Snooker: Northern Ireland's Mark Allen secured a second-round meeting with Ronnie O'Sullivan by coming through his opener at the Betfred.com World Championship. Left-hander Allen resumed 7-2 ahead against Martin Gould this morning and dropping the first three frames, before regaining his composure and sealing a 10-6 victory with a break of 88.
Gould was potted off the table by Allen yesterday, but the part-time casino croupier from London was determined not to be dealt a humiliation, and came out with a relaxed attitude which helped him to make three rapid frame-winning breaks.
Just minutes before they resumed at 10am, Gould had been outside the Crucible posing for pictures, and once he got into the arena he was potting balls for fun.
Breaks of 87, 90 and 74 secured the first three frames, with Gould capitalising whenever Allen gave him a glimpse of a chance but 23-year-old Allen won the final frame before the mid-session interval to leave himself requiring just two more for victory.
That became one to win when he grabbed the 14th frame, which meant Gould needed five in a row.
Gould pulled one more back but Allen found top form in the next and his fluent 88, which began with a fluke, confirmed his victory.
He will be making a second appearance in the last 16 at Sheffield, having lost at the same stage to Matthew Stevens in 2007.
Allen said: "I was glad to get over the line in the end. "I thought when I got among the balls I looked pretty good."
His top-16 place is almost secure for next season, so Allen is relishing the clash with O'Sullivan.
"There's players worse than me who have beaten Ronnie in the past," Allen said. "If I go out there and perform, I'm capable of beating anyone, Ronnie included.
"I'm going into the match thinking that, if I play well, I expect to win.
"A lot of people play Ronnie and they don't think they're capable of winning.
"I know that I'm capable of winning, it's just a matter of going out there and proving it on the day.
"Ronnie is favourite for many reasons. He's a justified big favourite in the match but favourites don't always win."
On the other table, Hong Kong's Marco Fu leads Allen's compatriot Joe Swail 8-4.
Fu started with a run of 111 and concluded the first session with a dazzling total clearance of 124. He dominated this evening's session, winning four on the spin in a game that will conclude tonight.
The all-Chinese match between Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo was not living up toexpectations.
Former UK champion Ding, who is in danger of dropping out of the top 16,established a 5-4 lead but was 4-1 in front at one stage.
Three frames lasted over 30 minutes, and in all the session took three hours and 35 minutes — which was two minutes longer than the entire match between Allen and Gould.
They will resume tomorrow morning.