Mark Allen sees off Si Jiahui to seal Masters quarter-final spot

Jonathan Davies in The Masters 15 January 2025

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Allen was a commanding winner over debutant Si (PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo)

Mark Allen booked his place in the Masters quarter-finals following a 6-2 victory over debutant Si Jiahui at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday.

The Pistol, who lifted the Paul Hunter trophy in 2018, hit breaks of 111, 94, 80 and 70 on the way to setting up a blockbuster last-eight clash with Mark Selby.

While Si struggled to settle on his Masters bow, Allen was able to build on the momentum of his Riyadh Season Championship triumph before Christmas.

The world number four was also inspired by his fond memories of 12 months ago in this event, during which he made a 147 against Selby on the way to reaching the semi-finals.

The first two frames were shared with Allen taking a scrappy opener, before Si responded with 103 to level.

Allen then took control with breaks of 111 and 70 putting him 3-1 up at the interval, though the Chinese hit back with 60 to halve the deficit.

Nevertheless, it was one-way traffic thereon, as the Pistol dominated the final three frames, with further contributions of 94 and 80 getting him over the line.

“I didn’t make many mistakes at all,” he told BBC Sport. “That was a good performance and it needs to be like that against Si because he’s so dangerous.

“You want to play well in any event, but it’s a little bit easier here because you know that if you don’t play somewhere near your best, you’re going to go home.

“If you’re playing a lower-ranked player sometimes in other tournaments, you’re thinking they might let you off the hook a little bit, but that doesn’t happen out there.”

On his forthcoming showdown with Selby, Allen added: “He’s one of the all-time greats. We’ve had some battles over the years and I expect more of the same.”

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Earlier in the day, two-time champion Judd Trump eased through to the quarter-finals following a dominant 6-1 win over two-time finalist Barry Hawkins.

The left-handers contested a mouth-watering UK Championship final just over six weeks ago, with Trump prevailing a narrow 10-8 winner.

However, a one-sided affair transpired this time. Hawkins was in first during the opening frame, but was unfortunate to knock in a red when splitting the pack from the blue.

The pendulum appeared to subsequently swing firmly in favour of the Ace, who hit breaks of 59, 60 and 56 on the way to a 5-0 advantage.

The Hawk stopped the rot with 70 to avert the whitewash, but Trump got the job done in the following frame with 112.

“The first frame turned the whole game,” he said. “[Barry] was a bit unlucky, I didn’t see if it was a plant, but a couple of times, he knocked a ball in.

“You have to be so careful because, I’m not exaggerating, that just turns the match. If he gets in and makes a break, then he settles down and I miss an easy ball in the next frame, it’s 2-0 or 3-0 the other way.

“The first frame is so important, whenever I win that first frame, I seem to be able to gain momentum. Little things like that can change the game.”

Hawkins added: “I had a decent break to go 5-1 [down], but Judd’s playing some great stuff and every time I made a mistake, he capitalised.

“He did his job properly. The mad thing is I felt good out there. This game is strange.”