Mark Allen cruises past Joe Perry to set up Champion of Champions group final against Judd Trump

Mark Allen progressed to the group final at the Champion of Champions in Bolton with an entertaining 4-2 win over Joe Perry, setting up a clash with defending champion Judd Trump.

There was nothing to separate the two players after four frames, but Allen pulled away in style to take the final two.

The winner of Allen’s clash with top seed Trump, scheduled for the evening session on Wednesday, will face Mark Selby in the semi-finals.

Perry drew first blood on Wednesday afternoon, pouncing on a mistake from Allen in a tight opening frame to sink the blue and take a 1-0 lead.

But the Northern Irishman responded in emphatic style, producing a break of 118 to draw level.

An error from Perry, missing a black off its spot, gave Allen the opportunity to take hold of the third frame and he did just that, taking it 70-12 to go 2-1 up.

Allen’s tail was up, and he began frame four with an almost table-length pot to get started, but he missed a simple red – as he had twice in previous frames – to give Perry an opening.

The Englishman reached 44 before a cut on the pink went wayward, but Allen’s foul on the pink increased Perry’s lead and he saw out the frame to draw level and punish the eighth seed’s profligacy.

A lengthy safety exchange kicked off frame five, but a miss from Perry eventually handed Allen an opening and he carefully put together a break of 110 to go one frame from victory.

The confident Allen then marched to victory with a break of 97 to conclude a confident display and send him into the final.