MAPLIN UK CHAMPIONSHIP - MATCH NOTES

Saturday 15 December:

Good afternoon, welcome to the second semi final, featuring Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Selby, sit back and enjoy our match notes, eight frames to play this afternoon in this best of 17 frames match... Who will go through to face Stephen Maguire in the final? Over on our LIVE STREAM you can watch the FINAL of the PIOS LIVE - Daniel Wells, the first Paul Hunter Scholarship recipient is playing former pro Peter Lines from Leeds... Daniel started in brilliant style this morning with a break of 105 in the opener, had 69 in the third, 51 in the fifth and currently leads 4-3, he match is best of 11 frames. The Top eight players in the rankings at the end of the PIOS series join the WSA Main Tour next season... Daniel has secured himself a place in that leading group of eight, well placed to gain promotion... Here come the players now, first into the arena is Mark Selby to a warm welcome from the packed audience... and here comes Ronnie... will he be in the same mesmerising form we've seen so far this week? Daniel Wells has opened a 5-3 lead over at Pontin's... Half a chance for Ronnie but he's missed a half table red to the corner... there's a red on for Mark... but pink and black are both tied up at the moment, the reds are spread but covering each other a lot, so he'll need Sat Nav here... and with good navigation Selby has conjured up a 61 break so far, a brilliant start... the break ends at 74, 67 left on the table and that's the first frame to the Leicester Jester... Good safety from Selby at the start of the second... but a great shot there from Ronnie gets the white right back to the jaws of the yellow pocket... Good long red from Selby and a roll up behind the green... Ronnie's got a chance, made 44 so far... he lost ideal position and missed on 45... Selby is 45-10 behind but has a good chance still with five reds left... but he's unlucky to go in off having made 44... they're on the yellow, well Ronnie is... amazingly he's missed it from hand to the centre, but there was a kick... and Selby clears up for 2-0... O'Sullivan gets in but misses a cut back black on 15... he's left Selby right amongst the balls... There's drama in the PIOS final now, Peter Lines has won the last two frames to level at 5-5, so it's all on the decider now... Lines clinched the final frame against Jamie Jones in last night's semi final.. Mark Selby has got the pink into play which improves his chances and he's run in 19 so far... this is a very solid start by Selby, Ronnie's had a couple of chances but not converted them... Selby moves along to 33 and now in very good position.. and Ronnie needs snookers now, Selby moves on to 61, another frame in the bag and a dream start for Selby.. and a great 92 break... Into frame four and Selby is back at the table with a chance again... I wonder what the pre-match odds were on a 4-0 lead for Selby? Could be on the cards now... We must apologise for the breaks in our from Pontin's today... it appears that BT are having a very bad day and the connection is dropping there quite a lot... but our Broadcast boys will reboot and try and get the match back on air... Selby misses, that's his first error in the match so far... a chance for Ronnie.. he made have been sat in his chair for three frames, but Ronnie is straight into his stride here, already on to 45 and in good position... and he's clinched the frame as the break reaches 74... so that's the interval, a chance to draw breath for a few minutes... Peter Lines has completed a great comeback in the PIOS, he won the last three frames to edge out Daniel Wells 6-5... And here come Mark and Ronnie back into the arena... and stalemate in that frame so we'll have a re-rack... and Selby made 29 but broke down and has given Ronnie the table... and Ronnie breaks down, Selby leads 29-10 and he's got another opportunity... but only to play an excellent safety and now great safety shots by both players... Ronnie breaks the deadlock and can open a lead here... well this frame hangs in the balance,, Ronnie trails 42-50 but here's chance for Selby, the last red will be tough along the top cushion... he plays safe, in fact a snooker, forces one miss from Ronnie... now it's Ronnie's turn to get Selby in trouble on the last red, he's played a miss... Selby leads 59-46... all change again as Ronnie is snookered again on this last red... this could be a pivotal frame in this match... we are still on this last red, but now Selby leads 65-46 and Ronnie is bang in trouble with this snooker... Now the safety progresses to the yellow, this frame has been going more than half an hour now, but it's exciting play... Selby still leads 65-49 on the yellow... at last a chance on the yellow and it falls to O'Sullivan... well more drama yet in this frame as O'Sullivan missed the pink and Selby pots it to lead 4-1... what a dramatic frame, it lasted for 43 minutes... Ronnie has left the arena for quite a long time here... he's been gone 6 minutes... he's back, to applause from his opponent! And now it's applause from the audience as Ronnie rattles in 78 in less time than he was out of the arena... Here's some more brilliant safety shots from both players at the start of frame seven... ultimately a chance falls to Ronnie... but it looks like end of break at 51 as he has no red on... good safety again and Ronnie has also put black safe, so hard work for Selby to get back into the frame... again superb safety from both players... but Ronnie is a bit lucky that time, pushed a red near the corner pocket but has covered it... Selby flukes that red but no further advantage at present... and now he's at a disadvantage, 47 behind with 43 on, Ronnie is favourite to close to 4-3, but there's still some very good safety being produced by both players. Selby can't get on a colour after that red so he concedes... one more frame this afternoon... and first chance goes to Ronnie so we could be 4-4 at the end of this very entertaining and interesting session... Ronnie's break ends at 27, as he inadvertently knocks a red in when potting the black... and Selby can take full advantage here... and so far he is as his breaks moves to 39, 12 ahead now... Selby makes 60 and leads now 67-27 with one red left, which Ronnie pots, he'll need a high value colour now and then can lay a snooker... so he's 33 behind on the yellow... and he lays the white tight behind the brown, it will have to be a four cushion escape... Selby fails to escape and leaves the yellow on for Ronnie to lay the second snooker he needs.... another four points for Ronnie, so only 25 behind now and he's snookered Selby again... but now it's Ronnie's turn to miss the thin edge of the yellow and give 4 points back to Selby who now leads 71-42 and they're still on the yellow... and in the end Selby holds on to win the frame and leads 5-3 ahead of tonight's session... They return at 19.00 GMT and so will we...

The players will return in a few moments and the evening session will get underway... and here come the players, introduced into the arena by Hazel Irvine... O'Sullivan breaks off and immediately puts Selby in trouble... Ronnie pots a long red to the yellow pocket from the leave... splits the reds off the blue and then misses a half ball red... so an early chance for Selby... he manages 16 but has to play safe now.... Ronnie's safety leaves a red on... which Selby misses but he's put some distance between cue ball and the reds, which have mainly shifted toward top and side cushion now... and Ronnie misses also, the players haven't quite settled back into their rhythm yet... so in a rather scrappy opening Mark Selby has carved out a 42-20 lead with 4 reds left, three of which are tight on side cushions... now he's a strong favourite to win this frame, two reds left, both safe and that 42 break gives Selby a 38 point lead... Ronnie finds a good cross-double on one of the reds, but he's not on the last red, so the safety will determine who gets the chance to clear up... Selby missed the last red but has fluked a snooker... Ronnie leaves it and it's 6-3 to Selby... We're into another tactical frame at the moment, both players producing good shots... O'Sullivan breaks the deadlock and if he can get the black into play it's a nice chance... O'Sullivan motors along to 28 but then gets a massive kick and it leaves him a horrible black, which he pots, but it's cost position on the reds... he's found another good red to keep the break going... and it's a brilliant break of 75, a frame-winner... That seems to have revived Ronnie, he's smashes home a long red and is embarking on a break to start frame eleven... he's up to full speed now, the break reaches 61... and the frame is safe now, just remains to see if he clears with a century... he doesn't... Selby is back with a bang in this frame... already onto 45 with 6 reds left... the break moves on to 58, while Ronnie seems to have a found a new aid to concentration, he's sitting in his chair rubbing a spoon - eat your heart out Yuri Geller... break ends at 65, Ronnie concedes immediately and leaves the arena for the interval....

So we're into the final session of the match... Selby went in off and left Ronnie a chance, he's made 12 before leaving a red hanging right in the jaws... Selby makes 16 before playing safe, yet again a superb safety shot... He gets another red but no position, but no it's Ronnie's turn to put in a brilliant shot, out of a snooker and safe.. this very important frame has become fragmented, Selby leads 30-12 and another safety exchange now... a good long red by O'Sullivan, he's got plenty of open reds... key shot is the last red, on the top cushion... Ronnie leads 55-30 so he needs the red... in it goes and Ronnie pulls a frame back with that 78 clearance... Selby's attempted long red goes astray but he hasn't left it... but now Ronnie's found a red, he's got three open reds but will have to split the pack soon... he's nudged more reds open and moved on to 33... he lost position there so only a safety, but 43 points in the bank... a terrible error by Selby, hit the pack far too thick, went in off and sent a red to baulk, but he's been lucky not to leave that red on... Ronnie puts Selby in a snooker, but good escape by the Leicester man... but Selby has gone off the obil a bit, he gets a red, but misses a straightforward yellow to the centre, another chance for Ronnie, he misses a plant though... there will be some more safety here, two reds on the side cushion, sandwiching the black, two mid table, one of which Selby misses... and three near the black spot, but only the blue in that half of the table... Ronnie has worked out a path through the reds but leading 67-1, he's missed frame ball red... the odds are still heavily in Ronnie's favour to level the match here... black is out of the game still, which Selby would need with every remaining red to be able to win by one point... Ronnie smacks home the red he needs and it's level now at 7-7...

Selby gets the first opportunity in frame fifteen, it's getting tense now and any mistake could be crucial, but he's onto 16, nicely on the black and a good angle to split some reds open... he's dislodged a couple more reds, onto 25 now... but he's missed that red at 28... he's left a red on to the middle pocket for Ronnie... in no time Ronnie's made 31, all the reds are pottable now... 63 now and Ronnie will lead for the first time, at this crucial stage of the match, one frame from the final... maybe I spoke too soon, he's missed at 63, he leads 63-28 with two reds left... Selby built himself up for a big red there, missed it but sent both reds across to a cushion, and safe... some tense safety but now Selby has pushed a red near the corner pocket, Ronnie gets it and Selby needs snookers... so the match has turned round now... O'Sullivan leads, can Selby comeback again... Ronnie fires in a long red from Selby's break-off but no position so a good safety... a red has gone up towards the baulk line, so the safety is from the top cushion now... Selby has found a way back to the baulk cushion.. Ronnie slides a good red to the centre, round the angles off the green but no easy position... and he gets a huge kick which leaves the white half way up the table.. here's a chance for Mark Selby.. slowly but surely Selby moves on to 24... he's opened the reds off the pink and can add to his score now... he looks tense now, but he's still going, onto to 43, leading by 31... this is a gutsy break by Selby, now on to 55, leading by 43 and 43 points on the table... a great long blue from Selby, should win him the frame.... well the break ends at 60, Ronnie concedes so now we'll have a thrilling deciding frame...

Ronnie thunders in a long red, nicely on the black, splits the pack and onto to 40 (all reds and blacks)..., 56... 64... 72... 80... he's got all the reds open now... 88... 96... 104... 112... 120... just the colours needed.... 129... blue pink and black needed.... just the black needed for 147...  and there it is - wonderful - 147 FILE

Mark Selby raises a smile and congratulates Ronnie and after all the excitement, he's through to Sunday's final to face Stephen Maguire...

Friday 14 December:

Welcome to a bright and sunny Telford... Play commences at 13.30 ... so we go on the first semi final featuring Stephen Maguire and Shaun Murphy...

The first frame will go to Maguire, a careless safety from Murphy left Maguire in for a frame-winning break... No advantage yet in frame two, but Maguire misses a long red there...

so a nice chance for Shaun Murphy to establish himself in the match... he's made 32 but needs a long blue to keep the break going... he gets to 43 but can't progress..

but another red eludes Maguire and Murphy gets a chance to clear up... maybe not, he's 62 ahead but still 6 reds left.. excellent red along the rail and that's the frame winner...

Murphy misses a red, first chance to Maguire, but an unkind split of the reds may stop him in his tracks... it doesn't he gets a fluke and makes 61, but he's missed now and hasn't won the frame yet...

he has now, after a miss apiece and exchange of safety Maguire gets back in to clear up... no real fireworks yet, but breaks of 69 and 61 for Maguire and 86 for Murphy, suggests we're in for a high quality and close match...

Into frame four and there's a safety error again from Murphy, could it be that this match will hinge on the better safety, rather than their reknowned potting skills..

That's a let off for Murphy and Maguire bounces the black off the table.. Despite that mishap, Maguire opens another chance, he's progressed to 26 so far...

and somehow he's on to 48, with a series of good shots to keep the break going... on to 61 and the frame is safe, Maguire will lead 3-1 at the interval.. and rounds off in style with a 113 clearance...

The players return from their break, another four frames to play now, can Maguire maintain his lead or can Murphy level or pull away... the answer at the moment is that Murphy will have to play catch up...

Maguire is away and clear on a break of 59 and leads 4-1... and he completes a century, two either side of the interval... Murphy leaves his safety short and Maguire thumps in a long red,

not much of a chance at the moment.. better now he's run in a red along the cushion and is on the blue to get on more reds... he does and makes 77 from it, Murphy could tie with one snooker,

if he can take the black with 5 reds... This is breath taking from Maguire today... he's smacked in a superb long red, made 46 so far, but looks to have covered his intended red this time...

but despite Murphy trying desperately to get back into the frame, Maguire clinches it and now leads 6-1... I wonder what the odds were on that score line before the start of the match... And what were the odds on 7-1 to Maguire...

he has been quite simply unstoppable this afternoon...

Good evening, welcome back... Well is there anything Shaun Murphy can do to get back into this match? Well he's made a great start, but unlucky to get a kick on 5, but a fabulous long pink keeps the break going...

he won't be going down with a fight... superb start as Murphy completes a century, in which a chance of the highest break of the tournament here... and there it is a 144 total clearance, simply brilliant (how sick will Ding be!)

Here goes Murphy again, he's come out all guns blazing, bang goes the red, break is up to 39... the break ends at 46 but a good safety...

Over at Pontin's Daniel Wells, the current Paul Hunter Scholarship student, has beaten Stephen Rowlings to reach tomorrow's final..

he will play the winner of fellow Welshman Jamie Jones or Peter Lines... that match will be on our live stream very shortly... Murphy is now 61-5 ahead, just needs one of the four remaining reds... which he gets so Murphy pulls back another frame... Into frame eleven and the first red is potted by Stephen Maguire... black and pink are tied up, he fires in a long green, which many players would have rolled up behind... Maguire converts that fine pot in a frame winning break.. he's made 70 and needs one more frame to win... Here's an early chance for Maguire in the next, could he convert this and book his place in Sunday's final... the reds are tightly packed still so key shot will be splitting the pack.. he only makes 31 and Murphy gets the chance... from which he makes 67 and Maguire needs snookers now.. which he wont get as Murphy pots the yellow...

They're back from the interval, can Shaun keep his revival alive... Good pot red but misses a tough black with the rest, doesn't get back to baulk and Maguire slams home a red... in no time at all Maguire moves on to 27, he's got the reds open, this could be just the chance he needs to close out the match.. but it isn't, he misses on 33.. another lifeline for Murphy... the break reaches 63, 30 ahead now, so Maguire needs a snooker...

A cracking long red by Maguire to start frame fourteen, a good black, he's got a couple more reds on... but he's forced to play safe now having made 24... He's got another chance and his leads stretches to 43 points and there are enough open reds to wrap up the match here... and that's enough for Maguire now, he's into the final... and just to make sure he clears up with   105... join us on Saturday for Ronnie O'Sullivan against Mark Selby...

