Mark Allen beats Ryan Day 6-5 in another UK snooker Championship decider
Mark Allen has had an up and down season so far. His most notable disappointment this season came when he lost at the Northern Ireland Open, where he was hoping to do well in front of his home crowd. In the same event, Allen was caught up in controversy from the very first match against Mark Joyce.
His opponent today was Ryan Day, who is also prone to inconsistent snooker and perhaps one of the best players to underachieve in the game.
In their last 32 encounter this evening, Ryan Day looked to be running away with the match as he built up at 4-0 lead going into the mid session interval.
After the interval, Mark Allen sprung into action as he took the next 5 frames in a row to go ahead at 5-4. Ryan Day managed to take then next to force the deciding frame. Day was missing easy balls and struggled to find the form he had at the start of the match.
In the final frame, both players started off with chances to score, but both failing to capitalize on their chances. Then as the balls went scrappy, it was Ryan Day who first got the best chance to score but broke down early on.
Mark Allen played a great snooker which Day struggled to escape from. When Day finally escaped, he left the 2 remaining reds on and Allen make a break which was good enough to seal a place in the last 16 of the UK championship.
In the post match interview Mark Allen said;
“I was very fortunate to win that match.
“Im proud of myself because i stayed patient. I played some really good safety in the final frame.
“I’m disappointed the way i fell over the line, but happy to be through to the next round”.
Ryan Day will be bitterly disappointed to have lost to Mark Allen, especially after leading the match 4-0 and having multiple chances in the final frame decider.
Allen is now set to play John Higgins in the last 16
