Allen eyes Murphy upset
Rising star Mark Allen set up a mouth-watering clash with world champion Shaun Murphy by beating Joe Grech 5-1 in the Malta Cup at the Portomaso Hilton today.
Allen, the reigning world amateur champion, was required to play an extra match against a local wildcard as one of two lowest ranked qualifiers.
But the 19-year-old from County Antrim cruised through with a highest break of 104 after not encountering much resistance from Grech, whose best effort was just 45.
“I went into the match expecting to win but I’m disappointed with how my concentration drifted,” Allen said.
“I played well early on in nearly every frame but was giving away too many silly chances after that. I know I can’t afford to do that against the top players.”
Allen joined the circuit at the start of the season and has already done enough to keep his place for another year after qualifying for the final stages of three of the first five ranking events, with the final qualifying round of the 888.com World Championship still to come.
It means he can relax a little against Murphy, although Allen goes into the match fully intent on pulling off an upset.
“Shaun likes to go for his shots and he can’t keep potting them so I know I’ll get chances. There won’t be many, though, so I’ll have to make the most of what comes my way,” he said.
“I’ve exceeded my expectations with what I’ve done this season, having already secured my tour place. I’ve now set myself a new goal to finish inside the top 48 in the rankings because that means I’ll have to play one less qualifying match in next season’s tournaments.”
In the other wildcard round match, Finnish number one Robin Hull highlighted his 5-2 victory over Simon Zammit with a break of 126.
Alan McManus became the first player to reach the last 16 when he defeated Tiptree’s Ali Carter 5-2.
McManus reached the semi-finals of the Saga Insurance Masters, an invitation event, earlier this month but lost his opening match in the season’s first two ranking tournaments.
“It was as tough a match as you can get in this stage of the tournament because Ali is such a good player and so I was just happy to get over the line,” McManus said.
“It was edgy out there and after playing at the Wembley Conference Centre it felt like we were in a shoebox.”