Thursday 13 December:

What a treat we could have today... An intriguing match up between World Finalist Mark Selby and Grand Prix Champion Marco Fu.. and already today Hong Kong have had plenty to cheer about, as their player Lin Tan Ho, has notched up another excellent win in the PIOS and at 18.30 tonight will play in the Last 16 against former Professional Peter Lines... and our second Telford match today is, probably the most eagerly awaited of the week.. Jamie Cope v Ronnie O'Sullivan... If both play up to their best form they've shown this week, then it could be one of the quickest matches on record (although they will have to go some to dislodge Tony Drago from the record books!)... GCS has its cameras over at Pontin's for the PIOS and currently on the stream is Malta's Alex Borg against Scotland's up and coming junior, Anthony McGill... AT 15.30 you can watch Jamie Jones, the former Welsh Champion against the 2006 IBSF World Runner-up, Daniel Ward... Well here we go then, first chance to O'Sullivan... and to Mark Selby... the pink and black are tied up, so this is hard going for Selby at the moment, no such problem for Ronnie who is already on to 53... but he gets a bad bounced so break ends at 54 and there's a fine long red by Cope, let's see what he can do.. only 13 and safe... Selby has got the black into play so he can add to the 31 he's made so far... cracking red with the rest keeps Selby's break going... safety between Cope and Ronnie have scattered the reds around... another rest shot from Selby as he moves on to 47 and nicely on the black... this is a cracking start by Selby, onto 95 now, he deserves the ton... and he does, brilliant... Ronnie has pulled off an amazing red and now can clear up the frame... and there's a fabulous 130 total clearance by Selby, what a great start and Ronnie clears with 34, a very lively start to the day, as we expected.. A stunning red by Ronnie to start the second frame, long straight and he screws back up for blue, and off that, scatters reds all over the place... don't blink! First chance in frame two falls to Mark Selby... 15 on the board and in good position... O'Sullivan is up to 32... but Ronnie has missed, maybe a bit of a kick... So here's a chance for Jamie Cope... Selby moves up to 34 and still plenty of open reds, this is a frame-winning chance... Cope whizzes onto 23.... and now to 46... Selby moves to 59, needs one more red still... Cope is on 69, 69-32 ahead now and Ronnie needs a snooker... Cope misses the last red with the rest, Ronnie will play on here.... that's the frame secure for Selby, can he make another century... Selby misses on 96, but not a bad start! Nothing Marco could do about that, he missed one ball when he got a kick... Cope seals the frame so 1-1.... Another brilliant long red from Ronnie and he's off on another break... Selby has Marco snookered at the start of the third frame... Ronnie is trying to get black or pink into the game and then he'll have a better chance of building a substantial break... but he can't he fails at 34 and Cope launches into a counter attack... in no time at all he's cleared the table with a 92 break... There's an error by Selby, has he left anything pottable for Marco? Yes he has and Marco pots his first ball of the match... Cope smacks in a long red, he's on the blue, pink and black both tied up still... Cope misses a long blue.. Marco is settling nicely onto a break, his first chance in the match and he's made 33 so far... and now 58... Ronnie misses a red, Cope gets one but no position, so a couple of chances each have gone begging in this frame... Superb from Fu, 70 now... he secures the frame with 77... a great start by both players to this match... 130, 95 and 77... Cope misses and Ronnie has a chance... Selby is straight in as frame four starts, this match is going as quick as the other one... Ronnie is now on a run of 46... and misses, he leads 52-18... he has the upper hand with only 2 reds left... Selby strolls along to 28 and this is a good open chance... Ronnie gets the red he needs, so they're off to the interval at 2-2... Selby is unlucky as he split the pack but covered the reds, so end of break at 47... Marco is right in the frame, Selby leads 47-44... Fu clears up to level the match at 2-2... so two great matches in play, both level... O'Sullivan and Cope are back in action, well Ronnie is, on a break of 50 already... Now we know these boys here at Telford can scores but what about this for a match over at the PIOS... Paul Sweeny bt Paul Davison 4-3, both former pros of course, Sweeny made breaks of 50, 64, 65 and 8 and Paul "Snowy" Davison made 52, 56 and 57, seven breaks over 50 in the seven frames... and there's a century from Ronnie, brilliant snooker today.. 137 total clearance... easy game! Selby and Fu are back and Fu immediately spots a plant.... but then misses the blue... Cope has just scattered the pack in frame six, but is he on a red... yes he is... good red to centre to keep the break going, onto 18 now... but he's let one slip on 24 and Ronnie pounces... so does Fu, a brilliant red to give him an opening.... Ronnie nudges the reds open, the break is up to 48... but he missed the yellow on 62, so Cope needs snookers... it's 4-2 to Ronnie... Marco gets a second chance from Selby's safety... Fu stretches his lead to 40-0 and nicely on the black... Bang goes a red from Cope... he's on the black and the reds are open.... no mistake from Fu and he leads 3-2, quite a turnaround... Cope fails at 44, O'Sullivan will punish him here... and already he's regain the lead in the frame... he'll need the last red along the top cushion... a 94 clearance from Ronnie... 137, 72 and 94 since the interval... Ronnie has the eighth frame at his mercy, looking good to have a 6-2 lead at the end of the session... but he's over hit that shot and lost position.... he leads 43-0... Selby's made 32 but it's Fu back at the table now... Fu finds a plant to keep his visit going, but misses the brown on 27... the frame is wide open now... Another amazing long red from Cope, he's not in good position though.... and gets a kick on the black so only 1 point from that great pot... Cope has now played a superb safety which has put Ronnie trouble, he narrowly fails to pot a red out of the snooker, but he's left it... Cope is only 10 points behind now... Selby is now 54-27 ahead of Fu... and he's got the frame in the bag.. Cope leads 52-43 but a poor safety on the yellow... Selby gets the last red to level again... O'Sullivan clears up to lead 6-2..  ahead of tonight's session... and Mark Selby rattles in a century to lead 4-3... and Selby gets amongst the ball again in the last frame of the afternoon, he'd de delighted if he could take a two frame lead into tonight's session.. but he promptly misses on only 13... Marco is quietly setting about a break, 25 so far... tonight on our LIVE STREAM from the PIOS there will be more interest for Hong Kong as Andy Lee, (brother of Hong Kong pool star Lee Chenman) tackles former professional Stuart Mann from Essex... that match will be at 18.30 GMT - the current match is Jamie Jones of Wales v England's Daniel Ward... Fu fails at 38, as Pete Williams asks a member of the audience to remove a horses' head mask! Looks like the Barmy Army is in the audience today! So Fu leads 41-24, if Selby can get position off a colour here, he's got a chance... and a good long red but no position at all now, only 4 points... it's very close now, Selby has a 6 point lead on the yellow and what a big frame now, the difference between 4-4 or 5-3 to Selby... it may be Fu, he's 3 points ahead, got a long blue... he'll probably play safe on this pink, the pot is very hard... he opts for the snooker... this should be frame for Fu... Selby is a long way from that pink and now needs a snooker... he doesn't get it so the match is beautifully poised at 4-4.... we'll be back here in Telford at 19.00 for the exciting conclusion to these two quarter final matches... Meanwhile you can continue to enjoy our coverage from the PIOS at Pontin's...

Good evening, welcome back to the conclusion to today's two thrilling matches... off we go and off goes the Rocket, straight into orbit, long red, long blue... and on the other table a nice early chance for Marco Fu... and in the time it takes me to type it, Ronnie moves on to 52... Fu loses position at 16... well that didn't take long, 82 from Ronnie and he leads 7-2... and now he's got reds perfect for a very big break.... and Mark Selby is now in good position on a run of 23 with plenty more to go for... Ronnie moves on to 56, he's got his eyes on a maximum, but he's got some work to do off this red to get on the black... oh sublime.. red in the centre, in and out of baulk and plumb back on the black... Selby is trying to concentrate on his break amidst mounting excitement from the adjoining table... Ronnie is smiling as the next black drops, 72 now... 88, two reds are on the side rail though... he's behind one of them... 96... if he did complete a max, he'd equal Hendry's record... 112 and now he's got to get on the last red on the rail... shame, he just failed to double the red... but sublime snooker from O'Sullivan... Mark Selby clinches the frame to lead 5-4... O'Sullivan is already well on the way to winning the next frame and the match... make a note in your diary... Ronnie has missed a pot... so one last chance for Cope... he trails by 47 points... he makes 40 but Ronnie pots another wonderful red... and strolls through the clearance... Ronnie is into the semi final... Selby has progressed to a break of 36 in frame ten... and now to 69 and Fu needs snookers... Selby is on a roll here at the moment, two frames in the bag and on a break of 34 in the next...  along to 50 now, he will need to split some reds out now... and he does and moves along to 65, just one red needed which sails into the centre... another frame secured by Selby... Good safety by Selby at the start of frame twelve... this has Marco thinking... in the end it's Marco who wins the safety exchange and here's his first real chance of the evening... and he makes the most of it with a superb 132 total clearance... The players return from the interval, Fu trails 7-5 and this frame is vital for him... and he gets a chance as an attempted brown by Selby high hurdles off the table and lands on the floor... Fu makes 16 but loses position so will have to hope for another chance... Selby finds a red but no colour... but Selby gets another red and this time he's on the blue... real problems for Fu now... that 59 puts Selby 40 up on the last red, it's 8-5 barring Fu getting 2 snookers... Fu takes red and blue and lays a tight snooker.... there's the first 4 points he needs, another snooker to be able to win the frame... but it's not to be as Selby clears up and he's 3 ahead now with only 4 to play, one from victory... Fu battles on and he's on a break of 32 at the moment.... This is a gutsy and hard-worked break by Marco, he's got a 62 point lead and now Selby needs a snooker... this match isn't over yet... anyone who remembers Fu's epic battle with Peter Ebdon in the world championship knows what battling qualities he has... that was an excellent 53 break to follow his 39 early in the frame... Good safety shots by both players to start frame fifteen.. Selby is forced into a long red and he gets it... he misses his next red though, that was a nervy shot... Fu finds a red, not bad on the blue and plenty of reds available... Fu proceeds to 37, he's got the reds open but pink and black are not available, so each time he's got to go round the table for the blue... this is a very good break, 7 reds, 7 blues so far... a plant keeps him going, 57 ahead now, needs one more red... this really is a superb break... try it sometime when you're practicing, only use the blue as your colour and see how hard it is... and now the breaks reaches 67 and that's the frame safe, Selby sits in his chair and looks quite worried now... the tension will really mount in the next... it's very tense now, so tense that Fu has just missed the edge of the pack completely...Selby opts for the cue ball to be replaced...Fu makes contact the second time and gets the cue ball back into baulk...Selby attempts a long pot and is lucky after having missed the intended pocket, he flukes it into one of the centre pockets...This could be a chance for Selby...his luck is short-lived as the break ends on 12...Marco pots a red along the cushion but does not end up in a favourable position for any of the high value colours...Only the green and blue remain on their spots with the brown and yellow close to each other on the baulk cushion, the black near the green cushion and the pink to the left hand cushion from the baulk end...After potting an opening red, Selby drops the blue  dead weight to get good position... now Selby has stuck Marco into a very nasty snooker - jamming white between brown and cushion... Selby already leads 32-4... Marco misses but next shot Selby leaves a red on, which Marco pots .. he doesn't pot a colour though but he's got away with... this frame has a long way to go yet... the safety is good, the reds have gone a bit awkward, the black is the only open colour, up near the blue spot... and there's a fouls by Selby out of a snooker, hits the blue... so Selby still leads 36-10... this time he hits a red okay and safely... this is very cagey safety, they're tip tapping two reds along the top cushion... Marco wouldn't be averse to a re-rack here... eventually Selby makes an error on his safety, a chance, but not much of one, for Marco... he's manufactured 22 from it, so we have two reds lefts, and Mark leads by 4 points... disaster for Fu as he misses the red completely and gives 5 points away, it's being put back for another attempt... Fu can see the red but is trying to hit it very thin... Fu gets it that time and safe as houses... Fu gets one of the reds but misses the green, no other damage done though... Selby leads by 8 points on the last red and he's snookered Fu... He swerves and gets a snooker back, lucky man... Marco has a go at a long pot on the red, doesn't get it but he's left Selby with a very hard pot which he turns down... Selby gets another snooker... good escape by Marco and not a bad result... again a very tough red if Selby wants to take it... he doesn't... the safety is of the very highest quality, particularly considering the circumstances of the match... Fu snookers Selby this time... If the snooker today by O'Sullivan was breath-taking, this is equally thrilling in a nervous, edge of the seat, way... As the match times ticks over six hours, Selby fails to escape but gets it second time... Fu lays another snooker... he's only 4 points behind now... the frame time is now one hours... but what an hour it's been... Selby escapes... Fu leaves a glimmer of a pot, but not easy... Selby gets the red and ends up touching ball on the black! But he lays a snoker behind it... this is horrible... Selby has a 5 point lead on the yellow, Fu misses by a mile, this is extremely hard... he comes right round the table and hits the black, back it goes again... Selby now leads by 16 points... and should he leave the yellow on, the green is waiting by the corner pocket... Fu narrowly misses the yeloow and now it's a free ball as well... Selby takes the free ball and is now on the yellow leading by 22, down goes the yellow and green and Fu needs snookers... but it's not quite over... Fu trails by 27 points on the brown... but Marco has left the brown on and his brave effort will come to an end... it's been a superb match.. I spoke too soon, as Selby misses that easy brown... Fu pots the brown, a snooker on the blue now and he could tie... good hit by Selby but he's left the blue on and then could win with one snooker on the pink... Fu rejects the pot and gets blue safe, but he's split the pink away from the black... the frame has gone past 76 minutes, longer than the record 74 minute frame between Ebdon and Dott in the final of the 2006 World Championship... Disaster for Fu, he misses the blue and hits the black.. three snookers and it's all over... Join us again on Friday at 13.30 GMT for the Semi Finals...

