Mark Allen enjoyed a memorable evening at Alexandra Palace, making a 147 and winning a nerve-jangling decider to beat Mark Selby 6-5 in the quarter-finals of the MrQ Masters.
Allen pulled off a number of magnificent shots to keep his hopes of the perfect run alive in the third frame, including a difficult pink and black. After depositing the final ball the Alexandra Palace crowd were in raptures, with 2018 Masters champion Allen now trailing Selby 2-1.
However, that did little to turn the tide of the match and three-time Masters winner Selby took two on the bounce, making a break of 82 in the process, to move 4-1 ahead.
Allen dug deep and breaks of 56 and 103 saw him claw his way back to 4-3 down. There was then a marathon 45-minute eighth which eventually went the way of the Northern Irishman, who restored parity at 4-4. He then made it five on the bounce, before Selby crafted 55 on the way to forcing a decider at 5-5.
It was 2022 UK Champion Allen who made the first significant contribution of the final frame, a run of 51, before missing a straightforward red and gifting Selby a path back. He edged his way into the frame, but missed a difficult final red to the top right. After a safety exchange, Allen stepped in and cleared with 23 to set up a semi-final showdown with Ali Carter.
This week’s run represents Allen’s first success at Alexandra Palace since beating Kyren Wilson in the 2018 title match. The Antrim cueman suffered first round defeats in all of his last five Masters appearances, until this week’s 6-5 win over John Higgins in the opening round. He’s now just two wins away from a third piece of Triple Crown silverware.
“It was a really strange game. The maximum probably didn’t deserve to be in that match, it was quite scrappy at times and there were a lot of balls missed. Pressure moments and turning points, but it was great for the crowd to experience that. The buzz that I got was something that I’ll never forget. There were hairs standing on the back of my neck."
Mark Allen
Number Four Seed
Allen added: “I know it is going to sound so silly, but I genuinely wasn’t feeling the pressure in the last. I completely took my eye off the red on 51. That was unforgivable. It was one of two shots I played that match that I’d love to have back because I wasn’t ready for it. I felt really calm and to miss that I thought I’d lose 6-5. I potted some really good balls at the end.
“This is why I play. This is why we all play. You want to play in these big matches and big events in front of big crowds. Hopefully I can go out there, enjoy it and find some form.”