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Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen reached the second round at the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham by earning a 4-2 win over England’s David Gilbert.
Gilbert, 41, led 2-1 helped by a break of 68 but after levelling, a 133 clearance moved Allen ahead before he took the sixth frame to clinch victory.
Allen, 36, leads the one-year rankings list after winning the UK title and Northern Ireland Open this season.
However he lost 6-0 to Barry Hawkins in the Masters first round last week.
Allen will face either England’s Joe O’Connor or China’s Lyu Haotian in the second round of the event which features the top 32 players from the one-year rankings list.
In the other match in Monday’s first session at the tournament, China’s Zhou Yuelong edged out Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-3.
Zhou, beaten by Allen in the Northern Ireland Open final, produced breaks of 66, 104, 60, 58, 59 and a match-clinching 107 to win an entertaining contest against the world number 44.
