Tour Championship 2023 snooker LIVE - Mark Allen takes on Ding Junhui in quarter-final clash

ByDaniel Harris

Updated 27/03/2023 at 20:39 GMT

Welcome to Eurosport's live coverage of the Tour Championship with Mark Allen taking on Ding Junhui in the first quarter-final encounter at the Bonus Arena in Hull for the prestigious event. Ronnie O'Sullivan is not in the top eight and is therefore not present, so too Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Barry Hawkins, Stuart Bingham and John Higgins, as well as defending champion Neil Robertson.

'The ultimate goal' - Allen targets world title to 'top off last 12 months'

On which point

You can join me at 12.30pm BST tomorrow, to follow that match. But until then, night-night.

Ding Junhui beats Mark Allen 10-5!

Tour Championship

Murphy warns he can be a 'handful for anyone' at World Championship

03/04/2023 at 07:49

No ton - he runs out of position and messes the balls - but a fine win, and Ding plays either Ali Carter or Kyren Wilson next - they meet tomorrow.

Allen 4-9 Ding (0-78)

Yup, this o-v-e-r, OVER. Ding has played really well today - though Mark has been poor - and can he finish with another ton?

Allen 4-9 Ding (0-45)

Oh, Mark. A foul, a free ball, and Ding is away! He'll be feeling it a bit because this is another chance, and there's a potential 150 on the table here. But that's soon off the table; no matter, the white steams into the reds off the blue, and this looks a lot like curtains.

Allen 4-9 Ding

The run of the balls has favoured Ding recently, but Mark got a nice once there - he'll hope it's the start of something.

Allen 4-9 Ding (54-19)

Mark plants the close-together reds, and this'll be the frame.

Allen 4-9 Ding (44-19)

Nice from Ding, who coaxes down the easy balls, then an unwitting cannon means he's to play safe. He'll be annoyed, but will probably expect another chance this frame ... except Mark then flukes a red, off another into right corner. Of the other three, two are close together, so a minor problem, but this is a chance.

Allen 4-9 Ding (43-0)

"Good shot" says Mark after he finds himself on a pink in such a way that getting onto the next red is a problem. But he hammers down both, and perhaps he's trying to build a head of steam ... or perhaps he's missed a blue to left-middle with balls everywhere! Can Ding bring it home from here?!

Allen 4-9 Ding (29-0)

Both men are under pressure here: Ding knows to lose would be awful, and Mark knows any mistake could be his last. But he, that being Mark, gets in first, battles to 21, and has fashioned himself a bit of a chance.

Allen 4-9 Ding

Ooh yeah! Ding floats a lovely oblique red long into the yeller pocket before missing the blue, and he's played really well - though Mark isn't punishing him when he errs. He's one away!

Allen 4-8 Ding (1-58)

This is classic Ding, so unhurried and precise in the balls. If he loses this, he definitely has to qualify for the Worlds - as he did when reaching the final - but that doesn't look likely, though he has just missed a black hit hard in order to go aroujnd the angles. But Mark then misses a simple starter! This is only going one way.

Allen 4-8 Ding (1-29)

If Ding can take this one, he'll be very close to home, and he sets about building a lead.

Allen 4-8 Ding (1-6)

Mark's break in the previous frame was vintage him, and I hope it reminds him his best self tries a bit more of that. Real talk, he'll struggle to win from here if he plays an open game because it means leaving occasional chances and he doesn't have that leeway, but playing tight hasn't worked, so. Anyhow, a bout of safety starts us here because a red gets stuck in baulk, but then Ding misses, Mark pots and misses - a blue, by miles - and Ding sees himself away.

We go again!

Allen 4-8 Ding

Mark had to win that one and did. He's still in this, just, as the players go to the mid-sesh.

Allen 3-8 Ding (63-4)

Mark quickly turns this into a frame-winning opportunity and both players know he's capable of going on a run. Ding, meanwhile, just needs to remind himself he was never walking out with a 10-3, so a frame away is only to be expected.

