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Comeback king Allen scrapes past Zhou to win English Open title

Jonathan Davies in English Open

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Mark Allen v Zhou Yuelong live stream | English Open 2025 Final preview

Allen lifted the Steve Davis trophy late on Sunday

Mark Allen captured his first ranking title of 2025 after holding off Zhou Yuelong to prevail 9-8 in a gruelling English Open final.

The Pistol picked up the Steve Davis trophy for the first time at the Brentwood Centre – as well as the top prize of ยฃ100,000 – as he came through late on Sunday night after just over seven hours of play.

It was Allen’s 12th career ranking triumph and fourth in the Home Nations Series, though only after prevailing in a deciding frame for the fifth match in succession.

The world number 10 had been a frame from defeat before bouncing back to beat Ding Junhui, Elliot Slessor and then Jak Jones in the semi-finals.

Allen found himself in the same position in the showpiece, having surrendered 5-1, 6-2 and 7-3 advantages with Zhou reeling off five frames to move to the brink of his first ranking title.

However, the former UK and Masters champion held his nerve to scrape through once again, and condemn the Chinese to a fourth successive ranking final defeat.

“It’s not the week that I expected. I’ve battled hard and I think I’ve given value for money this week!” he joked.

“At 6-2 up, I wasn’t really hoping it would go eight-all, but then at 8-7 down, I was praying for a decider!

“I thought Zhou battled really hard in that second session, he played some good stuff and put me under pressure. I was nervous and missed a few balls I shouldn’t have. Then at 8-7 [down], I suddenly switched on a bit. It’s a good trait to have, but I don’t want to keep relying on it.

“I felt as good as I did at any part of the match in those last two frames, which is a positive sign. It’s make or break whenever you’re 8-7 down, and I think that gave me a bit more energy than I had.

“I really feel for Zhou. He probably deserved that today with the character he showed from 6-2 down to get himself in that position at 8-7 up. I think he’ll win many, many tournaments if he gets over that line soon. I’m sorry he had to be on the wrong end of it today.

“I just want to keep winning tournaments. You don’t have a long career in snooker, you want to make the most of it. I’ve been doing OK, but I went to keep doing better.”

Coincidentally, Zhou was also Allen’s opponent when he won his most recent Home Nations title at the 2022 Northern Ireland Open, when he prevailed 9-4 in the final.

He made an ideal start with a lovely long red paving the way for a magnificent 132 total clearance in the opening frame.

Zhou responded with 65, but the Pistol won the next four frames – with runs of 72 and 59 along the way – to guarantee a lead heading into the evening session at 5-1.

The Chinese, who had beaten three World champions to reach his fourth ranking final in Mark Williams, Luca Brecel and Mark Selby, stopped the rot with a timely 81, but a further contribution of 54 put Allen 6-2 to the good at the end of the afternoon.

When play resumed, Zhou won three of the next four frames to close the gap to two at 7-5 behind.

It looked like Allen would move to the brink of victory in the following frame. However, he missed a tricky red to the left centre on 60, and his opponent produced a nerveless 72 clearance to pinch it on the black.

Having trailed 7-3, his own run of 60 was eventually enough for Zhou to level, before edging his nose ahead for the first time in the final with 53 for 8-7.

Allen responded with 71 and, despite going in-off with 67 points remaining and Zhou getting the snooker he required, he just about held on to stop the rot.

That meant a deciding frame in a third successive ranking event final for the first time in history.

Following an early safety exchange, an untimely double-kiss for Zhou presented an opportunity to Allen, for whom a break of 61 was eventually enough to get him over the line.