Mark Allen is pleased to engage in some psychological games with Mark Williams before their Tour Championship semi-final on Saturday, bringing up the fact that he has always had the upper hand in their past matches.
Allen defeated Ding Junhui in the quarter-finals in Manchester, while Williams has defeated Tom Ford and Judd Trump to reach the last four.
It is an intriguing battle between the Northern Irishman and the Welsh Potting Machine, with the victor facing either Ronnie O’Sullivan or Gary Wilson in Sunday’s final.
The Pistol is clearly in good spirits as he prepares to face Williams, recalling numerous victories over him over the years, including their only meeting this year at the Players Championship.
Allen claims to have won nine of their last 10 matches, while CueTracker indicates eight of the last 10, which is still very impressive, giving Allen 14 wins to the 48-year-old's seven in all competitions.
‘A match I always anticipate, we’ve had some intense contests over the years. I’m not certain if we’ve ever played over a best of 19 so that’ll be an interesting one,’ Allen told ITV4 after defeating Ding.
‘I’m going to subtly suggest that I’ve won nine of the last 10 against Mark, so hopefully he’s aware of that. I’ll subtly suggest it on the practice table as well before we start on Saturday.’
Stephen Hendry implied Williams wouldn’t be affected by that record, but Allen disagrees.
‘He actually messaged me before the last time we played,’ he said. ‘So it’s in there somewhere. But he’s playing great snooker.
‘The clearance he took the other night against Tom Ford is one of the best I’ve ever seen in my life. and to beat Judd 10-4 he’s obviously doing a lot of things well.’
Williams has already rectified a poor record this tournament, defeating Judd Trump for the first time in a long-format match.
‘It’s about time I beat Judd because I have lost a few close matches against him,’ said the three-time world champion. ‘To beat the player of the season so far 10-4, I can’t ask for any more than that, even though he didn’t play well.
‘My game is as good as it could be given where I am in my career. It’s not going to get better now, I’ll just try to keep it going for as long as I can. This is a nice stepping stone ahead of the Crucible.’
Allen commented on that significant victory: ‘The scoreline for Mark Williams tonight was a bit of a surprise but he is one of the all-time greats. I will need to play well and I always look forward to playing him.’
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