Champion of Champions results and report: Ronnie O'Sullivan loses temper and loses match to Mark Allen

A high-quality match which saw Allen miss a golden opportunity to make a 147 will instead be remembered for O'Sullivan losing his temper and accusing his opponent of deliberating attempting to distract him while at the table.

An indignant Allen maintained his innocence - which appeared to be supported by television pictures and young referee Marcel Eckardt, who implored the reigning world champion to continue with the game.

Having done so, O'Sullivan went on to lose the frame and match as Allen advances to face Judd Trump in Saturday's semi-final.

"I don't know what he was on about," said Allen. "I'm not going to let it go if he's going to make up rubbish. It was funny - he was completely gone and I was able to take advantage.

"All I needed to hear was Marcel say 'Mark, I know you haven't done anything'. Ronnie just tries to bully people out there.

"It was the worst thing he could've done - it just fired me up. Sometimes he just needs putting back in his place."

O'Sullivan added: "It was just nothing. Maybe I read a bit too much into it, but it just seemed a little bit like the stuff you do down the snooker club when you're an amateur.

"I just thought 'let's get it out of the way', there's no point ignoring it. It started about 3-2, just little things. I thought 'I'm not going to play this shot until you sit down in your chair, hopefully you get the message'.

"I just thought 'I've got to have a word with him'. There's no hard feelings. He deserved his victory."

The incident marred an excellent game in which the right man won, Allen rattling in centuries in frames four and six in a display much improved from his tight victory over Scott Donaldson earlier in the day.

The Northern Irishman ought to have registered a maximum break in frame six, overrunning on the penultimate black-to-red before missing a fine cut to middle, chastising himself for having done so.

Still, he retained his composure and was his usual, delicate self among the balls and as O'Sullivan's pace slowed and temper flared, Allen became more focused on the job in hand, completing it stylishly.

Group openers

Ronnie O'Sullivan breezed past Michael Holt in surely the most impressive display so far at snooker's Champion of Champions.

The reigning world champion was confined to his seat after breaking off for the first frame as Holt rattled in a century, but from the second to the last it was all O'Sullivan as he waltzed round the table.

Breaks of 65, 86, 71, 49 and 87 meant Holt spent most of the match in his chair, from where he could surely only admire a silky-smooth performance from arguably the greatest player in history.

Holt was handed an unlikely reprieve in frame five as O'Sullivan's attempt to free some reds from the cluster failed, but he was soon back to finish the job with a left-handed pot along the rail, ultimately doing so in just 50 minutes.

O'Sullivan will return to face Mark Allen, who beat Scott Donaldson 4-3 thanks to a measured century in the deciding frame of a messy match.

Allen was never in front until compiling a 125 break in the seventh and final frame. Donaldson will be aggrieved to have let it go that far, having missed black off the spot with the match at his mercy in the previous frame.

That was to prove his final opportunity to close the door on Allen, who struggled at times, miscued more than once and generally lacked the fluency among the balls which underpins his game.

Nevertheless, presented with an opening he delicately pieced together a concluding century to earn a meeting with O'Sullivan, with the winner to face Judd Trump in the semi-finals.