Mark Allen prevailed 6-3 to gain revenge on Ali Carter for a recent defeat at the Masters and earn a place in the final of the Johnstone's Paint Players Championship in Telford.
The pair have done battle four times already this season, with each player coming out on top twice. Carter won on his way to the Wuhan Open and Masters finals, while Allen was victorious en route to winning the Champion of Champions.
Allen progresses to the 19th ranking final of his career where he will face either Mark Selby or Zhang Anda. The Pistol is aiming for the 11th ranking title of his career and third event win of the season, following the Champion of Champions and the Shoot Out.
It’s a disappointing defeat for Carter, but this week’s run has put him in a strong position in the Race to Riyadh. Only Zhang winning the event can dislodge the Captain from the top eight in the world rankings ahead of the cut off at the end of this event.
With the score at 1-1, Allen composed a break of 108, before Carter replied with 106 to head into the mid-session level at 2-2. The next two frames were shared, then Allen crucially claimed the seventh to move 4-3 up.
A break of 65 gave Northern Ireland’s Allen control of the eighth, but Carter had a chance to steal before eagle eyed referee Desislava Bozhilova spotted he had fouled the green with his waistcoat. That proved to be crucial as Allen pounced to move 5-3 up. He then added the ninth to run out a 6-3 victor.
“I don’t want to come here and finish second, that would be disappointing. I’ve ticked a few boxes this week. I’ve tried something different, it wasn’t quite working today but I stuck with it."
Mark Allen
World Number Three
Allen added: “I was fortunate to be 2-2. I worked on a few things in the practice room very quickly to get my striking back, using the Chris Henry ping pong balls and I feel like that helped. I improved a little. My safety was good and that is probably what got me through.
“From a completely selfish point of view, I’d rather play Zhang Anda. Just because that keeps Selby’s losing streak going a little longer. If he gets on a winning run he is hard to stop, as we’ve seen in the past. Looking at the Tour Championship, China and the World Championship, you want someone like Selby’s confidence to be as low as possible.”