Unshakeabley confident and unaffected by his opponent's reputation, Mark Allen was composure personified en route to beating Ronnie O'Sullivan, the title holder, 13-11 for a quarter-final place in the Betfred.com World Championship.
Allen, a 23 year-old from Antrim, Northern Ireland, who won the 2004 World Amateur Championship, came of age as a professional by overturning a 9-7 deficit against the short-priced favourite for the £250,000 first prize.
No one has successfully defended at the Crucible since Stephen Hendry in 1996, and O'Sullivan's attempt to win the sport's blue riband event for the fourth time came unstuck in the face of fierce determination from a fellow countryman of Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor.
Allen has the same fire in his belly they possessed and when, with runs of 59 and 68, the left-hander rallied to 9-9, thoughts of a major shock began to germinate. His subsequent capture of a gripping 19th frame, by slamming in a difficult re-spotted black, confirmed O'Sullivan's vulnerability.
A 105 break, with 147 potential until he overcut the 14th black, enabled O'Sullivan to draw level at 10-10 and, after losing the 21st frame, the world No1 made 68 for 11-11, direct from Allen screwing in-off in potting a red.
The pivotal moment arrived in the 23rd frame. Leading by 37, O'Sullivan fell victim to the mounting tension. He undercut a black off its spot, Allen produced an 80 clearance and moved into uncharted Crucible territory with runs of 34 and 46 in the next. This time, O'Sullivan was not undone by frustration, and his discipline remained intact. Instead, the most influential factor was the persistent excellence of Allen, the No16 seed and a player yet to appear in a world ranking tournament final.
Magnanimously, O'Sullivan congratulated his unexpected conqueror: "Mark played brilliantly. He was better than me and if he keeps on playing as well he's got a great chance of winning the whole thing." Allen's jubilation was in contrast to last year's exit when tears flowed following his 10-9 defeat, from 9-7 up, by Hendry in the first round. Next on Allen's agenda is Ryan Day, who eased to a 13-5 victory over Nigel Bond.
Periodically since he was 18, O'Sullivan has mooted the possibility of retirement but – at 40 – Hendry retains a thirst for competition only outweighed by his continued craving for success. The Scot is not content with an unparalleled career c.v. After triumphing at the Crucible for the seventh time, to break Ray Reardon's modern era record, Hendry insisted he would not mind if he never won another match. Few believed him then, and, a decade on, even he concedes that sentiment was ridiculously premature.
On Friday, the championship was locked in a time warp as the finest player to ever yield a cue beat Ding Junhui 13-10 to reach his 18th world quarter-final. Hendry highlighted his 64th match victory at the Crucible with a 140 total clearance, his 118th century at snooker's most famous venue. That brought his 1,000th frame win there, a mind-boggling figure given that only six players have been involved in 1,000 frames at the championship.
Yet Hendry's over-riding objective is not to pad records that may never be threatened. He is convinced that, four years removed from his most recent tournament win, the 2005 Malta Cup, the world title could be regained.
"Vindication will only come from lifting the trophy. That's the thing that will give me real pleasure," said a man who has won over £8.5m in career prize money trying to recreate a feeling of accomplishment no amount of money can buy. Hendry now comes up against Shaun Murphy, the 2005 champion, who drubbed Marco Fu 13-3 with a full session to spare.
