Scottish Open 2024: Mark Allen dazzles in Edinburgh as world champion Kyren Wilson stunned by Stephen Maguire

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Mark Allen, Luca Brecel and Stephen Maguire were among the big names to move into the third round of the Scottish Open. Maguire beat world champion Kyren Wilson to seal his progress, while Mark Allen impressed in a 4-2 victory over Ryan Day. Elsewhere, Brecel set up a mouth-watering clash with Ding Junhui in the last 16 in Edinburgh. Stream the Scottish Open live on Eurosport and discovery+.

'Best he's played all season' - Allen lights up Edinburgh with his third century to clinch win

Video credit: TNT Sports

Mark Allen looked back to his best in a 4-2 win over Ryan Day, as he reached the third round of the Scottish Open.

The Northern Irishman has struggled for fluidity on the baize of late and described some of his play in a first-round win over He Guoqiang as "awful" but The Pistol was imperious in defeating Day.

He opened his account with a century and responded superbly to falling 2-1 behind.

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A 127 clearance helped Allen restore parity before breaks of 78 and 103 got him over the line in style.

"That was good snooker there, and it needed to be against Ryan because I felt like he was playing well too," Allen told Eurosport. "I can’t really play much better than that."

Allen admitted he has "deserved" some of the recent criticism he has received before adding that he hopes he can build on the momentum he has found in Edinburgh.

'Like shelling peas' - Allen fires home quickfire century to grab go-ahead frame

Video credit: TNT Sports

Asked why he thinks he has struggled recently, he continued: "I just wasn’t enjoying it and I thought I needed to do something different.

"It’s alright winning these matches but when it’s always a slugfest and long, drawn-out frames I don’t really get a lot of enjoyment out of that.

"That [today’s performance] is the way I want to play snooker. I’m not saying I’m going to play like that all the time, but that’s the way I want to play."

Up next for Allen is a clash against Jack Lisowski - who sealed his spot to the last 16 with emphatic whitewash victories over Jordan Brown and Si Jiahui.

'That's the way I want to play' - Allen delighted by dazzling performance in win over Day

Video credit: TNT Sports

World Champ Wilson stunned

Elsewhere, Stephen Maguire joined Allen in the third round with a stunning 4-2 upset win over world champion Kyren Wilson.

Maguire, who lost 6-0 to Wilson at the UK Championship, won the opening frame with a break of 79 to take a 1-0 lead.

The Warrior responded by winning back-to-back frames to swing the match in his favour, but it was level again when Maguire produced a break of 67 in the fourth.

And the Scot backed that up with visits of 71 and 128 to seal an impressive victory to set up a meeting with Xiao Guodong.

"[It was] better than two weeks ago but that wouldn’t be hard, would it?" Maguire told Eurosport.

'It was horrible' - Maguire could not stomach rewatch of UK Championship loss to Wilson

Video credit: TNT Sports

"I think I just got myself worked up at the UK [Championship]. I watched the game back and I never do that, and I had to put it off. I looked as if I was going to wreck the place at one point – you can’t play snooker like that."

Also into round three in Edinburgh is Luca Brecel, who beat Zhou Yuelong 4-1.

The Belgian star won the opening frame comfortably before a break of 91 took him 2-0 clear.

Zhou responded with a visit of 115 to cut Brecel's advantage in half, but the 2023 world champion held his nerve, making a break of 103 to restore his two-frame advantage and move one away from victory.

Brecel, who needed the assistance of Stuart Bingham just to open his cue case ahead of his 4-3 win over compatriot Julian Leclerq in the first round, booked his place in the next round with another half-century in the fifth frame.

Next up is a mouth-watering clash with Ding Junhui, who eased to a 4-2 win over Jackson Page.

At the end of a gruelling afternoon session, Tom Ford continued his fine form to dispatch Neil Robertson, completing a comfortable 4-1 victory.

Robertson took the opener and looked certain to make it 2-0, but Ford dug deep to steal the second frame and level.

That sparked a run of four successive frames – including a break of 96 – as the Englishman eased into the last 16.

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