I want to stay world number one as long as possible - Allen

Mark Allen says he wants to "stay as world number one as long as possible" after reaching the summit of the rankings on the completion of this year's World Championship in Sheffield in early May.

Allen has yet to win the biggest prize in the sport but his career victories to date have included successes in the Masters, the UK Championship and the Champion of Champions.

The 38-year-old from Northern Ireland defeated Liu Hongyu 5-2 in the first round of the Xi'an Grand Prix in China on Monday.

That tournament will be followed by the lucrative Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters from 30 August to 7 September.

Allen's nearest challenger in the world rankings, Judd Trump, won last month's Shanghai Masters.

"I know Judd Trump is not far behind me and if he wins titles then there won't be much I can do," Allen told the World Snooker Tour website, external.

"But I'm here to win the tournament too. I know I have a lot of points to defend from two years ago so I need to keep winning.

"Saudi will be huge in terms of the number one ranking, because the money there is so big. But it's nice to be the one they are all chasing."

The tournament in Saudi Arabia will be followed by further significant events in the autumn such as the English Open, British Open and Northern Ireland Open in the United Kingdom, plus the Wuhan Open and International Championship in China.

"This is a good time for me because I like a run of tournaments without gaps in between," explained Allen.

"We have this one, then Saudi Arabia, then a few in the UK and then another one in China so it's a busy spell and a chance to gain momentum and hopefully pick up a few titles."

Allen's opening victory over Liu Hongyu included breaks of 66, 58, 111 and 70.

"I was fortunate to be 2-0 up, Liu struggled early in the match," he added.

"Then he showed what he can do when he came from 4-0 to 4-2 and I had to make a good break in the end to win 5-2."

Also on the opening day of the new Xi'an Grand Prix, Ronnie O'Sullivan completed a 5-0 whitewash of Wang Yuchen while world champion Kyren Wilson secured his first win in a knockout match this season as he beat Haris Tahir 5-2.

Mark Selby compiled breaks of 136 and 11 as he defeated Wang Xinbo 5-3 and Gong Chenzhi, a 17-year-old tour rookie from China, caused an upset by seeing off world number 13 Tom Ford 5-1.