Mark Allen defeats Ronnie O'Sullivan - Relive the frame-by-frame

Anyway, that, I guess, is us. Thanks for your company, and see you soon!

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He's still not feeling well, says he was on about 60%, and it's no fun being out there when you don't feel physically good.

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Ronnie, meanwhile, says Allen deserved to win. He didn't make it difficult for him and will now enjoy the rest of the tournament. He's asked if Allen can go on and win from here, but says he doesn't care. He's pleased that the match is over as he didn't enjoy it.

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He then complains that the crowd were cheering for Ronnie while he was on his backswing, and "Eddie in the audience" said "keep running" while he evaluated a shot. So when he potted the red he looked right at him, and says that kind of thing pumps him up. He goes on to say that he's here to win and chuffed when Steve Davis says his control of the white was good because it didn't feel that way. He knows Ronnie missed a few but thinks it's because he put him under pressure.

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"Not the way I wanted to win, bit twitchy at the end, but any win's a big win over Ronnie," says Allen, who adds that he's more aggressive against O'Sullivan because you get so few chances against him.

But O'Sullivan comes to the table and absolutely knocks seven shades out of a red, rattles the jaws of the green pocket, and watches it drop between middle pocket and white! Allen doesn't need to be asked a third time, and when Allen clears to blue, O'Sullivan is out of his seat as the pink drops! From 1-0 down, Allen has reeled off six frames in a row - WHAT A PERFORMANCE THAT IS!

WHAT! A gentle cut into the middle ... and Allen misses the red!

But wait! Potting a red, Allen decides to disturb two stuck together, not an unwise move, but it doesn't work and he has to play safe! But he does it nicely and O'Sullivan fouls! Free ball Allen ... he eases home a long brown ... and the balls could not now be better placed. Allen is going to win!

O'Sullivan plays a loose safety! Allen takes care of the nearest red! What a chance this is! The balls aren't inviting, but there aren't many of the left and there's nothing on the cushion. This will be over in about three minutes, I reckon.

Bridging awkwardly, O'Sullivan misses a red, but then Allen misses a black after potting a red! O'Sullivan comes back to the table knowing that one more miss and it could be curtains; he goes into what's left of the pack and it doesn't work out well, but then hammers home a green. But when you're chasing position eventually something goes wrong, and he cues across the next red! Allen is back at the table and though there's only one loose red remaining after the first one that he sinks, he only needs one loose red to get going. And what a positional shot he plays to address is, coming up the table off the green. But the next red takes him out of position, and he ends up playing safe.

Beautiful red from Ronnie into the top right, but delicate bits are in mouths when the white slides across the table and kisses the black, loitering over the top left. Somehow, it stays out, and the crowd experience excitement.

Great break-off from O'Sullivan, sticking Allen in behind the green and forcing him to roll into the reds, which he does nicely.

This is brilliant from Allen, who's rapping home balls without using the jaws, and when he pots frame-ball then sticks O'Sullivan in behind the green, he concedes. He's now five up with six to play!

Ronnie escapes the snooker but leaves a couple of reds to the top right - Allen takes one with the rest and is set once more.

Mistake from Allen - my telly dropped out so I didn't see what - forces him to play safe, and Ronnie peels off his Wee Willy Winky hat and clambers back to the table. He sticks the white close to baulk, but Allen has a shy at a red as a shot to nothing, sinks it, and tucks in behind the green.

O'Sullivan looks tired - he's been yawning, reckons Steve Davis. And a loose break from him sees Allen in right away - Ronnie immediately sets up a sleeping bag and drinks a camomile tea - while from close to the yellow pocket, Allen rolls in the yellow, then bashes in more balls.

That black O'Sullivan missed was a tricky-arse shot - his error was not playing the plant properly. But it doesn't matter now - Allen is barreling around the table not looking at all like missing. 81 gets rid of the lot, and this is brilliant from Mark Allen!

Ronnie misses the black and leaves a red into the green pocket. Allen simply has to be sensible now, and in five or so minutes he'll be two away!

Allen makes hard work of this, but he gets to 20 and looks set. Except then he misses, and leaves Ronnie a plant! He takes is into the top left but forgets about the white and ends up worming on the table to check whether he can get to the black.

Loose safety from Allen allows O'Sullivan in and he rolls in a red dead weight then smacks in the black and crushes the bunch. Another red goes down sharpish and that's prime position ... but after the next black he misses a sitter!

The next frame is huge. Ahahahahahaha.

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Right then, back we are...

On 61, Allen has to guide a red parallel to the cushion and then into the top right - he does it really well, and this is going to be another in the lobster pot for Mark Allen, so it is He misses on 85, and that's the mid-session. I'm going to buy some sweets, and will see youse in 20. The next session is going to be something.

