Northern Ireland Open 2023 LIVE – Defending champion Mark Allen in action after tense Shaun Murphy win

After almost 16 hours of play, that concludes day two at the Northern Ireland Open. Join us again at 10am for live coverage of day three from the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, where Mark Allen’s reign is officially over. We’ll see you then!

It really is a remarkable win for the world number 96! Not only does he claim a huge scalp, but he ends Allen’s title defence and inflicts a first defeat on the Pistol in 16 matches at the Northern Ireland Open.

Andres Petrov sinks onto the table as he clears up to defeat home favourite Mark Allen on the final black and book his place in round three.

Allen misses the blue! The Pistol rattles it in the jaws of the right corner. Petrov needs blue, pink and black for a remarkable victory.

This match is there for Allen’s taking after he knocks in a brilliant final red along the top rail. He just needs up to the pink for victory.

When cannoning into the reds, Allen is unlucky to knock a couple safe and leave the other two tied up. The Pistol is eventually forced to play safe, but has applied the pressure on his opponent.

The Estonian is going along well, but he seems to take his eye off the green and rattles it in the jaws of the top corner. He punches his forehead in frustration. How costly will that prove?

Petrov has the first chance of this final frame after Allen catches the blue with his attempted safety shot. Can he take advantage?

The players return to the arena after a comfort break and shake hands before commencing the decider. Who will book their place in the next round?

Petrov eventually concedes and we are going all the way to the wire in the final match of day two.

After Allen ties Petrov up in a snooker, the Estonian goes in-off to trail by 31 points with just 27 remaining.

Incredible scenes as Allen almost flukes the final red into the left centre, only to see it hang over the pocket. But Petrov cannot capitalise as he runs out of position, then fails to reach the pink while attempting to roll up behind it for a snooker on the yellow.

The Pistol misses a black off its spot, but his opponent cannot punish after running out of position on the red. Once again, we are set for a scrappy frame.

Allen has another chance after knocking in a long red, but another loose positional shot forces him to play safe when he should really have been looking at setting up a deciding frame in that visit.

Allen sarcastically puts his thumb up to the cue-ball, which sticks in the pack he was attempting to split from potting the green. It is break over at 27, but the Pistol has the upper hand in this frame.

Petrov has the first opportunity after brilliantly cutting in a red to the top corner. But soon after, he misses a black while attempting to develop the reds. There is no damage done on that occasion, but a loose safety then gives Allen an easy starter.

Attempting an ambitious long red, Petrov leaves it on and subsequently concedes the frame. Allen trails by just one and is stay alive.

A run of 48 puts Allen at the snookers required stage. Petrov plays on in search of it, but will also want to prevent his opponent from building momentum.

Allen must capitalise here. He is in the balls and, under normal circumstances, you would expect him to close out the frame without too many difficulties.

A good chance presents itself to Petrov. But he overscrews the cue-ball when potting a red, losing position on the black in the process. There is still plenty of snooker to be played in this frame.

We are already a quarter of an hour into this fifth frame. The reds are quite open, but neither player has had a genuinely decent opportunity to get in and amongst them as of yet.

Petrov knocks in a brilliant long red, but has no position on a colour. Therefore, he rolls up behind the yellow in an attempt to increase the pressure on Allen.

We go on as Monday becomes Tuesday in Belfast. Will Petrov see this out and claim a huge scalp, or can Allen produce a turnaround? It certainly is not beyond the latter’s capabilities.

Petrov cuts in a thin blue and plays a nice positional shot from pink to black, which he knocks in to move a frame away from dethroning the reigning champion.

Petrov misses the blue to the top corner with the rest, but is extremely fortunate to snooker Allen behind the pink. How will this pan out?

After Allen goes in-off, Petrov has a chance to snatch this frame. He needs all the colours, though.

The Pistol is unlucky as he attempts to develop the final red from the side rail, only for it to fall agonisingly short of the right centre. Playing safe, he leads by 29 points with 35 remaining.

This is a decent opportunity for Allen after Petrov misses his attempt and a long red, which he leaves on. There is work to do for the Pistol, but he can strengthen his grip on the frame here.

Petrov looks to capitalise and goes into the lead, but an attempt to develop the cluster of reds goes wrong. He leaves a red on from his safety shot and Allen knocks it in before laying a snooker on the blue.

Allen has an early chance in frame four, but his momentum stalls when a loose positional shot sees the cue-ball finish tight to the blue. He is subsequently forced to play safe.

