Mark Allen beat the world No 2 Kyren Wilson 13-9 to reach the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. The Northern Irishman, who had let slip a 5-0 lead in their second-round match, won four of the first six frames in Saturday’s morning session to upset the 2024 champion.
Allen will face Barry Hawkins or the three-time champion Mark Williams in the last eight, with the Englishman leading 10-6 in their match, which will resume on Saturday evening.
Wilson had won six successive frames to lead 6-5 and a see-saw battle ensued before Allen won the final two frames in Friday’s session, aided by a 140-break, to edge 9-7 ahead. Wilson clawed it back on Saturday morning with a score of 78 in the opening frame, but Allen produced scores of 78 and 61 to go 11-8 up and, despite losing the next frame, held his nerve to progress.
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Neil Robertson, the champion in 2010, squandered a 4-1 lead in the opening session of his second-round match against Chris Wakelin. The Australian won four frames on the spin after losing the opener, but Wakelin, the world No 13, hit back, producing a break of 77 to stop the rot and taking the final two frames of the morning session to level it up.
The biggest contest of the tournament so far is due to get under way in the evening session when John Higgins confronts Ronnie O’Sullivan, 30 years on from their Crucible debuts. Then the two 20-year-olds met in the quarter-final at the Championship, with O’Sullivan winning a thrilling contest.
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