Brentwood comeback king Mark Allen wins the 2025 English Open in historic deciding frame

Victory for Allen at the Brentwood Centre represents his 12th ranking event title, but his first in over 18 months. On the all-time list of most decorated ranking event champions, Allen moves into joint 10th alongside Shaun Murphy.

The 39-year-old, who collects the £100,000 first prize for his efforts this week, has now claimed three of the four Home Nations Series events. Allen won the Scottish Open in 2018, and back-to-back Northern Ireland Open crowns on home soil in 2021 and 2022; in the latter of those finals, he also denied Zhou.

This will surely be one of the sweetest triumphs of Allen’s career because of the manner he achieved it in. ‘The Pistol’, who earlier in the tournament explained that he was struggling with conditions at the venue, survived deciding frame outcomes in five consecutive rounds - a sequence that began with a 4-3 win over Stuart Bingham in the last 32.

In the last 16, Allen recovered from 3-0 down to oust Ding Junhui 4-3 before conjuring up an even bigger comeback in the quarter-finals when he strung together five frames in-a-row to deny Elliot Slessor, 5-4.

Against former Crucible finalist Jak Jones late on Saturday night in the semi-finals, Allen was at it again, as he rallied from two down with three to play to score a 6-5 verdict.

It looked as if Allen on was course to be a comfortable victor in the final against Zhou as he established a 7-3 lead, but he found himself starring in a post-midnight epic where he again had to dig deep with his back to the wall, winning the final two frames for the trophy. More on that below.

English Open glory is timely for Allen, who travelled to Essex in decent form having made the last four of the preceding Wuhan Open last month.

Although Allen scooped a big jackpot at last December’s Riyadh Season Championship invitational in Saudi Arabia, this run in Brentwood was his first ranking event final appearance since February 2024.

That somewhat barren spell - by his high standards - had contributed to him slipping outside of the world’s top eight rankings. Coming into this competition, on the provisional end-of-season list, Allen was projected to be outside the elite top 16 bracket. Bear in mind, last year, Allen spent a brief period as the world number one.

However, with the dynamic nature of the world ranking system, Allen can start looking up again, as he rises from 10th to 7th in the updated standings. He is also sitting pretty on the one-year/seasonal list to qualify for all three Players Series events, and is now surely guaranteed a spot at November’s Champion of Champions.

The story of the 2025 English Open final

Allen began the final in great style as he fashioned a break of 132 in the opening frame.

Zhou, appearing in his fourth ranking event final and aiming for his maiden crown, levelled proceedings, but Allen took firm control of the contest later in the afternoon session as he notched up five of the next six frames to hold a 6-2 advantage going into the evening's concluding programme.

On resumption a few hours later, Zhou required a strong start. The 27-year-old deposited frame nine, but Allen re-established his four-frame buffer at 7-3 up.

However, Zhou, who had seen off Mark Williams, Barry Hawkins, Luca Brecel, and Mark Selby in the four previous rounds, had come too far to pack it in, going on a memorable five-frame winning streak to completely turn the tables and lead for the first time, on the hill, at 8-7 ahead.

Having earlier won the opening mini-session of the night to reduce his arrears to just two, the possibility of Zhou completing an incredible comeback win felt very real in frame 13 when he produced a classy counter clearance of 72 on the final black after Allen had faltered when on a break of 60.

Plenty of drama was dished up in frame 16 as Allen steadied his ship and stopped the rot with a run of 71 to leave his opponent needing a snooker. Zhou hung on in there, though, accumulating enough points to get back into the frame, and later laying successful snookers on the colours which Allen failed to escape from.

With the frame back in the balance, Zhou's gallant effort became academic as he went in-off, leaving the green near a corner pocket that Allen sank before slotting home further colours to restore parity at 8-8 and force a deciding frame.

The encounter going all the way created professional snooker history, as it was the first time that three consecutive ranking event finals had gone to a deciding frame finish.

Last month, Neil Robertson pipped Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Saudi Arabia Masters, and Xiao Guodong shaded Gary Wilson to retain the Wuhan Open title.

Zhou had first chance in the decider but missed a smelly red, although he got away with it. However, he wasn't so fortunate with a subsequent, erroneous safety that allowed Allen in.

The Northern Irishman coolly crafted a 61 break, but within a few pots of the winning line, he missed a blue to give Zhou hope. Faced with an awkward cut back on a red along the top cushion, though, Zhou missed it to virtually hand Allen the match on a plate. Zhou would return for snookers, but it wasn't long before a handshake arrived.

Visit our 2025 English Open tournament information centre here for the draw, results, and details on the format, schedule, and prize money