Tour Championship 2022: Neil Robertson withstands courageous Mark Allen fightback to reach semi-finals
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Updated 29/03/2022 at 22:11 GMT
Defending champion Neil Robertson recorded five centuries (125, 103, 125, 121, 130) and three other sizeable breaks (76, 94, 68) to win 10-6, although Mark Allen made him sweat in the evening session of the Tour Championship quarter-final, recovering from 7-1 down to make it 8-6. Robertson faces either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Mark Williams in the semi-finals.
Neil Robertson | European Masters
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Neil Robertson overcame a gutsy comeback from Mark Allen to reach the Tour Championship semi-finals.
Robertson had led 7-1 after the opening session, but Allen rallied to make it 8-6 with a battling display on Tuesday evening.
However, the fightback stopped there, with Robertson notching his fourth and fifth centuries of the match to win the quarter-final.
After John Higgins secured a thrilling 10-9 comeback win over Zhao Xintong on Monday night, the prospect of another tight encounter seemed to diminish by the frame in the first session with Robertson looking in fine form.
Robertson, who beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in last year’s final, won the opening frame 82-32, and then put together sizeable breaks in the next six frames – including three centuries.
The run of 76, 125, 94, 103, 68 and 125 left Allen reeling, with Robertson backing up his own words after calling himself a snooker great last week.
There were then ironic cheers and some sympathetic applause when Allen potted his first red for 26 minutes of playing time in the eighth frame.
A simple miss on the pink saw him put just 36 points on the board, but Robertson could only reply with a 26, allowing Allen to return to the table and win the final frame of the session – avoiding the most embarrassing of afternoons in the process.
“I think this match is over,” Stephen Hendry said on ITV4 after the session, which just about summed the afternoon up, although the evening session was a different story.
Allen recorded breaks of 66 and 70 to remarkably cut the deficit from six to two frames.
However, Robertson then responded in style, notching 121 and 130 centuries to book a semi-final spot.
He faces either Ronnie O'Sullivan or Mark Williams in the semi-finals on Friday.
Class of 92' graduates O'Sullivan and Williams meet on Wednesday while Judd Trump faces Luca Brecel on Thursday.
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