Match Reports: Day One at the 888.com World Snooker Championship
Allen’s Adventure Ends
Matthew Stevens 13 – 9 Mark Allen
A missed black in the 21st frame finally brought an end to Mark Allen’s superb Crucible debut.
It was the highest quality match of the tournament so far, and both players contributed to a fantastic match.
The second session began where the first had left off, with Matthew Stevens making a large frame-winning break. His 101 was the third century in five frames.
Some poor safety in the tenth frame from Allen allowed Stevens to extend his lead to 7-3. The match looked to be slipping away from the 21-year-old when Stevens took his third consecutive frame to go five clear.
Not for the first time in the match, Allen fought back. The world number 62, who will be ranked considerably higher for next season, took four of the next five frames to close the gap to 9-7 by the end of the session.
After four frames of the deciding session the outcome of the match was still unclear. The players shared the spoils to reach 11-9.
The 21st frame was where the match was settled. Aware that a win would give him a real chance of taking his second scalp of the tournament, the nerves got the better of him.
Stevens led, but a miss let Allen in. He looked set to win the frame, but an overcut black spelled disaster. Stevens cleared up to get within a frame of victory.
The missed black broke Allen, and he missed easy balls in the 22nd frame that sent Stevens through. He plays Shaun Murphy in the last eight in a repeat of the 2005 final.
By David Pritchard