Wednesday 12 December:

Join us at 14.00 on Wednesday for the first two quarter final matches... Welcome back and here we go, introductions of the players are underway and the audience has welcome Maguire, Murphy, Ding and Mark Williams into the arena... sit back and enjoy the coverage with us... First red to Williams, first missed colour as well, so what can Maguire do with this early opportunity... well he's onto 22 and he's got some open reds to clear before he'll need to split the pack... 45 to Maguire no position, he left Williams a long red but Williams play it as a shot to nothing, and gets precisely that! a couple of errors from both Murphy and Ding, the reds are scattered about so it will be a great chance for whoever settles first into a break.. Murphy's played a very strange shot, an attempted double with safety, neither of which he got... so here's the chance for Ding... the match is being broadcast live in China to an estimated 100 million viewers - wow, that's a few more than even GCS gets on a day! Maguire makes 6 more points but misses a red, here's a chance for Williams to make amends for his early missed brown... you get the feeling that Williams needs to get off to a good start in this match... Williams looks good here, some brilliant shots on the way to 44 and counting.. black to yellow is key and then it should be plain sailing... perfect... Ding missed so chance falls to Murphy... Williams has gone in off the brown, the frame should go to Maguire now... and it does... Murphy and Ding are playing safe now... this is a very scrappy start, Ding leads 24-16... Murphy eventually breaks the deadlock to clinch the opener... A good chance for Maguire in the second, reds are open, black on its spot... Murphy may have won the opener but he doesn't look convincing yet, both these players have had good wins to get to the quarters, but neither has look at the top of their game in the tournament yet... Maguire has carelessly missed a pink on 48, red for Williams in the corner but no position... After a bit of safety here's an opening for Ding... Williams has conceded so it's 2-0 to the Scot... Ding gets a terrible bounce off the top cushion, he holds his head and smiles, but is furious... it's cost him position and it's end of his 20 break... Murphy get a red and he can now take the balls that should have been Ding's... but Murphy missed on 30, this is still scrappy play from both players... Some characteristic pots from Mark Williams but he's struggling to get good position and his break ends at 32 with a good safety shot... Another chance for Ding, but the balls are very scrappy, so not a clear cut opening... but he's done enough to leave Murphy needing snookers, so it's 1-1 after a rather stuttering start... Stephen Maguire has pulled away from Williams in the third - chances for both players from which Williams made 32 and Maguire 30, but this run of 72 gives Maguire a 3-0 lead.. It's another rather protracted start to the third frame between Ding and Murphy... not what we expected from this match... amazingly Ding is averaging 32 seconds a shot at the moment, a sign of how much safety they've had to play... Williams has carved out a 41 point lead in frame four, which he desperately needs to win, but he'll have to wait for another chance if he's to clinch the frame... that will help as Maguire plays a brilliant billiards run through with the white, but a foul in snooker! Ding is mopping up the bits and pieces in the third scrappy frame, he's 42-14 ahead at the moment.. Williams misses his colour and has to sit and watch Maguire, but unlucky for Maguire, forced a hard red along the cushion, kissed the pink and lost position... Ding has left enough on the table for Murphy, who gets the red but is way off with his position, so safe again... this is a bizarre opening to this match... and a poor safety from Maguire gifts a red to Williams... Murphy snookers Ding who is a so close to the red, but still called a miss.. Williams battles on, not on form yet, but fighting all the way, one more red to get a frame on the board... he's just about tricked that red in, black follows so 3-1 to Maguire at the interval... Ding leads 47-27 on the last red and he's got Murphy in a virtually impossible snooker... Murphy attempted a masse, not a shot we see much in snooker, but he doesn't get the bite onto the cue ball... he's closer this time but back it goes again, lead is now 55-27... tries round the angles this time and misses again and leaves a free ball... Ding is red hot favourite to take the frame now... and he does... while Williams and Maguire enjoy their interval after four frames, Ding and Murphy are still struggling through the fourth frame.. Ding leads 29-0, but he seems to be struggling with the bouncy top cushion, losing position time and again.. Murphy's long potting has deserted him at the moment and they've both being knocked out of their rhythm by the scrappy nature of the match... Ding slumps in his chair and looks fed up, but he rarely sits there looking happy, he does lead 2-1, so he needs to tough it out in these disjointed frames... Ding has his mum over from China to keep him company this week, and I'm sure she'll have a nice cup of tea or a dish of noodles ready to perk him up... now a chance for Murphy... he's moved to 37, the highest break of the match... onto to 52 now, but misses a plant, so Murphy leads 52-29 with two reds left, but the best break of the match so far, which says something about the nature of the first four frames... Murphy gets the last reds and so it's 2-2 and everyone will be glad of a break now... Maguire and Williams are back for frame five, Williams is at the table, on 19, needs to split the reds off this blue... he's on a red... and now he's 60 ahead, much better from the Welshman... break ends at 67, but 63 ahead, 59 left, Maguire will play on... not now he wont Williams fires home a long red... And the Welshman starts frames six with another great long red to the yellow pocket... that was off a careless safety from Maguire and the Scot has slipped up on his safety again... Williams is 37 ahead but now he's left a red hanging for Maguire... Ding and Murphy are back at the table, hoping for a more fluent session... Maguire is punishing Williams for that miss, on to 46 now and still in good position... so of course Maguire misses an easy black off the spot and hands the initiative straight back to Mark... and he's taking the chance and will level the match... 25 points for Murphy and a chance for Ding... which he misses... we're into one of these farcical situations after a miss where balls have to be replaced... lots of replays and discussion and Eirian does a good job of getting everything back as it was... net result is a chance now for Williams... a 62 break from Ding and he's 3-2 up now... and that's settled him into his usual rhythm and he's already rattled up 59 in the next... Maguire has weathered the storm from Williams and has taken that frame, 4-3 up with one more to play this afternoon... Ding now leads 62-6 with 4 reds left, he needs one more for the frame... he doesn't get it and Murphy produces a quite remarkable clearance to the black to pinch the frame... hr's got a great chance in the next, reds spread nicely... Murphy is 62 ahead but he hasn't clinched the frame and he's missed an easy shot... Maguire looks like taking a two frame lead into tonight's session, he's 45-49 down but at the table and on the brown, but the key shot will be the pink which is on the side rail... eventually it's Maguire who clinches it to lead 5-3.. Frame 7 between Murphy and Ding hangs in the balance, a lead of 62-39 for Murphy but Ding is on the colours set to clear up... and this time it's Ding who clears to the black and he leads 4-3... this match has really come to life in the past couple of frames... one more to play this afternoon.. a blistering red launches Murphy onto a break of 37 before position eludes him..., Ding is right back in the frame just a point behind, but here comes Murphy again after Ding got a kick... Murphy clears with 31 to level at 4-4...

...Welcome back as the evening session gets under way and later tonight we will know who the first two semi finalists are... Maguire chalks up a 45 point lead and back to safety... Maguire gains another opening and he's going to open a three frame lead too... It's going to be hard work for the Welshman now, he's nearly back to his best, but not quite and he's up against a very focussed and in-form Maguire... the first frame tonight between Ding and Murphy has got a bit awkward... Ding leads 37-24 but the last 5 reds are all around the side and top cushion, as is the black... Murphy's potted one and dislodged another... but it's a 41 clearance that gives Ding the frame and a 5-4 lead... Williams trails by 20 points, gets a red but attempts one of his "inside-out blacks, with the cue tucked under his body and misses it, he's left Maguire right in again... and the Scots needs no further invitation and secures the frames, he's on a roll now... on the other table the match is very finely balanced, a lead of 35 for Murphy and now a counter-attack from Ding who is 7 points ahead and at the table... Mark Williams is fighting hard and has earned a 58 point lead in this frame, but it's far from over, Maguire could come back into it... but he can't so Williams will pull a frame back... Ding's break ends. he's 11 ahead on the last red... An amazing pot red by Murphy with an acute cut back, he's right back in the frame now... but he's playing safe so whoever gets the yellow will be favourite, Ding is snookered... but Murphy escapes and now he's cleared green to black to level at 5-5.. Maguire has pulled out a 53 point lead, but there's a do or die red from Williams, can he get right back into the frame? The balls are there for him... he fails at 42, here comes Maguire again, just needs yellow to brown... Murphy produces an excellent 68, but he's missed a red, Ding needs one snooker so he'll carry on... not for long, Murphy gets another red and leads 6-5... Dings spots a plant, pots both reds and makes 43, but another attempted plant fails, but he gets safe... Murphy doesn't and Ding clears up to level again, 6-6 at the final interval... as they depart, Maguire and Williams return, and Williams promptly leaves a red for Maguire... Maguire got himself in a real muddle, nearly fell over and missed the red! Williams now leads 33-6 and some great safety from both of them... Williams is controlling this frame at the moment, the reds are awkward and now he's snookered Maguire who has missed twice now... three times, fourth time he launches the white round the table and hits the red no problem at all, and gets everything safe... not for long and Williams claims the frame, he's still in the match... I don't think he will be for long, Maguire got straight in and has motored on to 63 and sitting very nicely on the reds... and he clinches the match in style, a 130 clearance... Ding has taken the first on the resumption, 7-6 to him now and he's got an opening in the next, but the black and blue are out of the game at the moment... well he missed that tricky red to centre but doesn't leave anything... It's tit for tat, 54 tor Murphy... 65 from Ding and the scores are level at 7-7, who can break away to line... so on to frame fifteen, getting close to the wire now, first chance to Ding, he makes 4, loses position... so a good safety shot... Oh dear, a miss by Ding and it's scattered the reds all over the table... and Murphy pulls out a tough red up to the yellow pocket... a chance for Shaun... he's moved along to 33 but three of the reds are now on the side cushion and the others aren't sitting too good either... He decides to play safe - well he thought it was safe, Ding blitzes a red in... but he's not on a colour, well nothing remotely easy... he's taking on a death or glory pink to the yellow pocket and how unlucky is that, a massive kick sent the pink miles off course... and it leaves another red on for Murphy... and he pushes ahead to 60-5 ahead, Ding could tie with one snooker.. wow - an amazing pot by Ding but he misses the black and concedes... Now there's more dreadful luck for Ding, he gets in, takes the blue to split the reds and the pink cannons off a red and into a pocket and again it's left a chance for Murphy... and he grabs it with both hands and make a frame and match winning break of 74... he will face Stephen Maguire in the semi finals.... Join us again on Thursday to see Mark Selby play Marco fu and what could be an exhilarating match up between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jamie Cope... don't forget we also have full coverage of the PIOS event, including LIVE MATCH STREAMING and video highlights...

Tuesday 11 December:

