ANTRIM’S Mark Allen will be joined in the final stages of the International Championship in Nanjing, China next month by Aaron Hill of Cork.
Both men enjoyed comfortable wins during qualifying in Sheffield this week, with Allen beating Pakistan’s Farakh Ajaib 6-3 on Wednesday and Hill accounting for England’s Liam Pullen 6-2 on Tuesday evening.
Allen had back-to-back centuries (127 and 123) to move from 2-2 to 4-2 and after his opponent won frame seven, he wrapped up victory with runs of 85 and 60.
World number 62 Hill was also level at 2-2 a the mid-session interval but won four frames in a row, wrapping up the win with his highest break of the match, 83.
Jordan Brown, Robbie McGuigan and Ken Doherty all missed out on qualification. Brown lost 6-4 to China’s Gong Chenzhi, while McGuigan and Doherty were beaten 6-1 by Joe O’Connor and John Higgins respectively.
The WST tour moves to China this weekend for the Wuhan Open.
On Sunday, Allen plays Jamie Clarke of Wales, Brown takes on Chinese wildcard Jinhao Zhou and McGuigan faces Ding Junhui, while Hill is in action on Monday morning against the winner of Sunday’s match between world champion Kyren Wilson and Welsh teenager Liam Davies.
