Allen impresses to reach the last eight in China
ANTRIM’S Mark Allen is into the quarter-finals of the International Open in China after he saw off England’s Alfie Burden 6-1 in the last-16.
Allen continued his run of century breaks as he reached the last eight in style with the comprehensive victory.
Breaks of 112 and 55 saw the 32-year-old Ulsterman move 2-0 up and he pinched a tight third frame before world number 112 Burden won the next.
However, Allen, exactly 100 places higher in the rankings, re-established a three-frame lead after a run of 101.
After dominating frame six, Allen then clinched victory with a break of 77.
Allen fired three centuries as he came from 5-2 down to beat Liam Highfield in the first round and had breaks of 146 and 142 in his 6-3 win over Iran’s Hossein Vafaei on Tuesday.
The Antrim player will face England’s Ali Carter in the quarter-finals.
Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Jack Lisowski and Martin O’Donnell also progressed to the last eight in Daqing. And Welshman Matthew Stevens stunned home favourite Ding Junhui.
Stevens came back from 3-1 down to win 6-5 on a day where Ding, Yan Bingtao and Yuan Sijun were all eliminated.
Stevens, who has slipped to 56th in the world rankings, was taking on a player who is currently ranked seventh.
“It’s a massive win, I had never beaten Ding before to do so... gives me a lot of confidence,” Stevens said. “I haven’t played great this week but I’m still here.
Elsewhere, Neil Robertson beat teenager Yuan 6-4 and Ali Carter defeated Sunny Akani also 6-4.