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| Mark Allen defeated Ding Junhui 4-1 to secure the Ruhr Open. Image: Monique Limbos |
Earlier in the afternoon, Allen whitewashed Robbie Williams in the semi-finals, with the highlight being a 139 clearance in frame two. It had been an excellent run to the last four from Williams, who is now up to 73 in the rankings.
He defeated Belgian prodigy Luca Brecel in the quarters in the most dramatic of circumstances. The pair were locked at 3-3 although the Brecel seemed destined to have claimed the match with Williams requiring a snooker of the final pink. However the Wallasey man managed to get one which Brecel missed and he duly potted pink and black for victory.
Ding was made to work much harder for his final place, eventually overcoming a resilient Stephen Maguire, 4-3. Recent Shanghai masters champion Ding won the first two but Maguire hit back to take the next three to go 3-2 up. But Ding dug deep and took the sixth on the final black to force a decider before hitting an excellent 98 to take victory.
Ding had earlier beaten Ryan day in the quarters, a player who has really seemed to regain his form in recent months. Maguire meanwhile beat Leiceter’s Ben Woollaston 4-3, a player who had knocked out Ronnie O’Sullivan in the second round on Friday. The other quarter saw Allen defeat Judd Trump 4-1.
Other notable performances in the tournament included Chris Norbury, ranked 111, who reached the last 16 before being defeated by Woollaston. Kyren Wilson’s excellent return to the tour also continued as the Shanghai Masters quarter-finalist also reached the last 16 before bowing out to Trump.
The highest break in the tournament was a 144 from Gerard Greene during his win over amateur Phil Barnes in
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