Mark Allen wins local derby to set up Belfast blockbuster with Judd Trump

There have been fantastic audience numbers all week in the capital, and the crowds flocked in again to watch the home hero local derby between friends and practise partners Allen and Jordan Brown.

Only their second meeting on the World Snooker Tour, the two Antrim cueists started the encounter in style with Allen producing a break of 101 in the opening frame, followed by Brown crafting a 131 in the second.

World number eight Allen took the next two frames - helped by a run of 56 in the fourth - to go into the mid-session interval 3-1 ahead.

Needing to keep in touch on resumption, former Welsh Open champion Brown - who was appearing in his first quarter-final on the professional tour in nearly two years - did just that as he compiled his second ton of the tie, a 120, to reduce the deficit to one.

However, 12-time ranking event winner Allen opened up the gap again via a break of 65 in frame six - despite Brown having had a chance to counter - before countering himself with a 71 in frame seven to record a 5-2 victory and progress in the £550,400 world ranking event.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, Allen described his special relationship with friend Brown: "Me and Jordan are very, very close. We've known each other for 26 years, we grew up playing junior snooker together, we play in the same club, we play 20 feet apart every single day. I know a lot about his life and how he's been doing - and vice versa - so, yeah, hopefully we don't play each other too many times in the future because it's not fun.”

Allen stays on track for a third Northern Ireland Open crown after back-to-back triumphs in 2021 and 2022. The 39-year-old also stretches his 100% winning record on this season’s Home Nations Series. Having claimed the English Open in Brentwood last month, Allen has now won 10 consecutive matches on the four-pronged circuit.

Next up for Allen, on Saturday night, is a huge semi-final encounter with record four-time Northern Ireland Open king Judd Trump. The world number one was in fine scoring nick earlier on in the day as he dispatched John Higgins, 5-2.

Zhou pips Ford in thriller

Over on the other table, there was a nerve-jangling conclusion as Zhou came back to oust Tom Ford on the colours in a deciding frame finish.

Reigning Shoot Out champion Ford racked up breaks of 90 and 60 as he built a 2-0 lead before Chinese cueist Zhou - who was agonisingly denied the English Open title when he lost to Allen in the final a few weeks ago - restored parity at two apiece.

The pendulum swung again after the break as Ford (82 break, frame six) re-opened a two-frame buffer at 4-2 up.

At the point of no return, world number 30 Zhou delivered the goods when desperately required, constructing contributions of 59 and 66 in recovering again and forcing the contest all the way.

It was looking like Zhou's efforts may have been in vain, though, as Ford got in first in the final frame with a 53. But that wasn't enough for Ford to get over the line, and given a sniff, Zhou coolly counter attacked with a classy 77 clearance to the final pink to reach the eighth ranking event semi-final of his career.

The 27-year-old is aiming to go one step further in Belfast than he did in 2022 when he led Allen 4-1 in the final before watching his opponent string off eight successive frames for another title.

Visit our tournament information centre here for details on the 2025 Northern Ireland Open including the draw, results, schedule and how to watch.