Stephen Hendry has a difficult match ahead, against Allister Carter. Carter is already in the lead with a score of 6-2. It’s not that Hendry played bad, he played really well but Allister Carter played excelellent. Allister Carter actually had a 99% success rate of the long-shots at one point in the morning session, at that rate there hardly is a player that would have stood up against him.

Depending on the score at this evening’s session, Handry may or may not have good chances of victory in this match. Maybe if he begins the session tomorrow at a score of 9-7 he could recover, but any bigger advantage to Carter will almost certainlty mean defeat for the great champion.

In the 10th frame the brown ball fools Allister Carter and the frame goes to Stephen Hendry, the score is 7-3 though and Hendry must focus better, he did make a few big mistakes in the last 2 frames and it was luck that kept Carter from winning them both.

The score is now 9-4 and Stephen Hendry looks less likely than ever to turn the score as Carter is about to win this frame, too. At the second table Higgins is also in the lead 11-4 against Fergal O’Brian. Thankfully, neither of the games is going to end this evening so the players have a good night sleep to put their game in order.

The evening session has ended, Allister Carter is in the lead with a score of 12-4. Stephen Hendry has the impossible job of winning 9 frames in a row.

Ronnie’s long expected match in the second round has just started. Ronnie is playing against Neil Robertson after easing past Ding Junhui. Neil Robertson has faced Ryan Day in the first round and defeated him 10-5.

Neil Robertson nails the first frame of the match but Ronnie takes the second. We are watching impressive breaks being achieved in what appears to become a very exciting match.

O’Sullivan wins the third and the fourth frames and is now in the lead by two, the score is 3-1 at the end of the first session of the match.

Ronnie is playing great these days at the Crucible, he is widening the lead between him and Robertson to 3 frames now and looks unstopable.

In the meantime the 5th frame of the match between Peter Ebdon and Mark Selby has ended, Mark Selby is in the lead by one. The score is 3-2.

“The Rocket” is up to speed and in the lead 5-1 against Neil Robertson. If Neil is going to allow Ronnie a 6 frames lead at the end of this session he’s only stepping in Dings footsteps towards defeat. If Neil wants to have any chances in winning this match he has to keep up with Ronnie.

After a great beggining in the match, when Joe Swail actually tried to achieve a 147 break. He seems to have lost it, Stephen Maguire is now in the lead by no less than 5 frames with a score of 8-3… I don’t personally thing Jow Swail has any chance of recovery in this match, maybe after a good night sleep if he manages to hold on to the match until the end of today’s session.

The session between the two has ended at the score of 8-4 in Maguire’s favor. Swail does have chances of recovery though, he is only 4 frames behind and we have seen how determined he is to win when he was up against Mark Williams in the first round.

It’s the second round… After defeating Ken Doherty in the first, Mark Allen has a hard time in the match he’s up against Matthew Stevens. Stevens has won all the frames in the first part of the match and had the lead at 4-0 before Mark even won one of the frames. The score is now 4-1…

Mark Allen’s game is not working well, he’s 4 frames behind while MAtthew Stevens is only 5 frames away from victory in this match. Mark has to work hard to catch up if he wants a shot at victory.

John Parrott defeated 6 times world champion and friend Steve Davis in the first round. Shaun Murphy defeated young debutant Judd Trump (who, by the way, plays very, very good!).

They are now one up against the other in an uneventful match that doesn’t go so well for Shaun. He is now in the lead by two at a score of 6-4 but the level of play dropped a lot and there are many mistakes to be taken advantage of, on both parts…

Update(s):

The score is now 7-5 with Murphy in the lead.

John Parrott manages to win another frame and trails behind Shaun. The score is now 7-6 with Shaun in the lead. The 14th frame got a little complicated as they are close in points and fighting to gain a good safty shot or maybe a snooker. They are both waiting for the other one to make a mistake and I bet Murphy would feel much better if he were in the lead by two…

Murphy was about to steal another frame from John Parrott but he came back at the table and secured the win, the score is now 8-7, If John is to win this match he needs to find his game before it’s too late…

The evening session is going the same way… The match is tense and John Parrott is in Murphy’s tail being only one frame behing. the fact that Shaun didn’t manage to break away with a greater lead may prove crucial in the end of this match as John Parrott is holding on tight and, maybe with a bit of effort, he might steal away the victory fram Murphy. The score is now 9-8 with Shaun in the lead.

