Trailing 2-0 and 53-0 down in the third frame, Marco Fu looked down and out against Mark Allen but incredibly he managed to turn things around and win the 2010 Championship League tonight to book his place in next season’s Premier League…
Marco Fu 3-2 Mark Allen
31-75(38), 35-72, 64-61, 94(94)-26, 134(134tc)-0
Who says that shorter matches cannot be dramatic? Leading 2-0 and with a big lead in frame three, Mark Allen looked set to secure a place at the 2010 Premier League for himself with an impressive victory over 2003 champion Marco Fu tonight.
Marco however was able to get himself back into the frame and though Allen soon drilled in an excellent green from the cushion before clearing to the blue to leave him needing a snooker, Fu was not ready to give up just yet. This proved to be fully justified as he laid an excellent snooker on the final pink, which Mark subsequently missed to leave frame and match suddenly back in the balance. The only consolation for Mark having failed to escape was that he had left the cue ball tight on the top cushion but any relief was to be short-lived as Marco dropped in a fabulous pink, held for the black and potted it to keep himself in the match at 2-1.
Mark had in truth not done a lot wrong but this proved to be a crucial turning point as from there Marco seemingly could not miss, making 94 in the following frame before sealing a memorable comeback with a total clearance of 134 in the decider. It was a really impressive effort, particularly when taking into account how Marco has played for the majority of this season and a real reward for his consistency during this event in 2010.
I must confess however that I was hoping for Mark to win this, nothing against Marco at all but Allen is a player that I would love to see playing in the Premier League, indeed I feel that his style of play would be perfectly suited for the competition. Hopefully he will be able to impress during the upcoming World Championship and perhaps earn an invitation that way…
Still, take nothing away from Marco Fu, it was a fabulous comeback and he will now be keen to make amends for a poor Premier League season in 2009 later this year…
For the full results from the Winner’s Group, please click here.