Mark Allen, twelfth within the males’s rankings, overcame 12-time girls’s world champion Reanne Evans
Mark Allen defeated former companion Reanne Evans 3-2 after surviving a serious scare within the British Open.
The Northern Irishman was dealing with defeat at 60-22 down within the fourth body earlier than preventing again in a tense conflict.
Evans, backed by a raucous following, didn’t reciprocate when Allen provided a fist bump earlier than the first-round match in Leicester.
The pair had been assembly for the primary time as professionals and in a rating event.
“Each gamers have proven nice character. It has been essentially the most intense match I’ve in all probability ever witnessed,” mentioned seven-time males’s world snooker champion Stephen Hendry, commentating on ITV.
Allen described the draw as “terrible” and mentioned he wouldn’t wish to face Evans once more, however acknowledged the efficiency of his crushed opponent.
“She performed significantly better than me however I made a superb break to win it. She potted some unbelievable particular person balls. She was very unlucky to not go on and win 3-1,” mentioned the 35-year-old.
Regardless of the edgy opening, Evans apologised for a fluked pot throughout the match and Allen tapped the desk to acknowledge a break from his opponent.
Evans, 35, had saluted her vocal supporters as she got here out for the sport and went 34 forward within the opening body earlier than a missed black let her opponent in.
The English participant gained a scrappy second body after Allen did not pot the yellow when needing the colors and a 56 break helped seal the subsequent.
A shock victory seemed on the playing cards earlier than Evans rattled a difficult crimson within the jaws of the pocket and Allen clinched the fourth body with a nerveless 47 clearance.
He adopted up with a 68 break within the decider to assist seal victory.
“I am completely gutted however actually pleased with myself,” mentioned Evans. “Prime gamers do what they do and you must respect that.”
Evans, who was made an MBE in 2020 for her providers to girls’s snooker, has earned a two-year tour card this season to show skilled.
The match got here 4 months after Allen requested that Evans be faraway from a tv studio on the World Championship, the place she was working as a BBC pundit.
Allen was reported to have mentioned he didn’t need her to be in a TV studio the place a observe desk was located.
In April, the Northern Irishman mentioned he was taking a “break” from the sport to deal with private points.
Earlier on a dramatic opening day, Scotland’s John Higgins made the twelfth most 147 break of his profession, to surpass Hendry’s whole, as he beat Alexander Ursenbacher of Switzerland 3-1.
World primary Judd Trump simply edged previous Mitchell Mann 3-2 whereas veteran Jimmy White whitewashed Aaron Hill 3-0 and Allen’s compatriot Jordan Brown beat Andrew Higginson 3-2.
