Northern Ireland Open: Allen suffers quarter-final exit

Mark Allen can only watch on as Anthony Hamilton plays a shot

Home hope Mark Allen was defeated 5-2 by Anthony Hamilton in their Northern Ireland Open quarter-final in Belfast.

Hamilton, who has yet to win a ranking tournament in his 25-year professional career, won a scrappy encounter against an out-of-sorts Allen.

Mark King beat Iranian Hossein Vafaei Ayouri 5-3 in Friday night's other quarter-final.

Kyren Wilson and Barry Hawkins secured a semi-final spot at the Titanic Exhibition Centre earlier on Friday.

English player Wilson, who beat five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last round, edged Mark Williams of Wales 5-4.

Wilson, 24, came through another tight tussle after defeating O'Sullivan 4-3 on Thursday night.

The players were not separated by more than one frame throughout the match with Williams levelling to make it 4-4.

Wilson, who compiled breaks of 95 and 91, won the decider 76-1 and he will face King on Saturday.

Northamptonshire's Kyren Wilson won the Shanghai Masters last year

Hawkins produced a best break of 70 in the last frame of his win over Welshman White.

Hamilton, ranked 76th in the world, knocked in breaks of 96 and 78 on his way to going 3-0 up against Allen.

Allen managed to win two frames but struggled to perform in front of his many fans in Belfast and Nottingham's Hamilton came out as the surprise winner.

"A month ago I was skint and now I'm in the semi-finals," a delighted Hamilton told eurosport.

"I'm not playing great but I'm through and that last frame was one I felt I had to win."

King trailed 3-2 but won three straight frames to clinch a semi-final meeting with fellow Englishman Hawkins.