Match Reports from the 888.com World Championship
Allen Make His Mark!
Ken Doherty 7 - 10 Mark Allen
Mark Allen played with a maturity beyond his years to keep Ken Doherty at bay and advance to the second round.
Doherty was poor in the first session, but he had the better of the opening exchanges on day four, as Allen missed a succession of easy balls. The 1997 champion made the most of his chance to take the first three frames to draw level.
The 13th frame proved decisive. Had the Dubliner taken his opportunity and moved ahead for the first time, the match could have swung in his favour. However, a miss allowed Allen to swoop and his courageous 76 showed that the 21-year-old was not about to disintegrate under the pressure.
Doherty responded superbly with a 135 to restore parity at 7-7, but a 68 from Allen edged him in front once more.
The man from Northern Ireland then calmly closed out the match to give him a winning start to his Crucible career.
Afterwards Allen spoke to Cuefactor. “Definitely the nerves got to me today,” he said. “I was pretty pleased with the way I closed out the match because it was the most pressure I have ever felt. Beating Ken was the best win of my career.”
See the rest of our interview with Mark Allen here...
By David Pritchard