Allen 3-8 Ding (20-4)

Mark's been so flat today, and Stephen reminds us of the easy red he missed leading 2-0; he's lost eight of the nine frames since. But this one has ground to a halt, a protracted safety exchange in which Mark probably has the upper hand. and as I type that, an attempted container leaves him a starter to left-middle, which he sinks nicely. Can he make something of the opportunity?

Allen 3-8 Ding (16-0)

Mark sinks a starter but eschews the opportunity, presented by Stephen as a fait accompli, to break the pack off the first black. He does have a dig following the second, but gets too deep into the white and lands on nowt. It's not going for him, at all.

Allen 3-8 Ding

Not a steal, because Ding was in control for a while, but like a steal, because Mark was in position to take the frame, close to the end. It's a long way back from here, and little that suggests he'll play well enough to travel it.

Allen 3-7 Ding (56-63)

A poor yellow means a difficult green, and Mark overcuts it to left-middle, just. It did everything but drop, then Ding finds a delicate long tickle to coax it into left corner, and this is surely a sixth straight frame!

Allen 3-7 Ding (37-60)

There's a red on the side ... was a red on the side, Mark develops it as a I type .. but doesn't enjoy the outcome. And it gets worse! Draining a starter to left corner, he sends the white to left-middle! He's having an absolute mare here, and Ding's a few good pots away from 8-3! Except he misses, very poorly indeed - that's three absolute hacks on the spin, and you wonder if he's feeling the pressure of being in front. Can Mark punish him?

Allen 3-7 Ding (24-56)

In co-comms, Stephen notes that cue-power has always been Ding's weakness; at the table, Mark tries to reduce his arrears.

Allen 3-7 Ding (8-56)

Mark responds with a loose safety, returning to his seat to warm his hands around a mug of hot water. But he gets away with it, Ding butchering as second shot in a row to miss the pot; Mark then sends down a starter, just. Can he launch a counter?

Allen 3-7 Ding (0-56)

You do. He gets high on the black to ram the pack, but lashes at it, missing the reds entirely. So he has to find a safety, but does so with a nice lead.

Allen 3-7 Ding (0-48)

A careless positional shot necessitates a red forced along the top rail, but he sinks it well and now has six red-blacks. I don't think this is 147 territory - there are too many reds still clustered - but you never know.

Allen 3-7 Ding (0-24)

Ding's won five straight now, and though the focus will be on Mark losing that frame, his clearance was so confidently smooth. And he's in again in frame 11, a difficult cut-back first black made to look easy. He's playing beautifully now, and can amass a nice lead before having to go into the cluster again. Or, in other words, the table is set for one of the greatest break-builders in history. That's three red-blacks.

Allen 3-7 Ding

A careless brown means a tricky blue and pink, but Ding strokes down both, adds the black, and that is a serious steal. Mark has shown us he knows how to come from behind, but this looks beyond him, given how both men are playing

Allen 3-6 Ding (74-59)

This was already the longest frame of the match and now it's the most important - if Mark loses it, it'll be a long way back. And he has first go at winning it, missing to the green pocket - and remember, the red is frame-ball for him - then Ding dings home a beauty to right corner! If he can hold his nerve, he's going 7-3, when all Mark had to do was let him miss his escape twice more. Ding, though, has to drain the yellow without ruining the pink that's it touching ... and he plays it beautifully! The frame is at his mercy!

Allen 3-6 Ding (74-46)

Ding goes again, leaving a free ball again, and though he only needs to miss twice more to leave himself needing snookers, Mark takes the black as a free ball, off its spot ... and overucts it dreadfully! He should've put him back in! So Ding develops the final red, and with the balls all in play, whoever sees it off will expect to win the frame.

Allen 3-6 Ding (70-46)

A tame end to a protracted exchange, a foul from Ding while attempting a thin contact leaving him a starter. The two reds previously on the top rail have decamped to the side, though, so there's work to do to turn this situation into a chance.He does, though, sink one via thin cut to right-mid, before laying a snooker the sees the red covered on one side by the yellow and blocked on the other by green and blue; had he played it harder, though, he'd have developed it and still left Ding without a direct route to it. No matter: Ding slips past by a way and hangs his head because he knows he's leaving a free ball. Mark, though, asks him to play again, he miscues ... then goes in-off.

