area. He did attempt the double there. If

:42:28. > :42:29.you play it back behind the cushion, behind the black, you have to be

:42:30. > :42:38.careful not to leave behind the black, you have to be

:42:39. > :42:44.the pink. He will have two be careful. He has got to be sure he

:42:45. > :42:55.gets the white back. Oh, where is the red? Where is the red going?

:42:56. > :44:06.These used to be my favourite shots, these. It just finished a little

:44:07. > :44:25.awkward, but that little extension will give him a better reach. That

:44:26. > :44:35.will do nicely. That has helped the situation here. He got another angle

:44:36. > :44:48.to move in behind the red. He can run through. 36 ahead. Just

:44:49. > :45:50.double-checking that to see how many he needs. It shouldn't be a problem.

:45:51. > :46:24.45, the difference. 35 on the table. At the moment, three smokers needed.

:46:25. > :46:27.-- three smokers needed. Not straight forward because the green

:46:28. > :46:49.is in the way of going across the table. He needs lots of side on

:46:50. > :46:52.this. It is just that the balls are nicely placed for the sneakers, that

:46:53. > :47:08.is the reason he is carrying on here. This looks good, this looks

:47:09. > :47:12.excellent to me. There is just enough room to sail around the back

:47:13. > :47:30.of this red, so he will have to be careful. That is the angle he wants

:47:31. > :47:50.to go, but not with much pace. There is more margin for error there.

:47:51. > :48:09.Is it hard enough this time? It is. He is back there again. He could do

:48:10. > :48:13.with this otherwise they will only be one snooker needed and this is

:48:14. > :48:24.more difficult than the previous one, twice across to land the red.

:48:25. > :48:32.Now just the one snooker needed. There is a possible shot on here. He

:48:33. > :48:41.might not have the move very far. He will head back up behind the black

:48:42. > :48:49.again, I think. That is three times in a row he has got the cue ball

:48:50. > :48:55.there. Just a fraction short. I think he can swerve around. He has

:48:56. > :49:14.got to be careful if he plays the swerve shot because he could catch

:49:15. > :49:18.the pink. Then we'll be in such a bad state of mind with himself. Even

:49:19. > :49:36.a simple snooker might prove too much now.

:49:37. > :49:51.APPLAUSE There is the snookers that you

:49:52. > :49:57.mentioned. He needs to hit this one. He has brought the blue into play.

:49:58. > :50:03.That is the worst scenario. All of a sudden Shaun Murphy has gone

:50:04. > :50:09.favourite. He will not believe what has happened in the last three or

:50:10. > :50:18.four minutes. Every chance now he could go out of the championship.

:50:19. > :50:23.Checking the scoreboard. Takes the green. That counts as an extra red

:50:24. > :50:46.on the table, or whatever colour he pots. He gets one point. He hasn't

:50:47. > :50:54.played the best shot there. He has avoided the green. He has treated

:50:55. > :51:03.this very well. -- he has two hit this very well. You would have two

:51:04. > :51:26.say that it is much ball. -- match ball. If he can pot this red and get

:51:27. > :51:40.the cue ball and this will be the pot of the match. The PSP had that

:51:41. > :51:57.much more difficult. Ben Woollaston can knock this red in. He is still

:51:58. > :52:21.in the championship if he does. He almost wants out of the arena.

:52:22. > :52:26.in the championship if he does. He Murphy. -- shot. Clever

:52:27. > :52:29.in the championship if he does. He enough room for Ben to

:52:30. > :52:38.in the championship if he does. He back of the red. It is tough to

:52:39. > :52:49.judge because he is so close to that cushion. Going this way he will not

:52:50. > :53:29.slip behind it, but he has still got to be accurate. He will settle for

:53:30. > :53:33.that. If he can see this red fruit bowl or even half ball he can get a

:53:34. > :53:41.snooker here. That was a tough shot that he took on here. Looking at

:53:42. > :53:45.that angle he might not be able to play the snooker behind the pink. He

:53:46. > :53:50.might have two come back onto the cushion and hope for the brown or

:53:51. > :54:18.the yellow to be the sniggering ball. He has played it well.

:54:19. > :54:23.the yellow to be the sniggering will annoy Shaun Murphy if he loses

:54:24. > :54:29.this frame. After getting three snookers and having a great chance

:54:30. > :54:46.to win it. It will just irritate him. He should have had this much

:54:47. > :55:04.one now, 6-1. APPLAUSE

:55:05. > :55:10.The fact he played it with PS, I still expected him to knock it in.

:55:11. > :55:30.If you are ruling goes in the slightly easier. -- rolling those

:55:31. > :55:49.in. Not quite. I think he can hit enough of that to certainly get back

:55:50. > :56:24.up the table. Then on the left side. That will do. He is a thin ball

:56:25. > :57:05.wizard. He caught it on the way back, not by much. Oh dear. A coat

:57:06. > :57:10.of paint, as they say. Well, that is a poor shot, it has two be said. He

:57:11. > :57:17.had that far too thick. He hung his head as soon as he saw it. He knew

:57:18. > :57:19.his contact was too thick. This is another chance for Shaun Murphy,

:57:20. > :57:28.although they are not ideally placed. Usually you would be playing

:57:29. > :57:34.off one cushion and taking the pink coat, but the yellow is in an

:57:35. > :57:38.awkward position to get on. If you leave the cue ball around with the

:57:39. > :58:20.pink is you can cut the yellow back to the right corner. This would be

:58:21. > :58:26.about the blue, you would feel. He will play this with a touch of

:58:27. > :58:38.left-hand side to make sure he does not catch the yellow too thick. You

:58:39. > :58:44.have got to keep the cue ball this side of the table, as close to the

:58:45. > :58:53.green as possible. He has played it well. It is all about getting a good

:58:54. > :59:10.angle on the brown to get up to the difficult blue. He would love to get

:59:11. > :59:23.the tuple are anywhere near that circle. Not tight on the cushion.

:59:24. > :59:28.APPLAUSE Well, it is paid on the cushion, but

:59:29. > :59:34.there might be a slight angle here. There is. But that is what can

:59:35. > :59:49.happen when you force them. That is a lifeline for Ben Wilson. Yes, I

:59:50. > :00:00.did not expect that much. This will be really annoying for Shaun Murphy.

:00:01. > :00:07.He could have won the match with that frame. Well, he is coming to

:00:08. > :00:21.the table, but Ben Wollaston has got a lifeline.

:00:22. > :00:27.Two snookers needed but the reason Shaun Murphy is playing on is

:00:28. > :00:30.because of where the black is situated, if you get a snooker

:00:31. > :00:47.behind the black it will be tough to escape from. Well, he might be in

:00:48. > :01:00.behind the black now. That is not a bad effort. Is it hard enough? Is it

:01:01. > :01:11.hard enough? Almost. I think he has. And it is enough to make this

:01:12. > :01:15.workshop very difficult. -- the swerve shot. We have had a couple of

:01:16. > :01:20.strange frames where snookers were needed. And Shaun Murphy went in-off

:01:21. > :01:29.the black. Also is have been happening. I bet he got down on that

:01:30. > :01:33.shop thinking, I will catch the middle jaw. That is just the way

:01:34. > :01:41.that you think when things are not going well. I don't think he can get

:01:42. > :01:45.the white round this time. He will have descend the pink around. No, he

:01:46. > :01:51.could hit it then enough will stop here it is again. Here comes the

:01:52. > :02:05.white again. -- hit it thinly enough. Not this time.

:02:06. > :02:15.You would say he could go to the yellow pocket, but if you leave the

:02:16. > :02:26.cue ball close to the object ball it will be easier to lay a snooker.

