High-flying Mark Allen books semi-final spot at Champion of Champions

Mark Allen has progressed to the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions event in Coventry after defeating Barry Hawkins and Neil Robertson.

The Antrim man fired two century breaks as he saw off Hawkins 4-2 and he was again in hot form against Robertson, hitting three more breaks of a ton to close out a 6-1 win over Robertson.

Allen also beat Australian Robertson in Sunday’s International Championship final.

The 32-year-old will now face England’s Kyren Wilson in tomorrow’s second semi-final.

Allen said: “I’m not getting carried away as I’ve still got two very tough matches to get through if I’m going to win this tournament.

“But I quietly fancy my chances. I always have good matches with Kyren.”

World number seven Allen’s wins yesterday have added to a fantastic run of results for the Northern Ireland player, who wrapped up his fourth world ranking tournament success in China last weekend, finishing the event with 14 centuries in Daqing.