UK star Mark Allen beats Jimmy Robertson 5-1 to reach last 16

The world no.53 from Bexhill was beaten 5-1 by 10th-ranked UK Championship runner-up Mark Allen in round one of the Haikou World Open, although the scoreline flattered the Northern Irishman, nicknamed The Pistol.

The first two frames were scrappy, but a break of 61 in the third put Allen into a 3-0 lead. Robertson won the next with a break of 49 doing the damage before Allen closed out the match by winning two close frames.

Allen admitted: “I didn’t play very well. On any other day Jimmy probably could have won 5-1. I think I won three frames on the black and I think 3-3 or 4-2 to Jimmy after six frames probably would have been a fair reflection.”

Robertson won three matches in the qualifiers last month just to get to the Far East and then defeated highly talented Chinese 14-year-old Zhou Yuelong 5-2 in the wildcard round on Monday.