:02:27. > :02:30.Shaun Murphy gets enough side on this then he can get over to the

:02:31. > :02:35.black. The thing with this is that you have to try to make sure that

:02:36. > :02:41.you keep the object ball safe as well. When you are looking for the

:02:42. > :02:51.snooker. He has played to stun it over. But he hasn't kept the pink,

:02:52. > :02:56.well, I was going to say he has not kept the pink safe but he has, if it

:02:57. > :03:07.is tight, coercion, he can just roll this dead weight -- typed on the

:03:08. > :03:19.Well, he has called the magician... You would need to be some magician

:03:20. > :03:31.to get out of this situation. It's not often you see a player getting a

:03:32. > :03:41.round of applause for missing a pot. He's done it again. LAUGHTER

:03:42. > :03:46.It's nice to see that Ben is able to smile as well. He is 5-1 down and he

:03:47. > :03:48.is still hanging on, but only just. He might get another round of

:03:49. > :04:14.applause for missing an easy pot. Well... He is going to roll this

:04:15. > :04:18.over the same pocket again. Can he get it in this time? He is teasing

:04:19. > :04:28.Shaun Murphy! But that is what you always do when

:04:29. > :04:44.your opponent needs a snooker. It is called in all -- in or over. Does he

:04:45. > :04:48.risk rolling it over the pocket passed the black? There are little

:04:49. > :04:52.thoughts going through his head, if he tries to roll it in he could miss

:04:53. > :05:00.it and give him a chance to get a snooker. And he refused it. He likes

:05:01. > :05:36.that corner pocket. About ten minutes ago it looked as

:05:37. > :05:44.though this match was all over. LAUGHTER

:05:45. > :05:48.He can't keep it out this time, not even the Magician can keep this out.

:05:49. > :05:56.If he keeps it out of the pocket... even the Magician can keep this out.

:05:57. > :06:10.I was going to say I would eat my hat but I haven't got a hat. It has

:06:11. > :06:14.to go in. It's not all over just yet for Ben Woollaston. It looks as

:06:15. > :06:20.though it was, but he is somehow still hanging in there. He is still

:06:21. > :06:26.smiling. STUDIO: Can you think other tactical that has got the crowd and

:06:27. > :06:31.the studio laughing so much over the past couple of months? He just could

:06:32. > :06:37.not get the pink in. Shaun Murphy must be kicking himself. How has he

:06:38. > :06:43.missed that blue? One of those shops where you just have to concentrate,

:06:44. > :06:47.frame and match ball. It's a strange one because you can't ever predict

:06:48. > :06:50.what will happen on a snooker table. Some of the most ridiculous shots we

:06:51. > :06:58.have ever seen crammed into one frame. He feathers the ball on the

:06:59. > :07:02.last red, and you thinking you might as well see a sports psychologist

:07:03. > :07:06.afterwards to work it out. As it turns out he has won the frame but

:07:07. > :07:09.not in style so he will not necessarily be that confident into

:07:10. > :07:17.the next frame. He would have liked to have won in style to give him

:07:18. > :07:21.self-confidence coming into the next frame. His approach and his state of

:07:22. > :07:27.mind, he just wants to get out into the arena? It was looking like that,

:07:28. > :07:32.we have been around long enough to see warning signs for the players

:07:33. > :07:36.but when I said earlier, I could not see him winning from 5-1 down, I

:07:37. > :07:39.still can't, but he has to see warning signs for the players but

:07:40. > :07:42.when I said earlier, I could not see him winning from 5-1 down, I still

:07:43. > :07:44.can't, but he has if he makes a decent break in this frame then the

:07:45. > :07:52.mindset will change because he will get his tail up. One more frame and

:07:53. > :07:55.Shaun Murphy will be in the last 16. Let's get back to the commentators.

:07:56. > :07:57.COMMENTATOR: This will be interesting to see how the frame

:07:58. > :08:11.develops. He has got to win four frames in a

:08:12. > :08:17.row and I tell you what, that's a pretty good safety shot to start off

:08:18. > :08:22.with. Shaun Murphy, well, he will be just looking for that one opening

:08:23. > :08:32.and he will be looking to clinch the match in style. But will he get any

:08:33. > :09:01.easier opening? -- will he get an easy opening?

:09:02. > :09:43.Two decent safety shots in a row from Ben. It's amazing that you can

:09:44. > :09:48.send signals to your brain and give yourself a boost of confidence.

:09:49. > :09:50.Shaun probably knock this in and get on the black now that you have said

:09:51. > :09:59.that! It's the sort of shot that he is so

:10:00. > :10:22.good at. Boy, was that a pot! One thing, after what went on in the

:10:23. > :10:42.last frame, Shaun will want this match over as quickly as possible.

:10:43. > :10:44.This is a chance to do it. That was a fabulous pot, though, to get in,

:10:45. > :11:17.it really was. We talked about it earlier, he has

:11:18. > :11:26.the knack of, when he makes a mistake or plays a poor shot, he

:11:27. > :11:32.quickly forgets about it. It's worth mentioning the opening red a couple

:11:33. > :12:26.of times, it really was very special. Here is another look at it.

:12:27. > :12:36.That's the number of points he is looking for, 69 will get him through

:12:37. > :12:45.to the last 16 of this year's UK Championships.

:12:46. > :13:02.Just having a look at the seven reds, just weighing up and looking a

:13:03. > :13:06.couple of shots ahead. He can please himself what he does here, I don't

:13:07. > :13:13.think the back red goes otherwise he would can the right of the reds. He

:13:14. > :13:21.stunned into the side of them. He made sure he did not stick in the

:13:22. > :13:25.reds. If he screwed into them he could have stuck on the back red

:13:26. > :13:35.which was on the end of the bunch, there. He has to be a bit careful

:13:36. > :13:40.because he can't see the one nearest the pocket and the other one is

:13:41. > :13:45.quite tight. We will get a perfect picture as we move around. Yes, he's

:13:46. > :13:50.got plenty of room. I say plenty of room, he only just got past the

:13:51. > :13:53.other red. He is doing what other great champions seem to do, they

:13:54. > :14:58.always seem to be able to finish in style.

:14:59. > :15:10.He has been pretty impressive today, Shaun Murphy. Very solid. If I were

:15:11. > :15:15.to be picky I would say that his safety play needs to improve as the

:15:16. > :15:19.tournament goes on. He has not been put under pressure. It could have

:15:20. > :15:27.been 2-2 after the first four but generally he has had a pretty

:15:28. > :15:33.comfortable afternoon. And that is surely the end of the match. He

:15:34. > :15:47.started with a break of 83, he had a couple of chances to make a century

:15:48. > :15:51.and got a kick on one attempt. Ben Woollaston, well, he has been having

:15:52. > :15:53.a pretty good season, getting to the final of the Welsh Open. Gradually

:15:54. > :16:01.climbing up the rankings. We will final of the Welsh Open. Gradually

:16:02. > :16:03.seeing a lot more of Ben, but it's all about the

:16:04. > :16:07.seeing a lot more of Ben, but it's Murphy, who has certainly waved his

:16:08. > :16:33.magic wand on a few occasions this afternoon. 90. The Bluebell Would

:16:34. > :16:36.children's Hospice has already got over ?1000 for the number of

:16:37. > :16:52.centuries made, and this could add to that.

:16:53. > :17:06.99. Very well played, Shaun Murphy. APPLAUSE

:17:07. > :17:13.106. A classy break from a classy player. It doesn't matter about the

:17:14. > :17:20.red. Shaun Murphy has done it in style and he has a chat with Ben

:17:21. > :17:24.Woollaston. He did not really get going this afternoon. But we will

:17:25. > :17:29.see a lot more of Ben Woollaston. A great player, but the afternoon

:17:30. > :17:34.belongs to Shaun Murphy as he wins comfortably, 6-2. STUDIO: Well, we

:17:35. > :17:38.said it earlier, it would be an uphill struggle for Ben Woollaston

:17:39. > :17:42.this afternoon. Shaun Murphy showing his class. A fantastic shout from

:17:43. > :17:49.Dennis Taylor, he will probably not in this and clear up! It was a good

:17:50. > :17:56.shout. Shaun Murphy, for all of the fact that we have spoken over the

:17:57. > :18:00.years about the fact that tactically he is not the absolute top, but that

:18:01. > :18:06.part of his game is masterful and he made it look so easy. That is his

:18:07. > :18:09.big strength. Jamie Jones has just tweeted that there is no cleaner

:18:10. > :18:14.striker of a snooker ball on the circuit and Shaun Murphy. The way he

:18:15. > :18:17.lost last night to Mark Selby, I can't believe he is looking at a