Good afternoon and a warm (or rather chilly) welcome to Telford... Play commences at 13.30 and more thrilling snooker is in stores for us... Meanwhile we have full and LIVE scoerage of the latest PIOS event over at Pontin's... there is LIVE STREAMING of matches right through the event.. we've already seen an excellent performance from England's Stephen Craigie this morning, who beat Craig Steadman 4-1.. Our current live match is Germany's Patrick Einsle against Michael Wild.. Coming up at 13.30 will be two former Welsh Champions Jamie Jones and Andrew Pagett... Stand by: We've got a Rocket on the Launch Pad, A Shotgun ready to fire and a Jester to play his tricks... There is a packed audience waiting to watch Ronnie O'Sullivan tackle fellow Essex man Mark King... Hong Kong is tuned in to cheer on Marco Fu, and there's already been a great result for Hong Kong today when Alan Lin Tan Ho beat former Main Tour pro Justin Astley in the PIOS, with a best run of 76... An inspired start from King who flukes the opening red! no colour on but there's a red for Ronnie so stand by for Lift Off... Mark Selby has opened with 32, but he can't convert to a frame winner and they'll look for another chance... I blinked, Ronnie is onto 41 already... now 73 and the frame is won... and there's ton number 505 for O'Sullivan, a sublime start... Local children from Telford schools filled the front rows to enjoy that break, but break is over for them and they're being frog-marched out by teacher and back to school.... a solid start from Joe Perry against Marco Fu, the Chatteris man is 50 ahead on a break of 46... It's a slow start so far by Hawkins and Cope as they jockey for an opening... O'Sullivan certainly isn't slow out of the block today, a break of 51 in the second, but a bad bounce spoils his position... It's Hawkins who wins the safety exchange and he's 51 up on Cope now... Marco Fu has created a chance and is working to get back in the opening frame... Ronnie immediately gets another chance and it's 2-0...  two frames in 18 minutes, at this rate we'll see Mark Allen and Mark Williams back on the table quite quickly.... Cope's got his first chance now against Hawkins.... Fu is still clawing his way back into the first frame and it's cagey between Selby and Dave Harold so far... Fu gets the frame... A good show from Kark King in frame three, onto 41, but now he's missed the black... Cope made 57 but he's let Hawkins back in.. Selby's done enough and leads 1-0... Ronnie can only make 16 and forced to play safe... there are 5 reds left and King leads 45-16... King has managed to angled Ronnie on all the reds and Ronnie's hit the pink... this is tricky to get out of... well how's your luck? Ronnie flukes a red out of the snooker, luckily though for King Ronnie can't capitalise so he now leads 51-39... Hawkins continues his good start, he's wrapped up the second frame... great break here from Marco, already up to 93... Ronnie's got back in and can clear the colours to lead 3-0... Hawkins is on a roll at the moment, he's replied to an early 16 from Cope and had made 28 in reply and is still at the table... I spoke too soon, Hawkins has missed and back comes Cope.. it will be interesting in this match to see if either players is suffering any reaction after their remarkable wins yesterday... Mark Selby doesn't seem to be suffering after his late night finish, he's on 46 at the moment... King is on 30, but know he needs to turn these chances into frame winners... a brilliant safety shot there from Joe Perry nails the white up behind the yellow and puts Fu in trouble... good and safe escape by Marco... King's onto 50 but he's only got two open reds, he'll have to split the pack soon... Selby's moved on to 66 and Cope to 45... King makes 51 but goes in off, however the pack is tight so nothing on for O'Sullivan... Now there is, the reds have spread a little, he's on the black... ominous signs for King, O'Sullivan is onto 51 and he's on the yellow now... and that's 71 clearance, it's 4-0... Marco missed a red at 42 but Perry also missed, Fu leads 42-38 with one (safe) red left... Marco lays a snooker and Joe flukes one back form the escape... and Marco gets one back! Marco's got himself a 3-0 lead, and Perry could have won at least two of them... It looks like going 2-2 between Hawkins and Cope... Cope leads 67-21 at the moment.. It has just gone 3-0 in Mark Selby's favour, a good start by the World finalist... Ronnie is back in action on a break of 40, the reds are scattered all over the table, he's denied an attempt at a maximum, by a kick and that's let King in to take advantage... Selby is on a run of 40, looking promising for a 4-0 lead over Dave Harold... the safety exchange between Fu and Perry has also scattered reds all over the place... King has slipped up, it'll be 5-0 to Ronnie now... Fu gets in and is picking his way around the widespread reds, 48 already... We have a useful new stat at our disposal this week, the time each player took to reach a century break... No prizes for the quickest so far, that was Ronnie in the opening frame today at 5 minutes 5 minutes 56 seconds... bringing up the rear at the moment is Ian McCulloch who took 12 minutes 10 seconds to reach the 100 mark... and that 82 gives Marco his 4-0 lead at the  interval... a good performance so far by the Grand Prix champion, who opened today with a run of 93.. I blinked again and Ronnie has rattled up 82 and another frame... Hawkins and Cope are back from their interval... misses from both players but it's now Cope at the table, well it was, he's missed again... a rare miss from O'Sullivan gives King a chance, but he must be feeling totally shell-shocked after this barrage from Ronnie... Cope gets another chance... King made 40 but back comes Ronnie again, on 38 now... Cope clinches that frame and leads for the first time... and Ronnie duly clears up to lead ... Cope's already moved on to 23 in the next, he's cranking up through the gears now... he's stalled on 30! Hawkins is now on 36... Fu and Perry are back in action, well Perry is, on a break of just 12 at the moment... great applause as Mark King wins his first frame and he's on a break of 76 so far... no century for King but an excellent 92 and they'll be back at 19.00... Hawkins has closed out frame six, so he and Cope at level again.. at 3-3... another good solid frame for Fu, a run of 62 and he leads 5-0... they'll be smiling in Happy Valley... Dave Harold's broken his duck against Selby... Mark Williams and Mark Allen resume in a few minutes... Cope is well on his way to another frame, on a break of 47 and 70 ahead... Mark Williams has first chance against Allen, can he continue where he left off last night, when he won the last two frames of the session to close to 3-5 down... he's onto 45 and he's smashed the reds all over the table... Joe Perry has a very good chance here to clinch the frame and eventually get his name on the scoreboard... Williams misses on 47 and he's left reds all over the place for Mark Allen... Dave Harold had a chance but Selby's pounced on Dave's error to clinch another frame... and at last Joe Perry has won a frame... Allen's missed a routine red to centre so another chance for Williams... Hawkins has levelled against Cope so that sets up an intriguing conclusion tonight... Williams leads 68-30, Allen needs one snooker with one red left... Nigel Bond and Ding resume in a minute at 4-4, they play to a finish now... Marco Fu is back on track again, a run of 73 already and his lead grows to 6-1... Mark Williams is putting some pressure on Mark Allen now, he's levelled at 5-5 and Allen missed a couple of chances that frame... an amusing end to the frame as Williams attempts an exhibition black - that bounces onto the floor and white takes off into orbit, very narrowly missing the lens of one of the BBC Cameras - that would have cost Mark more than his prize money this week... there is no a delay while they get a new cue ball.. It all serves to relax the Welshman, if he wasn't laid back enough already... And now he's got a red straight from Allen's break, the tide is running in Williams favour at the moment, well it was until he missed that simple pink.. and undeterred by the hilarity from the adjoining table, Marco Fu is calmly carving out another frame winning break and a 7-1 lead ahead of tonight's session... Nigel Bond has settled quickly against Ding, on a run of 44 so far... there's a century for Fu to round off the session.... that was a simply magnificent 139 for Marco... Bingham and Murphy will resume on this table when it's been prepared... Bond has carried on to win the frame and lead against Ding... What a let off for Mark Allen, Williams was cruising on a 54 break but he's gone in off, Allen can win with the colours... a brilliant pink by Allen but he's got no shot at the black... they've both had a go at rather unlikely pots and both got away with it... Williams slots the black and leads at 6-5, that's five frames on the spin for the Welshman... Murphy and Bingham have just entered the arena... Mark Williams has produced pot of the week, cueing tight out of the pocket jaw he smashed a long red full length of the table to the yellow pocket, that's his trademark and it's great to see him regaining some form and confidence... Just looking at this rather strange scheduling again... Mark Selby and Dave Harold are on their last frame now, but then there's time needed to prepare the table, so at best it will be 17.30 before Maguire and McCulloch can resume... with an evening session schedule at 19.00 we're going to be running well over time again... Dave Harold is actually leading 42-0 in that frame, but it's far from over yet... Mark Williams is piling on the pressure now against Mark Allen, he's totally controlled this frame... he leads 7-5 at the break and Mark Allen will be very relieved to get out of the arena for a while... Some errors from Bingham and Murphy has won that frame at a canter to lead 6-3... Murphy is forced into trying a long dead weight red, which he's left.... Bingham gets a red but misses the black and Bingham looks very unhappy.... so now the chance goes to Murphy again... he's not been at his brilliant best in this match, but still will be very happy with a 6-3 lead... Ding's drawn level again at 5-5... it's the first time he's played Bond and it's certainly proving to be a fascinating encounter... Murphy's broken down on 47 so a reprieve and a chance for Bingham, but he's had to play safe... it's all going wrong for Bingham and Murphy stretches away now... Mark Williams is beginning to stretch away too, he's made a break of 52 in this frame... Ding has found some form and leads again at 6-5... Again Bingham had chances but again Murphy will win the frame, Bingham looks very dejected... McCulloch and Maguire are back in action... Murphy is cruising towards the winning line now, although not at his best, Bingham has been a long way off his best in this match... Mark Williams is on a break and could complete eight consecutive frames to close out the match, some comeback by the Welshman.... Murphy is through.... two solid breaks from Ding and he's 7-5 up at the interval... A splendid performance in the PIOS today by former Main Tour Pro James Leadbetter, who's bidding to get his place back next season. In a 4-2 win over Stephen Wycherley Leadbetter fired in breaks of 80, 78, 108, 115, even Ronnie would be proud of that - and of course the PIOS is played on the World Snooker Main Tour tables at Pontin's... Best break of the day so far form another former Pro, Adam Davies, who compiled a superb 139 total clearance. Former English Amateur Champion has knocked in a 124... Without producing any fireworks Maguire has taken a 7-3 lead over Ian McCulloch, can the Preston man produce another amazing fight back? Ding has staved off Nigel Bond's he's on the run to the line now... McCulloch's pulled a frame back... Ronnie and Mark King resume.... and Ronnie rattles up another frame... Fu and Perry are back in action, Cope and Hawkins will start in a minute or two... Perry leads 54-34... well he was, back comes Fu again... All sorts happening with King and O'Sullivan, King has missed a red twice, which he could see, so he must hit it or he forfeits the frame (and match in this case), hits it this time and leaves Ronnie a chance to increase his 40 point lead... not quite the end yet as O'Sullivan goes in off... Hawkins is embarking on the first break of the evening against Cope... 24 so far... Ronnie has wrapped up a resounding victory over Mark King.... he will face the winner of Cope or Hawkins in the quarters and what a treat that could be... Hawkins broke down at 25 and Cope has responded with 43... with nothing to lose now Joe Perry has started playing more fluently, he leads 61-27 after that 61 break... but only 34 ahead with 35 on and he's given Marco a chance to clear up... and there's a 35 clearance to the black and Marco leads 8-2...McCulloch and Maguire got very bogged down in frame twelve, but McCulloch's broken the deadlock and leads 44-16 now, on a break of 23.. Cope has won that frame to lead 5-4... and McCulloch's pulled that frame back as well... Marco leads 38-4 in this frame but he's out of position, break ends at 38, but a good safety.. better still this time, that's a snooker... and Marco Fu coolly clears up to book his place in the quarter finals... Mark Selby has rattled up a 75 break so far, enough to take a 7-2 lead... Selby misses the green on 99, but more than enough to win the frame.. and he's strolling through the next now as his break reaches 50... Ian McCulloch is still battling hard against Stephen Maguire, he's got to the table after Maguire broke down early in the frame... Hawkins already has a 39 point lead in frame eleven but at that point his break comes to an end... Selby broke down on 99 last frame, he's on 93 in this one... and this time he makes the century... 120, he went in off the black! Hawkins gets back to the table and makes no mistake this time... Dave Harold concedes and Mark Selby marches through to the quarter finals in very convincing fashion... Maguire has halted McCulloch's recovery and moved 8-5 ahead... Cope and Hawkins go off for their interval level at 6-6.. who can break away in this match? Stephen Maguire is on a break of 41, the end could be in sight now for McCulloch... It's a bizarre fact that, at only 32 years old Mark Williams will be the oldest player in the quarter final line up, just 8 months older than Ronnie O'Sullivan.. and you wouldn't put either player in the "veteran" class just yet... Maguire breaks down on 41, one more chance for McCulloch... Cope has opened up a 63-1 lead in frame 13... and that's enough to regain the lead... Hawkins has broken down on 27 in the next and let Cope straight in... but he can't get into a winning position and it's now 59-38 in Hawkins' favour.. and he's levelled again... another late night Thriller at Telford... Barry has the first opening in frame 15... only 16 so far but in good position... he fails at 25, Cope responds with 43 and now they're both looking for another chance... It's Hawkins who gets back to the table... but not for long, he only progresses to 40-43 and it's cope to edges the frame to lead 8-7... it's rather tense now! Hawkins makes 21 but can get no more at the moment.. he can now he's going to level at 8-8 and we'll have another dramatic final frame... A chance for both players which neither buit on, but now Cope is at the table on a break of 39 leading 53-1 and he's done it, and in style with a century...

