Comeback king Mark Allen claimed the largest title of his profession after reeling off seven frames in a row to sink Ding Junhui 10-7 and win the UK Championship on the Barbican Centre in York.
Allen appeared down and out after falling 6-1 behind in opposition to the resurgent Chinese star however stormed again to pocket the £250,000 winner’s cheque and develop into the primary Northern Irishman to win the distinguished crown since Alex Higgins in 1983.
It accomplished a outstanding match for the 36-year-old who had additionally fought from not less than two frames down in every of his earlier matches within the match, together with successful the final three to beat Jack Lisowski 6-5 of their semi-final.
“I don’t really know how I’ve done it – I didn’t play very well most of the week and I struggled from the start and Ding punished me heavily, and I just scraped the last frame (of the session),” stated Allen.
“I don’t know what happened tonight. The first frame was as good a break as I’d made all day and all of a sudden I felt so good.
“I was struggling but I was trying to stay as positive as possible in my seat, which is something I’ve been working really hard on. I just kept saying myself can I win the next frame, and my answer was always yes.”
Ding had appeared odds-on for a fourth UK title of his profession after firing three centuries in a glittering afternoon session as he appeared to develop into the primary qualifier to win since he claimed his maiden title in 2005.
Ding, who handed Ronnie O’Sullivan his first main whitewash earlier within the match, was in irresistible kind with breaks of 126 and 135 both facet of the mid-session interval then a knock of 102 to transfer 5 frames in entrance.
Allen gave himself a flicker of hope when he capitalised on a missed pink by Ding within the last body of the afternoon session to compile a frame-winning 79 – and after Ding broke down on a break of 33 within the subsequent the momentum swung within the path of the Antrim man.
Ding didn’t pot one other ball for an hour as Allen stormed again with a break of 63 to cut back the deficit to 6-3, earlier than back-to-back knocks of 93 and 132 took him again inside one body of his opponent.
Allen, whose earlier profession excessive level was successful the 2018 Masters, took management of the subsequent with a break of 56 and regardless of a battling comeback from Ding, a missed inexperienced ultimately let the Northern Irishman pull stage at 6-6 on the mid-session interval.
Allen went forward for the primary time within the match after a break of 59 set him up to clinch a gruelling thirteenth body, and was cruel once more within the subsequent when he fired his second century, a 109, to transfer two frames from finishing a outstanding turnaround.
Ding punched the desk in frustration after working out of place within the subsequent however proceeded to spectacularly cease the rot with a break of 105, his fourth century of the match, to cut back the deficit to 8-7.
A nerveless pink to the center arrange a break of 42 from which Allen was in a position to construct to inside one body of victory, and he held his nerve in a seventeenth that stretched to nearly an hour, clenching his fists after sinking the match-winning pink.
“To follow in Alex’s footsteps is obviously a great achievement,” added Allen. “But I’m trying to create my own legacy in this game and I’m a long way from that yet.”
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