Day 6 World Championship Snooker Extra

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Hello, we have reached the second round of this week 's World

Championship. It is the first of the second round matches that will be

featuring tonight between two men who have stayed the course in the 17

day marathon. Mark Selby reached the final in 2007 where he was beaten by

John Higgins. Ali Carter has gotten that Weiss, on both occasions losing

to Ronnie O'Sullivan. -- there twice. The second round matches are

now best of 25. They are played over three sessions. This is the first of

them. Mark Selby, below 90%. That is

something he needs to improve on. Ali Carter 90%. That is OK. Pots

Success, that is about right. Safety, that is pretty low full boat

as players -- both these players. A good all-round game. Neither player

has made it. Better to go in the pocket then stay at this end. An

interesting game, Steve. Yes, and a match worthy of a final here at the

Crucible. Tough in many ways for both his players to have to play

each other early in the tournament. Both showed great character to get

through the first round matches. I suppose you are right, I suppose we

are all right. You can relax a bit more. At the Crucible, it is tough

to say the word, relax. Three sessions, it has to be played like

three sessions. If you can come out of it 5-3 in front. You would be

happy with your day 's work. What the players are looking for now is

to find their a game. Looking to go all the way in this great

championship. Nothing else will do. Usually we find at the Crucible and

the World Championship that, even though there is great tension, and

you can see it in the first round match, the longer they can stay in

and the more rounds they get through, the more they can become

immune to the tension. It becomes just another day in the office. You

have to own the right -- and in the right. Not one of his best safety

shots there. With his hand on the table, looking at those Reds neither

left side cushion, they are going make it very awkward to play safety

down the left-hand side. Even though he has run the bolts line, he has to

be careful. He has a party can screw across the face of that pack --

pot. He has to hit this just right. It wasn't the best safety shot from

Mark Selby. He comes back to the table with half a chance, not an

easy one. That was a lovely, clean pot. Would have preferred to have

gotten onto the blue rather than tying the pink up, as it looks like

he is going to play. It looks like he was going to. He doesn't put that

pink out of commission. A little bit more risk in that shot. Trying to

guarantee position. A fraction short of pace. Don't think he is

completely hampered by the green. He will be disappointed, their. He has

played reasonably well but he was hampered in the middle. That is a

series of positional shots that have led to this difficult blue having to

be taken on. Not having to be, but he is going for it. Correct shot?

Don't know. Uncertain that is the type of ball he has been practising

on the practice table before he came out. My argument would be, so early

in the match, we don't really know how the game is unfolding cue action

wise. Against that, the aggressive, try to get in first. Can he get

through to this red? And think you can get through to at least one. --

I think he can. While this is the best of 25 match, the first frame of

every session can detect the pattern of play for that particular

session. He ought to know what is the right method. Ali Carter, out of

position. It is very risky once you get past the ball line. You can see

his intention here. He has put Mark Selby in as much trouble as he could

have done there. . It has not made it any easier for Ali Carter, but as

I say, he could have played a lot better than he did on his last

visit. He is playing the safety. A good one, it is. Ali just stuck to

his tracks. They are not far away. I think they are close enough to get

it. It could be made. Mark Selby hasn't even looked at the plant so,

he has a long pots with an opportunity to get back down the

table. Exactly right Steve, well played. A far better shot, I feel.

He is not going for it. I think that plants may have been an option if

the black hat have gone in to the left corner -- had have. A very good

shot from Ali Carter there. Mark Selby's containing safety shot

always leaves the door open to a far better safety shot. That is a

possibility. If he hits the top red, he may leave it to the top

middle. But that looks like the safest place. There may be some sort

of four cushion escape with the back blue. After my first prediction, I

am not going to go too far down the line. If he hits the top, he could

leave it. He wants to hit the low red. This red next to the black.

Misjudged the release of the cue ball off the site cushioning -- side

cushion. Very heavy scorer, Ali Carter. He

has been a professional three years longer than Mark Selby. Yet, Mark

Selby's career century is 323. It just shows you, you think that Ali

is one of the top scorers... I think that to be a prolific century

maker, you have to have a type of relentless less at the end of a

frame after you have won it. Some players, like Mark Williams who,

after he won the frame, would ease up mentally. You don't see that with

Mark Selby. Every chance, he will try to make a century. Even if he

has won the frame. Yes, I agree. It isn't necessarily a guide. As you

say, you just wanted to get the next rain started. Look at the stats and

the records. It makes everybody more aware. He won't be happy with that

one. It was funny, back to the first chance he had to get the red into

the corner and he overheated, he is just not stroking the ball. He seems

to be hitting at the cue ball. He will soon settle in. This time,

underhit it I along shot -- by. There are two Reds in that it'll

cost of four to the right. That looks spot on. If he hits it in the

first place, it can't be missed. A big saviour for Ali Carter if he

gets this in. Effectively a massive insurance policy on Acra one

position -- pot position. A good chance to get close to the finishing

line. Feud that one nicely -- cued. A tough season for Ali Carter.

