Second Round - Part 1 UK Snooker Championship

Hello, it's great to be back in the

fabulous city of your work and we

are here for the 15th event in what

has been a very exciting World

Snooker tour but the stock is extra

special because this is the first of

snooker's three majors in any

season, it is the UK Championship

and we are surrounded by 2000 years

of history from the Romans, the

Normans, the Vikings, through the

medieval ages and beyond and there's

no doubt that your work itself has

played a very significant part in

the long, well travelled 40 year

history of this event.

The champion man for the United

Kingdom, 1977, the 26-year-old

Irishman, Patsy Fagan. Alex Higgins

is the UK champion of the 1983.

Steve Davis has now won the UK

Championship six times. Tonight,

17-year-old Ronnie O'Sullivan. The

United Kingdom champion, Stephen

Hendry. This year's United Kingdom

champion, Mark Williams.

Unbelievable, a star is born, Ding

Junhui. 2010 UK champion, John

Higgins. The triple Crown! New

Robertson. 2016 UK champion, Mark

Selby.

1977 in Blackpool is where it all

began, so it's happy 40th

anniversary to the event and to this

rather beautiful by the chunky

silver trophy. Most of the game yet

ingrates have one might get, not all

of them on the Suite 128 players

descend upon your work, or trying to

become the latest to have their name

inscribed upon it. Not surprisingly

with the first round getting

underway on Tuesday and that amount

of match traffic here in the

Barbican centre, we have had the odd

unexpected bump along the way will

start particularly and more

surprisingly from the world number

two, Ding Junhui. He was cruising

5-1 up against world number up but

Fernandez left into action. Not that

first time he's come a cropper early

in this event. He has gone and

another moment, Matthew Stevens has

picked up the trophy 14 years ago

but it did not faze him. Came

through 6-3. 25 years after Jimmy

White won the UK crown, he knocked

out Ali Carter at the tender age of

55. Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis

would still like to be out strutting

their stuff. Did not just get over

the line, asset and 61 to clean it

up.

We don't wish Ali Carter any

ill, but for Jimmy White, how

wonderful to be in the televised

stages. Been on a good run recently.

A few wins has been great for the

morale.

The notable knockout, Ding

Junhui and in comparison with when

you guys were in Europe on, how

treacherous are the early stages?

Potentially for guys at the top.

In

tournaments, playing solid for the

last couple of months and one

tournament rolling into the other

and these players getting used to

playing the top players more often.

They know that even after 15 events

some of them have been playing in,

they come here with the first major

of the season, how different is that

feeling as you build towards it?

The

very top players, Mark Selby today,

he prioritises these events, this

one, the Masters in January and the

World Championship, he took last

week off in Northern Ireland and it

shows you what this tournament means

to him.

It is the man of the season

so far?

You have to say Ronnie

O'Sullivan is making a good case for

that, four finals, converted two of

them, special mention to Mark

Williams, who under difficult

circumstances won and proving once

again that the over 40s can still

win on the main tour.

That was

brilliant, I must say and we will

see my opinion because this is the

start of the second round today, 64

players, left. It will be a blur of

cues and human. Faster moving than

Debian EDS and -- Debbie McGee's

footwork.

Ken Doherty making the most of his

special Invitational status on the

tour these days, going great guns.

Mark Williams, great return to the

winners enclosure in Belfast at the

weekend. In the other venue, just

adjacent to this one, four matches.

Ryan Day, who at long last as a

trophy winner after claiming the

Masters in July and then there will

be Peter Ebdon, a former world and

UK champion, very much on the scene

and no doubt he has been meditating

or swimming through miles and

preparing and nut roast. He knows we

love

preparing and nut roast. He knows we

love him really. When he's not

competing, he will be a part of our

broadcast team. We welcome another

member of that team here, Scott is

alongside John Parrott in the

adjacent venue, but John, has he

brought his tartan suit?

Sadly they

are no more. Why is that?

I

auctioned them a couple of years ago

after a run at the Crucible and the

charity got a few quid out of it,

which was nice, just plain black.

