Mark Allen defeated Cao Yupeng 65-4 as he collected the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out trophy on Saturday night in Swansea.
Cao had been one of the standout players of the tournament, but Allen had arrived determined to collect the ranking trophy and he was in charge from the off in the last match of the night.
Allen went 16-0 up with the first break of the match but Cao returned to the table to fire in a long pot and then a yellow, before wriggling in a red to the bottom left that set him up with an awkward blue.
Allen then returned for a second sizeable break as he took advantage of an open spread of reds that allowed him to go 46-4 up with two and a half minutes remaining, and he left Cao with little on.
A failed hit-and-hope from Cao gave Allen four points and the chance to work his way through the pink and black, and the Chinese player came back at 65-4 down with no clear way back. Another wild slash at the white ball saw Cao concede as Allen secured victory.
The win is the Northern Irishman’s second title of the season, to go with his Champion of Champions success, and the 10th ranking crown of his career.
Semi-finals
After more than three minutes Ali Carter sunk a long red but promptly allowed Cao in for him to open his scoring.
Cao slipped up and Carter had three minutes to catch his opponent, and he had to contend with reds bunched tightly around the pink spot or up against different cushions. He ended 35-18 behind, and Cao sunk a superb long red to start building up his lead and running down the clock.
Cao was able to keep the ball moving with some extravagant follow-through, before missing the blue, and by that time Carter was forced to concede with no hope
Mark Allen and Steven Hallworth were next to the table to decide the second participant in the final, and Allen moved 29-0 clear before leaving Hallworth trouble to pot anything from high up the table, and Allen came back to the table only to miss on the rest at 30-0.
Allen picked up the pace at 60-8, Hallworth had no time to get back into the match.
Quarter-finals
Cao was given an early chance by Mark Davis but after some brief exchanges the score still sat at 0-0, until Cao guided a red to the middle-left pocket before failing to pot a colour.
Against the backdrop of an increasingly rowdy crowd, Davis had the chance to work through the black and a couple of reds.
With 150 seconds left the scores were 13-13 and Cao started to ease ahead using the lower-value colours, winning 39-13 for his first semi-final appearance at the tournament.
Allen started well against Si Jiahui as favourite for the tournament but an excellent opening red saw him earn just eight early points before Si briefly came to the table before sinking the white, and he came back in 44-1 down and conceded at 51-18 behind with a couple of minutes remaining.
Dominic Dale moved 19-0 up and then left Hallworth stuck behind the green in the top right, but a dreadful miscue allowed Hallworth back in, and with two minutes remaining, he was 22-19 up.
It took three minutes for a ball to be potted as Elliot Slessor took on Carter, and it was Slessor who got off the mark first, but the pressure told at 24-0 up when he rattled the black against the jaws of the bottom left.
Carter went 40-24 up before missing a long red with two minutes left, and shortly after Slessor missed his chance to hit back and conceded.
Fourth round: Wilson and Si play out a classic encounter
Kyren Wilson and Si Jiahui played perhaps the best-ever Shout Out match in the fourth round as Si won a blue-ball shootout.
The match ended on 48-48 when the buzzer sounded, leaving a blue-ball shootout between the pair, after the Chinese player ran out of time when he appeared poised to snatch victory after the cue ball regularly swapped between the pair as the pressure mounted.
With the pressure ramping up both players potted four successive blue balls, until Wilson – without an oven glove – slipped up.
In the first match of the next round, Dominic Dale’s 53 helped him edge a 63-46 win against Iulian Boiko.
‘Worth the admission money alone’ – Si Jiahui stuns Kyren Wilson in epic blue-ball shootout
Cao Yupeng was relatively untroubled as he outpointed Hammad Miah 31-16.
Allen went 6-0 up against Oliver Lines, and the pair struggled to 14-2 with less than a minute to go. A wonderful long pot from Lines took him 14-3 behind, but he was forced to attempt a double to stay on his break, only to miss.
Allen stepped up to sink a red and he ambled to a 15-10 win to reach the next stage.
‘This is incredible’ – Si beats Wilson after epic blue-ball shootout
Mark Davis ended Liam Davies’ run, with the veteran extending his stay in the competition with a 73-0 win.
Steven Hallworth, an amateur who has now decided to focus full time on the sport, was rewarded for his commitment as he defeated Long Zehuang 48-33.
Jimmy Robertson lost 50-36 to Elliot Slessor as he ran out of time to cut down on the deficit he was trying to whittle down.
With two and a half minutes remaining, Ali Carter was 26-27 behind Michael White in the last match of the round and edged 32-27 ahead with a few seconds left, and White could not catch his opponent.
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