World Championship 2026: Mark Allen moves into semis with victory over Barry Hawkins

Mark Allen’s bid to become the oldest first-time world champion in the modern era gathered momentum as he reached the semi-finals with a 13-11 victory over Barry Hawkins at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

The 40-year-old Northern Irishman is aiming to complete snooker’s Triple Crown having previously triumphed in the UK Championship and Masters.

However, snooker’s biggest prize has so far eluded him in 19 previous attempts with his win over Hawkins earning him a place in the last four for only the third time.

Having resumed at 8-8, Allen took the opening two frames of Wednesday morning’s session only to be pegged back by the 2013 finalist, who knocked in breaks of 70 and 83 in response.

The players traded frames before Allen constructed his third century of a high-quality affair to move 12-11 ahead.

In a dramatic final frame Allen took control with a break of 59 and sealed his passage to the single-table stage after the Englishman underhit an attempted snooker on the pink just seconds after fluking a red to give himself the chance to force a decider.

Allen said he felt: “Relief more than anything.

“Barry scored really well, he had 14 breaks of 50 which is a ridiculous level and to come out on top shows where my game is as well.

“I thought the second session was one of the best I have ever been involved in, it was really high-quality snooker.

“My heart sank when he fluked that red – I’m over the moon to get over the line. If you could have seen inner Mark when he didn’t reach the pink, he was doing somersaults and then I potted a good yellow.

“I have won everything else, why can’t I win this? I am thinking about it because I come here every year thinking I can win it for the first time.”

Allen will now face either Wu Yize or Hossein Vafaei in a best-of-33 encounter that begins on Thursday at 19:00 BST.

Should Allen win the world title he will become the oldest first-time winner in the modern era, eclipsing Stuart Bingham, who claimed the world title in 2015, aged 38 years and 343 days.