:18:18. > :18:23.snooker table for the next six months! His cueing is superb, and

:18:24. > :18:27.his break-building is excellent and when you can play as good as him,

:18:28. > :18:33.you have got a chance at any tournament. Here he comes. This man

:18:34. > :18:39.is looking like he is coming into is obviously to win, but also looking

:18:40. > :18:44.comfortable in big tournaments. We have to give him some credit for

:18:45. > :18:49.that, now that he's here! I think he has matured. It's nice to see

:18:50. > :18:53.somebody get on the table and play with their natural instincts. Lots

:18:54. > :18:58.of overthinking happens, and we are all guilty sometimes. If you can

:18:59. > :19:02.somehow free up your brain to just play your natural game as if you are

:19:03. > :19:07.in a club it is a much easier. Easier said than done, of course. I

:19:08. > :19:11.have been on that journey for a few years and I have talked about it

:19:12. > :19:16.over the past few seasons. I went to also observed different people for

:19:17. > :19:20.help on tactical and safety play to become a better all-rounder. I found

:19:21. > :19:27.out that I'm just not that good at it and realise I need to go back to

:19:28. > :19:32.my original style of play that won the World Championships for me when

:19:33. > :19:37.I was 22 years of age. It is the style I enjoy and I like to play my

:19:38. > :19:42.shots. Long may it continue. Do you feel happier with your new-found

:19:43. > :19:46.confidence in the game? Winning the Masters in January has changed the

:19:47. > :19:49.snooker world for me. It has taken away the element of, will he ever

:19:50. > :19:56.win the Masters and complete the triple Crown? Now I have done that I

:19:57. > :20:00.can put it to bed and come to every tournament, the European Tour

:20:01. > :20:04.events, the Australian open, the UK Championships, and just play good

:20:05. > :20:09.snooker. Freeing yourself in that way and not worrying is massive.

:20:10. > :20:14.There is no better example than Steve of just playing your normal

:20:15. > :20:18.game, he just made century after century and if you don't score now,

:20:19. > :20:22.you simply don't win. We were talking before we came on air and

:20:23. > :20:25.you said the great thing about snooker, especially when you are on

:20:26. > :20:31.a winning run, holding the trophy aloft. Is that something you gain

:20:32. > :20:35.confidence from, nothing better than lifting a title and thinking, I can

:20:36. > :20:41.win the next one? NXT my children being born, holding that trophy up

:20:42. > :20:48.in the air is the most wonderful feeling. -- next to my children.

:20:49. > :20:52.Shaun has been able to do the triple Crown and it's a wonderful

:20:53. > :20:56.achievement. Your form can change with technique, but it's about how

:20:57. > :21:01.long you can keep in the right frame of mind throughout your career,

:21:02. > :21:06.maybe the defining moment in how many tournaments you win. Guaranteed

:21:07. > :21:11.down the line come at you will have doubts. That is for every player in

:21:12. > :21:14.the game, whether it is Ronnie O'Sullivan all players ranked much

:21:15. > :21:19.lower. It is how long you can keep enjoying it but not be carefree, but

:21:20. > :21:24.still enjoy it enough that you don't hamper yourself with the paralysis

:21:25. > :21:28.by analysis. What's important is the gap between success that is

:21:29. > :21:35.important, the gaps between wins, none of us are playing for second

:21:36. > :21:39.place, but the gaps between tournaments, whether it is a small

:21:40. > :21:42.European Tour event or a major championship, that's where it's at,

:21:43. > :21:48.and if you can at least win one tournament season... You lose a lot

:21:49. > :21:54.more than you win in our game. It's as simple as that. You play in and

:21:55. > :21:58.if you win 20 that's fantastic. You have to be philosophical anyway. I

:21:59. > :22:03.have not reached that stage as a man where losing does not hurt, I can't

:22:04. > :22:09.just go home and think never mind. It knocks me for a few days. I need

:22:10. > :22:12.good people around me, Elaine and my coach Chris and Chris and Brandon

:22:13. > :22:15.and those people to pick me up and say, get back on the practice table.

:22:16. > :22:31.You have a good team You need a team to pick you up and

:22:32. > :22:36.get you back running. Are you one of these players who looks who is

:22:37. > :22:39.remaining in the draw as well? No Ronnie O'Sullivan and we have lost

:22:40. > :22:45.Stuart Bingham and Ding Junhui. We'll most lost the man in the

:22:46. > :22:54.practice room. Are you thinking, I fancy this? Do you think that with

:22:55. > :22:59.the Bing guns anyway? -- big guns? I prefer not to know and I only know

:23:00. > :23:03.at the last minute. Until we shake each other's hands. I don't think it

:23:04. > :23:07.makes any difference in snooker. There might be the odd tactical shot

:23:08. > :23:12.where you play a shot you would not play against a left-hander or

:23:13. > :23:16.right-hander, but I don't think it makes any difference, if you do your

:23:17. > :23:21.job well and do your work nicely, you will have every chance. Do you

:23:22. > :23:26.think other players worry about you? I have probably earned my right not

:23:27. > :23:31.to worry any more. As you say, let them worry about everyone else. Ben

:23:32. > :23:35.Woollaston has set the goal in the next year to try to get into the top

:23:36. > :23:40.16. When you look at Ben Woollaston, can he cracked the top 16 from what

:23:41. > :23:45.you have seen today? If you look at the top 16 there are definitely

:23:46. > :23:48.players that he could beat. I would fancy that he would achieve his goal

:23:49. > :23:55.if he goes about it in the right way and works harder than the rest of

:23:56. > :24:00.the tour, I'm sure he can get in because he's a cracking lad. I hope

:24:01. > :24:05.he does really well. Thank you for joining us. Let's bring you right up

:24:06. > :24:11.to date with the other matches taking place on tables three and

:24:12. > :24:14.four this afternoon. Tom Ford is through to the last 16 where he will

:24:15. > :24:25.face either Judd Trump or Liang Wenbo. The man from Leicester went

:24:26. > :24:31.3-1 up. Breaks of 70 in frame six and 75 in 7 means that he is now

:24:32. > :24:38.through to the next round. Knocking out Wilson, the world number 22,

:24:39. > :24:41.another Leicester man into the top 16, alongside Mark Selby of course.

:24:42. > :24:49.Stephen Maguire is taking on Mark Davis. The UK champion from 2004 is

:24:50. > :24:53.now leading 5-4. In the early exchanges in the 10th frame. We will

:24:54. > :25:04.now turn our attention to Mark Allen against Martin Gould, at -- and the

:25:05. > :25:10.three Wise men have been talking about Mark Allen's game. Mark Alan,

:25:11. > :25:16.had a few knocks on the door before finally converting in the World Open

:25:17. > :25:26.championship in China. He won again in 2013. Not being disrespectful, he

:25:27. > :25:30.is not necessarily premiership, but Championship material? Knocking on

:25:31. > :25:36.the doors of the premiership? I'm not so sure, when he performs at his

:25:37. > :25:40.best, you can really come at you know, he will outplay anybody. He

:25:41. > :25:46.wears his heart on his sleeve more often than not. When he gets in and

:25:47. > :25:50.around them, what he is great at is positional play around the pink and

:25:51. > :25:54.black and making big breaks. His consistency is not as good as the

:25:55. > :25:58.other big players, and I understand where you are coming from, sometimes

:25:59. > :26:06.he does not look interested and he might go in the towel too early.

:26:07. > :26:11.When he is in around the pink and black he has a lovely cue action and

:26:12. > :26:15.stones and develops the reds beautifully and he plays with a lot

:26:16. > :26:20.of heart. On his day he is unstoppable and he can pot balls

:26:21. > :26:24.from all over the place. He knows snooker inside out and he has a lot

:26:25. > :26:28.of bottle. He has all of the attributes to make a winner. Yet he

:26:29. > :26:33.does not feature in the winners enclosure as often you would think.

