Last 16 - Part 3 UK Snooker Championship

Welcome back to the Barbican, day

two of the last 16. A lot of snooker

to catch up on, since you have been

away. John Parrott and Ken Doherty

still alongside me. We are focusing

on Shaun Murphy, the 2008 UK

champion, taking on Ricky Walden

afternoon. Murphy leads by a 6-3.

When you left, Shaun Murphy was

leading by 3-1 at the mid-session

interval, firing in a brilliant

break in frame three. And he needed

just one to book a place in the

quarterfinals against King. We

joined it in the early stages of the

next frame with Alan McManus and

Dennis Taylor.

I'm not sure if that red next to the

black is great, there are other reds

he can play. If it goes into the

right corner, he may not be able to

get to it this time but there's

plenty of room, as you can see. And

he's played at that side of the

table so he has got the red at the

back of the bunch and he can get

nicely on the black and do something

about the red. It is making that

like a little awkward.

He had to go for the blue because he

was dead straight on that red.

Just

that shot there was typical of the

modern game. He potted a

straightforward red and deliberately

played for a long blue. Did not even

think twice about it.

Welcome he has got the angle now on

the blue to play for that red next

to the black.

These are little shots whether cue

action comes in handy. These are

missable. Clean as a whistle. Does

not mind leaving the cue ball near

the side cushion, Shaun Murphy. He's

such a good potter. A great asset to

have.

It has certainly opened up the reds

with that shot and if he can get to

67 points as you can see with the

side bar, he's into the next round.

He does not want to hit the blue!

That is the worst possible outcome.

He's great with the rest. Boy, this

is going to be difficult. I don't

think he can get through to the

green either. We keep saying he's

the best in the world with the rest,

he needs a good one here. Oh, look

at that shot. But as we show you the

great pot again, if the red does not

pass the yellow, from the corner

that he potted the blue, that is

very tight. Half a pocket, you would

say. Well, what a test of the cue

action. Only that much pocket

available to you.

Yes, he doesn't

like it, it does go but probably not

even in the middle of the pocket.

No. Once again, he has done all the

hard work, Shaun Murphy, to get into

a prime position. And it was a prime

position. But the ramp -- but the

red and the blue, why he did not go

for a baulk colour, no idea. You

don't want to be critical of

players. He did all the hard work.

This is the red, it actually makes

the pot easier. Not for a baulk

colour. Ricky Walden is in the last

chance saloon. The match mentally is

probably gone right now. We speak

about pride performance. He would

just want to show this Barbican

crowd what he can do. You never

know. You just have to hang in there

as long as you can. It can happen.

The only way it will not happen is

if you mentally give up.

I'm going to give him the benefit of

the doubt, I think he got a heavy

contact. Let's have a look at this.

That did kick and that might be his

last shot for this year at the UK

Championship.

Not a nice way to lose a match. But

he's 5-1 behind. Just a

straightforward little pot. And you

would know it was a kick because the

white finished where it did.

If Shaun does prevail and win this

match this afternoon, you would have

to say he's playing very well. But

he can do better. Concentration

wise, he hasn't been up to it today,

missing too many simple balls and

too many elementary mistakes, but

increasingly likely he will go

through the play Mark King tomorrow.

Yes, you would need to be in the 93

department. With pot success rate.

He did have a century, Shaun.

Another couple of 50 plus, 49 break.

Ricky Walden just missed too many

pots this afternoon. And Mark King

is waiting for Shaun Murphy, as

Allen said. Rob Walker introduced

him as Kojak and he was in his seat.

Somebody gave him a lollipop. And he

obliged by sucking on a lollipop

throughout the match. What a win

against John Higgins! But he will

have to be on his guard to beat

Shaun. Well, they will not go in at

that pace, but Ricky Walden... He

did not play well, but he

congratulates Shaun Murphy. The

former champion goes through to the

quarterfinal, eating Ricky Walden by

6-1. -- beating.

