October 24th 2023.
Mark Allen had won the last two editions of the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast, making his 15th straight victory in the tournament when he won his first round match this year. However, his winning streak came to an abrupt end when he was stunned by Estonia's Andres Petrov 4-3 in the second round late on Monday night.
The match was devoid of quality, with only one half-century break throughout the entire match, Petrov's break of 50 in the second frame. At the death, Allen had the chance to avoid the upset, but he rattled the final blue in the jaws, allowing Petrov to pot the last three balls and pick up the biggest win of his career.
The loss continued a difficult start to the season for Allen, who has managed just one quarter-final at the Wuhan Open among a string of surprisingly early exits. He tweeted after the defeat: “Not to be tonight. Gave it absolutely everything but came up just short. Thanks to everyone for their support as always here in Belfast. It doesn’t go unnoticed and you deserved better. Back to the practice table for me. Thanks also to 32red and Omin Cues for the support.”
Meanwhile, Petrov was flying the flag for Estonia on the World Snooker Tour with the second win of his season. He expressed his disbelief after the match, posting: “I. Cannot. Believe. It.” He went on to tell WST: “It’s the best win of my career, by far. I was really lucky in the end. When I was over the last black, I was thinking ‘this is for my daughter and I will pot it.’ I hope my wife back in Estonia was sleeping and not watching because she has to wake up soon. I am so happy to get through, I can’t describe what it means to me. I know I was playing the local favourite here, but I also knew there was a group of people in Estonia watching me and cheering me on, and that helped.”
Elsewhere, Neil Robertson continued his poor run of form with a second round loss to Jordan Brown. The former world champion has not been past the second round of any ranking event so far this campaign and fell early again, beaten 4-1 by the man from Antrim. Brown said afterwards: “Beating an all-time great in Neil in front of my home crowd – it doesn’t get better than that. I absolutely loved it out there, it was an amazing feeling. It’s right up there with my best wins, even if Neil has not been in his best form. I just concentrated on myself and I felt I was in control for most of the match.”
Shaun Murphy pulled off a 4-3 win over Marco Fu, while Murphy's protege, 17-year-old Stan Moody, continued to impress with a 4-1 win over veteran Rod Lawler to book a last 32 meeting with Gary Wilson. The Yorkshire teenager told WST post-match: “I have more confidence and belief now that I have won a couple of matches, especially beating a player as good as Zhou to qualify. I know I can do it now. I will just keep playing my game and I know if I do that I can beat anyone.”
Sean O'Sullivan also pulled off an impressive victory, knocking in breaks of 124, 56 and 68 in the final three frames to battle back from the brink and beat Zak Surety 4-3 shortly before midnight on Monday.
The action continues from 10am Tuesday in Belfast, with Petrov facing 18-year-old Xing Zihao from China in the last 32, and Brown taking on Jamie Clarke or Yuan Sijun.
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