:26:34. > :26:38.I wonder whether a couple of technical things that he does in his

:26:39. > :26:43.game don't suit him to the kind of conditions we have in this part of

:26:44. > :26:49.the world, in the UK, Ireland and Europe in general. I'm not sure that

:26:50. > :26:55.his short, sharp, punchy technique and the way he strikes the ball is

:26:56. > :26:58.suited to our very slippy and Spinney conditions that we

:26:59. > :27:03.experience over here and that's why I think he has had the majority of

:27:04. > :27:06.his success in the Far East. On a given day he could do a Stuart

:27:07. > :27:10.Bingham at the World Championships and come through the field to win.

:27:11. > :27:18.You are sort of expecting a big run in one of these big tournaments any

:27:19. > :27:22.day now. He is quite outspoken and has upset the authorities over the

:27:23. > :27:27.past few years a little bit. He won't hold back his opinion on

:27:28. > :27:30.something, and I'm not convinced it always helps, I'm not sure that

:27:31. > :27:35.sometimes you don't have two toe the line a little bit and sort of say

:27:36. > :27:38.the right thing. It's not always wrong just to nod your head and move

:27:39. > :27:45.on. Sometimes you have depict your fights. -- you have to pick your

:27:46. > :27:48.fights. I've often wondered what it must be like to get the reaction

:27:49. > :27:55.from the player they are talking about. Let's find out... Who was the

:27:56. > :28:08.other bloke? I've never seen him before! Steve Davis! Let's find out

:28:09. > :28:12.what they thought of that. I definitely don't like it but Steve

:28:13. > :28:16.is entitled to his opinion and I respect his opinion. I see myself as

:28:17. > :28:20.better than that. I think Steve, when he first played me in my first

:28:21. > :28:25.match as a professional, said a lot of things, that I wouldn't make it,

:28:26. > :28:33.but I've been in the top ten for seven years now. Completely

:28:34. > :28:37.understand being consistency part, that has probably been my biggest

:28:38. > :28:42.downfall. I don't know why it is because I work hard all year round,

:28:43. > :28:45.the only time I put away my cue is over the summer. I might be a little

:28:46. > :28:51.bit rusty initially but other than that I work hard. That could be part

:28:52. > :28:56.of the reason I am inconsistent, I rely a lot on my timing and the way

:28:57. > :29:02.I have a short action with a lot of wrist movement, it is not something

:29:03. > :29:11.I would want to teach, but it's hard for me to try to change that now.

:29:12. > :29:24.When we were last with these two it was 1-1 and we join it in frame

:29:25. > :29:29.three with Allen 6-0 up. Well, it looked as though the cue ball

:29:30. > :29:36.drifted, has he left the red at the back of the pack?

:29:37. > :29:53.Well, what a mistake that is. I'm not quite sure why he played that

:29:54. > :30:03.red initially, why didn't he just come off to cushions into the pack?

:30:04. > :30:08.Pretty straightforward, same result. Sometimes when you are playing beau

:30:09. > :30:18.shops dead weight, a finger mark with a bit of chalk and it can

:30:19. > :30:20.deviate the cue ball off its line and that is exactly what happened.

:30:21. > :31:24.-- playing those shots. Very good recovery. The ankle he has

:31:25. > :31:36.on the yellow is absolutely perfect to put into the side of the bunch.

:31:37. > :31:42.Sometimes you have to take the chance and go into them, which he

:31:43. > :32:01.has done. What he gets now, he deserves. He has played the correct

:32:02. > :32:05.shot. Well done. If he pots this red above the black into the corner

:32:06. > :32:18.pocket, it looks like he may run into the red when the cue ball

:32:19. > :32:27.bounces off the top cushion. Just running into it. It has made this

:32:28. > :32:56.black more awkward than he would have liked. A long way away. I have

:32:57. > :33:01.not been playing for the last 15 years, but is it harder to cut a

:33:02. > :33:14.ball back than it used to be on the figure cloth? Not really, no? --

:33:15. > :33:20.thicker cloth. It is just that they were closer together. It is hard to

:33:21. > :33:34.see the line when they are so close together. He was quite a way away

:33:35. > :33:43.from that. As is so often these days, when they visit, they miss it

:33:44. > :34:36.by a couple of inches. These balls are in position for Mark Allen to

:34:37. > :35:29.get a frame-winning lead. That was a clever shot. He got nicely onto the

:35:30. > :35:53.pink. I think he has just about got an angle. Nicely played. That is

:35:54. > :35:57.beautifully judged. That will certainly win him the frame now. He

:35:58. > :36:18.will set all for red top with one shot now. -- all for red up. He

:36:19. > :36:44.would be disappointed. He had a good opportunity there again. 51 ahead.

:36:45. > :37:16.Just a black and one more red. He can concentrate after this on making

:37:17. > :37:37.the first century of the match. The sponsors, better way, give ?10 to

:37:38. > :37:46.charity for every century. Lovely to watch, Mark Allen. He has gone a

:37:47. > :38:10.fraction too far, but he should be able to get round behind the black.

:38:11. > :38:35.He deserves a century now. He has brought the red into play.

:38:36. > :38:56.Very well played, Mark Allen. He played a little exhibition shot

:38:57. > :39:01.there. It doesn't matter, Mark Allen has won another frame, so he takes

:39:02. > :39:07.the lead by two frames to one. Let's bring you up today with the other

:39:08. > :39:13.tables. Stephen Maguire taken on Mark Davis. McGuire led by three

:39:14. > :39:19.frames to want at the interval. Then Davis had a stunning comeback,

:39:20. > :39:26.drawing 4-4 after that yet. McGuire has a brick of Italy four and has

:39:27. > :39:45.sealed his victory. He wins 6-4. Let's go back to Mark Allen. We pick

:39:46. > :39:52.up the action in frame for. At first glance, that is really

:39:53. > :40:06.straightforward. Can he get the right side of the blue? Yes he can

:40:07. > :40:12.get the right side of the gloom, so this is a good chance now. The way

:40:13. > :40:21.it has gone, I think Martin should have won one of the two frames he

:40:22. > :40:24.did lose against Mark Allen. At 2-2, both players would be pleased.

:40:25. > :41:39.did lose against Mark Allen. At 2-2, you, that is not very good. He

:41:40. > :41:43.doesn't want to use the rest. He will put a little extension on the

:41:44. > :41:50.cue and put a bit of pressure on this blue. If those reds were not

:41:51. > :41:59.there it would be easier, but he doesn't have as much control. He has

:42:00. > :42:19.played it nicely. Didn't do too much with the tuple, just wanted to make

:42:20. > :42:55.sure he could get the pot. The red is blocking it. Get a bit of power

:42:56. > :43:01.in this. He played that well. That helps now. The plaque will be

:43:02. > :44:09.available after this next shot. -- the black. There looks to be one

:44:10. > :44:18.more loose red available in the bottom left-hand corner. He would

:44:19. > :44:22.like to play a little thin cannon. He is not guaranteed to be on the

:44:23. > :44:37.red so he may decide to play for the loose one. He will try to get into

:44:38. > :44:57.the bunch, or the pink, or is there something available we cannot see?

:44:58. > :45:56.That ties the few more red top, doesn't it? -- a few more reds. He

:45:57. > :46:00.has got a decent angle, but he will have to generate a lot of power if

:46:01. > :46:08.he wants to go into the bed from this black. There is a red in the

:46:09. > :46:13.middle of the bunch that is available into the right-hand corner

:46:14. > :46:17.pocket. He is having a look, that is the one. He will have two be very

:46:18. > :46:39.precise with his cue ball. Just above the pink. He has played it

:46:40. > :46:42.pretty well. When he puts this one, the one just above it will be

:46:43. > :46:50.available into the left-hand corner pocket as well. All of a sudden

:46:51. > :47:02.there is an excellent opportunity to level the match. It has been good

:47:03. > :47:17.stuff, hasn't it? Both players look in good form. These tables were

:47:18. > :47:24.recovered overnight, so all four tables have brand you cloth is on

:47:25. > :47:31.them. It is great when you are playing on a brand you cloth, the

:47:32. > :47:36.slide better. They certainly do. It is just the control. It is amazing.

