Snooker News

Allen Wins Antwerp Open

Mark Allen claimed his first PTC title with a convincing 4-1 victory over Mark Selby in the Antwerp Open, Belgium.

The Northern Irishman was in scintillating form and treated a capacity crowd to some amazing snooker as he raced into a 3-0 lead with the aid of three consecutive centuries.

World no.1 Selby did manage to keep the game going in the fourth after his opponent, who boasted a pot success rate of 97%, unexpectedly missed a tricky red with the rest, but the Leicester man was just delaying the inevitable.

With the help of a break of 53, Allen wrapped up the triumph in the fifth frame to win his second trophy of 2012 – and his first ever in the satellite series.

The 26 year-old openly admits his relative dislike towards the weekend short format events but revealed in his post-match interview that the crowd played a major part in his motivation to win the title.

And what an audience it was, rivaling those provided in Germany in terms of energy, atmosphere and respect for the players.

In the semi-finals Allen overcame amateur Andrew Pagett 4-1, who had enjoyed a great run to the last four off the back of excellent successes over  Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Neil Robertson.

Selby enjoyed back-to-back whitewashes as he fought off the meager challenges of Marco Fu and Ali Carter to reach the final, but he had nothing left to offer against Allen’s superiority.

So another excellent European event and it is evident that these events are going to continue growing in the near future.

With the likes of the Antwerp Open and sister events in Germany, Poland and beyond, it is foreseeable that one or more will eventually be promoted to a fully fledged ranking event.

That, I’m sure, would please Allen who prefers to be in the business end of more prestigious competitions but he will undoubtedly be pleased to have added a third pro title to what will surely be a big collection come the end of his career.

The full draw can be viewed by clicking here

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