Allen 3-6 Ding (37-46)

Yup, Ding nudges in front then, with just the three railed reds and one other left, plays a dreadful positional shot that means the pink is blocking his route to his desired next ball, so has no option but to play a containing safety.

Allen 3-6 Ding (37-23)

BUT HAVE A LOOK! Mark leaves a black, taken off its spot, on the lip of left corner, and if Ding can punish, that'll sting him hard. There are three reds on the top rail and he'll need them, but he might not get there because rather than leave the big dog where it was as insurance, he drains it then finds himself struggling. No matter: a terrific recovery to right-middle keeps him going, and he should at least nudge into the lead at this visit.

Allen 3-6 Ding (36-0)

A tactical start to frame 10, then a poor safety shot from Ding allows Mark a chance. He finds himself faced with a tricky cut-back black, having decelerated through one in the final frame of the afternoon sesh, but this time he takes it well and moves on.

Allen 3-6 Ding

It's four frames in a row for Ding now, and though we should never underestimate Mark's powers of recovery, a fifth would make it very tough to see him losing.

Allen 3-6 Ding

Nope, a red comes away from the cushion as Ding tries sending it to right corner, so he's to settle for 91 and a three-frame lead. He'd've took it.

Allen 3-5 Ding (0-76)

Yup, Ding makes the frame safe, so is now hunting the ton that'll take him above Shaun Murphy on the all-time list, alone in eighth place.

Allen 3-5 Ding (0-47)

Ding looks to have run out of position, but he finds a terrific red, sneaked past the blue, to the yellow pocket. He then opens the reds ... only to have nothing but a yellow to right-middle on, and the world available should he take it on and miss. But he's feeling himself here, so he wastes not time sending it down, and this looks a lot like a frame-winning opportunity now.

Allen 3-5 Ding (0-16)

Mark eschews a starter off the break - the object ball was the only one he could've left - and in comms, Stephen, who revolutionised the game with his attacking style, isn't happy. He does, though, recognise the success Mark's had playing what he calls "no-risk snooker". And it does him no good, Ding sending a fine starter across the table to left corner; if he can cash-in here, he'll be in great shape to get the job done.

Away we go!

Ding

Is a lovely player, who's hitting a decent current level. This is a big match for him not just because of the prize at stake but because he's still got a chance of being seeded for the worlds, and he's scoring well while refusing to become embroiled in protracted safety exchanges, looking to open the balls wherever possible.

Mark

It's a funny thing to say approaching the end of the most successful season of his career, but his game isn't quite balanced. In his bid to become a better-rounded player - and, you've got to think, a world champion - he's playing too safely, neglecting the eye and cue-power that made him brilliant to begin with. It's worked, but he seems to have moved a little too far towards cautious in the last few months, and if he's to beat one of the big hitters over the stretch at the Cruce, he's not going to do it without going for it.

Hello again!

We're nicely poised at Allen 3-5 Ding; Ding is playing the better and looking the more assured, but Mark is ore than capable of reeling off a run of frames, whether laying tight or loose. This should be good.

That completes our afternoon's fun

Join me again at 6.45pm BST for the staggering denouement.

Allen 3-5 Ding

Yup, Ding finishes a really enjoyable session (of snooker) to take a two-frame lead into tonight's second session. Of course, he knows the match is well in the balance - Mark came back from 6-1 down to beat him 10-7 in the UK final - but this is another match, and a good start this evening could be decisive.

Allen 3-4 Ding (49-72)

A decent safety from ding forces Mark to try a roll-up; he drops short, Ding pots the first ball in some time, and a glorious positional shot from black to yellow makes 5-3 almost inevitable!

Allen 3-4 Ding (49-52)

A poor shot from Ding allows Mark to lay a snooker; Ding misses twice but then a decent hit leaves Mark a nasty shot to negotiate; he can't get the two remaining reds safe but the yellow obliges him with cover and both balls eventually end up on rails.

