Home favourite Mark Allen to get Northern Ireland Open title defence underway against teenager nicknamed 'The Boy Wonder'

By Johnny Morton
Published 11th Oct 2023, 15:03 BST
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Home favourite Mark Allen will face Belgian teenager Ben Mertens in the Northern Ireland Open first round later this month as he aims to make it a hat-trick of titles.

The Pistol, who is ranked number three in the world, will be back in front of local snooker fans at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast to defend the Alex Higgins Trophy he won in both 2021 and 2022.

After defeating four-time world champion John Higgins two years ago, 37-year-old Allen successfully retained his crown by beating China’s Zhou Yuelong 9-4 to pick up the £80,000 prize.

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In a season where he was crowned World Snooker Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year, the Antrim ace also celebrated UK Championship and World Grand Prix success as he rose up the rankings.

Mark Allen goes in search of a third successive Northern Ireland Open title as local teenage duo Robbie McGuigan and Joel Connolly have been awarded places at the ranking event. PIC: Will Matthews/PAMark Allen goes in search of a third successive Northern Ireland Open title as local teenage duo Robbie McGuigan and Joel Connolly have been awarded places at the ranking event. PIC: Will Matthews/PA
Mark Allen goes in search of a third successive Northern Ireland Open title as local teenage duo Robbie McGuigan and Joel Connolly have been awarded places at the ranking event. PIC: Will Matthews/PA

With the Northern Ireland Open set to get underway on October 22, Allen will start against 18-year-old Mertens, who is nicknamed ‘The Boy Wonder’, and recorded a career-best tournament finish by reaching the Welsh Open last-16 in February before losing to Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Seven-time world champion O’Sullivan has finished runner-up at the Northern Ireland Open on three occasions and kicks off his bid for a maiden tournament success in a first round encounter with Ahmed Aly Elsayed.

Judd Trump, who won a hat-trick of titles between 2018-2020 by beating O’Sullivan in each decider, takes on Jenson Kendrick and 2017 champion Mark Williams faces Tian Pengfei.

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Northern Irish pair Robbie McGuigan and Joel Connolly have been handed wildcards and will start against Muhammad Asif and David Gilbert respectively.

Reigning world champion Luca Brecel, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Ali Carter are all set to skip the Northern Ireland Open to play in an exhibition event in Macau.

All matches involving top-16 seeds and wildcards: Mark Allen v Ben Mertens, Ricky Walden v Ben Woollaston, Jack Lisowski v Rebecca Kenna, Robert Milkins v Cao Yupeng, Shaun Murphy v Ryan Thomerson, Ryan Day v Ma Hailong, Gary Wilson v Louis Heathcote, Neil Robertson v Wu Yize, Judd Trump v Jenson Kendrick, Anthony McGill v Jimmy White, Robbie McGuigan v Muhammad Asif, Hossein Vafaei v Mark Joyce, Kyren Wilson v Sam Craigie, Mark Williams v Tian Pengfei, Barry Hawkins v Elliot Slessor, David Gilbert v Joel Connolly, Tom Ford v Haydon Pinhey, Ronnie O’Sullivan v Ahmed Aly Elsayed.

Related topics:Mark Williams