Defending champion Mark Allen hit back from three frames down to beat Jak Jones and book his place in the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions event in Bolton.

Northern Ireland’s Allen had looked set for a quick exit yesterday – with Jones poised to stretch his lead to 4-0.

But a simple missed red changed the course of the match and saw the Antrim man recover to wrap up a 6-4 win.

Jones, this year’s shock World Championship runner-up, had looked on course for a comprehensive win after soaring into a 3-0 lead.

placeholder image — Northern Ireland's Mark Allen. (Photo by Steven Paston/PA Wire)

That bright start included a break of 137 in the third frame to assume full control against Allen.

But a shocking miss in frame four turned the match on its head after Allen had initially fluffed his chance of making a maximum.

Having potted nine reds and blacks, Allen jawed a red to the middle and Jones was poised to capitalise until he missed a straightforward final red on a break of 38.

With the miss appearing to play on the Welshman’s mind, Allen pounced with breaks of 64 and 104 to pull level, before two further half-centuries earned him five frames in a row and left him one from victory at 5-3.

Jones stopped the rot in style with his second century, a clearance of 104, to pull back to 5-4, but Allen got in first in the next and a break of 41 paved the way for his passage into the semi-finals.

Earlier yesterday, both Allen and Jones had fired two centuries apiece in 4-2 first-round wins over Igor Figueiredo and Gary Wilson respectively.