Four tables and here this afternoon,

you are an old dog and been around

the place, this isn't going to

bother you playing in here.

I don't

care, as long as the table is good,

I don't care. Being around the block

a few times and I'm looking forward

to playing regardless. There is

incentive, you when you match and

then you will be in the main hall.

That's fair enough. Two Chinese

players. Four in the quarterfinal of

the last event, some good players

now.

There are lots coming through,

22 on the two, a big number. About

nine professionals. Only 17, he will

do big things. A lot to look out

for.

We will keep you up-to-date

with what goes on in the afternoon.

Allen plays tomorrow afternoon.

First it is the reigning UK and

world champion Mark Selby. He won

this title in this arena against

Ronnie O'Sullivan in a memorable

final 12 months ago. He is as secure

at the top of the world rankings as

gold bullion in a sea of Internet

investments. His unbroken run as

world number one stretches almost to

three years and with six big titles

in the last 16 months, you could say

this is Mark Selby's goal than you

are.

The first day I was really

fatigued and it showed in my

performance. The second day I felt

more confident, I knew I was still

in the match when I was a long way

behind. The final was really tough

against John, to play him again in

the final of the world, last time I

lost him.

2017 World Snooker

champion, Mark Selby.

The first time

a special but the feeling was just

as good winning it this time.

The first session, I sort of control

that, in front and the night session

was some of the best that could I

have played for a long time. Got

back to 8-7 and I thought that he

keeps performing like he did and

goes on and wins, I would have no

complaints. When I did get my chance

I stayed calm and managed to finish

off the match well. In the UK you

look at the years, all the history,

the great names picking on the

trophy and it inspires you looking

at that trophy to try to win it

again.

UK champion, Mark Selby!

APPLAUSE

I had been number one for a period

of time. I see that as a challenge.

Makes me want to work harder on the

practice table and do a lot better

in my career and try to win more

tournaments. Today Mark Selby

playing 23-year-old Scott Donaldson

who has beaten Mark Selby before and

the European tour event a couple of

years ago and the Paris batting

machine scored well to get by in his

round with two -- potting machine.

He is facing one of the most high

profile matches of his life in this,

the first major of the season and we

are about to get underway and the

rest of them with our MC. Phil

Seymour.

A

A very warm welcome to the York

Barbican for the UK Championships

and time to meet the players. We

begin with the 1997 world champion,

the darling of Dublin, Ken Doherty.

APPLAUSE

And his opponent, the two time UK

champion, the Thunder from Down

Under, Neil Robertson.

APPLAUSE

Now, former ranking event

semifinalists, Scott Donaldson.

APPLAUSE

And now, the world number one, the

world champion and the reigning and

defending UK champion, the Jester

from Leicester, Mark Selby.

APPLAUSE

Here go, we will watch the opening

exchanges the Donaldson match, the

Robertson, Ken Doherty match is

appealing and it is on the red

button. You can see it uninterrupted

on the BBC website. We are all

strapped on for another nine days of

play and that's enough to make

Stephen Hendry and Dennis giddy with

excitement. Always get giddy when

the UK Championship comes around.

COMMENTATOR: Cannot wait for this

match to start.

To Scott Donaldson who gets it

underway. Best of 11 but even with

that, you feel he has to get off to

a pretty good stadia up against the

number one. -- pretty good start.

Couldn't have picked a tougher

opponent. Possibly O'Sullivan as

well as the two best players in the

world, big test for Scott

Donaldson's game. Every aspect of it

will get tested today.

Also a test for the world number

one. Indifferent form last or two.

-- the last month or two.

Didn't get

that close to that attempt at a long

pot. The pink and black are tied up.

I think you can remove the cue ball

around the table from the blue year.

Nice little flick. As you say, there

is no easy chance with the two high

value colours out of commission at

the moment.

That's a long way short. Sheik of

the head. Very talented player from

Perth. -- shake of the head. Got to

the semifinal of the Welsh Open.

That will have given him a certain

amount of confidence.

I have seen

this young man play for years.

