MARK Allen will take on Mark Williams in the semi-final of the Johnstone’s Paint Tour Championship in Manchester after beating Ding Junhui 10-8 on Thursday evening.
The Antrim man overturned a 6-3 deficit to win his quarter-final, starting the comeback with the highest break of the tournament to date, a 142.
He also wrapped up victory with a century, his third of the match, a 127.
His first had come in the first frame but he lost the next three to trail at the mid-session interval.
The second mini-session was shared as Ding took a 5-3 lead into the evening, a lead he extended with a break of 71.
Allen’s four-frame run, which also included breaks of 62 and 50, put him ahead for the firs time in the match, but Ding then won two in a row with breaks of 82 and 67 to regain the advantage.
However, that was to be his last frame as Allen backed up breaks of 68 and 56 with that 127 to seal victory.
Williams won six of the last seven frames to beat Judd Trump 10-4.
Both players made just two breaks over 50 in a scrappy contest, but Welsh veteran Williams used all his experience to edge three frames on the black, one on the pick and one on the blue.
Earlier in the day, Gary Wilson came from 8-7 down to beat Zhang Anda 10-8 and book a semi-final showdown with Ronnie O’Sullivan, a player he beat en route to winning the 2022 Scottish Open.
“I’m not someone who crumbles because of who I am playing,” said Wilson, who remains unhappy with his technique despite reaching the last four.
“For me, it’s all about how I am feeling and playing. If my action is gone then my confidence is on the floor and I can’t find any way of hitting it.
“If that happens then it doesn’t matter who I’m playing. I am trying to iron that out, it’s not really working. But I am in the semis so let’s see what happens.”
