Mark Allen becomes first top-16 player to win Shoot Out

Mark Allen became the first player ranked in the world's top 16 to win the BetVictor Shoot Out as he beat China’s Cao Yupeng to claim his 10th ranking title.

The Antrim man, who was top seed at the Swansea Arena, won a scrappy final 65-4 after Cao fouled on the black and later went in off, to claim the £50,000 first prize.

Allen, nicknamed 'The Pistol’, told Eurosport: "It’s just so hard. The easiest of shots turns into the most difficult and you feel more pressure here in a 10-minute frame than you would do in the final frame of a big ranking tournament final at 9-9 or something. It just does crazy things to your brain."

World number four Allen had earlier negotiated a similarly scrappy semi-final from which he emerged a 60-8 winner over amateur Steven Hallworth, who was eventually made to pay for a series of poor early safety shots.

Cao had secured his place in the final with a 41-18 victory over Ali Carter, who was was left to rue an undercut blue after potting the first red, allowing his opponent to compile a break of 35.

However, Cao was unable to take advantage against Allen, who established 16-0 and 31-4 leads without ever looking like killing the frame off until a series of errors by his opponent allowed him to edge across the finishing line.