Allen eyes Rocket conqueror

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Allen held his nerve to clinch a tense 5-3 victory over compatriot Gerard Greene in their quarter-final clash on Friday night at Belfast's Waterfront Hall. And there was joy too for former British Open winner O'Brien as he upset crowd favourite Ronnie O'Sullivan with a gutsy 5-2 win.

But although Allen is relishing the opportunity to play world number 37 O'Brien in his first ranking event semi-final, he admits he expected to be playing 'the Rocket'.

"I would have loved to have had the chance to play Ronnie. If I do go on to win the tournament it's not quite the same unless you've beaten Ronnie along the way," revealed Allen.

"It adds to the tournament, you need to have beaten Ronnie before it really counts. There's a lot of really good players and it's probably wrong for me to single him out like that, I just think he's a genius on the table.

"It would have been really good and I'm sure the atmosphere would have been absolutely electric. But with Fergal getting through it's going to be tough, if not tougher because he's beaten Ronnie. I'd rather be in the next round and facing a tough match than sitting at home."