Monday 10 December:

Good afternoon and welcome back to a bright but rather cold Telford. Play commences a 13.30 today and three matches will play to a finish while at long last, Marco Fu and Ryan Day start out on their first session.  by the end of the day we'll know the full Last 16 line up, and two Last 16 matches start their first session at 19.00.. Welcome back, we're off and running with Monday's matches... a packed arena to watch Ronnie O'Sullivan against Hitman Holt... and warm welcome for all the players on the two tv tables and the two additional arena tables... Joe Perry gets the opening red against Robertson and he's got a few more in the open... Within a couple of safety shots, Ronnie and Holt have the reds spread all over the place and Ronnie's safety is immaculate... so is Holt's... Only 20 for Perry at his first visit...  Grand Prix Champion Marco Fu is first amongst the balls against the Shanghai finalist Ryan Day... Still no ball potted by either O'Sullivan or Holt, seven minutes gone, the reds are gradually getting pushed across to the side cushion and there's an error from O'Sullivan, can Holt capitalise... Carter and Hawkins have had a pot apiece but no clear cut opening yet... Fu has moved along to 30 already... Holt has a great chance here, he's moved to 36 now, but he will need to dislodge some of the reds clustered on the side rail... Fu made 45, but he's got another chance again now... Perry leads 20-0 against Robertson, they're playing safe and the balls are beginning to go rather scrappy, break-building will be complicated for whoever gets the opening... Holt moves along to 62, with 75 still on... he's lost position just one red and colour short of the frame... Ronnie's got a red but somehow he's got to move the four reds off the cushion... It took 3 visits but Fu has done more than enough to win the first... 19 points for O'Sullivan but he can't shift the last 3 reds... Robertson has worked an opening and progressed to a 26 break... he's onto 40 now but this is far from a frame winning chance with two reds on one side rail, another the other side... Holt pots a three ball plant and that should secure the frame... Robertson's break ends at 62 but Perry needs a snooker now.. It's a slow start so far by Carter and Hawkins, only 26 points on the board between them... There's a good long red from Holt... Carter's broken the deadlock and is on a break of 23.. Ryan Day's well ahead in the second, 50 points up at the moment.. Neil Robertson has carved a good chance here and already made 31... Holt made 21 but now here's a good chance for O'Sullivan, in no time he's made 24... Day's lead is now 62-0... Carter closes out the frame and stretches his lead to 7-2, a mountain for Hawkins to climb now... Ronnie has to be content with 32 at that visit... a kick ended Robertson's visit but no damage done... A good snooker by Holt forces a miss from Ronnie, well no miss called, and Holt grimaces... that's a good call by Alan Chamberlain, Ronnie was a millimetre from the red... Holt's missed a red with the rest, he leads 47-32 with three reds left... Here's another chance for Holt, can he close out this frame and level the match? he's got a tough last red down the rail and he needs this, only 26 ahead... Joe Perry hasn't found his form yet today and he's left another chance for Robertson... Holt opts for safety on the last red, wise decision... Robertson takes a red and lays a snooker... Barry Hawkins is putting up a fight in the next frame, onto a run of 38 so far... Holt slots home the red and the match will be all-square, we're in for some drama... Robertson's got that frame and a two frame lead in the bag... Hawkins pulls a frame back.. Perry has got going at last, onto to 30 now... Great long red again from Holt but no colour available and now a chance for O'Sullivan and this is a good chance with plenty of open reds... Perry's break ends at 30 and Ronnie has lost position and has to play safe... he'll have to wait for another chance... Bang goes another long red from Robertson, he's got his potting boots on today... and here's another opening for O'Sullivan but he can't create anything from that as he misses a red... Carter's embarking on a break and so is Ryan Day, Joe Perry is back at the table with a chance to get well ahead in the frame.. Holt has a great chance here with at least five reds in the open, of gaining a substantial lead in the frame... Perry has missed the black and thrown away that good chance... Day and Carter both break down but Day's got another opening straightaway... Only 30 for Holt, he's rattled a red but he's not left much and leads 39-15... now he leads 57-15 and Holt's won the first three frames of the day, what a turn up... Ali Carter is well on the way to an 8-3 lead... Joe Perry is going to pull this frame back... Ronnie has been stung into action, he's moved along to 28 now... Marco Fu is well on course to level at the interval... Ronnie's break ends at 50, he's mis-firing a bit at the moment... and there's century from Marco, good snooker so far in that match... Ronnie has another chance and he's cleared up this time... it's 6-6 at the interval...  and Joe Perry has cleared up to level at the interval also, we're in for thrilling conclusions to both matches...  Barry Hawkins continues to battle and he's got another frame to trail 8-4 at the interval... Joe Perry is running away with this frame and he'll take the lead again at 7-6... Marco Fu has taken the fifth frame to regain the lead at 3-2... it's hard to see either of these players running away with the match, and my guess is it'll be close going into tonight's final session... O'Sullivan and Holt are back in action, Ronnie leads 31-9 and it's a safety exchange now to try and get on the last five reds... and Holt's got a red and he's on the yellow, which is on the black spot... he's back in the frame at 23-32 but now he's given the chance to Ronnie, who still doesn't look at his best today yet... Barry Hawkins is dishing up another frame, a few nerves will jangle for Carter soon... O'Sullivan has snookered Holt on the last red and protects his 16 point lead... and that's enough for Ronnie to claim the frame and regain his lead... Ryan Day is on a break of 56, well placed to level at 3-3... Ali Carter's created an opening, he's moved on to 26 and will hope to close out the match at this visit... Holt's left a chance for Ronnie, can he find his fluency... the black is out of play at the moment, but he's got the pink available and it's a pretty good chance... he's up to 63, but it's hard work, but in goes the red he needs, Holt can only tie now... well he can win now, Ronnie's knocked the pink in and Holt is 58 behind with 59 on... can he pull this frame out of the fire... not quite, he's left the green on and Ronnie breathes a sigh of relief... Carter's broken down on 41, Hawkins has replied with 47, the frame hangs in the balance... Ronnie fires in a long red and all of a sudden looks back to his supreme best... Hawkins' has cleared from brown and it's 8-6 now, he's still in contention... Ronnie misses at 46, now can Holt muster one last big effort... Perry leads Robertson 59-47 on the pink... Robertson needs both colours... he's missed the pink... Perry doesn't... and he's 8-6 up now... Holt is up to 30, he's got three reds readily available... but he's broken down and now he's 40 behind with only 35 left.. It's tit for tat still between Day and Fu, Marco is on a run of 33 in the seventh... and Ronnie has won, a gritty rather than spectacular win, and despite losing, it was an excellent performance by Holt... Ali Carter has stuttered to a standstill under the pressure Hawkins has exerted, he's had a chance but missed it... Joe Perry, on the other hand, looks well in control, he's back at the table and onto 25, he's won the last 4 frames, can he clinch this one for a great victory... not yet he can't, he's lost position, but he's snookered Robertson on all nine remaining reds... Fu's break reaches 70 and he's ahead again at 4-3... there's two misses so far by Robertson, not only are the points racking up, but even when he hits a red it's nearly impossible to get safe... he's missed again and Perry's lead grows to 45-0... he's got it dead right that time and pretty safe, although there is a red to middle if Perry wants to attempt it... Hawkins is back in with a chance of building a lead...  Robertson has left his safety well short of the baulk cushion, will Perry have a go... he does and he misses the red, he's a bit edgy at the moment... Perry is really struggling now, they're both missing balls and it's very tense, Perry still leads 52-17 but Robertson has a good chance... Hawkins is right at Carter's back now, only one frame behind, what a great recovery... Ryan Day is making steady progress in frame eight, it looks like being 4-4... Carter's got an opening here, he's made 24, but you feel he needs to make a match-winning break here and now... Day's break ends at 62, nearly over the line but not quite... Robertson isn't going down without a fight, he's moved along to 30 now and needs green to pink to win the frame... that's unlucky, a kick on the brown. and it stays out... Perry needs brown and blue, Robertson needs up to pink... the brown is safe though, so some tense safety... Carter falters again, 31 for him and back comes Hawkins yet again, 40 so far... Day makes doubly sure of the frame with his second sixty plus visit... Harold and Dott have resumed, Harold leads 40-37, but Dott is at the table... Perry has got the brown and blue and that's enough for victory... Dott leads 64-40 but he's been snookered on the yellow by Harold, and he's missed it... Barry Hawkins has completed his miracle recovery and is back to 8-8, who will win the decider, will the pressure switch round? Carter has a narrow 29-26 lead but he's at the table in command at the moment... John Higgins and Jamie Cope resume in a few minutes... Having pulled the last frame back, Dave Harold has moved ahead in the next, he's on a break of 30 now... Carter breaks down leading 36-26... The Last 16 match between Nigel Bond and Ding Junhui has just started.. Dave Harold has moved along to 47... John Higgins starts with a great long red and are we going to have more of the fabulous snooker we saw last night? Well not at that visit as he misses the black from its spot, not an auspicious start... and the reds are already spread out nicely for Cope to attack... Harold progresses to 58 and still going nicely... Carter's back in, 8 so far to lead 44-27 and counting... and stop counting as he misses and lets Hawkins in... Harold has clinched the frame with 75 and turned a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead now... Cope motors on to 49 and still in great position... Hawkins breaks down, it's 44-30 in Carter's favour... Cope's onto 66 and that's enough to win the frame, great start for him, not so good for Higgins who trails by three frames now... Another opening for Hawkins... Cope gets a plant to keep his break going, on course for another century now... but he misses on 87, still a great start... Hawkins moves along to 16, 2 points in front... end of break for Hawkins, he leads 51-44... Cope breaks off, snooker Higgins and then pots a long red to be off and running again... Nigel Bond has the first chance against Ding... Dott breaks down on 13 and lets Harold back in... Cope has lost position so only 25 from that visit... Bond misses and lets Ding in... Cope puts Higgins in trouble with his safety... all Higgins can do in run into the pack dead weight, but he's left a red which Cope pots... Harold's lost position with only 23 to his name.. Ding's moved along to 46 and Cope to 37 which gives him a 62 point lead now... Barry Hawkins has potted the pink to complete a truly remarkable win... Cope ends at 44, but it's a 69 point lead and Higgins needs a snooker, there's only 67 on, Higgins misses a long red... Ding's broken down but leads 55-20... so seven seeds have now been beaten, two more trail in this session... Nigel Bond is coming right back into the frame against Ding, only trails 42-56 now and he's still at the table... Cope has smacked home another long red off John Higgins' break, this is mind-blowing stuff from Cope... I can't type quick enough to keep up with Jamie! Dott breaks down leading 51-33 and he's left a chance for Harold... Cope motors on to 50, but he needs a miracle to split the reds off brown or blue, no he doesn't attempt that, he's put the blue safe and played a tight safety... He's brought his snooker brain as well as his potting prowess with him today... At last a chance for John Higgins, he's made 35 now... Nigel Bond's held on to win the opener against Ding... this should be a fascinating match, a contrast in age and styles, a gulf in experience, which will win out - youth or experience? Higgins' break ends at 39... Dave Harold staved off the Dott come back and he's 7-4 up now... Higgins has got the last red, the blue on the side rail that Cope put safe is going to be the problem... he's moved it but it was a horrible pot back into a blind pocket and he's missed it... Cope hasn't, what a big frame that was in the context of the match... Bang and down goes another amazing red by Cope... and if this match is likely to cause a big upset, there's another brewing as Dave Harold is on a break of 40 looking to take an 8-4 lead over Dott... Ding has racked up 62 in very quick time and looks set to be 1-1 in a few pots time... and there's a bright and breezy century from Ding... Cope has lost position and nailed the white to the baulk cushion with 23 points on the board... Harold's break ends at 57, a glimmer of hope for Dott in this frame... John Higgins misses a long red which Cope pots, Higgins has been totally frozen off the table today... Cope can only make one and now he's nailed the white behind the green, he's really put Higgins under maximum pressure... but he's missed a long blue, albeit with a kick, and here's one last chance for John Higgins, he's 53 points behind... Ian McCulloch and Stephen Maguire have just started their Last 16 match... Harold leads 65-30, just a shot or two from an 8-4 lead... Dott has forced a foul and a free ball, with one red left... Higgins' fails and Jamie Cope is mopping up for victory, with one of the best performances you're likely to see all season.... and there's the handshake.. Higgins will be desperately disappointed, but there really wasn't a lot he could have done... Dott gets another snooker which Harold misses, they're still on the last red but Dott only trails 65-38 now... he's missed again... and again... Ding's rattled up a break of 58 and leads by 38 points... Harold misses again... it is a tough snooker and Dott is only 11 points behind and he's on the red... the brown is the key ball, it's on the baulk cushion... Dott chips out the brown and pots it but snookers himself on the blue... it's 70-70 and all on the pink and  black... Ding has done enough to lead 2-1. McCulloch and Maguire are embroiled in some early sparring, a couple of chances which neither has capitalised on yet... Maguire has now and he's won the opener... Dott and Harold are still on the pink... Harold gets the pink but it's a tough long black needed now... he's rattled it, a chance for Dott.. what a turning point that might be, the difference between 7-5 and 8-4 at the interval... Here's a great response by Nigel Bond, he's on 95 now and level at 2-2... Maguire has opened a 2-0 lead.... Dott and Harold return after the interval, they will have needed a rest after that dramatic twelfth frame.. and Dott is straight onto a break, but only 7 and a tight snooker... Dott's now 59-24 ahead, Harold needs a snooker... Maguire has moved on to a 3-0 lead, a good start for the Northern Ireland Trophy winner... and Dott secures the frame, he's only one behind now and looking ever stronger in this match... Mark Williams and Mark Allen have just started in their Last 16 match, this should provide a feast of good potting... Ding and Bond are back from the interval, still locked at 2-2... and the feast has begun.. Mark Allen has rattled along to 90... and a century to start the match... McCulloch holds a 56-29 lead but Maguire is back at the table now... Maguire broke down and McCulloch will claim his first frame... Allen is galloping on again, already on 44... his break ends at 56 but he's got Williams in a tight snooker now... Ding's won a largely tactical frame to move 3-2 up... Harold and Dott are 33-33 in frame fourteen, can Dave hold on to his lead or will Dott level the match? Mark Williams' good safety has created a chance, but he's starting out 61 behind... there's a trademark long blue from Williams, he's looking to be right back to his best form.. but he can't stop Allen at the moment, he's rattled in another century... Dave Harold is clinging on to his lead but only just, he leads 8-7 now... Ding can't get away from Bond at the moment, Bond has taken frame 6 to level the scores... Mark Williams leads 34-6 in frame four but he's left a chance for Allen, it was an easy shot for a left-hander, it's quite unusual to see two left-handers in opposition... but we can here with Williams and Allen... it's taken no time at all for Allen to get right back into this frame... he's 27 up with 27 on and it looks like 4-0, but he's missed the black so half a chance for Williams, that was very careless by Allen... Allen's got the green now to put the frame beyond doubt... Dave Harold is on a break of 35, he leads 35-22, now he's on to 57-23, there are two reds left, Dott has got a red but needs to find a colour.. he's had a go at a long blue, and he's left red for Harold... he needs red and colour and another seed will be going home... and another "veteran" Nigel Bond, is also causing problems, he now leads Ding 4-3... No problems yet for Stephen Maguire though, he's 4-1 up on McCulloch, but he'll be well aware of McCulloch's Houdini performance against Ebdon.. and Harold is through... this is an amazing run of results for an UK championship, only 5 of the top 16 seeds through so far... It's going to be an extremely late night here again... Bingham and Murphy are about to start their session, but Mark Selby and Anthony Hamilton are waiting for the match between Maguire and McCulloch to clear off their table... and Fu against Day has to wait until Ding and Bond have finished... Play started half an hour later today, probably to accommodate tv but it's causing a backlog of matches and players hate sitting around, not knowing what time they will start their matches... they don't know when to eat, when to rest, when to practice... I think this roll-on - roll-off scheduling needs a stiff re-examination... There's no hanging around for Allen and Williams, they're back from the interval... Bond's opened a 47 point lead in frame eight, he's look to close out a 5-3 overnight lead over Ding... Williams is still exhibiting signs of being short of match practice, he's missed a routine pink there and Allen will be pouncing on any chance he's left... Allen's annoyed, a kick cost him position, he tried to force a red and rattled it and here's a chance for Williams... Murphy and Bingham are underway and first chance falls to Bingham... Here's a chance for Ding, but he's only made 25 and still trails 47-25... Williams can't clinch the frame, pink and black will give him the frame and what a brilliant black to the centre, he's got a frame on the board.... Bingham's rattled in a 68 break in the opener... and Ding levels at 4-4 overnight... so after the table is prepared Ryan Day and Marco Fu can resume... Bingham's fallen one pot short of winning the frame and Murphy is mounting a recovery... this would be an early blow to Bingham... Murphy needs all the colours still... and he's cleared with 70, a superb effort... Mark Allen is onto another break... 31 ahead already... but he's missed a red, Williams must punish Allen for that error... but it's not happening for the Welshman, only 21 and it's back to baulk... Allen leads 44-21... Bingham breaks down on 13...  A good reply from McCulloch, he's pulled a frame back with a break of 63 and he's still at the table... Ryan Day and Marco Fu have started their final session, all square at 4-4, it could be a late night for them, only starting at 21.00... at this rate Selby and Hamilton will appear wearing pyjamas! Mark Allen's cleared with 69 up to move 5-1 ahead.... Bingham's got his second chance of the frame, he's 48 ahead now... no mistake this time from Stuart and he's levelled at 1-1...  Day leads by 64 on a 48 break, looking good to lead 5-4 against Fu... A couple of misses from Allen in frame seven, Williams simply must make something of his chances... Murphy is making steady progress in frame three, he's opened a 55 point lead now, on a run of 31... Mark Williams is battled on, disgusted with a big bounce off a cushion, but he's still in the balls, he's made 47 now and is 608 ahead... McCulloch leads 39-30 in the last frame of his session against Maguire... that 59 from Williams is enough to win the frame... Murphy's missed a double and left Bingham a chance to get back into the frame.. he trails 55-8.. a crucial final frame for Allen and Williams... can the Welshman pull another frame back to be in contention 5-3 behind or will Allen stretch his lead to 6-2... McCulloch's revival is halted and Maguire can close out the frame.. but he doesn't and it's 4-4... Murphy needs black, so does Bingham... Murphy's left it and Bingham get its.. now that Maguire and McCulloch have finished we will shortly see the very belated arrival of Selby and Hamilton... I hope they don't feel as tired as I do! Williams has done enough to win the frame and reduce his arrears, helped by a run of 57... Allen lead 5-3 overnight... A well laid snooker has created an opening for Bingham in frame four... but he's made only 5 and missed... Selby and Hamilton are back in action, well Hamilton is as he takes the first frame of the night... Ryan Day has sneaked a frame ahead of Fu again, I predicted this morning that this would be a close match and it could go right to a final frame... Selby has taken the tenth against Hamilton, this looks like being close all the way... Bingham has pulled out a 3-1 interval lead over Murphy... Day leads 55-33 but Fu is back at the table, looking to level at 6-6 and Fu takes it on the black... A stunning long red by Murphy as they resume, he's whistled along to 48, all black so far... Mark Selby has run in a break of 63, not enough to clinch the frame though... back to Murphy who's on to 64 and still on the black... 72 but not well on a red this time... he's made a plant, which secures the frame, but he's not on the black any more... so the break ends at 73, Bingham needs snookers... Fu's made a bright start after the interval and leads 63-0... Bingham leads 48-2 in frame six, five reds left... Mark Selby is onto a run of 33... and he's gone on to win the frame, daylight now for Selby at 7-5... Bingham led by 56 in this frame, but Murphy is only 4 points behind and on the green now.. well, well, he's missed a simple brown, he's not quite on top of his game tonight... but he was lucky to fluke a snooker on the brown, now it's a safety battle and this time Bingham has laid the snooker on the brown... Marco Fu has slipped up on 56 and given Ryan a chance to come back at him... which he can't and Fu is two up and one from victory... Murphy is doing his best to squander a 53 point lead, a poor safety, but Bingham makes only 1... he's got another chance now, he's 61-27 down with two more reds left... Selby and Hamilton are back from their interval... Fu has the first opening in the frame he needs for victory... it's 61-34 in Murphy's favour and they're playing safe on the last red... in fact Murphy's got a snooker... Bingham's hit it but left it on and Murphy only needed that red, he'll go ahead now... Already leading 53-24, Fu is back at the table, he should clinch the match here... and he has... Bingham made 34 and lost position, but he's 52-0 ahead and played a good length safety... And there's good luck for Bingham as he flukes a red... Selby leads 31-10 in frame thirteen... Murphy has cleared the last two reds up to the black to pinch the frame and lead 5-3 overnight... Mark Selby now stands one frame from victory, he had a good lead in the last but Hamilton's making him work hard for every success... Selby's put 9 points on the board but it's back to the tactical exchange.... Selby's made just 9 points and he's left the table for Hamilton now, who's made 17 so far... and that's all, now a chance for Selby to close out the match... Selby moves along to 43 and leads 58-17 but that's the end of his break... Hamilton's got a red.. but he can't come back and Selby is through.... join us again at 13.30 on Tuesday and also from 09.30 for the PIOS Event 5 at Pontin's, where we'll also have live scores, live video and video highlights...

Sunday 9 December:

