Mark Allen well aware of his impressive record against ‘all-time great’ Mark Selby
'I've beat him many times before.'
Mark Allen is expecting a serious challenge against Mark Selby at the Masters on Thursday night, but is well aware of his impressive record against the four-time world champion.
The Pistol and the Jester meet in a heavyweight quarter-final at Alexandra Palace, with Allen looking good in a first round win over Si Jiahui and Selby really impressing in a demolition of Ali Carter.
The pair met at the same stage a year ago, with the Northern Irishman making a 147 on his way to a 6-5 win, bouncing back from 4-1 behind.
Allen beat Selby again as recently as last month at the Riyadh Season Championship and is in a small group of players who can boast a winning record against him.
If Selby repeats the form he showed against Carter then he will be a fearsome test, but Allen is looking forward to it.
‘I love playing Mark. I feel like he’s right up there with the likes of Ronnie and Higgins,’ said Allen. ‘He’s the ultimate test of your game. He tests out every part of your game.
‘I’ve got a good record against him. I beat him here last year at the same stage. I beat him in Saudi recently and beat him in Saudi last year. But I need to go out there and play well or I’ll get beat.’
He added on the BBC: ‘I’m looking forward to it, he’s one of the all-time greats. He played pretty much perfect snooker yesterday from what I’ve seen. I’ll need to be somewhere near my best to beat Mark Selby but I’ve beat him many times before, he’s beat me and I expect another close match.
‘I think the matches with me and Mark are just whoever plays better on the day wins and that’s just simple. If I go out there and play well, that’s all I can control.’
In all competitions, Allen is ahead 14-13 in the head-to-head with Selby. Excluding the Championship League, the Northern Irishman leads 11-9.
Allen beat Si 6-2 in his opener, knocking in breaks of 111, 70, 94 and 80 along the way and is trying to play with more freedom than he has been in recent times.
The last couple of years have seen the Pistol slow down a bit, searching for his best form and taking his time in doing so, but he wants to get back to a more free-flowing style.
‘I’m trying to be a little more natural out there,’ he said. ‘I don’t know how it looks, but it feels better. I was just fed up of playing really long-winded matches, even when I was winning, it just wasn’t fun. That’s not the way I want to play.
‘I never wanted to play the way I was for a while there, but I just felt it was the only way I could win because I wasn’t playing well enough.’
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