Allen 3-4 Ding (37-52)

Ding goes at this chance with alacrity - if he can pinch this one, for a two-frame lead, he'll reduce Mark's margin for error this evening. But just as the frame looks to be heading his way, a poor positional shot means Ding has to play safe, and we might just have ourselves an arse-nipper to box off the afternoon.

Allen 3-4 Ding (36-0)

Mark eases down a fine long red ... but doesn't give the black enough gas and it pulls up short! Goodness me! Chance for Ding!

Allen 3-4 Ding (36-0)

It's Mark in first for the final frame of the afternoon and, on 25, he slams in a blue that's almost straight and which gets onto the only loose red, hovering just above the top rail. That's a monstrous shot, but a tentative pink leaves a nasty cut to right-middle and it stays out, so a frame that looked close to one is very much alive.

Allen 3-4 Ding

Good frame from Ding, earning a chance then doing everything taking it demanded of him. No ton - the decisive run ends on 92 - but he'll take it.

Allen 3-3 Ding (0-66)

This is another finely-crafted run from Ding, and of course as I type that he overruns a little. So he cracks down the blue, gently cuts a taxing red right into the heart of right corner - that was a real do-or-die shot - and he's going to hit the front for the first time.

Allen 3-3 Ding (0-31)

A good safety from prompts an error from Mark, who leaves a starter to right corner, almost dead straight - so decent cueing required from Ding, who switches to one to right-middle, eases it down, and a kiss off the brown means that'll be next. There's work to be done here but the points are out there, and a blue facilitates a red that means the black is now available.

Allen 3-3 Ding

A 51 and a 67 levels the match again, and already, whatever happens from here, tonight is nicely set-up.

Allen 3-2 Ding (0-54)

There are few players I'd rather watch in the balls than Ding, and he crafts a fifty then, after seeing away a nasty pink to left-middle, addresses a plant that's not dead-set but can be made ... and misses by plenty. Mark, though, can't capitalise, missing a brute to right-middle by a distance and leaving it; Ding has to lean over a ball that's not far from his waistcoat, but he prods to right corner, and this is going all-square again.

Allen 3-2 Ding (0-28)

Ding stands strong to drain a decent starter, taken on with full knowledge that if he missed he was leaving plenty. He quickly clears a route to both corners for the black, and this is a decent chance to rack up a decent lead.

Allen 3-2 Ding

Yup, Ding takes on a red, misses, and falls behind again.

Allen 2-2 Ding (61-8)

Mark nails a fine long red and though he lands on nowt, that should secure the frame.

Allen 2-2 Ding (60-8)

Mark runs out of position so snuggles in tight behind the pink; Ding escapes well, then again when snookered again. But Mark sends a tremendous red long to the green pocked, adds a black, then plays safe with Ding needing a snooker.

Allen 2-2 Ding (45-8)

Ding manages a red-black before running out of position and Mark gets in next, quickly eliminating the easy balls before playing onto a difficult one off the blue. He's well-set here.

We go again!

Allen 2-2 Ding

Mark misses a red he's trying to hit so concedes, and we're all-square at the mid-sesh; see you in about 15.

Allen 2-1 Ding (13-66)

The easy reds gone, Ding pots a blue, goes around the table, then has to poke into right corner to leave Mark needing a snooker; he does, then plays safe with the three reds left, none of them pottable.

Allen 2-1 Ding (8-43)

Left in baulk with the yellow blocking the direct route to the reds, Ding misses twice but sinks the next ball and, though the table is uninvitingly set, he'll fancy himself to make enough of it for 2-2.

Allen 2-1 Ding (0-18)

Ding leaves Mark behind the green and coming around the left-corner jaws, he hits the pink ... but nails his effort second time. Great shot.

Allen 2-1 Ding (0-18)

Ding eases a starter to right corner, but punishing home a blue to break the pack, the only short available to him after running out of position, he goes around the back of the black and has to play safe.

Allen 2-1 Ding

Of course he can! A typically stylish 116 will have Mark raging at that red he missed to left-middle.

Allen 2-0 Ding (8-76)

The frame is safe; can Ding parlay the run into a ton?