Earlier on today I heard an interview with Allen in which he said he didn't really believe that Ronnie was ill, and he was just saying it to take the pressure off himself. Right or not, that's the kind of attitude that'll help him to win - he knows if Ronnie plays well he's doomed, but he doesn't buy into anything beyond that. Anyway, O'Sullivan plays a poor safety, Allen is in with a red, using the chwhite to knock a different red off the black spot. There follows the black, then another two red-blacks, and suddenly he's looking at a 3-1 interval lead after losing the first frame.

As they rack em up afresh we learn that standard is really high and the next frame is really important. That's why I pay my licence fee. Anyhow, frame 4 begins with a safety exchange, but then O'Sullivan, playing off the cluster, flicks one which he leaves. Allen drains it, but a kiss off the red means end of break and a safety off the brown.

And there is is, 115. Allen is buzzing, and he draws deeply on his glass of water by way of celebration.

A poor positional shot from Allen works out well - he's lucky to find himself behind a plant, which he drains, and now it's just about the century.

Allen is a shot away, basically. He gently splits the pack ... and he's on a red. This should be that.

I should probably note that Allen is wearing a black shirt with a thin black tie which it looks like he's literally just tied in a knot around his neck; there's something very gothic about his get-up, and the colours on the table basically constitute his daily dose of fresh air. Talking of which, I remember watching a VT on him once and when asked for his favourite holiday destination he said he didn't have one - he doesn't like going away, he prefer to just sit at home.

Allen tries a four-ball plant as a sort of shot to nothing and misses. O'Sullivan then sends home a red but not into the heart of the pocket, and consequently misses the black. He's left a starter, and Allen gobbles it up then starts on his merry way around the table.

Allen finds a red to pot, plays safe, and Ronnie's seen enough.

And there it is. 115 for Allen, who looks focused as you like now, drawing deeply on his water.

Are you kidding me! Allen absolutely shmices a black - it's frame ball - and misses! He didn't think it was possible, but it was! But O'Sullivan can't capitalise, missing a red along the top cushion, so we're back to exchanging safety. O'Sullivan needs five reds with four blacks and a pink, plus colours, to steal.

This is much better from Allen, who very quickly has pink and black in commission. This is a potential framewinner now, and he's picking off loose reds with neither alarms nor surprises. As Ken Doherty has just said, this all came from an excellent escape, but more than that, it's illustrative of the fact that sometimes, being in a snooker can give you the opportunity to play the kind of shot you'd never think to play or be able to play otherwise.

We begin with a safety exchange, and just when Allen looks to be in the ascendancy, O'Sullivan hauls him tight on the baulk cushion and cuts off the whole of the left side of the table. Allen, though, escapes well, and O'Sullivan clips black on his way back up the table ... he's been lucky though, having left very little ... but Allen finds a red which goes, and what can he do with this?

Off we go with frame 2.

I know I said Mark Allen wouldn't be scared - and I'm sure he isn't - but this has been a nervous start, that first jazzer of a pot aside. He had two decent chances there and didn't get near capitalising on either, and as O'Sullivan trots around the table he looks like you think you look when you point in the mirror after a couple of pre-match warmers, but in fact have never ever looked in your life. In particular, the way he addresses a red, trapped on the top cushion, from above it, is wondrous, and he easily eliminates all the balls to go one ahead.

Oh dear. Allen has a good chance to rack some points, but in potting the black he doesn't get his cannon right, and O'Sullivan is surely going to dust this frame now.

O'Sullivan finds himself in a slightly awkward position, so, well, um, er, he simply rolls the next red in left-handed. I wonder as to the extent of his ambidexterity. But then he gets to 35, finds himself touching ball, and for the second match in a row, calls a foul against himself when he feathers the offending red with his cue!

O'Sullivan wins the toss and breaks, but right away he leaves a red into the top right which Allen eases home, cueing beautifully. That was so steady, and now he's on the black having already potted more balls that Fu did in the first three frames on Tuesday. But then he takes on a tricky red to the middle - it's a fair enough call because he's left himself on the black ... except he's also missed the pot and now the Rocket approaches with things looking very pleasant for him indeed. He quickly pots a red and a black, and we've seen this one before...

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Right then, here we go!

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Also of this parish.

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In Allen, though, he'll find a man up for a fight. He has plenty of tickets on his own ability, and certainly won't shrink. If he can't "his hand on the table", then nothing he can do, but if he can, he'll look to put it on him. I'm looking forward to this one.

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But, of course, sport isn't like that, and it's not at all easy to keep turning up. O'Sullivan, though, looks in a good place. He said after he beat Fu that no one's going to remember him differently if he wins seven Masters or eight - what they'll remember is the style in which he plays. That's true, but who doesn't like winning?

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To get to this point, Allen beat Luca Brecel 6-3, while O'Sullivan devastated Marco Fu 6-0. If he plays like that again, Allen - or anyone else for that matter - may as well call it an afternoon and spend their time doing something less boring instead - watching reruns of Why Don't You?, say.

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Afternoon all, and welcome to this Masters quarter-final between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Allen!