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A lengthy and scrappy third frame finally comes to an end and goes the way of Allen, who halves the deficit to trail 2-1.

The home favourite attains a further eight penalty points from his opponent. But there is still mileage in this frame with 34 points in it and just 35 remaining.

After tying up Petrov in a snooker, Allen lays another on the final red with a 26-point lead. The Pistol is having to really dig deep here.

A reminder to join us again tomorrow, when the likes of Judd Trump and Barry Hawkins will be in action in Belfast. Three-time champion Trump is aiming to complete a hat-trick of successive ranking titles following his triumphs at the English Open and Wuhan Open. The Ace plays fellow left-hander Julien Leclercq at 7pm.

Allen leaves a long red, which Petrov knocks in. But he then misses a tricky penultimate red along the top rail, and the safety battle recommences.

Despite conceding 11 penalty points, Petrov escapes the snooker at the third attempt. The Estonian is aiming to become the first player to beat Allen at the Northern Ireland Open since Scott Donaldson in the last 32 of the 2020 tournament.

The Pistol edges his nose in front with 59 points left on the table. He then lays a fine snooker in baulk with the four remaining reds close to the cushion near the black spot.

A faint ‘Come on, Mark’ is heard in the audience as they try to rally Allen after Petrov misses a thin red to the left corner with the rest.

It is not happening for Allen at the moment. He misses a blue to the top corner and allows his opponent an easy starter with a red over the right centre.

Reigning Scottish Open champion Wilson hits breaks of 107, 96 and 86 on his way to a commanding win over his German opponent.

Petrov has an early chance after a brilliant opening red from distance. But a couple of loose positional shots culminate in him missing a long pink to the top corner. Can Allen capitalise?

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Petrov clears to the blue and goes 2-0 to the good against the home favourite, whose title defence is under threat here.

Allen attempts a long red, but leaves it on. Petrov knocks it in and should double his lead from here.

Petrov runs out of position slightly and subsequently misses a tricky red to the right corner. There are three reds remaining, though two of them are tied together.

The Estonian plays a couple of decent shots to keep the break going. Can he convert this chance into a 2-0 lead?

Allen seeks an immediate response and knocks in a nice opening red. However, he misses a straight pink to the corner off its spot. Petrov has the chance to counter.

The Estonian breathes a sigh of relief as Allen leaves the last red on. He knocks it in and clears to seal the opening frame.

Allen has attained two of them and is just one away from being able to win the frame. That would be a cruel early blow for Petrov.

A foul by Allen enables Petrov to get to the snookers required stage. The Pistol needs three of them, but will play on.

After a neat run of 30, Petrov misses frame-ball black off its spot. He leads by 35 points with one red remaining, meaning Allen can still tie.

Petrov edges his nose in front before missing a thin red to the left corner with the rest. But after a safety exchange, the Estonian floats in a long red and has a chance to potentially draw first blood here.

Allen has an early opportunity to score heavily, but misses a red to the left corner.

Stay tuned as we now focus on the reigning champion and home favourite, as Mark Allen seeks his 16th consecutive victory at the Northern Ireland Open against Estonia’s Andres Petrov.

Speaking to Alan McManus, Murphy said: “I think that’s what they call playing your free escape card! I was just fully prepared that I’d lost the game; I’d had chances to win at 3-2 and 3-3.

“The last frame was horrible. We both lost our technique a little bit; it was as if the game didn’t want either of us to win.

“I’ve found myself 27 points behind with just the colours on. In my mind, I just went full Selby mode, full granite – ‘I am potting the next ball, I don’t care if we have to stand here all day!’

“There was a lot of good snooker played by us both, there was nice sportsmanship from both sides.”

Shaun Murphy clears from the green to beat Marco Fu on the final black. The Magician was pegged back from 3-1 up and at one point in the decider, he could only tie. However, the former world champion dug deep to scrape through by the skin of his teeth.

Murphy thumps in a long green after Fu fails to leave it safe. The clearance would give him victory on the final black.

A superb escape by the Magician, who manages to hit the green off two cushions and leave it safe. With the rest of the colours in potable positions, it could well come down to this ball.

After Murphy fires the yellow into the right centre, the cue-ball drifts dangerously close to the top corner. But rather than drop in, it nestles in the far jaw and angles the Magician, who requires a decent shot to get out of this situation.