You know, I played nicely, there was

some shots that did not quite go to

plan and on another day, I think

Ricky being a bit more clinical

might have punished me and we might

still have been playing. The game

turns on a little mistake here all

that. I have lost matches from 3-1

ahead and 4-1 ahead and you can

never afford to take your foot off

the gas and I finished the match

nicely. I'm playing with a lot of

confidence. I'm seeing opportunities

when I play rather than seeing the

potential problems that can happen.

My attitude to the game has changed

slightly. I would probably give my

game a seven, going on to eight this

week. I'm a couple of shots here or

there, a couple of bad moments of

the cue ball, not putting it in the

right place, from playing really

clinical one visit to snooker. If I

can sort that, it could be

dangerous.

A very good assessment of where

he's. A good assessment of where

he's this afternoon.

He's always

extremely honest. He's not stupid,

he's bright and he knows the

situation, 6-1 was a very square --

very flattering scoreline, Ricky

Walden did not play anything like he

can do and did not take his

opportunities. On another day, it

might have been three or four each.

He's hitting the ball well enough to

win the tournament, no doubt, it is

the unforced errors and little

lifelines to his opponent when it

looks like he winning frames.

Interesting hearing Shaun talking

that he could be dangerous, he's

going to be a very dangerous

opponent for anyone if he irons out

those mistakes.

Every now and again

he might make a century break and

then he misses on 40 the easiest

round and he did that a couple of

times against Ricky Walden. Against

the top players like Ronnie

O'Sullivan or the other players

playing really well in this

tournament, he will get punished. He

has the cut out those little

mistakes and on his day, he's a

handful for anybody and one of the

best players in the world.

This

afternoon, we would talking about

Ricky Walden playing with his back

injuries. He once made a semifinal

of the Crucible and you look at him

now and you think, where is the

Ricky Walden from a few years ago?

He's making inroads to come back, he

has had good results. In the last

round, he beat Kyren Wilson by 6-2

who is a very good player. He just

did not play well today, he did not

play anything like he can do, but

he's on the way back from having a

bad back and terrible health issues,

he will be glad to be near the

business end of a major tournament

but a little disappointed he did not

do his stuff today.

Firm favourite

for the UK Championship is Ronnie

O'Sullivan who is back in action

this evening. He's taking on the

Thai 22-year-old sensation Sunny

Akani.

I'm feeling very good and

very happy about myself. I'm very,

very happy to play with Ronnie in

the next match. It is my dream to

play with Ronnie. He's one of my

idols.

It is fantastic to play with him.

The first match of snooker, it was

with Stephen Hendry against Ken

Doherty in the World Championship in

1997. I like Ronnie. Selby, Judd

Trump. It is not the same, Ronnie is

very very good at beating the best

in the world. Mark Selby, his game

is very good. Judd Trump, he's

really attacking, he's very

accurate. And Stephen Hendry, he's a

machine. That is the biggest match

of my career and my dream match to

play with Ronnie and very happy and

very surprised. Fantastic. Excited,

displaying Ronnie's shots. Hopefully

I will not miss a shot, not miss a

safety.

What a great interview, that is on

BBC Two. Lovely to hear talking

about a dream come true especially

after dumping Barry Hawkins.

To beat

Barry Hawkins 6-0, not many players

would have that on their CV and he

played superbly well. A lovely young

chap who goes round with his father,

forever on the practice table. When

he wins and he loses, he's out

there. I think he's going to really

enjoy it.

This is this afternoon

when he popped into the practice

room. What a lovely interview and

refreshing to hear him talking about

watching his heroes and coming up

against them tonight.

Yes, fantastic

match, great experience all week.

That is a great result the Hawkins

so you have you have to have

confidence. As ever, so important at

the beginning of these matches to

get a good start. Just a couple of

chances and getting involved, who

knows what can happen? But you have

to be careful, if Ronnie starts

quickly, who knows?

What would you

say, be relaxed and enjoyed it?

Exactly, play as if you have nothing

to lose. Go out and smile and enjoy

it and keep as calm as possible.

Fantastic stuff and we wish him the

best, you can see that on BBC Two.

This is what is happening in the

other match today, Martin Gould

taking on Xiao Guodong, of China.

