DAQING, China, Nov.4 (Xinhua) -- With an early 4-0 lead in hand, Mark Allen downed 17-year-old Yan Bingtao in the semifinal of 2017 World Snooker International Championship 9-2 to meet defending champion Mark Selby in the final here in Daqing, China.
Yan was 0-4 down at the start of the afternoon session. A 73 and a 98-point breaks in the following two frames helped him cut the deficit down to 2-4, while Mark Allen responded with two century breaks in the seventh and eighth frame to finished the first session 6-2 in the best-of-17 semifinal.
The night session came to an early end within an hour with Allen winning three more frames to beat Yan 9-2, making himself the finalist play against Mark Selby.
"I played very well today, I didn't make many mistakes, I put Yan under pressure from frame one and I knew that was important, playing in front of your home fans is sometimes tough. It's his first time major semifinal, I have to use my experience to put him under pressure early." said Allen at the press conference.
He was confident of himself. "If I didn't think I can beat Mark Selby, I wouldn't be here. I am very confident of my own ability, if I play my best I can beat anyone. But Mark Selby is absolutely the ultimate competitor, he is world No. 1, he has won three out of four major tournaments last season. He's gonna be very hard to stop but I believe in my ability if I play well I've got very good chance."
After winning the semifinal, Allen has taken over the No. 6 ranking instead of Ronnie O'Sullivan, but according to him, it "makes no difference". "If I keep winning matches the rankings take care of themselves, it's a nice position to be in but I am here to win the tournament, I am not worry about the rankings."
Yan was satisfied about his performance here in Daqing, he defeated O'Sullivan, John Higgins on his way to the semifinal, and his original plan was to buy the plane ticket back to Beijing on October 31st. He will now return to Beijing on November 5th, reviewing his turnovers and mistakes in Daqing before fly to Shanghai and face Mark Allen again in the first round of Shanghai Masters.
