Mark Allen battles back to reach World Snooker Championship semi-finals

Former world number one Allen reaches the last four of snooker's flagship event for the third time in his career where he'll be aiming to make his maiden Crucible final.

A contest that had all the hallmarks of being a ding dong, it was reigning Welsh Open champion Hawkins who eked out a 5-3 opening session lead from Tuesday morning’s action with several breaks over 60, including a 114.

During their second act, that evening, Hawkins opened up a three-frame gap for the first time at 7-4, but number 14 seed Allen dug deep, taking four of the final five frames - highlighted by efforts of 138 and 131 - to restore parity at 8-8.

In what was a high-quality session, Hawkins crafted a break of 140 in frame 14 - the fourth 140 of these televised stages in Sheffield.

Resuming on Wednesday morning for their concluding session, momentum stayed with Allen as he nudged in front for the first time since 2-1 before going 10-8 up on the final pink.

But Hawkins - who had lost six of the previous seven frames - responded, crafting efforts of 70 and 83 to level up at 10-10 heading into their final interval.

When play continued, Hawkins squared up again at 11-11 after going one down, but it was current English Open champion Allen who reached the hill first with a break of 104 in frame 23 - his third ton of the match and seventh of the tournament.

Aiming to force a decider, Hawkins got in the balls in frame 24 but missed a high black whilst on a sequence of 38. Allen went in with a 59, but was unable to get on the final red that was locked on a side cushion, and elected to play safe.

A few moments later, Hawkins found himself in a tricky snooker on the red. Not only did he escape from it, but he incredibly fluked it into the green pocket.

Not landing on colour, though, he decided to roll up behind the pink for a snooker, but in another huge twist, he failed to reach the pink with the cueball and put himself in trouble.

Put back in by his opponent, Hawkins hit the yellow but left an opportunity for Allen that he took with both hands to make it through to his sixth ranking event semi-final of the season.

Former Masters and UK Champion Allen requires the sport's ultimate prize to complete a 'Career Triple Crown'. The 40-year-old spoke after his opening round victory in Sheffield about how he'd be 'very disappointed' if he doesn't win the Crucible accolade in his career.

‘The Pistol’ has previously been to the one-table set-up in Sheffield twice before: in 2009 he was defeated 17-13 by John Higgins, and three years ago he was ousted 17-15 by Mark Selby in a gruelling encounter.

Next up, Allen will play either China’s Wu Yize or Iran’s Hossein Vafaei; neither of those players have made it this far into the Championship before.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Snooker Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.