Allen Battles Past Higgins In Manchester

Mark Allen admitted he was "very proud" of a mature performance as he recovered from a slow start to beat John Higgins 10-7 in the first round of the Johnstone's Paint Tour Championship, staying on track for a fourth title of the season. 

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Allen trailed 4-1 in the early stages but crucially recovered to 4-4 by the end of the first session. It was neck-and-neck tonight up until 6-6, but world number three Allen proved the stronger player at the business end as he pulled away to take three of the last four frames. He goes through to take on Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals on Wednesday night and Thursday night.

Scotland's Higgins scored 5-2 wins against Allen at both the BetVictor German Masters and BetVictor Welsh Open earlier this year, but this time he could not capitalise on a strong start and he is still waiting for a first ranking title in three years.

Allen took the opening frame of the evening session with a break of 71 before Higgins levelled at 5-5 with a run of 82. Frame 11 came down to a safety battle on the final black, Allen clipping it into a baulk corner to regain the advantage. Back came Higgins with 62 to draw level, only for Allen to respond with a 102 for 7-6. 

In frame 14, Higgins missed the black with two reds left, leading 46-17, and Allen eventually got the better of a safety exchange on the final pink, potting pink and black to go two ahead for the first time. Higgins halved the gap with a break of 86, then Allen's 93 made it 9-7. In frame 17, Higgins had first chance but made just 20 before missing a straight-forward blue to centre. The Scot later made a safety error and Allen finished in style with a match-winning 100.

"I always look forward to playing John," said 38-year-old Allen, who currently tops the provisional end of season rankings. "It's always tough match snooker, good scoring and high quality safety. I'm very proud to have matched him in the safety department and scored better as the match went on.

"A few years ago, from 4-1 down I might have lost the first session 6-2. The things I have been working on with (psychologist) Paul Gaffney have really helped because it has focussed my mind on just playing the next shot and the next frame as well as I can. It was fine margins tonight, I think John played as well as me but I won the close frames. 

"My decision-making is more measured. Some people might call it negative, but I am playing the positive shot based on how I am feeling in that moment. Sometimes it's better to be patient and wait for a better chance."

Higgins said: "Mark played very well tonight. I should have been in front this afternoon, I lost a bad frame when I should have made it 5-2. I missed two or three unforgiveable balls tonight. My long game was non-existent, and at this level it's not good enough against the best players. I'll just need to dust myself down and prepare for the World Championship. I've got a couple of weeks to hopefully get some good practice in." 

On the other table, Mark Williams earned a 5-3 lead over Tom Ford in a high quality session. Three-time Crucible king Williams took a 3-0 lead with top breaks of 72 and 59, before Ford pulled one back with a 114. After the interval, Williams made it 4-1 with a run of 76, then Ford took two in a row with 73 and 136. In the last of the session, Ford made 40 then Williams cleared with 86 to stay ahead. They resume on Tuesday at 7pm.