Health problems. Signs of a return to form in the China Open,

recently. Heading to the semi-finals, I believe. Big bounce

off the cushion or overhit. Either way, well overhit. He has to do some

good queueing to keep this under control. -- cueing. I think you are

right. Sometimes you wonder whether the table is is out -- eases out.

Nicely judged but unlucky. The natural path of that shot would have

sent it into the fall Reds. He could have missed -- risked cutting the

red. Now there is more what to do. Another long green. He got nicely

through that one. A beautiful positional shot. 39 ahead. A quick

glance at the scoreboard. He only needs three of these Reds. You can

see the easy one. The other four, not that easy.

He is trying to disturb something. He said, never try to wring a red in

-- bring. I think you have to weigh it up with the risk of the shot. He

has done very well, to be quite honest. Well, he is on the pink. It

wasn't all bad than Toure then. -- then. None of them are absolutely

ideal pots to get on another colour. He has to be careful going

into that red. He just needs one red and a colour. He will be

disappointed not to seal the fate here. This black will put him 54

points in front, just 51 remaining. A few of those positional shots but

he overcame them. He knows that it is very important to get the next

red. Mark Selby, he is your man. I know it is very easy to come out

with predictions, especially with the players looking in control, but

it tells me that Ali Carter is going to be a tough player to beat this

year. Mentally, he may be coming into this event, timing it

perfectly. Struggling with a bit of form early on. Fighting hard to get

a cup the ranking list and get a win under his belt -- rack up. Signs of

improvement in China and we know that he enjoys the Crucible. A tough

match for Mark Selby. This will be the perfect start. If he clears

these remaining colours, it will be 102. He is 18-1.

The Crucible crowd love a century. And in it goes! The perfect dark for

Ali Carter. He got his cue action together at the end. That is a 17th

century so far in this year's World Championship. He takes the first

break. Decent break. There is one red poking out, but I don't think it

is the right potting angle. It would be a tough pot anyway. It looks as

though it would just be running into the top cushion, behind the black.

If it was a bit straighter, you could roll in and play for the

black. I think it is too risky. He did take it. He nearly left it.

After the blue in the first frame, do you think he has his attacking

had on? It is funny, and clumsy get 50-50 decisions and you make what

could be construed to be the wrong choices in people 's eyes. I thought

he crossed the top to the safety position was what he was going for.

He picked out a clever opportunist shot to get perfectly on the black.

You never know, if you miss a shot where the red is going to go. Well,

not ideal for Mark Selby at the moment. Misjudged that by some way.

Very fortunate to have ended up on top of the green. It gives Ali

Carter a problem. Although, I think he can probably played the cue ball

to the top position with very little risk, if you wanted to. I think it

is the right shot. A big ask to get back to the ball and. The problem

is, you strike down so the cue ball and the object ball are not in a

direct line. You really have to start moving your eyes up and down.

I don't think you can get the edge of the cue ball. It is tough. Very

hard to judge the middle of the cue ball when you are striking down on

it. He has messed this up. He has left Mark Selby going into the

yellow pocket. The red into the middle, over the top of the other

red, is more difficult than this long red. Bit of pressure on this.

Especially after missing the blue. He is about one foot closer, which

does make it slightly easier. Just a little bit straight. I think

it is the red and the yellow in the middle of the pocket, and he may

have just forced it over. A bit better for the blue. Not too bad.

I think that opening rate by Mark Selby was played with a certain

amount of tension in his arm. -- Redox. He didn't really strike it as

well as he would have done later in the session. But that is testament

to help good display areas, that even when he doesn't hit the ball is

purely as he would like, he can still pop the ball. It is a massive

advantage as a player. We can only assume that the red at

the top of the cluster is available to the right.

It has a good angle on the loo but you can see where the pink is. If

the pink wasn't that, he would be thinking about playing the cannon

into the main cluster. Beautifully played. Just using the

pink just to hold the cue ball. As a spectator, this is what you

want to see. Both players looking to be hitting the ball well, paying

their best. Mark knows that after that flying start from Ali Carter he

needs to make Carter aware that should he make a mistake, he is

going to take full advantage as well.