:47:37. > :47:44.When I played last Tuesday, the tables had just gone in. It was

:47:45. > :47:49.amazing. On the Saturday the courts had changed so much it was almost

:47:50. > :47:54.like a different table. You do not get as much life out of these clots

:47:55. > :48:01.as you once did. Sometimes you go into a club and they might not have

:48:02. > :48:06.changed them for six months. One of these clots on a club table would

:48:07. > :48:14.not last a month. They would be ruined. He has got to get top side

:48:15. > :48:21.and he has done just that. He is one shot away from securing the frame.

:48:22. > :48:25.He is 56 shots in front, but he needs to colours. He should be able

:48:26. > :48:32.to hold the one to the extreme left of the pack that is available. That

:48:33. > :49:19.is what he has done. He can then get on to the black. That would be frame

:49:20. > :49:39.ball. There has been a very good standard so far. A little bit

:49:40. > :49:46.unlucky there. Just couldn't generate the speed. The cue ball

:49:47. > :49:59.opened those reds into play. He will just play away. Still, a nice reply

:50:00. > :50:07.from Martin Gould. Both players will go to the interval with nothing

:50:08. > :50:13.between them. It is two frames each. We are all square again. Let's show

:50:14. > :50:37.you trim five. Alan is to play and he is trailing by 14 points. The

:50:38. > :50:48.only saving grace is that both the pink and black are in tricky

:50:49. > :50:51.positions. The top side of the blue, into the pink, gently, and then he

:50:52. > :51:14.can start thinking about winning the frame. He didn't get the desired

:51:15. > :51:26.position. If the cream was on its spot he couldn't play this ball. --

:51:27. > :51:29.green. Right over the green spot. Played it nicely. He may have an

:51:30. > :51:37.opportunity now to bring the pink into play. He can screw this raid

:51:38. > :52:03.in, bring the pink and the red in. Backed up for the blue. -- back up

:52:04. > :52:19.for the blue. It looks like you to read just below the pink are plant.

:52:20. > :52:23.See it? That helps matters. I think if he took the plant now it would

:52:24. > :52:35.feel the pink to the middle pocket, but he has taken the outside red. He

:52:36. > :52:42.doesn't bring balls into play as quickly as some other players. I am

:52:43. > :52:47.surprised he didn't take the plant because the first red would knock

:52:48. > :52:51.the second raid in and the first red wood career into the red below the

:52:52. > :53:13.pink and bring it into play. Strange one that. Just about on the red

:53:14. > :53:53.though. Mark Allen is worried about leaving

:53:54. > :54:01.that plant on. If he goes down the left-hand side, Martin good will

:54:02. > :54:05.take the plant on. You cannot get to the right-hand side. And you were

:54:06. > :54:10.right of the brown spot is where he wants the cue ball to end up, but he

:54:11. > :54:17.cannot get there. He can see these two reds. Can he just missed the

:54:18. > :54:23.blue, hit the side cushion, pass the middle pocket and lay on to the red

:54:24. > :54:39.that is next to the black. That is a possibility. He is coming off the

:54:40. > :54:43.cushion. He has got to make this plant. He needs to fit this quite

:54:44. > :54:54.hard. He needs to hit the plant full on, it is a difficult shot. That has

:54:55. > :55:08.not worked out to favourably for him. Was there another option there?

:55:09. > :55:15.That would not have been many people's choice. It looks great if

:55:16. > :55:34.you get it, but if you play that shot ten times you might just about

:55:35. > :55:38.get it once. It would be nice to get that blew back on its spot.

:55:39. > :56:10.Especially because of where the plaque is and the pink. That is

:56:11. > :56:16.pretty good. Excellent shot. Even though he leads by 33, he would do

:56:17. > :56:28.well to win the frame this time round. It is not too bad where that

:56:29. > :56:36.has finished. It is straight into the green pocket. He has a red

:56:37. > :56:44.toward the left centre. The red on the black spot, if he overscrews it.

:56:45. > :56:58.He just has to be careful when he is following through. He is OK. A bit

:56:59. > :57:07.straighter on this read than he would have liked. He has a few

:57:08. > :57:10.options. If he can get onto the black he can play it in such a way

:57:11. > :57:14.that even if he missed the black he could cover the pockets. It might be

:57:15. > :58:09.a good idea to play for the black year. It gives them a chance now to

:58:10. > :58:23.win the frame on this visit. 55 in front. 59 remaining. He will be

:58:24. > :58:30.pretty pleased with his work this afternoon so far. Played catch-up,

:58:31. > :59:01.levelled twice. Now he looks like he will take the lead for the first

:59:02. > :59:25.time in this match. Whatever happens now, Mark Allen will stay in his

:59:26. > :59:49.seat. Good shot. It has been a good standard. 57 for Martin Gould. 48

:59:50. > :59:58.and camping here. It is pretty good. Good shot.

:59:59. > :00:01.APPLAUSE And exhibition shot coming up. Blue,

:00:02. > :00:12.it looks like he is playing. Not this time, but another excellent

:00:13. > :00:18.contribution, this time of 49. Martin Gould takes the lead for the

:00:19. > :00:21.first time. Just edging in front. Let show you the next frame. Mark

:00:22. > :00:43.Allen to play, there is no score. COMMENTATOR: He has been keeping it

:00:44. > :00:49.under it, the way the balls are spread, this is an important shot,

:00:50. > :00:54.in and out of baulk. A blue or baulk colour, if he wishes. He has played

:00:55. > :01:00.it nicely. He can put this cue ball anywhere between the blue spot and

:01:01. > :01:09.the pink spot. He has a choice of possibly three or four reds. The cue

:01:10. > :01:14.ball will be anywhere in the middle of the table, far enough down, if he

:01:15. > :01:20.wishes. At the short of pace but he still has the straight red into the

:01:21. > :01:34.corner and the black to follow. He could easily have the black open

:01:35. > :01:37.into two pockets. He has got to be careful, Mark Allen. He does not

:01:38. > :01:43.want to be giving his opponent easy opportunities like this. He is one

:01:44. > :01:49.of those confidence players, he can score very quickly. When he gets his

:01:50. > :01:59.nose in front, he can reel off frames very quickly. The only way he

:02:00. > :02:04.could finish awkwardly is leaving the white where it is. OK, he can

:02:05. > :02:09.still create an angle but it was a straightforward black, there was no

:02:10. > :02:31.need to finish hampered there. He has recovered the situation.

:02:32. > :02:40.Every now and again he puts in a quick one. He has done it again

:02:41. > :02:46.there. He did not get the desired cannon. He has a red to the left

:02:47. > :03:27.centre and he can go up for the blue. He will take the yellow.

:03:28. > :03:35.Yes, couple of reds are in the way to try to get on the black into the

:03:36. > :03:57.left-hand corner pocket. He has judged that nicely.

:03:58. > :04:03.Yes, it has been a disappointing season for Martin Gould because he

:04:04. > :04:08.had a very bad ear infection and he was not able to fly through a couple

:04:09. > :04:12.of tournaments. He has done really well to start competing again at the

:04:13. > :04:26.top level. Everything is fine and dandy now.

:04:27. > :04:32.Once he gets rid of the red just above the black then he can start

:04:33. > :04:39.thinking about winning the frame at this visit. That will open up other

:04:40. > :04:44.reds into the corner pockets. Once again, not ideal on the blue but he

:04:45. > :04:52.can certainly get onto the outside red, just run through and leave the

:04:53. > :05:22.cue ball near the pink and then pot that red and then get on the black.

:05:23. > :05:38.This is the key shot because he can just screw back for the red in the

:05:39. > :06:03.same pocket and now that opens up everything.

:06:04. > :06:11.The red at the bottom of the pack will pot. I think he can hold

:06:12. > :06:22.The red at the bottom of the pack puts him 52 in front. Three more

:06:23. > :06:52.reds and three colours and he will be 4-2 in front.

:06:53. > :07:01.Yes, he put his cue up in the air there. I'm not sure if he got about

:07:02. > :07:13.contact. He seemed as though he cued it pretty well from our position. 60

:07:14. > :07:24.points ahead. That was a good recovery. He will need one more red,

:07:25. > :07:31.as you said. He might have to try to go into the bunch of four reds,

:07:32. > :07:34.possibly off the green or brown. It's a big target but there is a lot

:07:35. > :07:45.of distance that the cue ball has to travel.

