Allen victorious come what Mei

MARK ALLEN impressed with 100, 54 and 89 breaks to crush China’s Mei Xiwen 4-1 in the second round of the Welsh Open yesterday.

But despite the win, the Antrim ace – who faces Ian Burns today – said: “I still struggled to focus at times and I was looking across at the other tables.”

Belfast potter Joe Swail slumped to a tough 4-3 defeat to Scotland’s Scott Donaldson while Dublin’s Ken Doherty was stunned 4-1 by world No100 Sam Craigie.