You would think he would like to go into the reds of the blues. -- off

the blue. Ali Carter will consider himself

unlucky. It was a poor safety shot from Mark Selby.

That is the problem. You can see how flat it was. When you hit it with

any kind of stunt or backspin, the cue ball comes away from the reds

and into the top cushion. It wasn't easy, but Carter came to

the table and hampered over the green. However many minutes later,

he comes back. This time, it is a bit easier to play.

A half-hearted attempt to the double. The main thing was to cover

the red in the baulk end with the green. It looks as though he has

done that. It looks like he is going to attempt

to get the cue ball on the top cushion. He is just checking which

red and where he would like to ideally leave the cue ball. He has

already thought about clearing the red on the left of the table and

putting the cue ball down behind the black. He has spotted another type

of shot, has he? He played the safety. Very fortunate

in the end. He misjudged but a bit. -- that.

His heart would have been in his mouth for a fraction because it

looks as though it could have run through enough.

Ali Carter won't be getting the best of the safety exchange by playing

this shot. He sacrifices the safety exchange, as Mark Selby now has

first crack at getting a good safety.

Huge bounce off the cushion. The white ball, that was, and the red

came a long way down as well. A player wouldn't have misjudged both

of those on less the site cushion was starting to bounce quite

severely. -- unless the side cushion. Anything can happen here. I

think he has sacrificed one of the reds.

Not guaranteed position Lee, but you would expect Mark Selby to pop this

rate. -- pot this red. That was the problem. He was always

going to run into the blue. The black goes though. He just has to

roll it in for position. He played it firmer and that was a

very good pot. Good control of the cue ball. He already has a 46 point

lead. Another 40 points and he will be well past the winning line here.

You can see them coming. Colours available. Reds nicely situated. I

will be amazed if he doesn't win the frame at this visit.

This is a good reply from Mark Selby.

He may have been a little bit fortunate to get this trance. He

played at poor safety and left Ali Carter hampered. But there will be

many twists and turns. When you have a little bit of luck, take full

advantage. It could soon go the other way.

He can't make a century but as Steve alluded to at the start of this

match, Mark Selby gives every shot 100% concentration. Let's be fair,

it is all good practice, isn't it? A little bit of an exhibition shot.

He played it nicely. Another little exhibition shot. How

is this for position on the black? Very nicely played but not nice

enough. He is only a fraction away but he

will have to be careful. With a bit more pace, he may come off the

cushion slightly different. He doesn't want to run past the red. He

misjudged that one. You put a bit of extra pace on it and it squares up

more. In Mark Selby 's slight favour, I don't think the red load

the pink is pottable. Even if he does present an opportunity to Ali

Carter, Ali Carter still has got to play a positional shot that breaks

open those two walls. -- balls. This looks nice. He got it that time but

a chance now for Ali Carter to just flick of that red per load the pink.

Bring that red into play. He needs it could cue ball on the cue ball

that's going to be tight to the baulk cushion. It's going the other

way because he doesn't want to stick the red up to the left pocket.

A chance for Mark Selby are no guarantees with this speculative

long red, should he tried into the right corner. He is playing the more

difficult left corner. Safety in mind. The green would be lovely for

Mark Selby. As I've always said, and I will say

it again, the player coming to the table always feels as though his

opponent has been a little bit fortunate because nobody is really

trying to come off the baulk cushion behind the ball. Mark Selby, as you

would have seen from that shot, missed the red by quite some way.

The cue ball had more speed on it and a slightly different line had he

pointed the red, or got closer. A little shake off the head from Ali

Carter as he walked to the table. He feels as if Mark Selby was very

lucky. A problem now to get this safe, and

he needs to get its face. 18 points behind. He is trying to come off two

cushions and play to this red on the left-hand side of the table. It is a

pretty good line. It is eight grapeshot! Well played. -- it is a

great shot! Ali Carter will feel as if he has

deserved that. Perhaps a chance to get behind the green.

He didn't really get it right. The trouble with playing it then is that

he couldn't get the red into the middle of the table. A chance for

Ali Carter, but not the type of shot you want to

He just nudged it to the site cushion. It puts him in the frame.

-- side cushion. You could see the pink bounce after

he hit it. It is hard to keep it going. He might just have the angle

here to pop the pink, come off the site cushion and maybe cannoned the

red. He did and it has worked out very well. Only the problem of the

brown for Ali Carter. Not to make light of the fact that

even that red was tough. It is the only part of the game that can go

wrong for him. It is an early on in the match, but

this would be a big frame for Ali Carter to win. An important frame

from his perspective. It seems like Mark Selby was calling

all the shots until he just ran out of position and missed that brown.