:07:46. > :07:51.Has to be careful here. He has to make sure of the pot first of all.

:07:52. > :07:57.He does not want to concentrate too much on splitting the reds. He has

:07:58. > :08:01.decided to go for the loose one and that's not a bad choice if he gets

:08:02. > :08:09.close enough. Yes, pretty good shot. Just this red to put the frame

:08:10. > :08:23.beyond doubt, no heroics, just drop it in. It has been a good break, up

:08:24. > :08:38.and down the table quite a bit. He has not had the cue ball on a

:08:39. > :08:43.string, but he keeps potting them. Yes, and nice break of 66 from

:08:44. > :08:48.Martin Gould, and barring snookers he puts another frame on the board

:08:49. > :08:53.and he will now lead 4-2. STUDIO: Martin Gould won that and is edging

:08:54. > :08:55.closer to the last 16. Mark Allen needs something special to stay in

:08:56. > :09:08.the tournament. That is the first mistake that

:09:09. > :09:26.Martin Gould has played for the past three frames. Mark Allen has got to

:09:27. > :09:28.score and Havili. -- heavily. Just to let Martin Gould know that he is

:09:29. > :10:06.still in the match. It hasn't stopped and covered the

:10:07. > :10:11.red, has it? I think it has. A little bit careless, to be honest.

:10:12. > :10:15.He had another foot of table where he could have been on all three

:10:16. > :10:19.reds. That is just about the only place where he isn't. Slightly

:10:20. > :10:26.hampered cueing but maybe the bounce took a bit of pace out of the white.

:10:27. > :10:38.Very disappointed, it was a good opportunity. After that snooker

:10:39. > :10:50.initially. This is a very dangerous shot. He played it well. That was a

:10:51. > :10:56.good pot. Quite a bit of pressure on that one. The fact that the yellow

:10:57. > :11:05.is off its spot makes this shot a little bit easier. He can play on

:11:06. > :11:10.the red in the right-hand centre. Bring the cue ball up and down the

:11:11. > :11:33.table. He has got too much on this. It needs to slow up.

:11:34. > :12:05.Yes, his hand gestures make it look as though he got a bit of a spring

:12:06. > :12:21.off that cushion. Certainly not happy. Yes, he is tempted to take

:12:22. > :12:27.this into the baulk pocket. With it being virtually dead straight I

:12:28. > :12:32.would fancy him knocking this in. Well, it is not happening for Mark

:12:33. > :12:37.at the moment. He has had plenty of chances and the balls are in a

:12:38. > :12:41.perfect position, on the occasions he has been in the balls in this

:12:42. > :13:59.frame. Unfortunately for him he has not scored enough.

:14:00. > :14:08.I think there is enough room for this red to pass the other, there

:14:09. > :14:15.certainly is. Still run-through, and then the pink is available. But he

:14:16. > :14:16.is not playing it, he is playing the outside red, but he is dull playing

:14:17. > :14:45.the pot. -- he is Dell playing. . It's just not happening. OK, he can

:14:46. > :14:52.pot the pink but the black was a certainty but for it brushing by the

:14:53. > :14:56.red. When you are in front 4-2, these are no problem, but when you

:14:57. > :16:19.are behind 4-2 they are trickier. Well done, good recovery.

:16:20. > :16:28.Just concentrating on the pink for the moment. Then try to get on the

:16:29. > :16:40.black and free up the pocket on the right-hand

:16:41. > :17:00.black and free up the pocket on the The bottom one of these two

:17:01. > :17:11.Going back to that escape, it took him almost four minutes to get out

:17:12. > :17:18.of it but he negotiated a path, where if he hadn't have, he would be

:17:19. > :17:27.5-2 down, so if he gets back into this match it would be a good

:17:28. > :17:30.escape. Probably it would be a lesson for any budding snooker

:17:31. > :17:38.players, take your time, particularly on the big shots. Give

:17:39. > :17:54.yourself time to work out an escape route.

:17:55. > :18:02.Maybe this is the impetus for Mark Allen that he required in this

:18:03. > :18:09.match. He went 45 minutes without potting a ball. This is looking a

:18:10. > :18:57.bit more confident. Now the match is on again.

:18:58. > :19:09.He made a century in the third frame, Mark Allen. The 264th of his

:19:10. > :19:21.career. There is a possible opportunity here.

:19:22. > :19:34.There you can see, six pinks and four blacks. The fifth black coming

:19:35. > :19:40.up. And from nowhere, this break has really gone well. Yes, he has had to

:19:41. > :19:45.grind his way back into the match and he has done that, and when he

:19:46. > :20:05.had his first opportunity, 84 and counting.

:20:06. > :20:12.Having been frozen out for three frames, and when I say frozen out he

:20:13. > :20:20.was completely frozen out, this has been top drawer. It really has. Very

:20:21. > :20:26.good break. Second century of the match with a break of 102. He's not

:20:27. > :20:32.bothered about the black. He is back in the game but he still trails 4-3.

:20:33. > :20:36.STUDIO: It appears that the comeback is an come into the next break, Mark

:20:37. > :20:42.Allen to play, trailing by ten points. -- the comeback is on, into

:20:43. > :21:27.the next frame. Would have liked to have been a bit

:21:28. > :21:34.straighter on this blue. He can't do much with the cue ball, only drop it

:21:35. > :21:38.in. He is having a look at the red closest to the corner pocket, and

:21:39. > :22:05.the one just above that, will it go into the right-hand corner? It looks

:22:06. > :22:10.like it does. He can go back up for the blue. He has played that

:22:11. > :22:29.perfectly. The difficult thing is to get on a

:22:30. > :22:31.red and bring out the pink and open up the area around the pink spot, if

:22:32. > :23:24.he can. Overran it slightly, but he is still

:23:25. > :23:27.OK, he is on the one above the black which gives him more chance of

:23:28. > :23:33.getting the black into play at some time. I suppose he could win the

:23:34. > :23:41.game here after the pink and blue, but he would like to get the black

:23:42. > :23:48.into play very soon. That was a clever little short, wasn't it? Just

:23:49. > :23:55.freeing up the pink into the middle and moving the red away. A couple of

:23:56. > :23:59.reds around the pink spot into the right corner pocket. He now has a

:24:00. > :24:04.good chance. That is what he had to do, he had to get the pink or black

:24:05. > :24:05.into play to really have a good opportunity to win the frame in one

:24:06. > :24:24.visit. 25. 26. Looking pretty good now to be

:24:25. > :24:42.two up with a possible three to play.

:24:43. > :24:51.I'm not sure that is the best shot he has ever played. I would like to

:24:52. > :24:54.be a bit straighter on this red. He could have played for the red

:24:55. > :25:01.closest to the right-hand corner pocket as well, the red below the

:25:02. > :25:06.black. He could be struggling here. OK, he is on the red but he has more

:25:07. > :25:23.work to do with the cue ball and that means it could go wrong. He has

:25:24. > :25:27.judged it nicely. I presume he was hoping that the red would go away

:25:28. > :25:32.from the black, he has got the right side of the blue and the next two

:25:33. > :25:36.reds are no problem and that would put him 60 points in front. He will

:25:37. > :25:53.only need one of the more difficult reds and the colour.

:25:54. > :26:19.It has been an excellent break, the black has been out of commission

:26:20. > :26:29.throughout and the pink was tied up for the first part of the break.

:26:30. > :26:47.That puts him 56 in front, the pink 62, so one more red.

:26:48. > :26:55.It looks like he is too straight to be able to get close to the red that

:26:56. > :27:00.is tight on the question. As he only needs the red, just get on it, leave

:27:01. > :27:04.yourself some sort of shot on the red. It is worth taking it on

:27:05. > :27:07.because it is unlikely Mark Allen could clear up in one visit, this is

:27:08. > :27:28.definitely game ball. Well, this 53 break has almost been

:27:29. > :27:30.as good as one of Mark Allen's centuries, that is how difficult it

:27:31. > :28:22.was when he started. Well, if the red does not go in, OK,

:28:23. > :28:29.69 points ahead, barring snookers. It looks as though Martin will go

:28:30. > :28:33.5-3 in the lead. STUDIO: He did indeed. Just one more frame needed

:28:34. > :28:36.and he is also through to the last 16. Or is there still a comeback on

:28:37. > :28:53.for Mark Allen? It is amazing, in the first half of

:28:54. > :29:00.the match he could have knocked that in without any problem. Now that he

:29:01. > :29:31.has a chance to win frame and match it becomes slightly more difficult.

