Here are the reports WST shared on day 2 at the 2024 UK Championship:
PISTOL TURNS OVER PAGE
World number three Mark Allen dug deep to score a 6-4 win over Welsh qualifier Jackson Page and make the last 16 of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in York.
The Northern Irishman has fond memories of the Barbican, having been runner-up here in 2011 and 2018, before lifting the famous trophy in 2022. Allen faced Ding Junhui in the final two years ago and prevailed 10-7, despite trailing 6-1 at one stage.
He ended last season by becoming world number one for the first time in his career. However, that feat was short-lived and he has been overhauled by Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson to currently find himself ranked as world number three.
So far this term 11-time ranking event winner Allen hasn’t quite hit his usual lofty heights. After today’s game he admitted to being downbeat about his form, but he has kept his hopes alive and will now be able to look ahead to a last 16 meeting with either Wu Yize or Si Jiahui.
The first six frames of this afternoon’s match, which proved to be a fragmented encounter, were shared to leave Allen and Page locked together at 3-3.
Allen earned 40 points in fouls in the seventh, which he took after 34 minutes of play to lead 4-3. Breaks of 35 and 45 then helped Allen to move one from victory at 5-3.
A dramatic ninth swung both ways, before Page cleared the colours to steal on the black and make it 5-4. Page had opportunities to force a final frame but couldn’t take them. Eventually Allen deposited clutch shots on the green and brown to allow him to clear to the black and emerge victorious.
Allen said: “I’m not in a good place with my game. I’m just struggling with my snooker. It is probably in my nature, I always give 100 percent on every shot and nothing is coming easy to me at the moment.
“It is frustrating because I’m still doing the things which got me to world number one and I’m working hard. It isn’t coming very easy at the moment.
“I’m hoping one performance can turn it all around. I just feel I’m a million miles away from that performance. I think my experience got me the result today. I turned down a few balls that I didn’t fancy. That got me the win by waiting for that better opportunity. Jackson is a brilliant talent but he isn’t that experienced on the biggest stage so I just thought I would take advantage of that.”
On the other table, Ali Carter battled to a 6-4 win over Ryan Day to set up a last 16 clash with either Mark Selby or Jack Lisowski.
Victory for world number 12 Carter keeps alive his hopes of qualifying for the lucractive Riyadh Season Snooker Championship. Only the top ten in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings at the end of this tournament will earn a place in Saudi Arabia next month.
Incredibly, today’s victory sees Carter make it into the last 16 of this tournament for the first time since a run to the semi-finals in 2012. He crafted runs of 75, 63 and 99 in the victory.
Carter said: “I’ve had some good times here but mostly terrible. I was 8-4 up in the semi-finals against Shaun Murphy and lost 9-8. That went wrong. I haven’t had much success since then. It is sweet to get through today and know that I’m coming back later on in the week.
“A good run would do everything for my confidence. Wins have been hard to come by and I had to work for that there. I’m delighted to get through.”
LISOWSKI BEATS SELBY IN PULSATING CLASH
Jack Lisowski prevailed 6-4 after a classic encounter with Mark Selby, to make the last 16 of the Victorian Plumbing UK Championship in York.
It’s Lisowski’s first win over Selby in over four years. He last defeated the four-time World Champion in the semi-finals of the 2020 World Grand Prix.
This blockbuster first round match was made possible by a recent decline in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings from Lisowski, who currently resides in 21st position.
The six-time ranking event finalist defeated Malaysian number one Thor Chuan Leong and Women’s World Champion Bai Yulu to reach the final stages. He now faces six-time ranking event winner Ali Carter in the last 16.
Selby came flying out of the blocks to take charge in the early stages. A barrage of breaks saw the Leicester cueman fire in runs of 119, 59 and 136 to lead 3-0, having only conceded six points. The last frame before the interval saw Lisowski craft a run of 55, which helped him to stop the rot and gain a foothold at 3-1.
The tide appeared to have turned when play resumed, with further contributions of 63 and 100 from Lisowski restoring parity at 3-3. The relentless pace of the game continued in the next two frames, with Selby stringing together 61 to move ahead again and Lisowski replying with 70 in the eighth to make it 4-4.
Lisowski averaged just 15 seconds a shot during a break of 61 which saw him seize the initiative in the ninth. However, lengthy safety exchanges meant it took 31 minutes for him to win the frame and move 5-4 ahead. He went on to cross the line at the first time of asking and secure a significant 6-4 victory.
“I feel great. It is an amazing result, especially the way Mark was playing. He is one of the greatest players ever, so to beat him when he is playing like that is fantastic. Everything clicked for me tonight. My safety was good and my scoring was good.“
Jack Lisowski
World Number 21
Lisowski added: “It was a big frame to win before the interval to make it 3-1. I didn’t do too much wrong. He looked like a million dollars. I stuck in there and I feel good. I played solid tonight. I’m not known for my solid snooker but that was good.
“That is a great feeling. It is what you practise for. I haven’t had a great last two seasons so to start getting some results like that is good. It slowly builds up and there I am beating Selby on the main stage. I’ve done this before and got too excited. It is Carter next and that is going to be a very tough game. I have to find a way of keeping this up.”
With only four matches every day, WST reports are comprehensive and there is not much i can add.
If I’m honest the Allen v Page match was pretty awful. Given that he won, Mark Allen’s assessment of his game might sound excessively harsh but if the truth is to be said he didn’t play well at all. It was only a case of Jackson Page being even worse.
I didn’t have the opportunity to watch the evening matches but I certainly did not expect Jack to beat Selby especially having trailed 0-3. But he did and I’m happy. Nothing at all against Mark Selby, just that I like Jack’s game when he’s playing well but only too often in the past he lost from seemingly winning position. He’s been a very frustrating player to watch and support for most of his career. Yesterday offered a nice change to that pattern.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 