It gave Ali Carter a chance to get back into this frame. But this is

the key shot, from green to brown. This was the brown that got Ali

Carter back to the table. The move is looking like it could be in the

way for a positional shot but if he plays it right, he could take it out

of the equation. Maybe screwing onto the top cushion. Try to get round

the back of the black. This would be a fantastic effort. Very close to

being perfect. He has a sniff at the brown in the green pocket. It is a

deft shot to keep control of the loot in the middle. He has looked at

the scoreboard. Brown and blue is all he need. Maybe worth taking the

brown on. He doesn't have to do a lot with the cue ball. The black is

not on its spot. Has he got away with it? I don't

think he has. He hasn't. You can see the swipe of the cue, and that is

something he needs to keep under control. Eight points is the

difference. Brown, blue and pink. You wouldn't think you would be a

problem to get from blue to pink. But stranger things have happened.

Looking at the scoreboard, he needs the black here. It would put him

seven points in front. He is nowhere on the pink. Apologies, just

somewhere on the pink. Funnily enough, because he is a little bit

further out, he could play a very aggressive positional shot, potting

the pink, but he has looked at the double. He has lined up a double.

As we mentioned earlier, he was the world eightball pool champion.

Can he play it as a safety shot at the same time? That would make it

much more attractive. I'm not so sure he can get the cue ball back to

the bottom cushion. I don't think he is playing the double now. If he

could get the cue ball to the cushion, he could get the double.

But he has played eight good safety. Ali Carter will do very well not to

leave a pot on this black. Seven points behind.

Is that correct? Is the 3-1 favourite? Yes. 3-1 favourite to win

this frame. Mark Selby will get two bites of the cherry.

It was eight bit of a shock for him, Ali Carter, to get that. Mark

Selby thought it was a bit of good fortune, hitting that black. But all

is they are in love and war. -- fair. He made certain he got it

safe. The only downside is that he has left the cue ball and object

ball close together. He tried to get the black absolutely

tight on the baulk cushion. The cue ball going perilously close

to the middle pocket as well. Fantastic pot. The deciding frame.

Take that. He needs a calculator. Ali Carter pottage that quite fit

into the pocket. It could have very easily wobbled and stayed there.

That is the modern way of playing it. It is a pretty good one. If he

can get the right angle, and I would say that he nearly has the right and

will, because as a problem that you cannot play these kind of shots.

Very hard to now played this shot. He tried something similar before

and he didn't get that close to the pocket. That is the problem if you

do get close to the draw, you are going to leave it. It is a frame, an

exciting frame. Some good pots from Ali Carter, but he just wobbled the

black and he goes into the interval trailing Mark Selby by 3-1.

If he gets this Canon Wright, he will be on the black. -- cannon

right. Just didn't get the pot. This is what I was suggesting. I am

certain that is what he has played, but just didn't get the red far

enough. He missed the pot, and of course, the canon. It must have been

unmissable. The way he has played it. Finished nicely on the blue.

Not as plate, at least I don't think it was -- played. Looking pretty

sharp ear, Mark Selby -- here. After a nervy couple of shots to start off

the match, and then losing the first frame. He has looked very sharp and

very strong. Turned it around very nicely. That is not good. He would

have been disappointed with that, and even more so now that the pink

spot is not available. If he could have played this read more

comfortable it, a bit more control, but now he can only just drop the

red in. Not the easiest position to put that spider. Got to be careful.

He wants to be able to play this as softly as possible to leave him and

nice angle on the pinks to go into the red. He just let the cue

ball... He is the one that has to remove it from the table, he can't

ask the referee to do it. Delicately done. A round of applause for taking

a piece of equipment off the table, it really pleases the crowd. Greg

Davis used to leave it on the table for the referee to take it off. He

wouldn't have done it in a situation like that. Nicely controlled. Gave

himself every chance of being on a choice of red is there. I don't

think the pink pots into the right corner. What do you reckon? Probably

not. Possibly, it will go to the left corner, but he may have to get

back for the blue, here. Got the blue to the right corner here. He

doesn't have to do much with the cue ball. What he had to do was make

sure he had the correct side of the blue, there. Even going down one of

the ball colours was an option. Doesn't want to stick on the blue.

