World Championship snooker: 'He’s a genius, but beatable' – Mark Allen on how he can upset Ronnie O'Sullivan at Crucible

Mark Allen admits he will use memories of his 13-11 World Championship win over Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2009 to inspire him when they meet in the Crucible second round this year. Allen set up a last-16 meeting with the world No. 1 courtesy of a battling 10-6 win over Scott Donaldson on Monday night.

The Scotsman closed to 7-6 behind before Allen claimed the final three frames to advance. Ad/> Allen defeated O'Sullivan at the same stage of the tournament 13 years ago – their only previous meeting in Sheffield – during his run to the last four and aims to «get under his skin» again with the best-of-25 frame encounter starting on Friday morning before concluding on Saturday afternoon. World ChampionshipAllen through to face O'Sullivan after holding off Donaldson11 HOURS AGO O'Sullivan leads 6-4 on the career head-to-heads, but Allen edged their previous meeting – a bad-natured 6-3 triumph in the 2020 Champion of Champions quarter-final – a tournament the Antrim man progressed to lift with a 10-6 victory over Neil Robertson in the final.

/> “It’s what we play the game for. You want to play your best game on the biggest stage," Allen told reporters. /> «I’ll go out there, hopefully play well, and try to keep control of myself.