Mark Allen's biggest remaining ambition in snooker is to wear the Crucible crown and he got his Halo World Championship campaign off to a winning start by coming from 3-0 down to beat Fan Zhengyi 10-6.
Allen has won the UK Championship and the Masters, 11 ranking titles in all and started the current season as world number one, but admits that his career would be incomplete if he doesn't lift the sport's most famous trophy. "I am here to win the tournament and have four very tough opponents in front of me," said the 38-year-old today after an impressive opening victory.
Despite a slow start in the early exchanges on Sunday, he recovered to lead 5-4 overnight and in today's second session the world number eight converted that into a comfortable victory to reach the second round for the 14th time. The Northern Irishman will face Chris Wakelin in a last-16 clash which starts on Thursday afternoon and finishes on Friday evening.
Since winning the invitational Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in December, he has been below his best, and failed to qualify for the 12-man Tour Championship earlier this month. But today's success will give him confidence, and he may take extra belief from the fact that Luca Brecel and Kyren Wilson both had quiet seasons before going all the way to the ultimate prize.
A break of 88 in the opening frame today extended Allen's lead to 6-4. China's Fan led 59-5 in frame 11 when he failed to convert a short-range plant on a red to a top corner, allowing Allen to claw his way back into the frame and eventually snatch it with a 33 clearance from the last red. The 12th also came down to the last red and Allen trapped his opponent in a tough snooker, creating the chance to clear for 8-4. A run of 102, his second century of the match, stretched Allen's lead.
After the interval, former European Masters champion Fan fought back, making an excellent 86 for 9-5. Allen was on the brink of victory in frame 15 until he missed a red to centre on 57, and his opponent made 74 to narrow the gap again. But Allen remained composed and sealed the result with a 63 in the 16th.
"I didn't do much wrong to go 3-0 down, but I am mentally stronger than I have been in the past and I just took one frame and one shot at a time," added Allen, who reached the semi-finals in 2009 and 2023, but is the most successful ever player yet to appear in the final. "I got as much as I could out of that session to go 5-4 ahead and that's probably where I won the match.
"I have been working hard on the mental side recently, talking to (psychologist) Paul (Gaffney) every day. On that side I feel I am back where I was 18 months ago and that will help me win frames. I have also lost some weight by eating carefully, walking a lot and having ice baths and saunas. I feel in a good place.
"Chris Wakelin is one of the most improved players on tour this season and he would have learned a lot from his win over Neil Robertson. I like the way he plays because he is aggressive and goes for his shots no matter that the score."
Meanwhile, Ding Junhui took a 6-3 lead over Zak Surety to take a step towards becoming the fourth Chinese player into the last 16. They play to a finish on Tuesday from 2.30pm.
Breaks of 60 and 68 helped 15-time ranking event winner Ding take a 4-0 lead. Surety settled into the match after the interval and pulled two frames back, before Ding took the seventh and made a 73 for 6-2. Essex cueman Surety, a semi-finalist at the World Open in February, added a feather to his cap with a century on his Crucible debut, finishing the session with a superb 104.