When we left it, it was 2-2. We are

now joining it in frame five and

Martin Gould has a 30 point lead, it

is Xiao to play commentary from

Stephen Davies and Stephen Hendry.

-- Steve Davis.

Scoring opportunity for Xiao

Guodong. A lovely angle to go into

the bunch of greens. A big target.

He might not feel that way inclined

at the moment. He might not feel

that confident. It could not be

better on the green. He doesn't seem

to have, when I have seen him as a

youngster, he doesn't have the sea

there he doesn't seem to have the

flowing cue action. I can't remember

the word used for it, Steve.

Unflowing. He has put the cue ball

in exactly the same position now to

go into the pack of reds. You might

as well have done it before. Perhaps

he will choose another positional

shot.

Yes, well played. He did not

go into the reds but it has turned

out perfectly because he can stun

this red into the same pocket.

It

does beg the question, why did you

not do it the first time? You could

not guarantee he would get it

perfect on the green, the second.

Regardless, this is now a great

chance. And at some stage in this

match, you would expect the

standards to rise. Maybe it is who

gets off the ground first.

Yes, everyone has bad days, no

doubt. Whoever wins this match, they

know to play like this in the next

round. Against whom we presume it

will be Ronnie O'Sullivan, no

disrespect his opponent. They will

have to play a lot better. They are

going to be sat on their chair for a

long time, otherwise.

I think the only red that is notable

after this is to the right of the

three, the right corner or the left

middle.

It looks to be quite straight, the

black. So screw back and a touch to

the right-hand side. Take the cue

ball up the table.

Not the best

angle but he should get it right.

He

played it nicely. Even if he's not

straight on the red, he can stomach

the cue ball through, the black into

the same pocket, he could possibly

play the top spin to move the reds

to the top middle, but I think the

stun is the shot.

He's going to need

these remaining three reds.

Cannon on the pink is ideal. Well

played. Playing with a little more

with them, Xiao Guodong, taking

these well so far. -- more rhythm.

He does not really want to be

straight on the black, that is Kelis

if he's. The shot he played

previously, the screw-back shot, if

he overdoes it, he could snooker

himself with the pink.

I don't know

if he has checked to see if there's

a plant into the left-hand corner.

Because of the pink, that was the

other side.

He overhit that somewhat, and now

this red is permissible. He just got

a bit too much into it.

Yes, the

last thing he wanted was frame ball.

To be difficult.

It would be a horrible ending to

this break, should you miss it.

He got a kick on that. It is not his

fault he got a kick, but it was his

fault he was out of position.

It could be a big moment in this

match.

He kind of playback shot like a hit

and hope. Did not seem to have a

plan to get on a colour. -- he kind

of played that shot. Yellow and

brown. Yes, this could be a bit of a

moment in this match. Xiao Guodong

should have been 3-2 ahead by now.

I think I'm correct in saying that

Martin Gould is still in with a

chance of sneaking in to the top 16

in the race to the Masters. If that

information has changed, I do

apologise for my lack of knowledge.

But I think yesterday, he was in the

race. Depends on the results, of

course.

Well, because the pink is not on its

spot, Martin Gould has played the

pink to the left but it seems to

have gone to the cushion a lot

quicker than it went on.

A lot of

big bouncers we have had at the UK

Championship. It seems to have been

something we have not had to

discuss. So this is a tricky cutback

to hold for black.

He hit it very

nicely. To get over the

disappointment of whether cue ball

has ended up. So that was an

excellent frame, Xiao Guodong should

have got it and did not get position

on the last red and Martin Gould

takes the lead on 3-2.

Martin Gould is back in front. This

is frame six and it is Xiao to play.

A good recovery from Guodong. A

little bit of work to be done with

the implements. Across the face of

the black, it looks like, a bit of

screw back. Strange. What happened

there? It must have just caught the

red, bounced the white ball a

fraction. He thought he could screw

back without touching that. Well,

even though I said it looked like it

was not going to be Guodong's day,

he is not in an awful position, it

is just his general standard he

needs to increase if he is going to

win. He is a player in this game

that could potentially just fall

over the line. It would be like

pulling teeth. If it happens that

way. But a win is a win.