Fu fails to hit the yellow twice while attempting to escape a snooker behind the blue. Murphy, who wastes no time in having the cue-ball replaced, can now win, of course.

Just the colours remain. Murphy needs all of them to force a re-spot, while just one will be enough for Fu to leave his opponent needing snookers.

A great win for the teenager, who is through to the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time in his fledgling career.

We are in the midst of a safety battle with just two reds remaining. Who will blink first?

Fu is going along nicely until he misses a pink to the right centre. Murphy is back at a difficult table with the last five reds not in ideal positions, while only the green and blue are on their spots.

Both players see early opportunities go begging in this decider. Fu has another one here, though the black is out of commission up on the brown spot.

The two players receive a generous round of applause as they shake hands, before Fu gets this seventh and final frame under way.

Fu brilliantly clears and, from 3-1 down, he has forced a decider. Who will prevail here?

Great sportsmanship by Murphy, who owns up to a push shot when looking good for frame and match. Will Fu punish?

Fu knocks in a wonderful red to the top corner, but then rattles a black off its spot in the jaws of the right corner. Another chance for Murphy…

A let-off for Fu as Murphy severely overcuts a red to the right corner. Can the former world number five capitalise?

Murphy crunched in a stunning long red to get in during this sixth frame. Can the Magician close out victory from here? There is work to do yet.

Fu makes the most of his unexpected opportunity, clearing to the pink to extend the match for another frame at the very least.

He can’t take it after undercutting a black to the corner. Fu is back at the table with the opportunity to stay alive.

Fu has a run of 37 before missing a tricky blue to the left centre. Both players then miss opportunities before Fu’s escape from a snooker opens the reds for Murphy. This is a decent chance for frame and match.

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Wonderful stuff from Murphy! In the blink of an eye, a swift 117 moves him a frame away from victory over a struggling Fu.

Murphy, the gentleman that he is, will not have liked to have been presented with the opportunity in the manner that he was. Nevertheless, the Magician will be eager to capitalise on his chance.

Fu has a chance to potentially respond. But a random shout from the audience while he was feathering puts him off, and he subsequently misses a red to the top corner.

The Magician clears to the pink with 80 and it is more than enough to give him the lead for the first time.

A run of 45 moves Murphy to the snookers required stage. The balls are nicely placed for him to clear the table in this visit.

Fu cannot develop the reds as he intended after potting the pink and is forced to play safe. Things have gone a little scrappy in this third frame.

But he can’t! Murphy misses a pink to the left centre and as he sits down, the Magician cannot believe he let that opportunity slip.

A lovely long-range plant puts Fu in at the start of frame three. But he misses a blue off its spot shortly afterwards and Murphy could punish him here.

Murphy compiles a superb clearance of 122 to square things up. That was magnificent from the Magician!

The Magician is on 66 and counting with the frame now safely in the bag. How much will he make here?

Murphy knocks in a brilliant long red and that creates a decent opportunity to potentially level this match.

The two-time Crucible semi-finalist has the first chance of this second frame after floating in a tremendous opening red from distance. But he then overcuts a black off its spot and a safety battle is now in progress.

Fu converts his second opportunity into a frame-winning clearance of 78 that helps him draw first blood in this contest.

The former Scottish Open champion is on 44 and counting. Another red and colours would leave Murphy needing snookers.

Murphy takes the lead, but misses a red to the right centre whilst awkwardly bridging over the cluster. Fu has another chance and the balls are nicely placed.

Fu has the first opportunity of this match, but he cannot fully capitalise after rattling the yellow in the jaws of the corner pocket. Will Murphy punish that miss?

The players are out and all three matches of the evening session are up and running in Belfast.

It is 22 years since Murphy and Fu met for the first time; the Magician prevailing 6-1 at the 2001 Masters. Murphy also came out on top in the most notable of their 19 previous encounters, edging Fu out 10-9 in the 2008 UK Championship final.

Welcome back to everyone joining us as day two at the 2023 Northern Ireland Open continues shortly. Shaun Murphy plays Marco Fu in the first match on the main table this evening, before reigning champion Mark Allen takes on Andres Petrov.

Our coverage will return at 1845 with Shaun Murphy-Marco Fu and the two-time defending champion and local favourite Mark Allen taking on Andres Petrov.

“I know what I’m capable of,” Brown told Eurosport’s Alan McManus. “I’m really working hard on and off the table on a couple of things and it came to fruition today and no better place for it to happen.”