Just got enough pace and this. Only just. Trying to clear the pink

spot. Oh, that was a bit of a risk to be honest. Pop that red and clear

it away from the pink. He didn't have to play it in that way. No, the

cue ball just stuck whether red was. A little bit trickier, this.

Right in the heart of the pocket. The lower read of the three, just

below the pink, is available. -- red. He is back effectively in prime

position he. -- here. I think we spotted it from the first frame when

he played the blue. We thought then he would come out with a positive

attitude, and he certainly is showing, he looks very confident.

Very confident, indeed. He has all the ability in the world as Mark

Selby. Ali Carter has played good safety, it is just that Mark Selby

seems to be getting the chance. Ali is being frozen out. We were saying

in the first match against Michael White that it didn't look

impressive, albeit, he closed the match out in great style to get over

the line. I think this is the difference between the top-class

players. Desperate to get their teeth into the tournament, get past

that first match. This is certainly a different Mark Selby that has come

out of the starting blocks today. Where is the cue ball going? ! He

got a flick on the pink which means he wasn't absolutely sure where the

cue ball was going. The difference, 57, there is 59 remaining. Frame was

over until that cue ball dropped. Ali Carter looking at playing the

most aggressive shot he can. Split opened the two Reds on the top

cushion. He needs a total clearance. He has changed his mind. He is back

to playing a stunned shot. Can you turn your earpieces down, please, ?

The volume is a bit loud. Oh dear. A big problem, the earpieces. I will

be honest, I am not a fan. Well, for some reason he doesn't fancy the

middle of the table. I don't know why, only the red needed. Just 51

remaining. Where is the cue ball going? Once the red went in, of

course, even if it had gone in off, as it turned out. Probably a bit too

late now, 58 points. Two points for Lucas. He can pot this and get

position on the black. Even release a red. That was a good shot. That

face! One snooker required and a free ball. That is another

scenario, and he is going to have a good shot at the snippet here --

snooker. Can he get a ten in one? It is very difficult to get a

misjudgement of an escape these days from the players, but, you never

know. He has lost the cue ball and it. It may have poked its nose out

past the pink. Yes it has. He has just over spun that. The colours are

not too badly situated. You need to be tied in behind the colour. Where

is the yellow going? Well, he has doubled the red so that

is the end of this frame. Ali Carter sits back in his seat. He now knows

it is for-1 behind against the man who was playing well and must be

full of confidence. Just playing a little exhibition

shot but it just shows you how well he is cueing. A little bit of side

he used to get around the table. Not all that about the black. Cueing

well. A good moment for Mark Selby, he stretches his leads to three. He

now leads by four frames to one. A bit of a whole now, Ali Carter.

Fantastic turnaround by Mark Selby. Yes, eight frames in these

sessions. These two sessions of eight. A possible nine remaining

frames. The first session may come to 25. Ali needs to win a couple of

these frames, he would like to win all three obviously. Only two

sessions of play today. Afternoon and evening. He has sent the Reds to

the two corners. Got a good cue ball but he couldn't really guarantee how

the Reds were going to split. A very aggressive opening of the pack.

Perhaps feels as though he has to force the pace a fraction. The

problem with that shot is that it was the correct path of the cue

ball, so he had to hit its pretty thick. Yes, and he has a good cue

ball. He has played some good safety in this. It is just that Mark Selby

has been very good. I think that is 79% safety. Made to look worse just

by the fact that Mark has been knocking in his balls. This is as

good as I have seen Mark Selby for quite a while. I remember speaking

to him in the UK and he said that, although he got to the final of the

UK, he was lacking in confidence. Maybe he expects to much for himself

sometimes. Air, he has had a really good season -- the air -- yeah. On

the big stage in the ranking events, frustration at the final

hurdle. But he is going to be making Ali go for it here. The standard

that I think he produced in winning the Masters, at his very best, I

think he is a potential world champion this year. One of the few

players in the game that has genuinely caused Ronnie O'Sullivan

problems on the table. I am not certain if the black will

go into the right corner pocket. If it doesn't, it is not going to be

easy for the break. You see the black. He will do well to make a

frame winning contribution here. A nice angle on the blue. A huge

amount of experience goes into working out the correct order of

taking these red. What he is doing here is clearing one of the two Reds

that blocks the path of the black. He could have been forgiven for

playing those two Reds that go into the pocket. He has to use one of

those to go into the black. He has to use the right side of the blue,

that is the critical shot at this level. A little grimace. Just about

got away with that, he had lots of left-hand side spin. He just about

got the cue ball to stay in the top half. He has to get back now, the

correct side of the blue. Very difficult, very awkward cueing. He

didn't really get as far back as he would have liked, that is why he is

close to side cushion. He will do well to keep this going now. It is

certainly not straightforward now. A bit of an advantage playing with

pointed shoes though. You get a bit more ability to reach over the

table. If you have clown shoes on, you could reach even further. Are

not Shane -- I am not saying they are clown shoes, but they are

pointed. I was watching on the red Button, and that meant playing on

the other table, it looked like something out of Madagascar. They

are the ones we are talking about. I love them, but would you wear them?

