Mark Allen produced a miraculous five-cushion escape during his 4-1 victory over Li Hang at the British Open on Wednesday.
The Northern Irishman trailed 50-46 in the opening frame of his second-round match at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes when he found himself in with what looked a near-impossible snooker.
However, he conjured up a ridiculous escape act that was so good he even bowed to the crowd.
🤯 Mark Allen's miraculous five-cushion escape at the British Open! pic.twitter.com/mYN6vQa70U
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) September 28, 2022
Allen went on to lose the frame but bounced back to reel off the next four frames to book his place in the third round.
The escape brought back memories of Ronnie O'Sullivan's equally impressive escape from his first ever meeting with Judd Trump way back in 2008.
Mark Allen's effort has to be up there with Ronnie O'Sullivan's miraculous five-cushion escape with Judd Trump in 2008! pic.twitter.com/nCiXRnUy8n
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) September 28, 2022
Meanwhile, Trump coasted into the third round with a 4-0 victory over Dean Young as he looks to stay on course to take the world number one slot.
Following O’Sullivan’s unexpected exit in the first round, Trump can move back top of the rankings if he goes on to lift the trophy .
Trump produced a flawless display with breaks of 52, 84, 100 and 64 as he saw off Young in just over an hour.
“It would be nice to get to number one off the back of winning a tournament, that would give me an extra sense of achievement,” said Trump, who next faces Xu Si on Thursday afternoon, on the World Snooker website.
“Any time you get to number one is special. When I play my best, I feel no one’s game can live up to mine, but I’m sure the others would say the same.”
In Wednesday’s evening session, world number three Mark Selby won 4-2 against China’s Cao Yupeng. The four-time world champion made breaks of 55, 90 and then 109 in the final frame.
Elsewhere Ding Junhui, who has not claimed a title since 2019, beat Joe Perry 4-1 while former Masters champion Yan Bingtao defeated Andy Lee 4-0 and Scottish amateur Ross Muir recovered from 3-0 down to edge out Chen Zifan.
Earlier, China’s Xu had made 143, the highest break of the main event, as he beat David Grace 4-2 while Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham missed the 15th black in a maximum attempt during his 4-0 victory over Fraser Patrick.
