2017 Masters (Day 2) - Allen defeats Higgins in classical thriller

The second day of the 2017 Masters edition from Alexandra Palace and we had such a classical snooker thriller on our hands, Mark Allen managing to defeat four-time world champion John Higgins 6-5.

On a totally different note though, "Gentleman" Joe Perry hammered the 2015 world champion and recently father of a sweet baby girl Stuart Bingham, 6-1 in a beautiful display of solid breaks.

The meeting between Northern Ireland and Scotland (aka. Allen and Higgins) started on a balanced note as "The Wizard of Wishaw" took the first two frames of the match with a top break of 111, while Allen responded with a 51 to draw level as the interval was starting.


Another half-century break was taking Higgins back in the leading chair, this time though Allen firing in breaks of 81 and 104 to go 4-3 up.

However, John managed to level things up, only to miss a huge chance in frame nine which came down to a re-spotted black; a black that Allen potted in a brilliant way!

The Scotsman didn't give in and used a 77 to force the decider and seemed quite determined to close the deal but missed a red early in the frame (down on 30), Allen sealing his 6-5 victory with a just a top break of 44 points.


The evening came and with it Perry's landing in the quarter-finals, an achievement he's only marked once, so the 6-1 win over Stuart Bingham becomes even more important.

Joe opened by cashing the first two frames, the first with a 116 break and the second by potting a re-spotted black (theme of the day, one could say!), Bingham only managing to pull a 132 (the highest of the tournament atm, to be fair) before his opponent could end with breaks of 77, 76 and 107.

Perry will now meet Ding Junhui in his second Masters quarter-final.

Today's match schedule looks something like this:

1pm
Judd Trump v. Marco Fu

7pm
Neil Robertson v Ali Carter

*all hours are UK time

Photos credit: World Snooker