Never has there been so much hype over a player’s battle to secure automatic qualification to the World Championship – and still Mark Allen’s fate is not quite decided.
There are only 16 days until it all kicks off at The Crucible and we still don’t know whether The Masters champion will be in attendance.
His defeat to Mark Williams in the last 16 of the China Open today means that he’ll have to hope that neither Tom Ford nor Jack Lisowski turn their runs to the last eight in Beijing into silverware or he’ll be forced to turn up at next week’s nerve-jangling qualifiers.
After recovering from 3-0 down to Williams to force a decider, he missed a relatively simple match ball as his fight to earn a place in Sheffield took another dramatic twist.
Whether it was a simple misjudgement, a small twitch or even the heat of the pressure taking its toll, this mistake was very uncharacteristic of the Northern Irishman who is usually so reliable when it comes to closing out matches. But even for a player with bundles of bottle, you’re never immune from missing key balls.
Allen will be kicking himself as flies back home to the UK and there’s no doubt he’ll be glued to the action as he waits to find out whether his twelfth consecutive Crucible appearance is assured.
The power is now in Lisowski and Ford’s hands who as well as gunning for a seeded place in Sheffield will be targeting a first ever ranking event win.
Jack has looked in impressive form all week. His highlight saw him match John Higgins in every department to secure a 6-2 win. It’s been more a case of getting the job done for Tom who after beating Ronnie O’Sullivan’s conqueror Elliot Slessor, put an end to Luo Honghao’s fairytale run in the last 16.
The win sends the Welshman through to his ninth ranking quarter final of the season, and leaves Mark Allen in jeopardy of losing his Crucible spot #ChinaOpen
