SNOOKER: MARK Allen had to dig deep to beat World Number One Mark Selby and set up a semi-final showdown against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Champion of Champions event.
Having won the Players Championship on ITV4 earlier in the year, the Allen secured his seventh consecutive match undefeated on the popular sports channel as he won a high quality game 6-5 following a tense final frame decider in Coventry on Wednesday night.
Allen had beaten Joe Perry earlier in the day to set up a Group 2 final against an in-form Selby who had thumped Liang Wembo 4-0.
There were 11 breaks over 50 in a high quality session on Wednesday evening as the players shared the opening skirmishes, entering the mid-session interval at 2-2.
Northern Irishman Allen though won a tight fifth frame and then recorded a run of 80 in the next to move into a 4-2 lead.
They shared the next two to leave the Northern Irishman just one from victory and despite Selby fighting back to set up a final frame decider, it was Allen who held his nerve by compiling a superb match-winning break of 63 to take an excellent win.
“It was very tough out there, the table conditions were not good at all,” said Allen. “We handled it pretty well in the early part of the match but then we started to miss easy balls and you get ground down.
“It was a bit different from (last week at the China Championship) because I felt I was playing really well but that was a struggle, it was a matter of who got over the line.
“I knew it was going to a decider, Brendan Moore is renowned for refereeing deciders and when I got the kick at 5-4 up and landed terrible on the blue, missed two more chances to close it out, you think you are going to lose after that.
“When I got that chance at the end the pressure is almost off a bit because you fully expected him to win the frame in one visit at the end, but I managed to get a good chance and make a good break.
“I am sure Mark is a bit disappointed with the way he played but I think both of our games are in good shape, so I wouldn’t be too bothered by that performance – the table got the better of us.
“There are two big matches ahead of me, they will be very tough no matter who I play. It is Ronnie next – I played really well against him in Romania and just came out on the wrong side of a tight match but if I can play the way I have been then I have a good chance.”
Play continues today at 1pm when Shaun Murphy takes on John Higgins before Judd Trump faces likeable Scotsman Anthony McGill, with the winner of both matches facing each other in the evening to complete Friday’s semi-final line-up.