Managed to practice in sterling,

played in all the Junior league's.

Leagues. That black is locked up. It

makes for a slow start the Frewen.

When you get an opportunity, it's so

difficult to score points.

Not the best safety but he wanted to

open the reds up and he has

certainly done that but left though

quite a long way short but no easy

start for Scott here. Just this

safety. We'll be heading back up

towards the yellow here. He didn't

want that double-kiss.

Looked as if he played it OK and

catching that other red caused it to

cannon into the red.

First chance for Mark Selby.

Still got quite a bit to do. The

balls are opened up much better now

but the pink and black still

awkward.

Interesting there, he

concentrated on potting the red.

Didn't make any effort to screw the

cue ball back up to be high on the

blue.

May have to come twice across the

table.

He was able to hold one cushion.

First decent scoring chance of this

frame you would say.

The pink is available.

I think it's sitting on the pot,

won't tie the pink up.

That's the number he is looking for

there, 66.

That's to leave his opponent needing

a snooker. A lot of balls to pot

before he gets there.

An excellent chance now.

Having said that, as he drops

straight on the blue I think he has

a slight angle.

All the great players have a knack

of starting well in matches, more so

than Stephen Hendry sitting next to

me the number of times they'd start

a match with a frame-winning break

and a lot of the times a century.

You could see the way he reacted

there. He knew he hadn't played that

as he intended.

That will be difficult to keep the

break going here.

That was all he could do with the

blue there being tight on the

cushion.

He has played a good safety there.

He feels he can get past the pink

and blue but there's not much

sticking out there.

Being very careful here, because he

knows one mistake and he could lose

this opening frame.

You are right, Dennis, I think

that's cost him the frame, that

shot. I presume he was just playing

the red dead straight to knock the

red off two cushions and leave the

cue ball in this left corner pocket.

But the dreaded double kiss.

It's

not straightforward, the black looks

as if it's not available into either

corner. We will find out shortly

whether it is or not.

Maybe it is. It's just where it's

going to when it's respoted. Just

enough room to pass the red there.

Had to play it into the left half of

the pocket as we looked at it there.

Is there enough room? The referee

will just check with his ball marker

there.

Doesn't really matter that the black

is tied up. He has the pink and blue

to work with here.

Won't be happy with that one.

He is quite a tall player, Mark

Selby, about 6'3", and very useful

there to stretch over the corner

pocket and get to that shot.

I have noticed, Stephen, down the

years we have seen Mark with his

head shaking around quite a bit,

doesn't seem to be moving as much

now. Still a slight movement there

but it's something he has always

done.

Yeah, it's turned into a comfortable

win in this first frame.

Mistakes from Scott Donaldson has

cost him this frame. Mark Selby does

what he does best, just mopped

things up.

Wow, that's a terrific shot there.

You could see the white leave the

table he hit it that hard, it hit

the blue and jumped up in the air.

You can just see enough of this, I

think.

Every chance now that he can clear

the remaining balls here. Needed a

couple of chances, Scott had a

couple of DDKs as we call them, the

dreaded double kiss. That's what

cost him the opening frame.

Yeah,

you can have that one, Dennis. It's

been a solid start, though, for Mark

Selby. Looked his normal calm,

composed self.

He is not bothered about the blue.

Needed a couple of bites at the

cherry, he certainly took the third

one and has taken this opening frame

very comfortably indeed.

STUDIO: The world number one

comfortable here in York. We are

comfortable too in the players'

lounge. There's so much going on

here right now that this is where we

have to be until we can get into the

old sports hall. It's lovely to be

with the players' friends and

families, we get a real feel for the

event.

I think our studio is table

five currently.

I think it is!

They're moving all the cups and

everything around.

Yes, all the bags

of stuff under the table, but we

won't go into that. In terms of

comfort levels Scott Donaldson not

feeling so comfortable, a mistake

from him earlier that gifted that.

