Mark Allen cruises past Mark King in quarter-final of 2012 World Open
Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen sparked his cue stick brilliantly in the quarter-final clash against the Englishman, Mark King and defeated him by the score line of 5-1 to hit the semi-final spot.
The conditions at the Haikou Stadium arena in the Hainan Island were very tough, according to the 2011 UK Championship finalist. It was warm and humid inside the arena which made the potting quite difficult but the Antrim potter adapted brilliantly and played
impressively to clinch the match.
In these particular days, the weather forecast in Hainan is not ideal for snooker because it makes the conditions humid inside the arena which disturbs the surface of the table. Once the surface of the baize becomes moist, it makes potting quite tough until
the table is heated to evaporate the moist.
However, despite the trouble in playing, the Pistol played up to his mark and pocketed some stunning knocks of 103, 100 and 71 to unnerve his opponent completely. Allen will next face the World Number one, Mark Selby in the semi-final stage.
While his post match interview with the World Snooker, Allen said, “I can't really take too much pleasure out of that victory. I played ok but I think the conditions out there beat Mark King. Conditions were very, very tough for both of us but I adapted
better than him and hopefully the conditions will be better in the next round.”
The 26-year-old added, “I'm happy with way I'm playing, I'm scoring quite well and if I keep playing the way I am, I'm confident that I can win. It will be a tough game against Mark Selby but I'm confident in my own game and if I play well I expect to win
regardless of who I play.”
King grabbed early lead after winning the first scrappy frame but after that Allen did not allow him come at the table and win another frame. The Northern Irishman cleared the table outstandingly in the next five frames and snatched the victory off King’s
hands.
Allen will now be looking forward to play at his best in his semi-final encounter against Selby because he knows that Selby is one of the strongest potters to play against.
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