Allen too good for Williams in Masters last-16 tie
by Michael Emons · BBC SportNorthern Ireland's Mark Allen won five frames in a row as he came from behind to defeat Wales' Mark Williams 6-2 in the first round of the Masters - despite suffering from illness before the tournament.
In a match between two former champions, Allen took the opener thanks to a break of 67, before 50-year-old Williams battled to take the next two to lead 2-1.
Allen, 39, made a break of 54 in frame four to ensure it was 2-2 at the mid-session interval and then raised his game with breaks of 60, 125 and 70 to take control of the match.
Speaking to the BBC after the match, Allen revealed his preparations had been hampered.
"I felt comfortable, which is weird," said Allen. "I prepare properly for these events but I couldn't prepare for this at all as I've been lying in bed all week with food poisoning, so I just thought 'go out there and give my best'.
"I wouldn't have had much left if it had got much closer."
In the evening session, reigning world champion Zhao Xintong proved too strong for England's Gary Wilson with a 6-2 victory.
Allen into Masters quarter-finals for 11th time
It was a frustrating afternoon for Williams as mistakes crept into his game. He was unable to register a single break of 50 and had a pot success rate of only 71%.
His departure means three former world champions have been beaten in the opening three matches after Shaun Murphy and Mark Selby lost against Wu Yize and Xiao Guodong respectively on Sunday's opening day.
In the quarter-finals on Thursday, Allen will face either world number one Judd Trump or China's Ding Junhui, with those two meeting in their last-16 tie on Wednesday.
Allen beat Kyren Wilson to win the 2018 Masters and said he "was not getting carried away" about his hopes for a repeat success.
"This is my 11th quarter-final [at the Masters] but I've only won it once so I have to sort that out - this is as good a week as any to do that," added Allen.
Williams thought he "made it easy" for his opponent and said: "I was pretty poor. It can happen and will happen more. I tried, even though it didn't look like it."
World champion Zhao becomes third Chinese player into quarter-finals
Zhao, who battled through four qualifying matches and then five more at the Crucible to become the first Asian player to win the world title in May, became the third Chinese player to make it into this year's Masters quarter-finals.
A break of 76 gave Wilson the opening frame as the Englishman looked to win a Masters match for the first time after losing in the opening round in 2021 and 2024 against Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy respectively.
But Zhao ruthlessly punished loose safety shots from Wilson to win four frames in a row, thanks to breaks of 50, 51, 54 and 72, while Wilson only collected 10 points in that time.
However, Wilson battled to win the sixth frame to reduce the deficit to 2-4, only to then let a 51-0 advantage slip in frame seven.
Zhao made his fifth half-century break of the match, a 67 in frame eight, to seal a 6-2 victory - bizarrely the same score that has now been seen in all four completed matches.
Zhao, who had lost to John Higgins in round one in 2022 in his only other Masters appearance, said: "I enjoyed the night. This is my second time at Alexandra Palace so I really enjoyed it.
"I know he [Wilson] is a very good player so I just wanted to have big breaks and didn't want him to come back so I just try to get better.
"Hopefully in the final we have two Chinese players. Tonight I could see a lot of fans supporting me so I feel very confident and I didn't want to lose. This is my first win at Alexandra Palace."
Zhao will now play either four-time world champion Higgins or two-time world runner-up Barry Hawkins in the next round.