Snooker:Mark Allen recovered from 4-2 down to beat Stephen Hendry 5-4 in the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing today. The Antrim youngster will meet local favourite Ding Junhui in the last four.
Seven-time world champion Hendry looked set for a place in the semi-finals after using all his experience to claim a two-frame cushion over Allen in a generally scrappy affair.
However, left-hander Allen hit back to win the last three frames in succession, sealing victory with a break of 77 in the decider, his highest break of the match.
Hendry had rolled in a break of 126 to level the match in the second frame, but subsequently managed a high of just 36 as Allen gradually found his touch.
In the morning’s other quarter-final, Ding Junhui delighted the home fans with a 5-2 win over Peter Ebdon.
Ding stormed into a 4-0 lead with breaks of 93, 121 and 92, but former world champion Ebdon typically dug deep to win the next two frames with runs of 70 and 49. However, Ding held his nerve to win the seventh frame 81-0.
The remaining quarter-finals between Mark Williams and Marco Fu and Ali Carter and Mark King take place later today.