Mark Allen Advances to Scottish Open Quarter-Finals After Defeating Jack Lisowski

Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen, who previously secured the Scottish Open title in 2018, advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament in Edinburgh on Thursday by overcoming Jack Lisowski with a 4-3 scoreline. The world number five found himself behind twice during the match but ultimately claimed the decisive final frame with a break of 68. This victory sets up a last-eight encounter for Allen against Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham, who had earlier defeated Ali Carter 4-2. Lisowski initially took a 1-0 lead with a break of 106, but Allen responded with a 78 in the subsequent frame to level the score. The English competitor regained the advantage, only for Allen to equalize at 2-2 following a run of 112. Allen then moved ahead for the first time, making the score 3-2. However, Lisowski achieved an 80 break to draw even once more. The Northern Irishman then secured frame seven, mirroring his quarter-final win against Lisowski at the recent UK Championship. Earlier on the same day, 2023 world champion Luca Brecel triumphed over International Championship winner Ding Junhui 4-3, despite the Chinese player achieving two centuries. Xiao Guodong secured a 4-1 victory against Stephen Maguire, compiling four breaks exceeding 80, which extinguished any remaining hopes of a Scottish player lifting the Stephen Hendry Trophy. Wu Yize defeated beaten UK Championship finalist Barry Hawkins 4-3, while Chris Wakelin prevailed over Xing Zihao 4-1. Tom Ford, last week’s Shootout winner, was victorious 4-1 against Long Zehuang, and Lei Peifan emerged as a 4-3 winner over 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham.