MARK Allen will face John Higgins in the last 16 of the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood on Thursday after a 4-2 win over China’s Lyu Haotian.
The world number three from Antrim produced some heavy scoring against the world number 32 and bounced back well after losing frame three from 49 points ahead with three reds and colours remaining.
He had opened with a 71 break and despite losing the second, looked like regaining the lead with a break of 56. However, a loose safety off the last red allowed Lyu in for a 35 clearance to steal the frame by a point.
However, Lyu failed to trouble the scorers in the next two frames as runs of 33, 52 and 75 put Allen back in front and within one of victory, and he ended the contest how he started, with a break of 71, to get over the line.
Last 16
Judd Trump (Eng) v Fan Zhengyi (Chi)
Wu Yize (Chi) v Ben Woollaston (Eng)
Mark Selby (Eng) v Si Jiahui (Chi)
Ishpreet Singh Chadha (Ind) v He Guoquiang (Chi)
Mark Allen (NI) v John Higgins (Sco)
Chris Wakelin (Eng) v Pang Junxu (Chi)
Shaun Murphy/Neil Robertson v Ross Muir (Sco)
Xu Si/Barry Hawkins v Kyren Wilson (Eng)
