Mark Allen (Photo by Benutzer:Bill da Flute)
Mark Allen made the 700th century break of his career as he fought back from 7-4 down to draw level with Barry Hawkins at 8-8 after two sessions of their World Snooker Championship quarter-final.
The tie resumes tonight and first to 13 frames will be the first man into the semi-finals at the Crucible, to face Wu Yize or Hossein Vafaei. Hawkins led for much of the day but may rue a chance to snatch the last frame and go 9-7 up overnight.
The opening frame tonight came down to the final two balls, Hawkins missing chances at pink and black, allowing Allen to pot both to close to 5-4. Londoner Hawkins took the next two with 89 and 96 before Northern Ireland’s Allen controlled frame 12 for 7-5. The standard rose even higher after the interval as Allen’s brace of centuries, 138 and 131, sandwiched a 140 total clearance from Hawkins.
In the last of the session, Allen was on 27 when he missed the black off its spot, then got another chance and moved to 61-4 before failing to pot a red to a baulk corner. Hawkins, who was runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan here in 2013, made 50 before his position from blue to pink went awry, and he attempted a difficult pink along the top cushion but it stayed in the jaws. Allen, a who reached the last four in 2009 and 2023 but has never made the final, knocked in the pink to leave the tie perfectly poised.
Meanwhile, defending champion Zhao Xintong recovered from 8-6 down to finished tied at 8-8 with Shaun Murphy. China’s Xintong is hoping to become the only first-time Crucible champion to successfully defend the title, while Murphy is looking to double his tally of crowns having lifted the trophy in 2005.
Xintong took the opening frame of tonight’s session to trail 5-4 and he was among the balls in the next but missed a red to a top corner on 55 and Murphy capitalised with a superb 59 clearance. World number four Xintong dominated the next with 67 and 58 before Murphy’s 90 made it 7-5 at the interval.
In frame 13, Xintong trailed 50-28 when he got the better of a safety tussle on the last red, then cleared to stay within one, only for Murphy to double his lead again with a break of 65. An early chance in frame 15 went begging for Murphy as he missed a red to centre on 10, and Xintong regained momentum with 117, his eighth century of the tournament. In the last of the evening, Murphy was 29-28 up when he missed a red to a top corner, and Xintong later wrapped it up with a run of 40.
They return tonight to play to a finish, with the winner to meet Neil Robertson or John Higgins in the semi-finals.
Robertson goes 5-3 up on Higgins
Neil Robertson took a 5-3 lead over John Higgins in the first session of their World Championship quarter-final battle.
Four-time champion Higgins enjoyed one of his best ever Crucible wins on Monday when he beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 13-12, and he is competing in the quarter-finals for the 20th time – only O’Sullivan has more with 23. Robertson, winner in 2010, is looking to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2014.
Higgins took the opening frame with a break of 61 and in the second he was on 54 when he missed a difficult red to a baulk corner, and Robertson took advantage with a 77 clearance. The third came down to the colours and Higgins looked set to clear until the final pink rattled in the jaws of a baulk corner, and Robertson potted it for 2-1. A run of 56 helped Higgins level then world number three Robertson regained the lead with a break of 70.
World number five Higgins dominated frame six and might have added the seventh but missed a tough final red on 62, and after a safety battle Robertson potted the red and cleared for 4-3. The last of the day took 56 minutes, Robertson potting yellow and green to secure an overnight lead. They play eight from frames from 10am on Wednesday, then return at 7pm for the concluding session.
Meanwhile, China’s Wu Yize and Iran’s Hossein Vafaei finished tied at 4-4 in a clash between two players competing in their maiden Crucible quarter-final. Yize had never won a match at the Theatre of Dreams before this year but has broken into the top 16 with a superb season. Vafaei was the only qualifier to reach the second round, and last night scored a career-best 13-12 win over world number one Judd Trump.
Vafaei won the first frame by clearing from green to pink, before Yize took the second by clearing from green to black. A break of 66 gave Vafaei the third then 22-year-old Yize dominated the next three with runs of 90, 56, 56 and 52 to lead 4-2. In frame seven, Yize was on 29 when he lost position and missed a risky blue to a baulk corner, letting his opponent in for a run of 71 to narrow the gap. And another miss from Yize to a baulk corner, when he led 44-22 with two reds left, handed Vafaei the chance to clear with 34 and square the match.