They are Dominic's shoes. He is involved on the other table. A bit

of a clash with the socks but, let's not get involved down this road. A

kiss on the yellow, look at Ali's face. He just can't get any table

time at the moment. He is so frustrated this game. Well, it is

the first shot that Mark has let off the hook for a while. Yes, it just

seems a minor mistake from Ali. Can he now get a foothold back in the

game? He has not got an easy one. Even though he expected to get this,

it is missable. He hasn't had many shots recent league -- recently.

That is the problem in the game of snooker. Sometimes you can be

sitting and not getting table time, and when you get a chance like that,

you have to come to the table and produce. It is not easy. I think he

has covered everything. He may be thinking of the possibilities. If he

could get past the black, the possibility of a plant. But I don't

think you can see anything if he goes past the black. I don't think

you can even risk going back to the baulk. Of course, he could play the

ultra- containing shot which is to lay into the pack. Any other shot is

a risk. He is going to the table, spotted a double. Great effort. Had

to get the screw back the right amount as well. Well, Ali sits back

in his seat, shakes his head. There is nothing you can do about it.

FairPlay to Mark. Sometimes, there have been players who have

criticised Mark Selby for being negative. Well, he certainly isn't

showing this. I never really thought that was a view for me, but that was

an aggressive opportunist shot he took out their. To me, from shot

one, he has looked in a positive frame of mind. When he is good, of

course, he is very good. A bit low on this, but that could have been

intentional. There was the other colour. He is on the blue to the far

right corner. If he knocks it in, you can see that the way the Reds

are, there was never any danger on it. Smacked the back of the

leather, clean as a whistle. Just read needed to stretch his lead even

further -- red. Very impressive. Yes, this is as clinical an outing

as we have seen so far in this tournament. There have been other

players that have been extremely clinical. This is the level of

snooker you need to produce to win the event. Perhaps the other two

players, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Neil Robertson playing relentless snooker

to this level. Obviously, on occasions, Shaun Murphy as well.

Yes, and you could include Ali Carter in that. But with snooker, if

you sit in your seat, there is nothing you can do about it. Ali is

going through that at the moment, the frustration of your opponent

playing well and not giving you any chances. It doesn't matter about the

red. Ali Carter, even in its first session, you can just see him

slipping away slightly. Now four frames behind. Selby leads. They

have the Crucible arena to themselves, the walls have gone up.

Another excellent safety shot for Ali Carter. He hasn't done hardly

anything wrong. He is looking at a five one deficit at the moment. Two

more games to be played. If he can win the next one, look at that.

Found the line. Great pot. It is relentless at the moment. I think,

as he sits in his chair, he is hoping he wins at least one of these

two frames. He doesn't fancy the brown. He had what looked to be at

decent angle on the brown. This is where the matchplay comes in. In

many ways, Mark Selby reminds me of a modern day to explore burn. He

scores heavily but has a good tactical game. -- Cliff Thorburn. He

has missed this by a long way. He didn't like the bounce of the

cushion. I can only assume that the shot he played isn't on. He was

trying to make it stick to the cushion with lots of right-hand

side. But he missed the red. Unless it comes to the other side of

the middle pocket. And that is what he decided to do. He will be pleased

with that. There is a red to the far right corner, slightly hampered

cueing. At the moment, Ali Carter is probably frightened to leave

anything for Mark. Slightly awkward cueing. Isn't that

always the way in this game? When you are in front, playing well, you

always seem to get a good one of the ball. -- good run. It is a big risk.

He was slightly hampered. I think he will take this red on here. There is

enough separation between the two balls that you can control the cue

ball. Send the cue ball across to the left-hand side of the table. A

bit of insurance involved in that. Good shot. He played it the brave

way. If the red doesn't drop, more than likely it would have stayed in

the jaws of the pocket. He fully committed. Can he make the most of

this opportunity? It is not an ideal opportunity, it has to be said. He

really needs to get the right angle on the blue.