:29:32. > :29:35.A little bit closer to the corrosion than he would like but it should not

:29:36. > :30:29.be any real problem. Getting ever closer to the winning

:30:30. > :31:02.post. He leads by 47. Two more reds, two more colours. He needs to more

:31:03. > :31:10.reds to keep Martin Gould from coming back to the table. This is a

:31:11. > :31:19.snooker required situation. He would like to pot a red and a colour so he

:31:20. > :31:31.will not come back to the table. He would rather keep him off the table.

:31:32. > :31:38.He judged that nicely for the pink. He will be making sure this read

:31:39. > :32:04.those in. He will make sure of the red. That will close the gap. What a

:32:05. > :32:10.shot that was. When he has got in amongst the pink and the black he

:32:11. > :32:13.has been excellent. As you said, just a few loose safety shots have

:32:14. > :32:37.cost them a few frames in this match. When he is playing, he is as

:32:38. > :32:46.good as anybody, Mark Allen. A very aggressive player. It is only the

:32:47. > :32:52.safety department that has not been up to scratch today. He has been the

:32:53. > :32:55.better of the two as far as brick building has been concerned. Should

:32:56. > :33:02.he clear, he will be in front on aggregate as well. He is certainly

:33:03. > :33:17.potting as many balls as Alan. -- as Martin. This is his first break over

:33:18. > :33:41.50, apart from two earlier centuries. He has an amazing amount

:33:42. > :34:05.of cue power. No pot on the black. He still trails 5-4. Mark Allen, not

:34:06. > :35:34.the best brick off. Have a chance for Martin Gould. As he left

:35:35. > :35:38.anything? Good shot. Another early chance for Mark Allen to get a few

:35:39. > :35:43.points on the board. The way he is feeling at the moment, he is looking

:35:44. > :35:58.aggressive at the moment and in a few moments we might be all square

:35:59. > :36:38.at 5-5. He needs to come by this read. It is OK. A good shot. The red

:36:39. > :36:42.at the bottom of the pack is in an ideal situation now. He can drop

:36:43. > :36:48.this blue and tried to get on the red. He should finish low on the red

:36:49. > :36:55.so he can bring more reds into play. Just watch the cue here. If he

:36:56. > :37:03.finishes straight he has still got the black and some loose reds, but

:37:04. > :37:10.try to finish low on this red. He has over run it. He still has the

:37:11. > :37:36.plaque to split the raids and a couple of loose reds available. They

:37:37. > :37:46.are lot of action on that and he has been very fortunate. That is why it

:37:47. > :37:53.would have been so much nicer for him to finish low on the previous

:37:54. > :37:57.red. It is so much easier when you are splitting the reds with a red

:37:58. > :38:05.because of the position of the pack, it is very flat. Never easy to

:38:06. > :38:12.generate tuple movement when it is like that. It is an lucky to not be

:38:13. > :39:34.able to chew better than this, but he will not be too interested in

:39:35. > :40:13.that. Another good safety shot from Martin Gould. If he can run through

:40:14. > :40:20.and get nearer the chores of the middle pocket he will be on the blue

:40:21. > :40:29.if it goes in. I don't think he is even attempting it. He is playing

:40:30. > :40:33.the safety. He has been a little bit cautious today. That is probably the

:40:34. > :40:42.reason he is in front, but now and again he may have attempted a shot,

:40:43. > :40:48.he is such a good partner. His safety has been superb. Bringing the

:40:49. > :40:54.two reds into play is more evidence of it. A little bit of pressure on

:40:55. > :41:00.Mark Allen here. This is a very strange shot. He is always leaving

:41:01. > :41:05.this red over the right middle. While he would want the tuple down

:41:06. > :41:10.this end of the table. He wanted to get closer with the tuple to the

:41:11. > :41:20.corner pocket, so this red would be an colourable, but it is pretty

:41:21. > :41:25.straight forward now. It is a natural angle to go through the poll

:41:26. > :41:30.colours without kissing them. This is the first chance he has heard in

:41:31. > :41:35.the last frame to win frame and March. The ball is in a nice

:41:36. > :41:40.position here. He could get right back into the frame if not when it

:41:41. > :41:46.at this visit. When it is the final frame, players start to be cautious.

:41:47. > :41:55.This is a chance, make no mistake. No reds on the cushion. The two

:41:56. > :42:01.difficult reds that were on the cushion, from his previous safety

:42:02. > :42:06.shot, he brought them into play. He said this opportunity very nicely

:42:07. > :42:33.for himself. He will not get a better opportunity than this.

:42:34. > :42:35.for himself. He will not get a is a red available in to the other

:42:36. > :42:42.for himself. He will not get a corner pocket. One in the middle as

:42:43. > :42:50.well. He has not made a good fist of that. That was a very tentative

:42:51. > :43:23.shot. You want to be straight on this red. That is not the best shot

:43:24. > :43:47.either. It might have an angle on the blue to get closer down to the

:43:48. > :43:52.reds. It looks like he is on the middle red if you want to play for

:43:53. > :43:55.the black. There is an open play on the left-hand side, but it is not

:43:56. > :44:06.natural because he will finish close to the cushion. That is what he has

:44:07. > :44:21.done. It looks like he is straight on the black. The angle is going

:44:22. > :44:25.away from where he would have liked. He will have played this with a lot

:44:26. > :44:42.of reverse side. He could screw this. He played that absolutely

:44:43. > :44:50.perfectly. I am not sure if he played for those two reds, to be

:44:51. > :44:57.honest. Moving this one brings the other two into play. Once again, he

:44:58. > :45:02.does this so often. He is careless around the black spot. You have got

:45:03. > :45:18.to make sure you finish low or high. He has given himself plenty to do

:45:19. > :45:26.with this tuple now. -- cue ball. It is almost the same angle as the last

:45:27. > :45:32.black he played. He has played it very well for the two reds into the

:45:33. > :45:43.centre. Of course, with every pot it makes it little more difficult. The

:45:44. > :45:50.points were all square after that last colour. Now he is in the lead

:45:51. > :45:56.in this final frame. Just one shot away. He will have to negotiate the

:45:57. > :46:02.path of one of those two reds next to the pink very shortly. Getting

:46:03. > :46:06.the red below the pink will open one of them. This is a wonderful chance

:46:07. > :46:24.for freedom and March. APPLAUSE

:46:25. > :46:38.He wanted to be a little higher with the tuple on this black. He has been

:46:39. > :46:44.at that angle at least three times on this break. He has played an

:46:45. > :46:49.excellent recovery there, forcing the ankle on the black and out

:46:50. > :47:02.through the gap. The only hope for Mark Allen is the red closest to the

:47:03. > :47:07.pink. I am almost beginning to think he is doing it on purpose. You think

:47:08. > :47:14.you would learn from the four previous shots to try to not finish

:47:15. > :47:18.in the same angle. Four times he has got the same angle, four times he

:47:19. > :47:45.has got out of it. Will he do the same again? When you play screw shot

:47:46. > :47:51.after screw shot you will eventually get a bad contact and that is what

:47:52. > :48:27.has happened there. 24 points in front. Create shot. A great pot and

:48:28. > :48:35.a wonderful angle on the black. This is the only hope for Mark Allen.

:48:36. > :48:41.Mark Allen cannot bear to watch at the moment but he needs a good case

:48:42. > :48:46.on this red to bring it into play. Would you play the pink and red at

:48:47. > :48:58.the same time? I would just play into the red. He has played it very

:48:59. > :49:24.well. That is it. This red will put him into the next round of the UK

:49:25. > :49:28.Championships. We said we were expecting high-quality sticker from

:49:29. > :49:32.both players who have come into a bit of form and they certainly

:49:33. > :49:42.provided us with that. A couple of centuries from Mark Allen the sub

:49:43. > :49:46.77, 76, 57 from Martin Gould. 76 and counting here. Excellent quality and

:49:47. > :49:51.excellent safety play from Martin Gould. That has been the difference.

