Mark Allen storms back from dire start to beat Zhang Anda 10-6

Mark Allen transformed an “absolutely embarrassing” opening session into one of the sharpest recoveries of his Crucible career, reeling off the last six frames to beat Zhang Anda 10-6 and reach the World Snooker Championship last 16.

The former world number one, now ranked 14th and aged 40, had trailed 5-3 after Saturday’s first session at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and had not compiled a break above 50. By Sunday, the match looked entirely different. Allen settled fast, found his rhythm and punished every opening Zhang left behind, closing the contest with a burst that underlined why he remains one of the sport’s most stubborn competitors over the long format.

Allen later said he had to clear his head after the first session, admitting the performance was so poor that he “genuinely just wanted to crawl into a ball and cry” overnight. Instead, he reset in an unusually blunt fashion: “After the match yesterday I had a few drinks, I got a burger... watched the football, had a few bets with my mates...” The routine clearly worked. When he returned, the pressure had shifted, and Zhang was the one chasing.

The turnaround was not only about attitude. Allen’s scoring sharpened dramatically in the second session, where he made three centuries, including breaks of 140, 109 and 129. Those heavy visits turned frames that had looked competitive into routs, and once Allen moved in front he never allowed Zhang a route back into the match. The contrast, Allen said, was “chalk and cheese”.

The win sent Allen into the last 16 at the Crucible for the sixth consecutive year and the 15th time overall, extending a remarkable run of consistency at snooker’s hardest venue. It was also his 20th consecutive appearance at the Crucible, a sequence that has become central to his reputation as a championship-match player.

Allen is a 12-time ranking event winner, with victories at the UK Championship and Masters, yet the world title remains the missing piece. His best World Championship runs ended in the semi-finals in 2009 and again in 2023. Zhang, a former ranking event winner, had arrived with a perfect first-round record at the Crucible, having won all five of his previous opening matches there. That record ended as Allen imposed himself in the defining session of the tie.

Allen will now face either Kyren Wilson or Stan Moody in the second round, starting on Thursday evening, with momentum and belief restored after a night that could easily have derailed his tournament.