Really well struck. If that red touching the black pots, he will

want to get it out of the way as quick as possible.

That tells us that he doesn't think it is available. Has he got an angle

on this red to get nicely on the blue? He must think he has a chance.

Now, here it is. Full bloodied, into the pink. He just has to make sure

there is no obvious plants on, because he wants to go in at pace.

He has a red to continue with. But the pink that he hit has gone safe.

He would have also may have loosened the black. No such luck. He might be

able to get out round of the black for the blue.

It is tight. It would go in the middle. That would be some

positional shot. But maybe there is no alternative. I think that is too

tight for this corner pocket. He couldn't risk it. At the end of the

day, he was trying to go up the table for the blue. There is no way

you could be on the black. It had to hit the black first. Just a safety.

It was a misjudgement, not being able to get through that gap behind

the black. A scrappy frame developing here, and

one that Ali Carter doesn't really want to get involved in. To some

degree, he wants to get his hand on the table. Mark Selby will not be in

any rush here. If it green doesn't come to his

rescue, Ali Carter can potted. He can. He just hosted begin here now.

He has to have the attitude that no matter how you do it, win this

frame. He has to be careful to control the cue ball.

Very nicely comptroller. -- controlled. I don't think Ali Carter

is playing badly, it is just we haven't seen much of him. It is

tough at the top, that's for certain. That's the fascination of

three session second rounds. It is advantage Mark Selby and looks like

being a healthy advantage. But as long that Ali Carter believes

in himself, who is to say he can't turn the second session around? That

is a fair point because if this was a first round match, first of ten,

5-1 behind, you would be thinking he definitely used to win the next two

frames to keep himself in the match. Sometimes players seem to

forget it is three sessions. If he can get out of the session

5-3, he will actually sort of go back and spend the rest of the day

thinking, that wasn't so bad. I really was up against it. I am only

tee frames behind. He has just enough angle on the blue.

That black is now pots. That misjudgement by Ali Carter may well

have helped him. Look at this pink. It is very tight but if he is right

behind it, I think I fancy it. I do think it did go. -- I don't. I

thought it went. I do apologise. He is the bit close to the cushion

here. It makes controlling the cue ball harder. He had to hit that a

lot softer than he would have wanted. Superbly played. Has he come

far enough? No. He just hesitated. You just saw him slow down when he

was walking. If it had just run another six inches, it would have

been absolutely perfect. He played that very nicely. He

didn't put a lot of effort in but he got the screw back on. That is the

advantage of having great cue power and good timing of the shot.

This is the big frame for Ali Carter. He has a chance to win it. I

think he has got to take it, just for his own self-esteem. He has been

frozen out, for no fault of his own, just reach play from his

opponent. He has got a bit of a problem here.

This would be an excellent frame winning break.

He played that well. He played that well. It was a delicate little

shot. He had to get immediate reaction the cue ball. Sometimes

when we see these shots played, they make them look very easy. But it is

definitely one that needs care and attention. He needs a red and a

colour to clinch the frame. He has got the red. The cue ball needs to

slow down. Its OK. The blue will do. The blue to go 54 points in front

with 51 remaining. It looks like he may have stopped

the rot. He has lost five frames on the trot.

He would have loved to have seen that going. But one Snuka required.

He knows it is not over yet. -- snooker. Just a fraction out. Still

favourite. Don't count how Mark Selby. He needs only one Snuka. --

snooker. He is looking at this red and

looking at the pot. If he pots it, he needs the black. If he pots the

pink, he will need a four point snooker to tie. No. I think he would

like to concede now. It is not etiquette to do that when it is your

opponent 's turn at the table. That is why he hasn't conceded. There is

no way Ali will miss this red. He needs to be careful here.

So that is end of frame. Ali will be relieved and will nail immediately

be thinking of the last frame of the session. -- and will now

immediately. That shows you what he thinks about

that! He just wants to get on with the last frame of the session, but

at least he has stopped the rot. He lost five in a row but he has won

that one. Can he reduce it to two in the final frame?

A decent break. Just one red sticking out. I think Mark could

just get past the green to play the pot. He thought that the only red

map or he could leave it on his mind. -- only red he could leave is

on his mind. That is just about available.

He just didn't hit the red straight enough. There is a red into the

right middle, the right-hand side of the cluster. Mark Selby is roughly

about where he started. Ali Carter just drops slightly.

The reason he played that one is he thought he was going to cover the

one near the left middle. He felt as if he had more control of the cue

ball to be on the black. But this red to the right of the blue does

pot. It perfect chance to get the right

angle on the blue. He chose to play for a baulk colour.