:49:52. > :50:11.He has carved out the opportunities for himself. He is going to finish

:50:12. > :50:22.with the black. Will we see a little exhibition shot? Well, a wonderful

:50:23. > :50:29.break from Martin Gould. A 98 break to finish the match. He is into the

:50:30. > :50:35.last 16 as he defeats Mark Allen, the world number 11. Well played

:50:36. > :50:40.Martin Gould. Martin is into the top 16. He is also here. Great to see

:50:41. > :50:46.you. The turning point was when he won the three frames on the bounce?

:50:47. > :50:52.I don't know, to be honest. It was a high-quality game between both of

:50:53. > :50:58.us. Heavy scoring. Basically, what one the more frames was my safety

:50:59. > :51:06.play. I am not known for my safety, but I created a lot of opportunities

:51:07. > :51:10.and took full advantage. I thought the safety, there were two or three

:51:11. > :51:18.positions which were impossible to get out of. You had him in all sorts

:51:19. > :51:27.of trouble. There was no way he could reply. This year you have come

:51:28. > :51:32.up against Johnny Higgins and taken him to the last frame in the final.

:51:33. > :51:37.You have beaten him in a major right match. All of a sudden, you have

:51:38. > :51:40.played one of the greatest masters of safety. I am not saying he taught

:51:41. > :51:47.you nothing, you are in the right frame of mind. You watch the shots

:51:48. > :51:50.that John play and you take notice is that you try not to take too much

:51:51. > :51:57.notice, but you watch what he is doing. You were known as a good

:51:58. > :52:02.tactician. I practised with a guy called Steve Downing. He was

:52:03. > :52:08.granted. He tightened me up good and proper. I know the safety Kim is

:52:09. > :52:14.there, I just do not like it very often. Given that you have reached

:52:15. > :52:19.the final of the Australian open, are you feeling fresh and full of

:52:20. > :52:22.confidence after that great run? Not fresh, I have done a lot of

:52:23. > :52:28.travelling. I came straight from Hong Kong to hear. I have had to get

:52:29. > :52:35.at home since three weeks ago, something like that. It is sleeping

:52:36. > :52:42.in hotel beds all the time. I used it. I am more comfortable and hotels

:52:43. > :52:46.done in my own bed at the moment. We have been talking about career head

:52:47. > :52:53.to heads. We have been talking about career head to heads. . They were

:52:54. > :52:59.deadlocked 2-2 between you and Mark Allen, does not have an impact when

:53:00. > :53:03.you go into a match? Not really, I did not realise that. I just go and

:53:04. > :53:09.play my own game and if it is good enough you go through, if it is not,

:53:10. > :53:16.you go home. What are your career heads like with Joe Swail? I have no

:53:17. > :53:21.idea what it is. I am up for the game. Let's turn our attention to

:53:22. > :53:28.the matches tonight. There are two cracking matches. We have Judd

:53:29. > :53:35.Trump, would number six. He has been beaten twice by Wenbo. Will there be

:53:36. > :53:37.another upset? We have Neil Robertson playing Aketxe Un-Nooh of

:53:38. > :53:59.Thailand. The Robertson playing Aketxe Un-Nooh of

:54:00. > :54:01.sell snooker and Robertson playing Aketxe Un-Nooh of

:54:02. > :54:03.remain at the top of the game and I would love to see him beat world

:54:04. > :54:06.champion because he could make would love to see him beat world

:54:07. > :54:10.difference to snigger. He is would love to see him beat world

:54:11. > :54:12.Alex Higgins of the modern game. The Jimmy White. He is unpredictable. He

:54:13. > :54:18.has an abundance Jimmy White. He is unpredictable. He

:54:19. > :54:22.Flamboyant to stop a great entertainer. A little bit

:54:23. > :54:25.misunderstood of the table. People see him as to flamboyant added

:54:26. > :54:27.misunderstood of the table. People partygoer. If you know him and his

:54:28. > :54:32.family, he is not like that, a great kid. He is amazing. A great

:54:33. > :54:36.attitude. Unfair kid. He is amazing. A great

:54:37. > :54:45.attitude. I love attitude. He is great for the game. Crack on made.

:54:46. > :54:55.Hard, quick, quiet. A very good player. He has rounded his game,

:54:56. > :55:03.which has taken bit of him. He is pottering, but it will be better for

:55:04. > :55:08.his career. He has one of the best games I have ever seen. He has

:55:09. > :55:13.everything. He loves not eat snigger. He plays great attacking

:55:14. > :55:21.snigger. The crowd love to watch. I love to watch. I am sure he is a

:55:22. > :55:27.world champion in the making. We keep saying that. We focus on the UK

:55:28. > :55:32.championship, but we talk about Judd Trump as a future world champion.

:55:33. > :55:36.When and with that happen? I think it will happen. He needs a

:55:37. > :55:40.tournament like this to get started. You will need to play with better

:55:41. > :55:45.concentration than in his last match. He was good in fits and

:55:46. > :55:49.starts in that game. He was not encrypted longbows in, making

:55:50. > :55:54.centuries, but in between that was a lack of concentration. His mate was

:55:55. > :56:02.at the next table, but you need to be fully focused. Does that bug his

:56:03. > :56:05.game, the lack of concentration? Everybody is looking for ultra

:56:06. > :56:12.consistency and you cannot be like a John Higgins, who puts everything

:56:13. > :56:17.into one shot. I think what Judd Trump as is the ability to blitz an

:56:18. > :56:22.event and we all sit down and think it could happen. In that respect, he

:56:23. > :56:26.is like Ronnie Sullivan. He could take the game by the scruff of the

:56:27. > :56:30.neck and bust every off the table. It is unlikely because it is tough,

:56:31. > :56:35.but it could happen. There are not many players you would think that

:56:36. > :56:42.about. I think there will be a change in his attitude. When a like

:56:43. > :56:49.the next big thing but he has been disappointed. Do you get the feeling

:56:50. > :56:53.that there is a weight of expectation? Comparing him to Ronnie

:56:54. > :56:58.O'Sullivan, he is the naughty boy of snooker, we call him the ace in the

:56:59. > :57:05.pack, is a much more comfortable, if you like, with that tide? He is in

:57:06. > :57:11.the pot of his career where he is ready to win, he has matured as a is

:57:12. > :57:15.battle scarred but has had enough defeat to know he should have done

:57:16. > :57:18.that in the past. He is ready to take off. Over the next five or six

:57:19. > :57:24.years he should be a consistent tournament winner. Thus the need to

:57:25. > :57:28.look at the Robertson and the player he has become to determine whether

:57:29. > :57:34.he needs to follow someone like that to become the word champ? Players

:57:35. > :57:40.become more considered as they get older. Don't necessarily judge Judd

:57:41. > :57:45.Trump now, even though he is all -- maturing in all departments. Take a

:57:46. > :57:49.look at him when he is 30 and he will do a lot of damage in the game.

:57:50. > :57:54.He does not have many players exactly where he is, so he is well

:57:55. > :57:57.placed to pick up the reins as the possible player who could dominate

:57:58. > :58:09.and that will not be easy. It could happen. Judd Trump and the Robertson

:58:10. > :58:12.to win? You would think so. There are great players. Fantastic

:58:13. > :58:17.talents. Neil Robertson is the one who could possibly be under more

:58:18. > :58:22.pressure. We will see better concentration and focus from Judd

:58:23. > :58:27.Trump. Thank you very much. If you want to follow those matches, they

:58:28. > :58:33.will be available on the BBC red button. Also available on BBC sport.

:58:34. > :58:38.His will be back with you this evening for highlights. Admit that

:58:39. > :58:42.on BBC Scotland. BBC Northern Ireland at half past 12. And it's

:58:43. > :58:44.from around three this evening. Thank you for watching. At a great

:58:45. > :58:58.evening. Goodbye. MUSIC: Everybody's Talkin'

:58:59. > :59:01.by Harry Nilsson