Allen 2-0 Ding (8-51)

Ding methodically removes balls - he's so good around the black spot, his cue-ball control exemplary. This looks a lot like 2-1.

Allen 2-0 Ding (8-16)

Ding gets away with a plant to left-middle, and just as I'm typing he needs to take this chance, he misses, sees Mark nail a starter, split the pack off the black, and look in great shape to go 3-0 ... if this red to left-middle goes down. And it doesn't, hitting the far knuckle and bouncing off, so now Ding has that same opportunity to build a frame-winning run, getting himself on the board in the process.

Allen 2-0 Ding

Already, the next frame feels like a biggun.

Allen 1-0 Ding (72-6)

The run ends on 72 and Ding returns to the table, but when he misses a black it's end of frame.

Allen 1-0 Ding (65-0)

Mark loses the white coming up for a blue, shaking his head in resignation. But he keeps the break going, and this is going to be 2-0. Will it also be an early pace-setter for the £10k big break prize?

Allen 1-0 Ding (30-0)

Mark eases a starter to left corner, dead slow - which is to say he's feeling a bit better about things, because there was plenty could go wrong with that. A black follows, and immediately we can see there's a big break on here - though not a maxi, as he nips up for a blue before returning to the business area.

Allen 1-0 Ding

Mark decelerates through the blue, making the pink, frame-ball, a nasty pressure cut when it should've been a gimme ... but he sinks it, and for now, at least, he's still well off his brilliant best but still doing enough.

Allen 0-0 Ding (43-55)

Mark will expect that, if he's to win today, he'll have to win safety exchanges of the ilk they're playing now ... and he does, left a chip to left-middle that he sends down before adding various other balls. We've a new favourite for the frame!

Allen 0-0 Ding (29-55)

But it isn't, Ding missing a tough red and leaving it over the bag for Mark ... but the black in the road means he's to come off the top rail, and he can't send it down.

Allen 0-0 Ding (29-24)

It's Ding in next, the way the balls are - reds free - and the way he is - brilliant in amongst them - making me think this'll be the frame.

Allen 0-0 Ding (29-1)

Ding misses a chip to left-middle, allowing Mark to stroke in a tremendous starter to left corner; can he build on it? He'll know he's cueing well because you don't sink those unless you are, and I'm wondering if he's moving back towards a more attacking style, because there've been some matches I've seen him play - I'm thinking the two occasions he beat Jack Lisowski in particular - where he refuses that. Anyhow, he misses a pink he shouldn't, suggesting he's still scratching for rhythm, then jawses a three-ball plant, so we're back playing safety.

Allen 0-0 Ding (8-1)

Mark misses thick to left-middle, as Angles informs us he's not made a ton in his last eight matches - and, if we're being real, he'd run out of form even before he stopped winning tournaments, he was just able to tough out the wins. It felt like he'd gone a little too circumspect in his style, though, which worked for a bit but didn't look sustainable for a player with so attacking an inclination, and with the Cruce on the horizon he's some thinking to do about how he's going to attack a venue that's offered him little success. Anyhow, Ding clears up the ball he missed, missed the black, then Mark misses one you don't expect him to to right corner. Ding, though, makes a right mess of the starter he's left, doing remarkably well to see everything roll safe.

And away we go!

Here come our players!

I'm looking forward to this

Ding recently won the six-reds world title, and has been much more like his old self this season, while Mark has been the world's best player this last season - which is why he was able to beat his opponent today in the UK final, crafting a comeback for the ages. We're in for a terrific contest.

Afternoon all!

And welcome to the 2023 World Tour Championships!

Context

The 2023 Tour Championship sees the top eight players on the one-year ranking list facing off at the Bonus Arena in Hull for the event.

Given the limited number of total participants and the nature of the criteria for taking part, there are a number of big-name absentees who will miss the chance of banking some competitive action ahead of the Crucible showdown next month.

Ronnie O'Sullivan sits outside the top eight and is therefore not taking part, so too Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Barry Hawkins, Stuart Bingham and John Higgins, as well as defending champion Neil Robertson.