He hit it a lot harder than I thought he was going to. Perhaps it

was a bit wider shot than I first anticipated. No accounting for that.

The sound effects we got there... Is exactly what was going through Ali

Carter 's mind. What a fluke that was. He has not got enough pace on

the cue ball. He has got the moored difficult read into the middle

pocket. -- the more difficult red. He overheats that by six inches. --

overhit. Now he is looking to come in between the baulk colour is,

brown and green, and then back up the table. That would be a fantastic

positional shot if he got this right. Wrong side of the green and

the wrong cushion hit first. End of break.

It could be end of break but I think there may be a possible cut here on

this red. He has knocked it in and controlled

it well. This is making Ali School are much in his chair. These are all

of the fluke. -- squirm in his chair. It was a great pot that he

picked out. Ali Carter is frustrated. He is picking shots

out. He will be struggling to keep it now

though. Is it OK if I say end of break now, John? I think you have

half a chance of being right this time, Steve. A bit unlucky really.

He hit them quite well. He needed a bit more pace to get that tubal of

the side cushion. -- cue ball off. A bit careless to kiss the green.

But he got 22 points from an uncle Regius fluke. -- outrageous.

Terrific pot. He needs it did kiss on the brown. -- a good. Has he got

an angle on the yellow that will tempt him? If it just trickles up

behind the yellow, you wouldn't think it would cause too much of a

problem for Mark Selby. It is a very aggressive yellow into

the top corner pocket. You have two more or less guarantee

the yellow to play this shot. Has he gone far enough for this red that is

tight against the pink? Can he get to it? I think he felt he didn't get

the best of contacts playing the runthrough, but he's got far enough

down. Well played. That shot required a

good cue action, but he is showing great character out here at the end

of the session. To make that angle and force it round, does the red

pass the pink? Brilliantly struck. He has got one to the right corner

but it is not straight enough to run it through for the black in the

opposite corner. If this red passes the pink, surely this is the one to

play and stun down for the black. This has been a fascinating session

of snooker between two heavyweights of the game.

Ali Carter is cueing beautifully. This was the tremendous red. We have

watched Ali squirming in his seat. Mark Selby is similar. He needs so

much. He judged that nicely. Under severe

pressure in his first match, he produced at the right time.

It is not easy to keep this break going. He has another red at the top

of the pack. It goes into the same pocket is the red he just potted. Of

that cluster, the left-hand one might go to the left corner pocket.

He doesn't have to play any cannons just at the moment. He has a 6-point

lead now. That is a bit too straight on the

black to risk letting the cue ball travel any distance.

The red on the extreme left. Is it available to the middle?

He has played for the red to the middle. Even in the modern game,

they make the shots look very easy, that it is still an acute angle. He

has to be so accurate and played with pace. A little screw shot

coming back for the black. Nicely played. He has got a nice

angle on this black. I don't know if he has a enough angle just pot it

and play a cannon on the outside red. He would have to force it. The

left-hand red does go to this corner pocket, the same pocket as the

black. Can he play a cannon and leave himself on that red? He can.

It has worked out absolutely perfect. He has got the frame at his

mercy. This is a big frame for Ali Carter.

What a match this is turning out to be. Two more sessions yet to come.

I said earlier that it was a match that was worthy of the world finals.

The standard is that high at the moment. Mark Selby will need a

snooker. Both of them on 91% pot success. But this has been more

about potting balls, this match, it has been about both players playing

well and one of them, who was frozen out for a while, showing great

character. The black to get the snooker required stage. So Ali

Carter at least will take something out of this session now. Obviously

he will be disappointed to have lost the session, when he lost five on

the trot and was 5-1 down, he had to deep deep. These last two frames

were very important. If you speak to Mark Selby, he will have been

pleased to have won the session. He has not done a lot wrong. Ali Carter

started with a century. Could he top and tail of this session? Highly

likely. When he made the one in the first

frame, that was the 17th century of the tournament so far. This could be

number 18. This is for the century. 102 in the

first. Marvellous! Absolutely marvellous! He has played a man at

the top of his game. He was sat in his seat for most of the session.

But what a session from both players. Absolutely top draw. That

is what you get at the Crucible. It is the World Championship, and that

was World Championship quality. Mark Selby wins the session by 5-3.

Fascinating session. Ali Carter really gave himself a lifeline in

this match. They are back early in the morning, 10am, and you can sit

on BBC Two. That is their second session. I hope you can join us for

that. In the meantime, good night and sleep well.