‘Calm’ Allen seals his first Masters title

China Open raises stakes after pocketing lucrative deal

LONDON, Jan 22, (Agencies): Mark Allen said he felt “calmer as the match went on” after seeing off the challenge of a spirited Kyren Wilson to seal his first Masters title with a 10-7 victory at London’s Alexandra Palace.

The world number eight was matched for much of Sunday’s contest by his fellow first-time finalist before edging away to lift the Paul Hunter trophy and pocket £200,000 ($278,000) in prize money.

It was 40 years since Alex Higgins won his first Masters title and Northern Ireland’s Allen, who beat former champions Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins on his way to the final, followed in the footsteps of his countryman after a marathon match lasting five hours and 14 minutes.

Allen, who put on a Northern Ireland football shirt for his post-match press conference, said: “Weirdly, I felt calmer as the match went on, I felt more at ease with myself.”

The match was arguably the biggest contest in the careers of both men and the nerves showed across two edgy and even sessions.

Wilson, the first player born in the 1990s to appear in a Triple Crown final, had never won a match at the invitational tournament before this year and he threatened to complete a remarkable story before falling agonisingly short.

After a close-fought battle, a 73 from Allen followed by a sensational 119 — the first century of the match — and another 50 finally gave the 31-year-old daylight at 8-5 as Wilson began to make too many mistakes.

Meanwhile, this year’s China Open will become only the second snooker tournament after the world championship to offer £1 million ($1.39 million) in prize money following a new four-year deal with its promoters, the organisers have announced.

The amount is nearly double the money offered last year when Mark Selby beat Mark Williams in the final to claim £85,000. The new deal with Star Xing Pai and Beijing Fuhua Culture Tourism Development Ltd Co means the winner of the April 1-8 event will pocket £225,000 which is second only to the £425,000 offered to the world champion.

Ding Junhui won the 2005 title to trigger China’s interest in snooker and this year’s tournament, featuring an extended best-of-21-frame final, will be televised by CCTV and Eurosport, among other broadcasters.