Good afternoon, welcome back to Telford. Play commences at 13.00 and we'll see two match to a conclusion in the first session: Ding Junhui against Adrian Gunnell and Shaun Murphy versus Paul Davies. Starting out on their first session are Neil Robertson and Joe Perry, also Stephen Lee against Mark King... Here we go then on Day Two, welcome to our many visitors from Australia and China who've tuned in to support Neil and Ding... Neil goes in-off his first safety shot, but he's not left anything on for Joe... these two are regular practice partners... Joe Perry is the man in form just now, having won the Grand Finals of the Pontin's Pro Am series last weekend... Neil misses a long red and a chance for Perry but having made 22 the pack doesn't split nicely, so he's played safe... Mark King is off to a flyer against Stephen Lee, already up to 46... Paul Davies has spurned a good chance against Murphy, missing the black off its spot... King's break ends at 53, a good start but not a frame winner... Ding's got the first chance to accumulate some points against Gunnell... Murphy's moved on to 24 and he's got the reds opened nicely... Murphy moves on to 60 and that's the frame safe now... King's added the points he needed to win the opening frame.. but Ding has broken down with only 34 on the board... no century for Murphy but an excellent 89 punished Davies for that missed black... there's still some cagey safety going on between Robertson and Perry, but Perry's left the white mid table so here's a chance for Neil... Gunnell's carved out an opening against Ding but he's broken down and let Ding back in... Neil gets another chance against Perry, it's a bit scrappy while the players settle into the match.. Stephen Lee's got his hand on the table for the first time with a good opening, a chance to get that silky smooth cue action working, he's made 21 so far... Ding's faltered again, he leads 50-21.. Robertson is gradually pulling ahead now, he's 43-26 ahead with open reds... and he's turned it into a frame winner with a run of 55.. Ding has his third chance to close out the frame... Lee has purred along to 65, he needs one more ball for the frame... but the break ends at 69... Ding's made sure this time and stretches his lead to 7-2... King's not giving up hope of rescuing the second frame... Robertson is off and running in frame two, he's made 30 so far and has three more open reds before he'll need to disturb the pack... Murphy and Davies have both had a chance but Davies has spotted a plant to get him in with a chance... Today, like yesterday, is roll-on and off, Peter Ebdon and Ian McCulloch will follow the Robertson-Perry match... When Murphy and Davies finish there'll be a big buzz for the entry of Ronnie O'Sullivan against Michael Holt. Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins follow Ding and Gunnell and Steve Davis and Stuart Bingham will conclude their match on the table currently occupied by Lee and King... Davies couldn't make anything of that chance and now he's left Murphy an opening.. Ding's got amongst the balls in frame ten... but he's only made 37 at that attempt... Murphy leads 49-18 and he's got Davies snookered on the last 3 reds... Davies misses and leave a free ball.. At last Lee gets the red he needs to secure the frame... Ding's back in and should clinch the frame here... Perry is coming back against Robertson, only 37-43 behind but he's missed the last red, although it's run safe... Ding clears up to lead 8-2, there's no way back for Gunnell now.. Robertson and Perry are looking for a chance at the last red, blue will probably be key ball in this frame, it's tight on the baulk cushion and the black is on the side cushion, although not far from the pocket... Davies has had a hit and hope out of a snooker, he's hit a red but left them all on for Murphy... Robertson gets the red and forces a foul from Perry on the yellow, he's 20 ahead now and Perry is still snookered... and there's the frame to Murphy, danger signs for Davies now... Perry has a third attempt at the yellow, misses it and now needs a snooker... everything is in Robertson's favour here, the pink is now on the top cushion and Perry has pushed the green to the cushion by the blue so few options for getting a snooker... Mark King has rattled along to 35 and still in good position in frame three... Ding is amongst the balls as he seeks to close out the match... I spoke too son as King fails on 35... but those 16 points in fouls have given Robertson the second frame... King's left Lee a chance here... Ding has broken down with only 14 scored... Murphy has worked an opening in frame eleven, he's beginning to turn the screw on Davies now... we've seen a slightly different style of play from Murphy in this match... He did say he'd worked on the tactical side of the his game and he's certainly refused a few pots in this match, favouring safety on occasions, but he still looks at his best when he's firing in the whizz bang long reds and storming through a big break... Lee's breaks ends at 23 so a very open frame now... As I praise Murphy he missed and lets Davies a starter... and this is a good response from the Welshman, he's knocked off the lead and still has open reds... Davies passes the fifty mark but he's not in good position on the last red... he's made 56 but not played a good safety shot and he only leads by 10 points... a chance for Murphy now, a great yellow and he can clear up now... King's back at the table only 5 points behind... Gunnell is looking to stave off defeat and has moved ahead in this frame... Robertson has a grip on the third frame and he's going to lead 3-0... Gunnell's down enough to secure the frame and stay in the match a little longer... Robertson is on to 84, can he clear up with a century... There's a surprise, Murphy misses a long red and he's left it on for Davies.. could we see another fight back like yesterday, from the Welshman? And there's a superb 111 clearance from the Aussie... Ding's muffed his first chance in this frame, but he's got another one, can he close out the match this time? He'll certainly need to go up another gear in the next round... Davies doesn't make anything of his chance and leaves the way open to Murphy to compile a sizeable break... Joe Perry can't string a decent break together yet and he's left Robertson an easy starter, from which he's split the pack far and wide... Yet again Ding break downs, on 31 and he's left Gunnell in the balls... Robertson's missed but got everything safe, unless Perry can produce a stunning pot , which he can, that was a real pressure pot because every red is open... This is a very good chance for Perry to make some impact on the match... Lee has a chance now to clear up and draw level at the interval... Perry still isn't firing, he's missed and let Neil back in... and now the Aussie has a great chance to close out a 4-0 lead... Gunnell let Ding back in and this should now be the end of the match... Davies wins the safety exchange a has a chance to get back into the frame... but the balls aren't sitting kindly and he's missed a thin cut red... in fact he overcut it... Lee's broken down and let King back in... Joe Perry is eyeing up the green and should clear up to win a frame... and he does, he'll feel better now at the interval... Ding is over the line and next up we'll see a young guns shoot-out between Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins... and a good sixty break from Davies keeps him in touch at 5-7 at the interval... Mark King has cleared up to lead 3-1... Robertson and Perry have resumed after their interval... and Perry slots home the first red... Ali Carter is quickly into his stride, he's compiled 44 so far... Joe Perry continues his comeback, a good break here and Robertson needs snookers... A great start for Carter with a frame winning break... Perry's early 50 before he went in-off and now a 73 clearance have brought him right back into the match... No century for Carter but an excellent 88 was just the start he wanted... Perry's missed a tricky black after a good red so a chance for Robertson to reassert himself in this match... Paul Davies is battling hard against Murphy, he's nullified Murphy's 48 point lead and the frame is at his mercy now... he's lost position on the colour with one red left... so a 47 break but he's had to play safe... Robertson looks to have regained his composure again after Perry's revival, he's moved along to 30 now... Davies misses an attempt at long red but flukes a snooker behind the black... and Murphy's missed it and gone in off... Amazingly there's no pot on for Davies and now he's missed getting the snooker... he should have had Murphy in all sorts of trouble, instead he's left  the long red which Murphy pots... Barry Hawkins has opened up a chance in frame two, on to 33 now... Robertson has let Perry back in and he's quickly knocking off Robertson's 45 point lead... key shot is yellow to kiss last red off the cushion, he's done that, he's favourite now... Murphy has cleared up to punish Davies... and what a key frame, it could have been 7-6, instead it's 8-5 and Murphy only needs one more for victory... Hawkins misses on 33 and lets Carter in... Mark King is on a break of 46 after an early 26 from Lee... a good pink with the rest and a 61 break, Perry is level at 3-3, what a turnaround... King's break ends at 61... Carter's cleared up to lead 2-0... Murphy is closing at the match in one visit. Mark King has cleared to lead Stephen Lee 4-1, danger signs for another seed... no closing century for Murphy but 89 was more than enough and now we will await the entry of Ronnie O'Sullivan on this table... a good 63 from Robertson and he's back in front at 4-3... Stephen Lee's on a break of 30, he needs to turn this into a frame winner to stop King running away with the session... Carter is heading towards another frame success, he's 46 up on a break of 38... and as usual, breaks down just as I write that! Lee's successfully pulled a frame back... Carter has a stranglehold over Hawkins so far and he's now 3-0 ahead.... Stand by for lift off as Ronnie enters the arena.... A careless safety from Ronnie as he hits the brown, but Holt can't get a red from that leave... this promises to be a fast match, with plenty of facial expression from both players! Holt is a bundle of energy out there, while Ronnie looks relaxed and laid back, but it's first red to Holt and he's scattered the pack everywhere... a good start here by Holt but it's hard work coming up for the blue every shot... Robertson has stuttered to a halt in the last frame of their session and Perry is well in contention to level the match... Holt misses by a mile on 40 but Ronnie tried to do too much with position and missed a red to centre... an early let off for Holt, who will need to get away to a very good start to put Ronnie under any sort of pressure... For fans of these players, they, like many players these days, can be contact easily through the net... Ronnie has his own official website with all his latest news, blogs etc and Michael Holt is a lively presence on sites like Face Book and My Space -- watch out for ear splitting music from his pages though!! Neil Robertson has his own official website as does Ricky Walden, Jimmy White and others... If and when GCS gets some time, we'll compile a links page to all your favourite players... Holt gets a kick when 62-0 ahead but Ronnie still has 67 points to aim at... Robertson's staves off Perry's revival to end 5-3 ahead... Ronnie concedes so it's 1-0 to Holt... Peter Ebdon and Ian McCulloch will resume their match in a few minutes... Here's a better break from Stephen Lee, already he's moved onto 58 and he needs this frame badly... Ronnie gets a red but no position, but he's laid an evil snooker... he's jammed the white tight between cushion and yellow and the reds are everywhere... this is nearly impossible to get out of... Carter is unstoppable so far, he's on 76 in this frame... Ronnie's made 41 from the chance Holt left after the snooker but he's had to play safe now... Stephen Lee's got his tail up now, he's motored on to 41 so far in the last frame of their session and looks good to level the match... Ronnie's back in and he's levelled the match without delay.. he can play quicker than I can type! Lee's missed on 41 and left King in... Ebdon and McCulloch are back in the arena to resume their match... Ebdon pots the first red and is nicely on the yellow, a good early chance... King's only made 25 and the frame is in the balance now... There's a rare missed red by Ronnie, so only 30 for him and a red on for Holt.. Coming up at 19.00 we'll see three more matches start out: Higgins v Cope which promises to be a feast of potting, Graeme Dott v Dave Harold and Mark Selby against Anthony Hamilton, Lee and King will come back to play to a finish... King's clearing up now to gain a 5-3 lead ahead of tonight's session... Ebdon's made 24 and left a red hanging right in the jaws to give McCulloch an unmissable starter... As One Essex player completes his session we'll now see two more, Steve Davis and Stuart Bingham resume their match in about 15 minutes... and another Essex boy, Carter has let Hawkins in this time and the Londoner really needs to gain a toe-hold in the match at this visit... Holt leads 55-30 but he's left a red for Ronnie but the other two are both on the cushion, well there were until Ronnie clipped one out, but that's cost him position, worse still he's fallen short on the roll up to black and left a free ball - a chapter of disasters for Ronnie there... McCulloch has knocked off Ebdon's lead but he's faced with a tough red to keep the break going... great shot there... Hawkins missed at 33 but he's got another chance... A scowl from Ronnie as he narrowly fails to lay a snooker on the last two reds.. McCulloch's lost position so the break ends at 44 but he's played a good safety... An error from Ronnie as the red catches a knuckle and stays on for Holt... but a nasty kick keeps the red out and it's all turned round again in Ronnie's favour... But Holt's now laid a great snooker on the last red, if Ronnie doesn't escape, which he doesn't he needs a snooker... Ebdon's worked an opening and is in great position to compile a sizeable break... he's got the frame at his mercy, if he gets good position on the last red he should clear up... and he has... good sportsmanship from Holt who calls a frame on himself and that means Ronnie can win the frame... but Holt is rewarded for his honesty as he gets in to clear up and take a 2-1 lead... Davis and Bingham have restarted and it's Bingham who's got the first chance... but he missed on 25 and leave a chance for Davis... there's a cracking opening red by Holt, he's started well in this match... Davis only makes 6 from that visit... Carter and Hawkins have finished their interval and are in play again... worse for Davis is that he's left Bingham and chance and he looks like going 7-2 behind, it's a long way back from that score... Holt is bustling round the table at a rapid pace and has compiled 42 so far... a rare error from Carter has given Hawkins a chance in frame six... Bingham leads 65-6... McCulloch has moved along to 36... Holt has whistled to 65 and just needs one red for a 3-1 lead... and he has, a very good performance from Holt so far... McCulloch needs red and a colour to secure the frame... and he's done that, now can he make a century? Holt can.... an excellent 116 to the pink... and so can McCulloch, it's a frenzy of scoring at the moment.... and HAwkins has pulled back another frame against Carter now so only 4-2 down... That's a lot better from Davis, he leads 74-0 in the next, but he's still got a mountain to climb... McCulloch has created a chance in frame eleven, he's got a couple of loose reds but will need to dislodge the pack soon... and he does and he's cruised on to 68 now and has secured the frame... Carter's accumulated a break of 45 so far in frame seven... no ton for McCulloch but a good 74 and this match is beautifully balanced now at 6-5 to Ebdon... Ronnie and Michael Holt have returned to the table, so don't blink... A century from Carter gives him a 5-2 lead and there's a fabulous 139 total clearance by Carter... An amazing and unlucky shot by Ian McCulloch, a good red and he powered the black in to try and split the reds off the side cushion, somehow he went straight through a gap only a ball's width wide and missed all the reds... at least he could laugh about it... Steve Davis is battle don, he was 38 down to Bingham, but he's on a break of 10 now... Ronnie's got a good chance in frame five, he could do with winning this frame... Davis has progressed to 41 and still going... McCulloch and Carter are both embarking on breaks, as McCulloch seeks to level the match and Carter's