Dean leads Allen 5-3
Ding Junhui lost 2-0 and 3-2 and established a 5-3 lead over Mark Allen at the end of the first session of their first round of the Duelbits Tour Championship in Hull.
This is a decisive match for Dean as the loss ended his hopes of being ranked as the top 16 seed at the Cazoo World Championship. And the Chinese ace has risen to the challenge so far, recovering from a slow start to secure a comfortable cushion for two frames ahead of tonight’s final. They resume at 19:00 from the first to ten frames to advance to the semi-finals.
Top-seeded Allen, who already has three titles this season, took the first frame by clearing the last red and then made a 2-0 break of 72. Ding returned with a 116 break to add a fourth frame at 2-2.
After the break, Allen regained the lead with a streak of 52 but failed to score in the next two frames as Ding’s streaks of 51, 67 and 92 saw him take a 4–3 lead. The last frame of the session came down to a safe fight with the two remaining Reds, and Dean outmaneuvered his opponent and then took the opportunity to double his lead.
