World Snooker Championship: Mark Allen beats Scott Donaldson 10-6 in first-round match

Allen (right) is a three-time Crucible quarter-finalist and made the semis in 2009

Mark Allen will face world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round of the World Snooker Championship after beating Scott Donaldson 10-6 at the Crucible Theatre.

The Northern Irishman led Donaldson 5-4 after the first session and extended his lead to 7-4.

Scotland's Donaldson narrowed the deficit to one but Allen won the last three frames to advance.

Also on Monday, Anthony McGill beat qualifier Liam Highfield 10-7.

The Scot will play the winner of the match between England's Judd Trump and Iranian Hossein Vafaei.

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Having edged the opening session, a break of 57 helped Allen move 6-4 clear and he established a commanding three-frame lead by winning the next.

However, Donaldson fought back as he secured back-to-back frames to move within one at the mid-session interval.

Allen held his nerve though with a run of 52 helping him edge 8-6 clear before victories in the final two frames closed out the match and set up a best-of-25 frame match with six-time champion O'Sullivan.

Allen's best World Championship performance was a semi-final appearance in 2009 - beating O'Sullivan in the second round - and he has also reached the quarter-finals three times, most recently in 2018.

Last year, the 36-year-old exited at the second-round stage, having been beaten in the first round in 2019 and 2020.

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