Comeback sees Mark aim High
MARK ALLEN thought his International Championship title hopes had well and truly been put on ice.
But the Antrim man produced a courageous comeback from 4-0 and 5-2 down to beat Englishman Liam Highfield 6-5 in China yesterday.
“He completely froze me out,” said Allen.
“I said to Liam at the end of the match, ‘if I’d have lost that match 6-1 I would have had no complaints’.
“He was awesome at the start, I think I had one half chance in the first four games.
“Thankfully the interval came at the right time for me, it changed the match.”
Highfield dominated with breaks of 79, 93, 64, 56 and 122 to need one frame for victory.
But Allen pocketed three century breaks – 127, 125 and 120 – and a match-winning 85 to complete a remarkable turnaround.
“I just wanted to get a foothold in the match,” added Allen, last season’s Masters champion.
“I made a century break to go 4-1 and he made a mistake when he looked like he was going to go 5-1.
“But then I’ve scored really, really well to get back in the match. I just told myself to be patient.
“I’ve got good and bad memories of this tournament. I’ve been in two finals here but lost them both.
“It would be nice to go that one step better.”
Dubliner Ken Doherty crashed to a 6-0 first round whitewash at the hands of world No1 Mark Selby.
Former world champion Doherty never got going as three-time Crucible winner Selby dominated with breaks of 124, 117, 60, 55 and 52 to cruise through.