British Open 2022: Mark Allen holds on to beat Mark Selby 5-3 in quarter-final thriller for place in semi-finals

Mark Allen held on to beat Mark Selby 5-3 in a marathon quarter-final match at the British Open. Four-time world champion Selby was the biggest name left in the draw after a series of high-profile exits; Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, John Higgins and Mark Williams were among those to bow out early. Ad But 2018 Masters champion Allen came into the last eight on the back of a tense 4-3 win over Trump and knowing that his head-to-head record with Selby was dead level at seven wins apiece.

British OpenBritish Open LIVE – Day v Sijun and Saengkham v Jones in last of quarter-finals9 HOURS AGO Selby laid down an early marker with a blistering start, producing a break of 123 to take the opening frame and claim his fifth century of the tournament. But the momentum suddenly swung in Allen’s favour as he took the next three frames in a row to stun his rival. The second frame began with the two locked in a safety battle before Selby forced an error from Allen and was in among the balls.

But a tricky long red eluded Selby and Allen took his chance, eking out a 15 point lead before another Selby miss saw Allen clean up the colours to equalise. A missed red from Selby early in the third gave Allen a chance to take the lead, and he took it in style with an incredible clearance of 143, his opponent acknowledging a near-perfect break in which Allen was always in position. Selby makes fourth career maximum in win over Lisowski British Open Results With all the momentum, the northern Irishman fought his way back from 25 points down in the fourth to reel off a classy run of 75 to go one within victory.