Two reds in

the pink spot, I don't know if the

bottom one will go into the top

corner. He obviously doesn't think

that. Sometimes you need to be a

player down at the table to see the

real angle, whether it goes or not.

You feel for his own belief in

winning this match that he has to

win this frame at this visit. If he

keeps failing, his confidence keeps

taking a hit, you wonder how he can

come back from it.

Couldn't keep position on the blue,

but always nice to have the Bal dock

colours

but always nice to have the Bal dock

colours available. Let up of danger

with those three reds to the right,

could find yourself in a positional

trap. So, he's playing down the

right-hand side of the table. Looks

to have over-screwed this by some

distance... That's a long way out.

So, this red into the middle pocket

wasn't the one he played, but has a

chance, obviously.

Although you could say he was

fortunate to have that red, he was

that far out with his position, but

it was a good pot.

35 ahead. Red, colour, red.

So, very similar to the last frame.

Frame ball, he's left one which is

missable.

Doesn't have to play

position, though. Should do, but

doesn't have to.

STEVE DAVIS: Position was more or

less automatic. So he'll be feeling

a bit better inside, that he's

survived a little bit of a storm.

STEPHEN HENDRY: Yeah, as you said

before, Steve, although the last

couple of frames he has had a couple

of 60 breaks, he's not been playing

well, but he's still 3-3.

50 points find - very unlikely that

you could get into the match from

this position. So, barring snookers

it will be 3-3 arablea real

topsy-turvy affair, this. Zarco

Donald Penn made it 4-3. Martin

Gould then knocked in a couple of

breaks to draw level again. Let's

take you to frame nine, with Stephen

Hendry and Steven Davis.

STEVE DAVIS: Well, Martin Gould

hoping to reap the rewards from his

excellent safety shot.

STEPHEN HENDRY: And talking about

your scenario before, Steve, talking

about winning the last two frames in

one visit - I would fancy Martin

Gould to be the more capable of

doing that, winning if quick frames.

-- winning two quick frames of. I

think when he gets in, his

positional play is just that little

bit tighter than Xiao Guodong's.

He

missed that by miles!

Perhaps his

rest play is not good enough!

That

is an astonishing distance! He must

have got unwanted side spin on it.

The cue ball has ended up nowhere

near where he wanted it.

Xiao

Guodong can play a very aggressive

shot here, if he chooses, pot it and

screw the cue ball through the reds,

put them everywhere. He would have

to be very unlucky not to be on a

colour.

Just got a duty to much forward

momentum on the cue ball, it started

to go forwards first, before it

started to come back. Well, we've

seen Martin miss a lot easier

chances than this. Straight cueing,

shots you practice all day long.

Let's see how hard he hits this...

No need to hit it hard. Hit kids do,

though. Why is he screwing back?

Why

is he screwing back?! To get the

right side of a red, but I mean,

that red over the pocket... It makes

that shot so much more difficult.

Putting the extra pace in means that

the ball won't drop in the whole. I

don't think you would have seen

Ronnie O'Sullivan play that shot as

hard.

Yeah, the priority there was just

potting the blue.

He's out on the table, he can see

where that red is over the middle

pocket. If he just pots the blue and

stuns it dead. Surely he can get it

back down the table again. I would

love to know what was going through

his mind there.

This is tight - enough room, though.

Now, will he risk cropping on the

black? -- dropping. Oh, dear.

Well,

this is... This isn't good. He

didn't have much of a cheque before

he played that shot. That in itself

was an error, not knowing exactly

where the pink ball was going to

spot. He always had this red with

the extended rest, but not clever.

Can hit drop on the black? I don't

know if it's available to either

corner... Probably some sort of

cannon... Needs to be lucky here...

And he has been, what a result!

Well, he's played the aggressive

shot, I suppose you could say

fortune favours the brave. Just

about going to drop in.

That was in the middle when it

started, ended up going in off the

front jaw.

