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Ssb - allen's near miss
ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
That's not a direct quote from Mark Allen but it probably sums up how he's feeling after he failed to make a 147 break at the Crucible this morning.
It was a great effort, consitsing of some brave pots, but Allen was left with a cut-back yellow which meant he had to take the cue ball around the table.
Alas, he ended up snookered behind the green but still came close to potting it off the baulk cushion.
Allen still ended up 8-1 ahead despite a fraught build up. The volcanic ash scare that has grounded flights to and from the UK meant he had to get a ferry over and he arrived in Sheffield at 11.30pm last night.
You wouldn't have known. He played very well and turned Ford's Crucible debut into a nightmare.
It could easily have been 2-2 at the interval but Allen, a semi-finalist last year, cleared with 59 to pinch the first on the black and doubled the re-spot to clinch the fourth.
Ford's only frame came courtesy of a run of 107 to prevent him becoming only the second player in Crucible history - after Eddie Charlton in 1992 - to be whitewashed, but this could prove to be his only consolation.
On the other table, defending champion John Higgins looked out of sorts but still only trails 5-4 to Barry Hawkins, who may reflect later that he could have put the new world no.1 away in the opening session.
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That's not a direct quote from Mark Allen but it probably sums up how he's feeling after he failed to make a 147 break at the Crucible this morning.
It was a great effort, consitsing of some brave pots, but Allen was left with a cut-back yellow which meant he had to take the cue ball around the table.
Alas, he ended up snookered behind the green but still came close to potting it off the baulk cushion.
Allen still ended up 8-1 ahead despite a fraught build up. The volcanic ash scare that has grounded flights to and from the UK meant he had to get a ferry over and he arrived in Sheffield at 11.30pm last night.
You wouldn't have known. He played very well and turned Ford's Crucible debut into a nightmare.
It could easily have been 2-2 at the interval but Allen, a semi-finalist last year, cleared with 59 to pinch the first on the black and doubled the re-spot to clinch the fourth.
Ford's only frame came courtesy of a run of 107 to prevent him becoming only the second player in Crucible history - after Eddie Charlton in 1992 - to be whitewashed, but this could prove to be his only consolation.
On the other table, defending champion John Higgins looked out of sorts but still only trails 5-4 to Barry Hawkins, who may reflect later that he could have put the new world no.1 away in the opening session.
More...
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