Shaun Murphy is now in the lead by 2 frames and is closing in to victory. Murphy is 3 frames away from victory while John Parrott is two frames behing him, Parrott is feeling the pressure. Parrott made a big mistake at the brown ball in the 19th frame and Murphy won the frame, there are now 3 frames between them.

The match between Stephen Lee and Mark Selby seemed to be over long time ago, Stephen Lee had a crushing 5-0 advantage but Mark Selby managed to surprise us all and won 6 frames straight and is now in the lead 6-5, it’s a beautiful match between these two.

Mark Selby is on a winnink streak, he won 8 frames in a row and is now in the lead 8-5, he is surprising to say the least.

Not only did Mark Selby recover after Stephen Lee was in the lead by 5 frames but is now about to win the frame and the match by 3 frames. Mark will meet Peter Ebdon in the second tour of the competition.

We are now in the 10th frame of the Hendry- Gilbert match. As I was saying, the young debutant David Gilbert is putting up a fight against multiple world champion Stephen Hendry. Gilbert was actually in the lead 5-1 but Hendry got back on trach in the second session. Hendry is at his 75th appearence here at the Crucible.

Stephen Hendry gained the lead at 6-5, after he made a very good come-back from 1-5.

After David Gilbert managed to win another frame, Hendry is smiling his way back into the lead. After 13 frames Hendry is in the lead 7-6.

David Gilbert is patiently potting the balls to make the score even again, Hendry has changed his tactic and isn’t making any more risky shots and so has Gilbert. It’s now 7-7 in a very interesting match.

Stephen Lee is in the lead 3-0, in the 4th frame Selby is fighting for a snooker but failed, the score is 4-0 at the end of the first session.

Stephen Lee is leading Mark Selby by four frames now, with a score of 5 to 1 in the debute of the second session of their match.

Mark Williams lost the 4-0 lead he had in the morning and the score is now 5-4. The “Welsh Potting Machine” (MArk Williams) may have lost his former glory but hi is no pushover in this match.

Update(s):

Joe Swail manages to catch up but Mark Williams is back in shape and wins the 11th frame, he is now in the lead.

Joe Swail wins the 12th frame with a 100+ break and the score is 6-6. Mark Williams is in the lead by 71 points but makes a mistake, Joe Swail needs only one snooker and does not concede, the game gets pretty tense now that it’s approaching its end. Mark Williams doesn’t loose and he’s again in the lead. The saga continues.

After the 14th frame the “Welsh Potting Machine”, Mark Williams is in the lead by two with a score of 8 to 6, will Joe Swail catch up or will Mark Williams win his place in the second tour?

If you’re watching this game… this is a snooker demonstration by Mark Williams, he’s pulling great shots, he’s a pleasure to watch. Another frame goes to Williams and the score is 9-8.

There is no drama like here at the Crucible, Joe Swail needs one red to send the game in its decisive frame. And the red find the pocket indeed, we’ll be watching the decisive frame of this dramatic match.

A match full of dramatism, a nerve wrecking last frame and, after he trailed behind Mark Williams for the whole match, Joe Swail wins in the decisive frame.

Stephen Hendry finds himself having a hard time in the match against 26 yrs old debutant David Gilbert. David Gilbert is leading the 7 times world champion Stephen Hendry by one frame and is playing great.

In spite of his statements for BBC, Stephen Hendry is not doing so great. If he is to win the championship he has to find his former game. Hendry used to win before the matches even started, when you were playing Hendry you’d pack your bags at the hotel before going to the tournament, that’s how feared he was by the other players.

Update:

David Gilbert secures a 2 frames lead against Hendry in the end of the first session. Hendry finds himself in difficulty now and shouldn’t allow Gilbert any more chances to victory.

Gilbert is still in the lead 5-3 but hendry is in pursuit, he managed to win the last two frames and is playing better and better. Gilbert did make mistakes that looked like he forgot who he was up against. No matter what shape he’s in, Hendry remains Hendry and he shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Hendry’s bad play may be caused by the nue cue he is using, he came to the world championship with a cue he’s only been using for three weeks, it takes a lotof courage to do that but I don’t know if it was a good decision for Hendry, especially if he wants a shot at the title.