looking for a 6-2 overnight lead... O'Sullivan misses on 59 but no problem for Davis who is onto 83 now... and he's still in touch at 4-7... Carter's missed a let Hawkins back to the table... Holt is trying to mount a recovery from 59 behind... McCulloch is 61 ahead on a break of 52 but he needs another red yet... Holt's made 22 but he can't get on the last two reds so he'll have to play safe now... McCulloch gets a kick on the black so the frame isn't over yet.... Ronnie's got back in to get the reds he needed to win the frame... Hawkins has moved along to 42, he'll be delighted if he can clear up to be only 5-3 down after his poor start... and as I say that he breaks down... worse still he's left a red on for Carter... Ebdon is trying to claw his way back into the frame... Carter has punished Hawkins severely for his miss and will finish 6-2 ahead... Ebdon's made 36 and played a good safety... Ronnie's moved on to 44 but this break is far from easy... Bingham has slipped up with a 33 point lead and given a life line to Davis... McCulloch leads 61-48 as they battle for position on the last red... Ronnie is up to 81 with a century beckoning, this has been a brilliant break, with a lot of recovery shots to keep it going... and there's the century for him... brilliant stuff... Ebdon's won the safety exchange and just needs the colours to clinch the frame... and he's cleared to the black to lead 7-5 at the 15 minute break... could that be a pivotal frame in this match.... Davis has moved his break along to 42 and he's ahead in the frame now... Ronnie's got a head of steam up now, he fires home a red, strokes green to centre and is off and running again... I spoke too soon, Davis has let Bingham back in... and he's cleared up to lead 8-4 at the interval, very little chance for Davis now... Holt had a glimmer of a chance but Ronnie's clearing up here to take the lead for the first time at 4-3... and that 51 does the job... Holt has made a good start to frame 8, but having reached 63 he's lost position... but here comes a superb recovery break by Ronnie, he's on to 50 and needs brown to black... absolutely fabulous, it's 5-3 to Ronnie at the end of the session... McCulloch is 53 ahead with 51 on, he should pull a frame back here... and he does, this match is balanced on a tightrope now... McCulloch is grafting out an opening in frame 14... he's only made 16 so far, the reds are spread but not that easy to get on... Bingham leads 39-36 but Davis is on a break of 25 as he tries to stay in the match... McCulloch's played a poor shot that time and left the white right in the middle of all the reds, a gift to Ebdon is one of them pots... Davis leads 51-39, it's close and tense... Ebdon can't get position and now the safety exchange has scattered reds all over the table, getting safe is extremely hard... Bingham's found a red and now the writing should be on the wall for Steve Davis... and it is, Bingham clears up for a 9-4 victory... so now we have three seeds through and three knock out... Ebdon is going to take on a do or die red... he's missed it and there are reds all over the place, but McCulloch may need Sat Nav to negotiate through the chaos... Coming up at 19.00 we will see the start of Graeme Dott v Dave Harold and Mark Selby against Anthony Hamilton... Lee and King resume, but John Higgins and Jamie Cope will have to wait until this knife-edge match is over... and it couldn't be any closer, McCulloch has picked his way through to a 40 break which clinches the frame and levels it up at 7-7.. It's a best of three now.. Peter Ebdon's got the first chance and he's taken a black left handed and split the pack to make it a better chance.. he's jawed one on 31 so that's a lifeline thrown to McCulloch... you could cut the tension with a knife now... McCulloch has worked his way very carefully on to 38, 7 points ahead, the reds are open for him, it's all about nerve now... he's got 46 but got a kick, he's still on the blue but it's not so easy now... he's missed the blue, but knocked the brown safe and there's nothing easy on for Ebdon... McCulloch potted a good red to get started again, he's 30 ahead now with two reds left... Ebdon's got one of the reds but he's not quite on the last red, it doesn't go past the pink... he tried to convince himself it went but missed it, McCulloch gets the red, the black goes in so Ebdon needs a snooker... McCulloch's not on the yellow so there will be some tense safety now... well I thought he wasn't on the yellow, he's dropped it dead weight to the centre and he'll be 8-7 ahead... not yet thought, Ebdon's laid a fiendish snooker, but he needs two of them... he's got one, he's only got blue to black left to play with now... he doesn't get it and McCulloch pots the blue and pink for the frame... The evening matches have started and Graeme Dott has rattled up the first frame in no time at all... Mark King is well on the way to a 5-2 lead over Lee.. There's not a point on the board yet in the penultimate frame between Ebdon and McCulloch, a lot of good safety and neither has made an error yet... Mark Selby's made a solid start against Anthony Hamilton and looks to have the first frame in the bag... Ebdon's got the first red, but no clear cut chance yet as the black is tied up and the pink spot is covered... Ebdon's picking his way round the table and he's made 32 now, the reds are gradually opening up for him, another test of nerve... and no one has more nerve than Ebdon, the break is now 62 but he's lost position and there are still 6 reds left, or there were - he's rifled in a double.... and that could be the frame winner or will it, he's left the pink in the jaws... Dave Harold's ahead in frame two against Dott... already 40 up... Ebdon's got McCulloch pinned down his his immaculate safety, he's a strong favourite to win the frame and send us into a decider... Dave Harold's done enough to level the scores... McCulloch's attempt to mount a recovery from 68 behind but he's missed a red and the pressure is showing... we'll have a decider now... and McCulloch gets the first red... Hamilton is on a decent break in frame two against Selby, this could be a match featuring high breaks... Graeme Dott has belted in a red in frame three and stroked a very good black to centre pocket to get a break underway... Hamilton made 75 but Selby has come back to the table... Only 13 for McCulloch and some more cagey safety play now... Dott broke down on 17 and Dave Harold has methodically accumulated 30 so far... Stephen Lee has broken down and let King back in and his narrow lead is rapidly disappearing... not any longer as King misses... McCulloch's fired in a good red but he's not really on a colour except a tough long blue, he's got it and now he's got a chance... Dave's moved on to 52, there are still 4 reds left and he leads by 35... McCulloch's missed on 13 but he's put some distance between white and the reds... Harold moves to 68 and secures the frame... Ebdon is as nervous as McCulloch now, it's unbearably tense... but McCulloch has the advantage and he's at the table... Stephen Lee's got back to the table and is well placed to win the frame and close the gap on King... McCulloch edges ever closer, he's 50 ahead now, he's still in good position, or he was until he hit the middle pocket jaw and sent the white back towards baulk... but there's a great red under the pressure... 62 up now and only 59 on, what a great come back by McCulloch, the defending champion is going out... and that's all after McCulloch was 5-0 behind at one point... now the pockets look like buckets and he's clearing up in style... So after all that drama, the table will be prepared and then the world champion, John Higgins, will make his entrance and he faces a very tough match in the form of Jamie Cope... This is an excellent start so far by Dave Harold... he had to sit out the first frame, but he's taken the next two and he's onto a break of 55 in the next... and he's won that frame, he won't have wanted the interval to come, but Dott will be glad to maybe get on the practice table and get his arm going again... Mark King is edging clear in frame ten against Lee... Here come Higgins and Cope to start their match... Within a couple of shots the red have spread and Cope has rattled in a superb opening red... we now have two Stoke players in action on adjoining tables, both Cope and Harold being from Stoke... slightly different styles though, Cope wasn't nicknamed Shotgun for no reason, he's actually slower now than he was as a junior, but he's still extremely quick round the table... Mark King moves 7-4 ahead of Stephen Lee, danger signs for another seed.... Cope has already made 26 and is in very good position for a frame winning break at his first visit... and in just a few minutes it's a 70 break and 1-0 to Cope... and in no time at all he's put a century on the board... what a great start to the match and I'm sure we'll see a lot more big breaks in the match from both players... and there we go, a 133 total clearance, this game is just so easy! Mark Selby has eventually broken a mid-frame stalemate to win the third frame against Hamilton... There's another outrageous long red to the yellow pocket by Cope and here we go again... but he can't get into position this time so only 4 points... John Higgins gets his first chance and is already on the black with open reds... Mark King's moved onto a break of 48, well on the way to an 8-4 lead... Dott and Harold are back in action after their break... Higgin has progressed smoothly to 39... and now he's onto 79, what a fabulous start to this match... King lead 65-26 but he's left Lee a chance... John Higgins meanwhile completes a century so one from either player to start the match... Lee breaks down, King leads 65-38... the reds are going awkward in frame five between Dott and Harold.. good safety from both players and an even better pot from Harold... Cope rifles in another amazing red, slams in the black and he's on another red... don't even blink in this match... Cope compiled a maximum break last weekend during the Pontin's Pro Am Grand Finals, our viewers were lucky enough to watch it on our live match streaming, he's also made maximums in ranking events and he's a prodigious break builder... he's flown up to 32 and both players have an average shot time of 15 seconds at the moment... who needs a shot clock! He's not a maximum in this break as he's taken a blue, he's got one more open red and then he'll need a good split on the pack... Stephen Lee has somehow dug that frame out of the fire 72-65 so he's still in the match and they've gone off for their final interval.. At last Graeme Dott gets a chance, he's sat the match out since frame one... Cope is onto 59 and still in good position... Some of these layers aren't that familiar to tv fans, but some of the slightly lower ranked players have kept themselves very busy in pro-am events recently... Cope, along with Mark King, Stuart Bingham, Joe Swail, Ricky Walden, Ryan Day, Dave Harold were all competing at the Pontin's Pro Am finals last weekend. Cope is a multiple winner at Pontin's as is Stuart Bingham and Dave Harold has won events this year as well... There will be another Pro am Series next year and it's open to everyone to enter... there are always details on GCS and the Pontin's snooker pages... and Cope completes another century - this is just amazing stuff - 3 centuries now in three frames.... 137 total clearance this time, simply brilliant... While all that excitement was going on Dott has made 70 so far and won the next frame... there's a superb safety shot now from Cope, the first he's played! John Higgins has taken a bit of a risk there, he's clipped the reds thick and opened them up.. and he's left one for Cope and down it goes... and there's a century for Dott now... the first three frames between Higgins and Dott have been 11 minutes, 10 minutes and 8 minutes... Hamilton has open a 58-0 lead over Selby in frame four.. Cope has to be content with a meagre 42 that time as he lost position... Hamilton's cleared up to level at 2-2... John Higgins has made an error there but so has Cope, but he had a kick... this is a very good chance for Higgins now... but that's a poor positional shot... the blue will come to his rescue... Lee and King are back at the table and it's the run to the line for them now... Higgins has missed a pink to centre so he's spurned that chance, he's left COpe on a red... Cope misses the red that would have left Higgins needing a snooker but he leads 62-7 with 4 reds left... Mark King is setting about a break, 20 points so far and Dave Harold is amongst the balls again... John Higgins couldn't keep position there so he trails by 50 with 51 left on the table... 20 is all King can make at that visit... Higgins now needs a snooker he's 40 behind with 35 left on... Dave Harold's slipped up on 50 and let Dott in and he's cleared up to level the match... Higgins can't get the snooker so Cope leads 3-1 at the interval... Stuart Bingham has just announced on Face book that he's 6-2 up - he'll need to amend that post as he's won 9-4! Mark King is on the verge of taking an 8-5 lead... Mark Selby is first to start building a break after the interval against Hamilton... Dott has a 31 point but he's left an opening for Harold... Higgins and Cope resume but there's an error from Higgins, he's made 14 and missed and left Cope right on a red... Mark Selby is looking good to take a 3-2 lead, he's 50 ahead already... there's a let off for Higgins, Cope only makes 1 from that visit... Dot has regained the upper hand against Harold and regains the lead... Jamie Cope is back amongst the balls and now leads 45-14, but he's missed an easy ball so the frame is wide open again... Stephen Lee may have had his last chance, he's made 32 and now King is on a run of 30 with a 12 point lead... John Higgins fires home 50 and clears up the frame, Cope may rue his missed pink... Stephen Lee has dug himself out again and stays in the match at 6-8.... Dave Harold has a chance and an open table, can he level up the scores overnight? John Higgins has weathered the storm from Cope and he's in control of the table at the moment, although it's early in the frame, it's a chance to level the scores... Higgins has made 55, not enough to win the frame, there are five reds left still... dave Harold's break is now 51 and a great chance now to clinch the frame and draw level overnight... there's great red by Cope and every ball is on for him... Harold leads by 50 but there's 67 on, so Dott could still rescue the frame... Lee is on a break of 49, 55 ahead and a good chance to close to within one frame... Harold holds on and it's 4-4 overnight... just the colours left for Cope and he'll go 4-2 ahead... and he's done it, at worst he'll be level at the end of the session... Stephen Lee is battling hard, he's 38 ahead in the next frame... Hamilton and Selby have got a big bogged down in their match.. Anthony leads 49-23 and he's at the table... Here's a great chance for Higgins, the safety has pushed reds all over the place and he's got an opening... Hamilton has cleared up to level at 3-3, not the fastest match of the week so far... Stephen Lee has won the frame and we'll have another nervy decider, but Lee's in the ascendancy after his come back... John Higgins has moved along to 51, but he's lost position there and left himself a very tricky little red to centre, but it's safely in and he's got the blue to go 67 ahead with 67 on... but he's missed a red with the rest, but he's 62 ahead with 67 on, so he's still favourite to pull the frame back... maybe not now as Cope lashed in another long red and has set about a clearance, just green to black needed now... and he's done it, brilliant from Cope, he leads 5-2... Mark Kings has bounced back really well after Lee's run of frames. he's on a break of 48 in the decider... the break end but King has a 61 point lead... Hamilton has made a 51 but not clinched the frame yet... A rare miss from Cope and a chance for John Higgins... King has held on for a memorable victory and another seed goes home... Higgins' break comes to a halt as he gets a kick, very unlucky and it's a chance for Cope... Higgins holds a 57-22 lead with 3 reds left... Hamilton's 51 may not be enough, he's left Selby back in... Cope has lost position but he's laid a hard snooker on the last two reds and Higgins' escape leave a red on.. Now cope gets a kick... Higgins leads 57-26 on the last red... but Coe has left the red on for Higgins... and he's won the frame... that's the end of a great session of play from both players... Hamilton's held on to his early lead in that frame and now leads 4-3, one more frame to play tonight in this cagey match... Selby has whistled through that frame and it's all square overnight...

