MARK Allen lost his qualifying match for the International Championship in Sheffield on Wednesday, going down 6-4 to England’s Mitchell Mann.
The Antrim man struggled for fluency until breaks of 85 and 82 drew him level at 4-4 from 4-2 down. However, the world number 84 took the last two to seal progress.
Ken Doherty took a notable scalp on Tuesday evening when he beat Stan Moody 6-5. The veteran Dubliner was pegged back from 5-3 ahead by breaks of 76 and 51 from the 18-year-old, but then prevailed in the decider.
Coalisland rookie Fergal Quinn is due to play Hossein Vafaei at 2.30pm on Wednesday, while on Thursday afternoon (2.30), Antrim pair Jordan Brown and Robbie McGuigan are in action, the former against Oliver Lines and the latter facing Tom Ford.
On Thursday morning (9.30), there’s an all-Cork battle between 23-year-old Aaron Hill and 18-year-old Leone Crowley.
The final stages of the tournament move to Nanjing in China on the opening weekend of November.