Sharp Pang Upsets Allen
World number 109 Pang Junxu scored a shock 5-2 win over Mark Allen in the final qualifying round of the BetVictor German Masters.
Pang reached the last 16 of the BetVictor European Masters earlier this season
Allen played superb snooker to win the Champion of Champions just six days ago, but couldn’t replicate that form and was outplayed by China’s 20-year-old Pang, who is playing his debut season on the pro tour. He goes through to the last 32 for the final stages which run from January 27 to 31.
Breaks of 81 and 101 gave Allen a 2-1 lead, but Pang then took four frames in a row with top breaks of 121 and 72.
John Higgins made top breaks of 69 and 70 in a 5-0 win over Ashley Hugill while Masters champion Stuart Bingham top scored with 92 in a 5-2 win over Ricky Walden.
Jack Lisowski fired runs of 56, 89, 97, 78 and 64 as he beat Brandon Sargeant 5-2. Joe O’Connor scored an impressive 5-4 win over Anthony McGill, from 3-1 and 4-3 down. O’Connor compiled runs of 102, 52, 72, 83 and 73.
Robbie Williams trailed Martin O’Donnell 4-2 and by 52 points in frame seven, but took that one with a 74 clearance and added the next two frames for a 5-4 success.
Zhou Yuelong eased to a 5-0 win over Peter Devlin while Luca Brecel top scored with 90 in a 5-2 defeat of Andrew Higginson.
Germany’s Simon Lichtenberg missed out on the final stages of his home event as he lost 5-2 to Fergal O’Brien