Saturday 8 December:

Good afternoon and welcome to Telford for the Maplin UK Championship. Play commences with three intriguing matches, with all three seeds facing tough opposition... The next session is roll-on - roll-off not before 2.30pm when we'll see defending champion Peter Ebdon take on Ian McCulloch, Shaun Murphy against Paul Davies, Ding Junhui against local boy Adrian Gunnell and an all-Essex match up between Steve Davis and Stuart Bingham... play starts soon, so sit back and enjoy the coverage with Global Cue Sports... Off we go then at the start of what will, no doubt, be a thrilling week's snooker. On the two TV tables Stephen Hendry tackles up and coming Mark Allen, while Ken Doherty, the new dad, takes on a familiar opponent, Nigel Bond. The other two tables feature equally good matches as Grand Prix Champion Stephen Maguire faces Joe Swail, the second Ulsterman in action this afternoon. And can Mark Williams stop his slide down the rankings against the in-form Ricky Walden? Last weekend Ricky was runner up to Joe Perry in the Grand Finals of the Pontin's World Pro Am Series. Both players have had early chances, Ricky made 35, but Williams is quickly negating that... Crafty Ken has the first chance against Bond; will this turn out to be a cagey battle between two master tacticians? Mark Allen's had a kick and that's given Hendry a chance to take an early advantage... He's made 61 but missed frame ball red... Williams has made a confidence boosting 63, not enough to clinch the frame yet... Maguire is off and running, his break has just passed 50... If you check out the GCS FORUM, you can vote in the poll for who you think will win the UK title this year... Maguire's clinched the opening frame against Swail... in fact he could make the first century of the tv stages... Allen's gone in off and now needs snookers in the first frame against Hendry... Hilarity all round as dance music from an adjoining arena filters through to the snooker! Mark Allen has a good chance in frame two, after Hendry missed a long red, he's made 40 so far... Walden's broken down on 32 in the second, same pattern as frame one, and the chance goes to Williams... Joe Swail has got a chance to get the feel of the table in frame two, he's made 26 already... Allen's break ends at 47 as he missed a black.. Williams' break has moved along to 36 and he's punishing Walden early in the match for his errors... Swail has broken down on 32... A great long red by Allen and he's got a great chance to clinch the frame from here.. Mark Williams is powering to the line in frame two, this is a good start for the Welshman and will please his supporters... Allen's 47 is enough to take frame two... Ricky Walden's again got the first chance in frame three, can he keep it going this time? Doherty and Bond have settled down for a tactical battle in frame two.. Maguire leads Swail 52-33 but there's mileage in the frame still.. Walden's break moves along to 42, his best effort so far, but he needs to clinch the frame at this visit to slow Williams' good start... A red with the rest gives Allen an opportunity in the third frame... these matches are all best of 17, first to 9 frames, played over two sessions... This is far better from Walden as his break reaches 63... and now he's clinched the frame as the breaks ends at 71, that's three frames over already in this fast match... Bond has broken the stalemate and is picking his way through a rather untidy table in a bid to win frame two... Allen leads 55-0 but both players are now looking for a chance to get amongst the last 7 reds... Bond leads 49-3 with two reds left... Doherty's got a red and can clear up here... Hendry fires in a long red and can now pull back Allen's lead... Doherty can't get on the last red so another safety battle develops... Joe Swail couldn't get the snooker he needed so Maguire has a 2-0 lead... Hendry makes only 8 from his visit so Allen has the upper hand now... Bond leads by 42 on the last red, but Doherty is looking for a snooker and a free ball to keep in the frame... it's a good day to watch snooker at Telford, as outside the rain is lashing down and the wind is howling... Bond has put Doherty out of his misery to take the frame... There will be mutterings from the players as a slow roll from Mark Allen goes for a wander round the baulk area, maybe it caught on the joint of the slates... but it prevented his intended snooker and Hendry's got the next red... For the fourth time Ricky Walden has the first chance, and he'll want to level the frames at the interval... maybe not, he's made only 19 from that visit... Hendry's clawed his way back to 57-28 behind and both players are playing safe on the last red... It does seem rather a shame that in such a prestigious tournament there are four tables in play at the Last 32 stage... all four matches would have merited being tv matches... Mark Williams has already rattled up 23 to counter Walden's early visit... a stroke of luck for Allen as he plays out of a snooker and flukes one in return... Hendry leaves the red on and that's frame to Allen... Nigel Bond is first onto a break in his third frame... Williams has broken down on 37, the first time he hasn't converted a chance into a frame winner... Maguire has stormed through the third frame, already on 90... and there's a century for Maguire... 120... Nigel Bond's break moves up to 74 and that's a frame winner... and it's tons of fun for Bond who reaches a century... superb from Bond, that's a 131 total clearance... Mark Williams has a second chance to clinch a 3-1 lead... Hendry loses position on 23 and he's left a pot for Allen, but he's gone in off, bad luck for the Irishman... a mishit safety by Doherty gives Bond a good opening in frame four, and he's looking very good so far today... Allen's got another chance to compile some points and eradicate Hendry's lead in the fourth frame... After a bit of a stutter Williams secures frames four and goes off to the interval with a 3-1 lead... Allen's favourite now for a 3-1 lead as his break moves past 50... and an 80 clearance clinches the frame... Bond has broken down on 52... but he's still got the upper hand in the frame... Maguire meanwhile, has cantered to a 4-0 interval lead against Swail... Bond leads by 43 with 43 left on, a hot favourite to lead 3-1 at the interval... The scheduling of the next batch of matches at "not before 2.30pm" was a bit optimistic, we've passed that time with one match not yet at the interval... there may be a twist in the fourth frame yet, as Doherty forces a foul from Bond and now he can win the frame, but first Bond needs to escape the snooker and try not to leave the red on... Bond's hit the black this time and the whole momentum of the frame was shifted in Ken's favour... Williams and Walden are back in action... and so are Hendry and Allen... Allen is enjoying some vociferous support from fans who've travelled across from Belfast, as well as the more local West Midlands contingent, led by his partner, and world champion, Reanne Evans.. Reanne's just returned from Thailand where she won the IBSF World Ladies title with a resounding 5-0 win over Wendy Jans in the final... Doherty and Bond are still doing battle on the last red, but Bond's lead is only 17 now... Bond's missed the brown by a margin, but he's got away with it.. Walden again gets first chance at he and Williams get frame five under way... Bond's missed the brown again and left Ken the chance to clear up, a big frame and could be a turning point, but they've got a break now to regroup their thoughts... No such problems of confidence for Mark Allen who's breezing round the table potting balls as he goes and he's looking good to take a 4-1 lead... and he does... many players around the world know Mark through his amateur days when he became the youngest ever Northern Ireland champion (even younger than Alex Higgins), and he won the European Championship, the European Under 19s and the IBSF World title, which earned him his place on the Pro ranks... and that's a scintillating 88 clearance... Here's a good fight back from Joe Swail, he's rattled along to 78 to put his first frame on the board... There's a great long red by Hendry to start frame six but how's he missed the black? The chance goes to Allen.. neither Williams nor Walden could convert their chances into frame winners and there's only a point between them... there's a blistering 79 from Allen and he leads 5-1, real danger signs for Hendry... Joe Swail is first among the balls in frame six, can he pull another frame back? Hendry has moved along to 32 as he attempts to build a frame winning break and stop the rot... It hasn't taken him long to reach 60, but he's got a tough black to keep the break going and he's left it in the jaws, the frame isn't over yet... and Joe Swail has misfired on 64 and let Maguire back to the table... this is a superb performance by Allen, and he needs pink and black to steal the frame from Hendry with a 66 clearance, but it's a tough black... in it goes, he's unstoppable right now... but what a frame, 60 from Hendry and a 66 clearance from Allen... and while all that was going on, Joe Swail clinched another frame... although his break faltered at 64 when he could have been on for a 147... but he's got under Maguire's skin, as he conceded and steamed out of the arena to compose himself again... Mark Williams has got the chance he needed and leads 73-42, enough to put the frame beyond doubt... Doherty looks in better form after their break and he's opened a 62 point lead against Bond... Stephen Hendry is in his favourite place - among the reds and on the black, he's made 40 so far and desperately needs to go on and clinch this last frame of the session... Doherty may have a few anxious moments, he led by 66 but Bond's back at the table now... This is better from Hendry, 75, and he'll now wish it wasn't the last frame... he's on course for a century, he likes a century, it would be number 709! And there it is, a good way to round off an excellent session from Allen and Hendry... 104. When the table is ready Peter Ebdon will begin the defence of his title against Ian McCulloch... Maguire's got his act back together with another frame winning effort... but that's a shame only a 97 break!! Mark Williams is scoring well today and here's another frame winner... Maguire's into another break as he seeks a 6-2 lead at the end of his session against Joe Swail, 24 and counting... and naturally he breaks down on 24! Ken Doherty is now motoring against Bond and he's opened a two frame gap... Bond is still rueing the frame before the interval which he let slip... these players will return tonight to complete their matches... and that was a good 76 from Doherty... Two visits from Maguire and he's secured a 6-2 lead ahead of tonight's session... next up on that table will be Steve Davis v Stuart Bingham, and Peter Ebdon and Ian McCulloch have just entered the arena to start their match... And there's a safety error by McCulloch to give Ebdon an easy starter.. I hope Dubai-based Ebdon isn't feeling the British winter cold as much as GCS are, we've been working our in Qatar office recently and enjoying the warmth and sunshine! Mark Williams leads by 52, not quite enough for a 6-1 lead yet... Ebdon will be furious as he's made only 11 and given the chance to McCulloch... early misses from both players, they'll take a few minutes to settle into the match... Nigel Bond's woes continue, he's put 30 points on the board but Doherty has already overtaken that mark... Mark Williams has pounced on a chance left by Walden and is quickly compiling a break... as soon as this frame concludes we'll see 2005 UK Champion Ding Junhui take on the local favourite Adrian Gunnell... This is more fluent from Ebdon who's moved along to a break of 46 and a 41 point lead... Williams' break ends at 65... Ebdon's makes 67, more than enough to win the first frame... Ken Doherty is edging ahead of Nigel Bond in frame seven, but it looks like Shaun Murphy and Paul Davies will have a bit of a wait yet to get their match under way on Table 3... Steve Davis and Stuart Bingham have started and the first chance to compile some points falls to the 6 times world and 4 times UK champion... Nigel Bond has weathered the storm against Doherty and pulled that frame out of the fire and he only trails 4-3 now... Only 10 points for Davis and a good chance for Stuart Bingham to settle quickly into the match... he's going well so far with 40 points on the board so far... Ebdon and McCulloch have both had and missed chances in the second, but now a very good chance for Ebdon... Bingham breaks down on 60, a good start but the frame isn't won yet... Ebdon breaks down with 44 on the scoreboard and he's left McCulloch in... and he's missed a straightforward red, but he's got away with it... he looks a bit nervy still... There's a huge roar right round the arena as Adrian Gunnell and Ding Junhui make their way to the table... will the support inspire Gunnell or put him under pressure? Bingham's got back to the table to mop up the bits and pieces to win frame one... the second frame between McCulloch and Ebdon has ebbed and flowed but the tide's in Ebdon's favour now... Ding has wasted no time in slotting home a red and getting among the balls... Bingham's made a break of 38 so far in frame two... Ding progresses to 27 points but the break ends there... It's taken a few chances but Ebdon's done enough to take a 2-0 lead... Bingham's wasting no time at all and the break reaches 60, this is more like the form we see from Bingham in qualifying rounds... but that's a shame as the break ends at 98... Ding's got back in and clinched the first frame with an excellent run of 90... More mistakes from McCulloch and Ebdon's picked off the balls to take a 3-0 lead... Doherty and Bond are still locked together in their last frame of the session... Ding's straight in and on a break in frame two.. Doherty just needs the green to clinch the frame, but he's missed it... Ding goes past 50 in quick fire style... but he breaks down at 60, a glimmer still for Gunnell... Doherty leads by only 16 now on the green and there's a safety exchange in progress... Steve Davis can't get going yet, Bingham is heading towards 3-0... Bond has nipped in to clear brown to black to levels the scores at the end of a long gruelling session... this is a good response by Gunnell, he's moved on to 50 only 10 points behind now... and promptly the break ends... and he's left Ding the ball he needs for the frame... a good one visit break by Ebdon gives him a 4-0 lead... At last Steve Davis gets some form and he's on a run of 57 at the moment... Murphy and Davies make their belated appearance in the arena and the match has just begun... Davis has done enough to win his first frame and will feel a bit better at the interval... Stephen Murphy's settled into his stride straightaway and is already onto a 40 break... and now it's a frame winner, onto 84 and still a chance to make a century... and you can't get much better than that, a 135 total clearance in the first frame... Ding and Gunnell have both had chances in the third, now here's another for Gunnell, can he convert it into a frame winner? No he can't and Ding takes a 3-0 lead... Davis and Bingham are back in action after their break, Ding and Gunnell have both had chances in the fourth.... and it's Gunnell who's currently on a break... Murphy leads 28-14 in the second frame, but the balls have gone very scrappy so it could be a long tactical frame... Gunnell's moved on to 55, a good chance now to win his first frame...  a great long red by Davies to the green pocket got him started, but he's only made 15 and now Murphy can counter... The interval doesn't seem to have done much for McCulloch, he's let Ebdon to the table with an opening chance... Gunnell clinches his first frame to great cheers from the Telford fans, he'll feel better as they head off to their interval... Shaun Murphy has missed a couple of balls this frame and there's still a chance for Davies... Paul won an extraordinary match against Shanghai Masters Champion Dominic Dale to qualify, Dale opened with a breath-taking 141 total clearance but then lost the next 7 frames.... Davies has fouled the black with his cue and left a free ball, so the momentum swings back to Murphy... Ebdon has the upper hand against McCulloch, he's got him in a nasty snooker with three reds left and only needs red and colour to clinch another frame... Murphy misses again and Davies clears with 32 to pinch the frame on the black... Ebdon's taken the fifth and leads 5-0, he's guaranteed an overnight lead... Davis broke down in the balls and left Bingham the chance to clear up and lead 5-1... At last McCulloch finds his form - and in style, with a century... We could be in for a late night, these matches will be played to the finish of their session and then the four earlier matches come back to be played to a conclusion, so settle in for several more hours of top class snooker from Telford... If every match went to its conclusion it would mean that each table would see 25 frames of snooker, allowing them 20 minutes per frame, that's 500 minutes of snooker, not counting the intervals, that will be more than 8 hours continuous snooker on each table - no wonder my fingers ache!! Murphy's got the upper hand in frame three, he's got a 60 point lead with only 59 on the table... Steve Davis has found a bit of fluency, he's currently on a break of 66, looking to clip back Bingham's lead... I spoke too soon, he's broken down and let Bingham to the table with a red on... Gunnell leads Ding 52-40 in the fifth frame... and he's back to table on a red... Ian McCulloch continues his fight back on a break of 41... Paul Davies couldn't get the snookers he needed so Murphy goes 2-1 ahead... Bingham completes the clearance to go 6-1 ahead, this is a disastrous session for the Nugget so far... The McCulloch revival gathers pace, he's romped through the next frame and he'll look to take the last of the afternoon to be well in touch... We're heading for a real log jam on Table 2... Murphy and Paul Davies are only just into their 4th frame... and they'll have an interval and four more frames to play before the Doherty v Bond match can resume on that table... Shaun Murphy has rediscovered his potting form, he's on a break of 66 now, 55 ahead, just needs one ball... he'll have to wait for another chance at the last 4 reds... There's the chance Murphy wanted and it's 3-1 at the interval... McCulloch leads 65-14 and he's got Ebdon in a nasty snooker, which he's missed so the lead goes to 55 and there's only 51 on the table... Davis has fallen a pot short of the winning line and let Bingham in with a chance... a good long red by McCulloch clinches the frame and he's pulled back to only 5-3 behind, a great recovery from 5-0 down... so a quick brush and iron of the table and Stephen Hendry will resume trailing Mark Allen by 6 frames to 2.... Ding's clinched a protracted frame to lead 4-3... Murphy and Davies have resumed after their interval... Murphy's pounced on an early error by Davies and has the reds spread wide open... Ding's among the reds again, on a break of 40... now he's on 71, another frame in the bag... Murphy's not hanging about as his break reaches 56, but he's missed, maybe he was going too fast... but there's a century for Ding... absolutely brilliant, 143 total clearance... Hendry and Allen are back in action... and Maguire against Swail is underway again... Davies is looking demoralised and Murphy is now full of confidence... it's a breezy start for Joe Swail, he's moved along to 47 as he tries to pull back Maguire's lead... although he's had a couple of chances, it's a good start for Hendry tonight, he's on a break of 47 with a 66 point lead... and that's the frame for the Scot... the other Scot in action, Maguire, has overturned Swail's good start and is past the fifty mark... Davies has a 50 point lead over Murphy, who's left a black in the jaws and given the Welshman a lifeline... and Murphy concedes... a good chance for Allen in fame ten, he's opened a 39 point lead so far... Another 70 plus by Ding secures a 6-2 overnight lead and that will bring Mark Williams and Ricky Walden back to complete their match shortly... it took two visits but Mark Allen now moves 7-3 ahead... Paul Davies has carved a 59 point lead and he's still at the table, but the balls are not sitting kindly... A fabulous long red by Mark Allen gives him the early initiative in frame eleven... Davies has done extremely well to carve out a frame winning break from a poor position, he's well in this match now... Stephen Maguire is making good progress, on a run of 56, it'll be 8-3 if he doesn't break down... Mark Allen has rattled along to 46 but he needs to split the pack and he has and he's on a red.. a great chance now to stretch his lead... Maguire's missed on 64, there's still a little hope for Swail... Hendry's looking right down the barrel now, he needs snooker in this frame and Allen still has good position as he moves on to 76... Hendry opens with 26 in the next but no position so he's forced to play safe... All of a sudden Hendry looks like a totally different player, a brilliant long red, smack on the black and reds spread far and wide... and a break of 72 clinches the frame... he's trails 8-4 at the interval... Joe Swail keeps his slim hopes alive and trails 8-4 at the interval... it's a slow start so far by Williams and Walden... Murphy leads Davies 46-24 and they're on the yellow... a brilliant brown by Davies with the rest and he's level at 4-4 overnight... Ricky Walden's pulled a frame back... A brilliant long red with tons of side gets Mark Allen off and running in the frame he need to win the match... in no time at all he's onto 55 and still in great position, this looks like the match winning chance... and he's clinched it with 77, what a fabulous performance and what a major shock result on day one... Mark Williams has moved on to 8-2, just one frame from a vital victory for the Welshman... Ken Doherty and Nigel Bond have just resumed their match, it's 4-4 and could be a very long and close match, a late night beckons! Doherty has put 47 points on the board, but here's a chance for Bond to counter... Swail still refuses to lie down, he's got another frame back, 8-5 now, a little for Maguire to think about... Doherty is 40 ahead with two reds left, Bond is at the table but he can only play safe... Swail contributed 51 in frame 14, but he's let Maguire back in... and he's clinched a 9-5 victory... Walden's keeping Williams' victory march on hold, the Bagillt man's pulled a frame back... I haven't forgotten Bond and Doherty, they are still embroiled on a safety battle on the last two reds... but here's a chance for Ken to close out the frame... and in goes the red, it'll be 5-4 to the Dubliner... Bond's made 37 in the next but left a golden opening for Doherty, reds all open and pottable... a let off for Bond as Doherty only makes 25... Walden is clinging on by his fingertips against Williams... he leads 63-40, but still trails 8-3... Bond hands the initiative back to Doherty and he needs to try and get the last red off the cushion if he's to win the frame... he's moved it so every chance now... that's a two frame lead again... Williams has got the yellow, he needs to clear up to win... blue to black left for the Welshman... but he hasn't got them at that visit... Williams has at last clinched the frame he needed and that's a long overdue and welcome win for the Welshman.... Doherty and Bond are into frame eleven, the balls are in a right mess and it's very cagey at the moment, but it might speed up now as Bond leaves a red on for Doherty... Doherty needs one more red to clinch the frame, but he needs, rests, extensions, ladders and scaffolding to reach it and he's left it hanging in the jaws, but Bond needs snookers now... Doherty's got the upper hand now in this match, Bond narrowly misses the opening red, Doherty doesn't and he's right in amongst open reds... but he's made 29 and gone in off so a reprieve for Bond... and again there's a safety exchange as the players seek an opening... Bond is now 35 up with 35 on, he's trying to work out a good safety on the last red... and that's very safe, he's fluked it! So it's 7-5 as they go off for their interval... This has been a great revival by Nigel Bond since the interval, he's back to 7-7 and the match hangs in the balance now and we've got a late night thriller on our hands... Bond has opened a 37 point lead in frame fifteen and Doherty's given him another chance, what a turnaround... and now Bond will lead 8-7, just one frame from victory... and that 50 break clinches the frame... so onto frame sixteen, the black is on the top cushion and the pink is tied up so any break building will have to come from the blue initially... Doherty's go in off his safety to give Bond a long red to take on, which he gets... but he can't make much of that so they're embroiled in some tip tap safety again... if someone doesn't break the stalemate there could be a re-rack... but Doherty contrives to miss the red from less than an inch away, no advantage to Bond though... the reds are spreading open now but they're all covering each other so still no clear opening... Bond has a 21 point lead at the moment... He's moved 41 ahead now, but again he's forced to play safe... A safety error by Doherty and here's a chance for Bond, but he's not got onto a colour well... he'll push a colour safe and sit on his 42 point lead, there are still six reds left but Bond's pushed the black safe... Bond's forced a foul from Doherty and that's left another chance for Bond, the match is at his mercy now... and down goes the red Bond needs for victory, this has been a disastrous start to the season for Doherty... Ken's not giving up but he needs snookers and he doesn't get the chance as Bond slots home the winning red. So that's the end of Day One, two seeds through, two seeds on their way home. Join us again on Sunday for more live coverage...