Well, here's a chance for

a frame-winning contribution. The

first one fell short with a poor

rest shot, but he shouldn't be

needing the rest for a while here,

if at all.

Didn't really want to come away from

the black, but must have felt he had

to.

Oh, and he's overhit that a little

bit. But there's a red below the

black that goes. Doesn't have to

stay on the black, as I said, he can

come back up the table. It's not

ideal, is it, Stephen?

I think he'll

play for blue here.

If he had gone the wrong side of the

pink there, could have come unstuck.

Well, he's kept this break going,

and now starting to look more like

prime position.

One more positional shot he's got to

get right, those five reds a bit

crowded. Ideally, he would like to

break them open and have an

insurance red, get one over the

corner. Perhaps he'll go into them

now... I'm not sure he's got the

angle. He would have liked to have

been lower on the black. He may have

to write the bullet and that

apartment. -- he may have to bite

the bullet. Guodong's only hope now,

that after this next black, that

somehow Martin Gould gets unlucky.

It's a he's chance. -- it's a slim

chance.

The red to the right of the five is

the one to cannon. He's played that

well. He has a choice of two reds to

either middle pocket. He's grimacing

slightly, but this one on the left

is OK, surely.

Still a good positional shot. Should

get this - and its frame over.

Surprise in miss on the red. 69

points in front. That was a careless

shot.

JASON MOHAMMED: However he still

took the frame, and Martin is now

one frame away from the

quarterfinals. Into the next frame,

Xiao to break.

STEVE DAVIS: I can't say that any

player is favourite at this moment.

STEPHEN HENDRY: Yeah, a player with

Martin Gould's experience should

have really seized that opportunity.

Wrong side of the blue, so further

away from the reds than he wanted.

From what we've seen so far, I can't

say that I'm absolutely confident of

this is going in.

Nice shot.

Yeah, in the end, it was

very well struck. But it's hard to

know how many chances in the frame

each player needs to get the job

done.

They are good for the morale,

though, when you knock one in,

especially after you've missed an

easy one.

Top spin is a strange

choice for me here. It would be very

hard to get right side of the blue.

Just looking at where the break is

going to end at the moment, aren't

you? It's terrible, but it's been

that type of game, you just fancy

that this is going to be a

frame-winning clearance. -- you just

don't fancy. But we're talking about

the best players in the world -

they're just having a bad day at the

office. It's not so easy to get back

out into open play.

He might choose

to use the bunch here, there's every

chance the cue ball will go up

towards that end of the table where

the colours are. He might possibly

be on the pink. Exactly what he

played, good shot.

That was good

thinking. Having criticised him for

some bad thinking - that was the

opposite. No! Actually I don't think

he's even on a red! From Martin

Gould's pass per if, once again,

you've got to be pleased he's missed

the blue. -- from Martin Gould's

prospective. Does this one go past

the, which yes, it does have.

If you can't win the match from

here, you can have no excuses.

Well,

he's 37 points behind, so he's

basically looking at a clearance.

If he doesn't do it from here, it's

only the situation and the fact that

he's not playing with full

confidence. Another shake of the

head - not where he wanted the cue

ball to be.

Looks as if he had a bad

contact there that took some of the

spin off the cue ball. Didn't sound

like one.

He might choose to play

the cannon on the pink, leave the

pink to the right middle here.

Pretty straightforward shot - but I

think at this stage nothing's

straightforward.

Could go off two

cushions... A bit short of pace

perhaps... That's a sign of tension.

Yeah, tension in the arm. Blue in

and out of baulk is never certain

position the. -- never certain

positionally. There's a lot at stake

for Martin Gould.

I think he's still involved the

mix-up for the race to the Masters.

Couldn't have played that much

better.

I was going to say, that

could be the match-winning shot.

Sometimes when you play a perfect

positional shot, it just gets you

right back in the right frame of

mind, when you're struggling for

position. Now he's in, I don't see

him going wrong from here.

Couldn't have slipped it up and

placed it better. Is they're going

to be one more twist? Will can hit

it over the line in style here? --

or can he get over the line?

