Allen sees off Selby to reach British Open semi-finals

Jonathan Davies in British Open 1 October 2022

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Mark Allen v Noppon Saengkham live stream | British Open 2022 preview

Allen prevailed in the battle of the Marks on Friday

Mark Allen will play Noppon Saengkham in the British Open semi-finals after defeating Mark Selby 5-3 on Friday.

The Pistol prevailed in the battle of the Marks and is now the sole top-16 player remaining at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

Appearing in only his second ranking quarter-final in 16 months, Selby made a brilliant start to the contest.

Fresh from his magical maximum against Jack Lisowski on Thursday, the Jester pounced with a magnificent break of 123 after Allen missed a black off its spot.

World number 14 Allen had won each of the three previous quarter-final showdowns between the players and responded by winning the next three frames – hitting brilliant breaks of 143 and 75 along the way – to pull clear at the mid-session interval.

Selby appeared rejuvenated at the restart as he produced a wonderful contribution of 108, before levelling at 3-3.

The four-time World champion had the momentum and established early control in frame seven. However, he failed to convert a decent opportunity after breaking down on 35, enabling Allen to clear with 47 and snatch a 4-3 lead on the black.

It proved crucial for the Pistol, who subsequently wrapped up victory with a sublime total clearance of 126.

Allen will play Saengkham in the last four after the Thai cueist overcame Jamie Jones 5-3.

The world number 38 hit a top break of 102 on the way to reaching his third ranking semi-final – and first in four years.

Meanwhile, Ryan Day produced a timely 124 clearance in the decider to edge past China’s Yuan SiJun, who stunned John Higgins earlier in the week.

The three-time ranking event is through to his first semi-final since winning the Shoot Out in February 2021.

There, he will play Robbie Williams after the world number 61 reeled off five successive frames to complete a 5-1 rout of Lyu Haotian, and secure his third appearance in the last four of a ranking tournament.

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