Allen knocks off Wilson to progress to last eight at World Championships  

LOCKED IN: Mark Allen during his match against Kyren Wilson (not pictured) on day eight of the Halo World Snooker Championship 2026 at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Pic: Richard Sellers/PA Wire.

Mark Allen beat world number two Kyren Wilson 13-9 to reach the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

The Antrim native, who had let slip a 5-0 lead earlier in their second-round match, won four of the first six frames in Saturday’s morning session to upset the 2024 champion.

Allen will now face Barry Hawkins or Wales’ three-time champion Mark Williams in the last eight, with the Englishman leading 10-6 in their match which will resume on Saturday evening.

Wilson, who beat Jak Jones to win the 2024 title, had won six successive frames to lead 6-5 and a see-saw battle ensued before Allen won the final two frames in Friday’s session, aided by a 140-break, to edge 9-7 ahead.

Wilson clawed it back on Saturday morning with a score of 78 in the opening frame but Allen produced scores of 78 and 61 to go 11-8 up and, despite losing the next frame, held his nerve to progress.

Neil Robertson, champion in 2010, squandered a 4-1 lead in the opening session of his second-round match against Chris Wakelin.

Australia’s Robertson won four frames on the spin after losing the opener, but world number 13 Wakelin hit back, producing a score of 77 to stop the rot and taking the final two frames of the morning session to level it up.

PA