Allen goes 5-3 ahead in Crucible quarter-final

The North's Mark Allen has opened up a 5-3 lead in his quarter-final clash at the World Snooker Championship.

Allen will take the two-frame lead into the second session of the game at 7pm this evening.

Elsewhere, Stephen Hendry racked up a maximum break of 147 as he opened up an identical lead in his quarter-final meeting with Shaun Murphy.

Hendry has now fired in nine maximums in his career, two of them at the Crucible.

He earns £147,000 (€165,400) for achieving the feat, but will have the share the money if another player matches the break.