Northern Ireland Open: Mark Allen stunned by world No. 96 Andres Petrov in second round in late-night thriller

Mark Allen, the 2022 Northern Ireland Open champion, has been knocked out of this year’s edition by world No. 96 Andres Petrov.

Allen was the heavy favourite going into the match as the reigning champion and was seeking his 16th consecutive victory in the competition.

However, the 37-year-old, who also won the event in 2021, could not find a way past the Estonian who won the dramatic contest 4-3 in Belfast.

Petrov immediately put on the pressure on Allen by winning the opening two frames and it was a lead he would continue to maintain.

Allen won a scrappy third frame to half the deficit before Petrov restored his two-frame lead.

He cut in a thin blue and played a positional shot from pink to black which he knocked in to move within a frame of victory.

The Pistol would not go down easily, though, and fought back to level at 3-3. Allen tied Petrov up in a snooker before forcing his Estonian opponent to concede and forced a tense deciding frame.

After a comfort break and a handshake before the final frame, Allen squandered a glorious chance to survive in the tournament. Needing just up to the pink for victory, he rattled the final blue against the jaws of the right corner pocket.

Petrov then cleared up the blue, pink and black for a remarkable win to stun the remaining home crowd in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

At 3:21am UK time on Tuesday, Allen posted on X: “Not to be tonight. Gave it absolutely everything but came up just short.

“Thanks to everyone for their support as always here in Belfast. It doesn’t go unnoticed and you deserved better. Back to the practice table for me.”