Allen suffers shock defeat by Lines at NI Open

Allen won the Northern Ireland Open in 2021 and 2022

Mark Allen suffered a shock 4-3 defeat by Oliver Lines, ranked 83, in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.

Lines won a nervy final frame decider after a mostly scrappy encounter on Wednesday, where Allen failed to find the form which helped him advance from his opening match of the tournament against Liu Hongyu earlier in the week.

Lines took the first frame on the black, then Allen levelled thanks to a break of 87.

A run of 73 in the next allowed the Englishman to restore his one-frame advantage but the world number three battled back to restore parity once again.

The Antrim player edged ahead for the first time but Lines won the next two to secure one of the biggest wins of his career.

"It wasn't a good performance. I felt edgy when I went out and it showed in the first frame when I had a couple of chances to close it out and I lost it on the black," Allen told BBC Sport NI after the match.

"I never really settled at all today. I don't know what to put that down to.

"I prepared properly for it, mentally I was pretty good, I just didn't perform."

The loss ended Allen's hopes of winning his home event for the third time in four years and he was magnanimous in defeat, conceding that his opponent deserved to win the tense deciding frame.

"I know I had a half chance at a pink in the middle part of the frame but the way the balls were, Ollie was always in control.

"His safety was very, very good and I knew I was always going to have to fight for everything. I didn't play well enough, Ollie deserved it.

"Some days it just doesn't work. That's all I'm going to put it down to. I'm not going to over-think it."

Also on Wednesday, four times world champion John Higgins went down 4-2 to Barry Hawkins, while 2023 world champion Luca Brecel bowed out 4-1 to China's Pang Junxu.

Current world champion Kyren Wilson survived a scare when he came from 2-1 down to edge out Anthony McGill 4-3 in a compelling and mostly high quality contest.

McGill posted two century breaks while Wilson put together runs of 77, 62 and 70.

A break of 86 ensured Hawkins took the opening frame against Higgins and the world number 19 went on to lead 3-0.

He appeared to be on his way to a straightforward victory but missed a simple yellow with the remainder of the colours at his mercy.

Higgins cleared up to reduce his deficit, then clawed his way back to trail 3-2 and compiled a break of 70 in the sixth.

Hawkins edged across the line however to book a place against world number one Judd Trump in the last 16.

Former NI Open winner Mark Williams advanced with a 4-1 success over Thailand's Noppon Saengkham while Wilson's third round opponent will be Stan Moody after the teenager got the better of World Championship finalist Jak Jones 4-1.

Last year's NI Open runner-up Chris Wakelin lost 4-1 to Ma Hailong while English Open champion Neil Robertson eased past Wang Yuchen 4-0.

Lei Peifan saw off Tom Ford 4-1, Elliot Slessor defeated Long Zehuang 4-2 and Jimmy White lost 4-2 to Martin O'Donnell.