Judd Trump v Mark Allen live stream | Northern Ireland Open 2021 preview
Trump and Allen collide in an eagerly anticipated clash on Friday (Imaginechina/SIPA USA/PA Images)
Reigning champion Judd Trump faces home favourite Mark Allen in what promises to be a highly entertaining quarter-final clash at the Northern Ireland Open on Friday.
Undoubtedly the pick of the last-eight ties at the opening Home Nations event of this season, the crowd should be in for a treat at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.
Appearing in the quarter-finals of this tournament is business as usual for Trump, who is seeking a fourth successive title.
The Ace is yet to truly fire this week and had to dig deep to scrape past former European Masters winner Jimmy Robertson 4-3 in the fourth round on Thursday.
Nevertheless, that made it 25 consecutive victories at a single ranking event for Trump as he chases Stephen Hendry’s record of 29 at the World Championship between 1992 and 1997.
Although, he has not enjoyed the better of the head-to-head record with Allen; winning just eight of their 18 previous encounters and losing three of the last five.
Roared on by his home fans, the Pistol fired in a timely break of 69 to scrape past good friend Stephen Maguire in a deciding frame on Thursday.
The Antrim ace delighted the Belfast crowd with a marvellous maximum against Si Jiahui earlier in the week, and would love to crown it by raising the Alex Higgins trophy on Sunday.
Allen has only reached the quarter-finals of his home event on one previous occasion; doing so in the inaugural tournament of 2016.
But with victory over Trump, he would be well on the way to a second Home Nations title, having also captured the Scottish Open in 2018.
Play gets underway at 12pm BST on Friday with the match contested over the best of nine frames at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.