Shaking

his head. He got in perfect has

issued but then managed to leave

himself the cannon, which he's done

very well. Just a series of little

stuns and screws now. Yeah,

sometimes playing off the blue

there's less Prussia than playing

off the back. You've got four

pockets to play for, rather than

two. -- less pressure.

STEVE DAVIS: Wouldn't want to leave

himself dead straight on the pink.

The line he's got on the red is

perfect to make sure that he doesn't

leave himself dead straight. So, pot

the pink, off the side cushion, out

into the open table - it really is a

gilt-edged chance now to get over

the line.

Would you go up for the

green here, Steve?

Well, he should

do. If he feels he's absolutely

plumb on it, he could play for the

blue, but really, if there is any

tension in the arm, the green is a

safer option.

That's perfect on the

blue, but if he had got straight on

the blue...

Yeah. Green gives more

opportunities, but he looks good, he

looks like he's got himself together

and composed. He takes the lead by

eight points. So, he needs up to the

blue.

A little bit further away from the

green than would have been

comfortable. Does he have to screw

for the brown to the same pocket? He

played it well. That's normally the

big shot in clearing the colours,

getting perfectly on the brown.

Should be automatic from here.

Steeling himself for the big effort

to pot these two balls. He's done

well, Martin Gould. He was 4-3 down,

his won three frames in a row. Xiao

Guodong has had plenty of chances to

get back in this match. The crowd

applauds, that's much more. It's

been a good break, this, from Martin

Gould. It's not been a pretty much

to watch, by any means, but that

doesn't matter from Martin Gould,

who wins 6-4 to go through to the

quarterfinals.

Martin, good clearance and a big

win?

Definitely. It was a strange

game, ebbing and flowing, I was

going in front, he was going in

front. It was one of those where I

don't think either of us really got

our true game together. Thankfully,

I used a bit of knowledge and

experience in the last two to make

two good clearances, but I'm

delighted to be through.

It's your

second UK quarterfinal in three

years, so FI putting a decent run

together here in York?

There must be

something about Christmas time,

because the last couple of

Christmases I've had a good run at

some point. So, yeah, looks like

there will be a fair few more

Christmas presents having to be

bought at some point this year.

It

has been a good season so far -

semifinalist at the International

Championship, things look like

they're clicking for you?

Yeah, to

be fair, apart from the first event

of the season, I've qualified for

everything. It's not like I've not

been playing half decent, it's just

I've not really had the good results

to show. And the last couple of

events, Shanghai, now this,

everything is starting to work

towards the main target, which is

obviously the World Championships at

the end of the season. So,

everything's going along nicely, so

just keep wheels in motion.

And

potentially, although he is not

guaranteed to be your opponent, but

in all likelihood it will be Ronnie

O'Sullivan - what an occasion that

would be?

Yeah, it would be,

definitely. Tact house, obviously, I

don't think many people would expect

in me to win, and the crowd will

certainly be on Ronnie's side I know

what I can do on my given day. If it

means that I'm playing him tomorrow,

then let the show begin.

Well done.

Mohamed label fair play to Martin

Gould, he's been saying all week he

is feeling confident and in the

groove?

Yeah, it is a lovely way to

win a match. Stephen made the point

in commentary, he made two really

good frames, 69 and 66 to get over

the line.

Yeah, very good, the way

he finish off. He can do that. When

he gets on run, it doesn't matter

who he is playing in the next match,

he won't care, he worries about

himself, and that's the best way to

be.

Rob and Martin were just talking

about Ronnie O'Sullivan, and he

takes on the man who is practising

in there, big occasion for the young

man?

Yeah, massive, the biggest in

his career so far. We mentioned

earlier, go and enjoy it, come out

with a smile on your face, all part

of the learning curve, you never

know.

Absolutely, with seems strange

results.

Yeah, we've had some shots

this week but it's going to be a

great occasion for him.

Boys, really

enjoyed your company as well. That's

our first match tonight on BBC Two

at seven o'clock. And later on this

evening, the highlights. Thank you

very much indeed for watching. Bye

for now.