Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mark puts Selt on the Matt
MARK ALLEN impressively fired his way into the second round of the China Championship.
The Pistol gunned down Englishman Matt Selt 5-1 in a one-sided affair at Guangzhou’s Tianhe Sports Centre.
And the Masters champion said: “It was a solid performance, I scored well and got the job done.
“It’s still early days in the tournament but I’ve started well and that’s all you can ask for.
“I’ve been working hard and sooner or later the form I’m showing in practice will translate onto the match table again.”
Northern Irishman Allen pocketed top breaks of 58, 73 and 101 to deservedly progress in China.
The Antrim ace will take on former Northern Ireland Open champion Mark King or up-and-coming Englishman Sam Craigie for a spot in the last 16 tomorrow.
Ireland’s Fergal O’brien crushed two-time World Championship finalist Ali Carter 5-1 to join Allen in the second round.
Carter sunk a magical clearance of 144, but scored only 15 more points as O’brien notched 88, 121 and 71 breaks to set up a meeting with Scottish world No 16 Anthony
Mcgill or China’szhao Xintong.
And Dublin’s 1997 world champion Ken Doherty has current Crucible king Mark Williams in his way in the first round today.
Welshman Williams whitewashed Rod Lawler 5-0 in a heldover qualifier yesterday with 56, 64 and 102 runs.