Allen makes 147 after saying table should be 'burned'

Mark Allen made a 147 maximum break at the British Open - before winning a second match which lasted until 01:30 BST to set up a quarter-final against Judd Trump.

Northern Ireland's Allen previously said the table at the tournament in Cheltenham should be "burned" but he comfortably beat Belgium's Ben Mertens 4-1 in his first match of the day, featuring the 147.

It was a much more laboured affair against Chris Wakelin in a match which went into the early hours of Friday morning, with Allen winning 4-3.

Allen took a 3-1 lead but was pegged back to 3-3 by the Englishman before finally sealing victory in a drawn-out final frame.

Trump won both his matches 4-2 on Thursday despite not being at his fluent best - and the Englishman also described the table conditions as "horrible to play" on.

"It’s tough, the conditions are not great so you’ve just got to win any way possible," Trump told ITV4 following his match against Davis, while pointing out that the white had moved twice without being touched by either player.

"There’s five or six games a day on the table and it's too much," he added.

"It’s horrible to play because you want to go out there and be able to play your best and when you’re not given the conditions to do that it’s disappointing."

Allen has also previously criticised tables at the event, though World Snooker said its table-fitting team had been "consistent for some time and works to the highest standards".

Meanwhile, Elliot Slessor made a break of 128 as he claimed a shock 4-2 win over world champion Kyren Wilson to set up a last-eight meeting with Scotland's John Higgins.

Higgins, who recently saw a 29-year unbroken spell in the top 16 of the world rankings come to an end, beat fellow Scot Graeme Dott 4-2 and comfortably won 4-0 against Malaysia's Rory Thor.

Jak Jones made a break of 128 on his way to a 4-2 success over 2023 world champion Luca Brecel and will now face Oliver Lines who won 4-1 against Stan Moody.

Mark Selby came through a final-frame decider to progress with a 4-3 win against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and he will now take on fellow Englishman David Gilbert, who had earlier beaten China's Lyu Haotian by the same scoreline.