Ultimately that frame was decided by

one of those shots where you try to

roll the ball to a corner pocket

hoping you are going to get away

with it. That didn't happen. For the

likes of the players like Scott

Donaldson, coming into the televised

stages is a much harder ask to beat

the likes of a Mark Selby, compared

to the first round. We always get

shocks in the first round. TV raises

the bar a bit. Obviously, this is

Mark Selby's office.

Sure is. Back

into that office we go.

COMMENTATOR:

Mark Selby breaks off.

Again the black looks to be tied up.

The red to the left is not available

at the moment. I think there is a

red available for Scott to take on.

Left corner.

Don't think he can shy away from

these if he wants to win today.

Can't really seeing beating Mark

Selby in a tactical battle. He is

going to play the containing shot.

There's no one better at this game

than this man coming to the table

now. He will be busy, Scott, beating

Mark Selby at this game.

I think he got away with the one to

the corner. We showed you the

attempt to the middle, catching the

job and heading towards the corner

pocket. There is one into the right

corner. Interesting to see how he

plays this. He is going to try to

develop the pack and put everything

into the pot, it's got to go in,

that has to be said. Not the easiest

of positional shots, that's for

sure.

Needed just a little bit of luck and

he didn't get any. Got the red. The

red of corner pocket can make it

past the green. Getting it back on

the black spot as long as he covers

the one over the corner pocket. Did

not get any luck whatsoever. The

first pot was very important.

But

not even to finish with a decent

safety shot.

You might be able to pot that but no

colours.

Potential situation here. Not just

yet for that red into the corner

pocket.

He's got to find a spot on the

cushion, he doesn't need the wanted

to the left little or the right

corner. Will he work that out? --

left middle. Didn't leave the one to

the left middle but the other red,

might just be the past for it.

The

fact that Scott is looking at the

path of the cue ball, there is

pressure on it.

It's a key shot

early on in the second frame. Looks

like he may cannon the brown, all

about the red.

He did cannon the brown but he will

take that. Terrific pot. That is a

confidence booster for the young

Scot.

APPLAUSE

If he can play for the blue, get an

angle for the blue to get onto the

pink.

Excellent time to do it

because he has got that red towards

the left middle pocket should

display split go right. Deciding not

to play for the blue in that

instance. Green, red to the right of

the green and then definitely play

for an angle on the blue.

Might not be able to do that now but

has let the cue ball went further

than intended, so will play for a

baulk colour. The only problem is if

it comes off the side cushion, the

red could cannon into the reds.

Stephen's option was much better and

he won't be able to do that now. Not

a good chance just yet.

There is a red at the back of the

bunch that is also available. Cannot

really come off the side cushion

into the pink and red is because the

loose red is blocking the path. He

will play for the loose red.

Just taking a while while a few

spectators get in. Four tables, as

you can see, all was going to be

some distraction. That seemed to

spring off the cushion. Matt white

ball flew off the side cushion and

he is out of position.

He can really afford to do this,

Stephen, against Mark Selby, has to

take full advantage and he has let

it slip there?

It wasn't the best

brick building at the start of that

break, he didn't really see the

opportunities, the way to get into

the pack as soon as possible. Going

back to what Steve said, being on

the TV cable, sometimes when you are

put out of your comfort zone you

don't think the same way you

normally do. Definitely not the best

planning at the start of that break.

I think this is why it's so

important that Scott takes his

chances because Stephen mentioned,

against Mark Selby, his tactical and

safety game is one of the best we've

ever had in the game. When you do

get a chance, you got to really take

it. Easier said than done. Big match

for Scott.

At least he's got in the back of his

mind that he has beaten Mark Selby

stub a couple of years ago he beat

him in a European tour event 4-2.

Then the English open he only lost

on the deciding frame, 4-3.

What it also means is that Scott has

got to play at telling safety shot

to try to put Mark Selby in a spot

of bother so he can get a possible

chance. There is no easy safety on

here or one that can put Mark and a

bit of bother.

We have given you just a taster. You

might see a snooker starter here in

York in the UK Championship. The

main course, if you like will

continue on BBC Two and it will do

until six o'clock this evening. We

are going there now for continued

coverage on the second round of the

UK Championship and I