Allen too good for Maguire

Allen: China quarter-final

I had expected to play Ronnie but then nothing surprises me about him - he could win the tournament without losing a frame, or go out in the first round.

Mark King
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World number two Stephen Maguire followed world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan through the China Open exit door as he was beaten by Mark Allen in the second round.

2008 China Open champion Maguire was beaten 5-3 by young Northern Irishman Allen, while O'Sullivan's conqueror Tian Pengfei could not go any further as he was also beaten 5-3 by Mark King.

Maguire took the opener with a break of 94, but 24-year-old Allen was in good form as he reeled off the next four frames on the spin to close in on the victory.

Glasgow's Maguire hit back with two breaks of 6-4 closing him to within a frame, but a 60 in the next put Allen into the quarter-finals in Beijing.

"I'm pleased to get through because I wasn't at my best. It was more a case of playing decent, matchplay snooker," Allen told World Snooker.

Big run

"This is my third quarter-final of the season and obviously I'm very keen to go further this time. I came here to win the tournament and I'm still in it so I've still got a chance."

Tian delighted the Beijing crowd by knocking out O'Sullivan in the first round, but he could not repeat the magic as he was edged out by 16th seed King.

The Chinese star did come from behind to level at 3-3, but a break of 91 and a scrappy eighth frame took King into the last eight.

"Tian's a really good player and he showed that in beating Ronnie last night," said King. "I had expected to play Ronnie but then nothing surprises me about him - he could win the tournament without losing a frame, or go out in the first round.

"I took my chances well today and I'm pleased to be in the quarters. It's on my mind that I need to stay in the top 16 so every win is important."

Nigel Bond was 3-0 up and cruising against Marco Fu before the Hong Kong potter turned the tables and a five-frame blitz saw him into the next round.

After scoring just 26 points in the first three frames, Fu hit breaks of 71, 54 and 42 as he came storming back to take the place in the quarters.

Fu is joined by Ali Carter in the last eight as the former World Championship finalist made breaks of 79 and 70 in the last two frames to edge another 5-3 decision.