Cao Yupeng 2-1 Dylan Emery
Aaron Hill 2-1 Fan Zhengyi

A break of 51 puts the ‘Antrim Ferrari’ into the third round.

Brown garnered an early advantage, and now a missed long red from Robertson has given Brown a great opportunity to go through to the third round.

A 129-break involving all colours with reds bar green gets Robertson on the board.

Cao Yupeng is one-up against Dylan Emery and Aaron Hill is tied one-apiece with Fan Zhengyi.

The frame dragged on but Brown always looked set to win it and he is now just one away from the third round.

He was up against it anyway but a freak in-off gifted Brown a chance to win the frame, but he fell out of position.

A useful break of 38 has the Ulsterman in control.

Graeme Dott lost 4-1 to Xing Zihao and Martin O’Donnell won by the same score against Ma Hailong.

He potted a long red but was snookered from high colours so conceded.

Fifty-two in front with 43 on the table, if it wasn’t such an abbreviated format Robertson likely would have conceded.

Robertson lost position and Brown missed a red he would expect to have easily cut but does not leave the Australian on.

Fine 94-break from the local man, starting with a clean long red, unfortunately missing the last black as he looked for position with the baulk colours.

Robertson fails to capitalise on early red.

The Thunder from Down Under takes on Jordan Brown in our next featured match.

“I haven’t been feeling very sharp,” Lisowski told Eurosport’s Alan McManus. “I played six frames in two weeks in China and I had about ten minutes practice so I’ve been a bit rusty and it showed yesterday. I thought i was going to lose today quite honestly but I’m in it now…let’s have a bash again.”

You have to feel for Jackson Page. Very hard to do much against Lisowski in this form.

Going early with this, but it looks a chance….

A table which looked far from in an easy position to build a break let alone clear up. He recorded a tournament-leading 144 earlier in the tournament but this one will be one of the best.

His pot success is up above 97% and he is about to go two frames clear.

Martin O’Donnell is one-up against Ma Hailong, while Graeme Dott and Xing Zihao are level at one-apiece.

He only needs two more for victory.

After a tactical battle it now appears Lisowski can clinch the frame.

With his first real scoring chance, Lisowski takes full advantage to draw level.

His foul getting out of one himself, gave Page the first frame.

Lisowski needs two snookers to draw, so Page close to securing opener.

Lisowski cannoned a red en route to baulk, allowing Page to get with his hand on the table.

Our main focus will be on Jack Lisowski’s match with Jackson Page but we will also keep tabs with Ma Hailong’s game with Martin O’Donnell and Graeme Dott-Xing Zihao. Neil Robertson will follow Lisowski’s match when he faces Jordan Brown.

Hossein Vafaei 4-1 Mark Joyce
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Elliot Slessor
Tom Ford 4-0 Hayden Pinhey

Thanks for joining us on the second day of the Northern Ireland Open, live on Eurosport .

A snooker referee endured a moment to forget in the first-round match of the Northern Ireland Open between Muhammad Asif and Robbie McGuigan.

McGuigan was leading 3-1 in the best-of-seven encounter and was at the table as he closed in on victory when the incident occurred.

The 19-year-old confidently potted the pink into the middle to land on a choice of two reds when the referee picked up the white by mistake and attempted to place it on the pink spot.

Quickly realising his error, he did his best to return the balls to their rightful place, much to the bemusement of Asif sitting in his chair.

Not quite the sort of thing that would have settled McGuigan’s nerves either as the Northern Irishman attempted to progress through the opening round of his home tournament.

Luckily, it didn’t deter the teenager, who won the frame and the match 4-1 – having earlier made breaks of 56 and 91 to impress in front of his own fans.

The reward for McGuigan’s brilliant performance and his ability to keep his composure – as the ref momentarily lost his – is a meeting with either Anthony McGill, who saw off snooker legend Jimmy White in the previous round.

McGuigan’s compatriot Mark Allen also made it through to the second round with a 4-0 win over Ben Mertens.

Allen was well below his best but had enough firepower to see off the Belgian.

The Northern Ireland Open will be held at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland, from October 22 to October 29.

All matches are best-of-seven until the quarter-finals, which are the best-of-nine frames.

The semi-finals are best-of-11 frames, with the final a two-session, best-of-17 affair.

Eurosport.com is the destination for daily live blogs, reports, reaction and news.