Masters: Allen beats Higgins and Perry overcomes Ding to make quarter-finals
Last Updated: 14/01/15 11:27pm
Mark Allen and Joe Perry both progressed to the Masters quarter-finals with impressive wins on Wednesday at Alexandra Palace.
Allen's 6-4 victory over John Higgins was an outstanding tussle, with the pair putting on three centuries in the opening three frames.
Another ton followed later, as well as breaks of 96 and 88, while Higgins also missed out on two maximum breaks, with one attempt faltering on the final yellow.
It was a tough afternoon for the Scot, who scored 668 points but found himself on the wrong end of the result.
I have a good record against John recently and I just needed to hang in there. I stayed positive and did that.
Mark Allen
His slip-up on 120 in the ninth frame was the stand-out moment of misfortune.
Attempting to match Marco Fu's 147 on Sunday, he did not get high enough up for the yellow and had to take on a mid-ranger which rattled the jaws and spun out.
"John has done most of the scoring," said Allen, who posted a personal high of 121.
"I have a good record against him recently and I just needed to hang in there. I stayed positive and did that. I was edgy early on, like I am in any match, but I like to think I'm pretty good under pressure."
Allen has put himself on a strict fitness regime in 2015, restricting intake of carbohydrates to just Sundays, in a bid to be more nimble around the table.
"There's certain shots out there which I can't reach, I'm too fat," he added. "I need to lose weight."
Allen will face Cambridge potter Perry who produced two centuries in a convincing show in the evening session as he eased past an off-colour Ding.
Perry opened up in sparkling form, knocking in breaks of 79 and 104, and then led 4-2 after stealing the sixth frame on the final black, despite needing three snookers.
Ding fought back to trail by one by winning the seventh on the black, but Perry sealed the next two frames to secure his first ever win at this invitational event.
