UPDATE: In a shocking turn of events, Mark Allen suffered a 4-2 defeat against David Grace in his opening match at the BetVictor Welsh Open on Monday evening. Despite this upset, Allen remains the frontrunner for the lucrative £150,000 bonus awarded to the overall winner of the BetVictor Home Nations Series.
The bonus is crucial, as it goes to the player who tops the rankings from the four events in this series. Allen entered the tournament with a solid lead after clinching the English Open title in September and reaching the semi-finals of both the Northern Ireland Open and Scottish Open in October and December, respectively. Currently, he has amassed £142,000 from these events.
However, the competition is fierce. Chris Wakelin, the winner of the Scottish Open, starts this week £33,000 behind Allen in second place, while Jack Lisowski, who won the Northern Ireland Open, trails by £1,000. Notably, Judd Trump, the world number one, opted out of this week’s tournament, leaving Zhou Yuelong and Chang Bingyu as other potential challengers. Zhou holds £79,200, while Chang has £49,600.
The stakes are high as Wakelin and Lisowski can overtake Allen by reaching the final this week, which guarantees a prize of £45,000. Zhou and Chang will need to win the tournament to claim the top prize. All four players are set to compete again on Tuesday, with Chang facing Shaun Murphy in the morning, followed by Lisowski against Louis Heathcote and Zhou against Alexander Ursenbacher in the afternoon. Wakelin will take on Liam Pullen in the evening.
In other matches, Aaron Hill suffered a 4-0 loss to Joe O’Connor, while Allen’s Antrim club-mate Robbie McGuigan is scheduled to face David Gilbert on Tuesday evening.
As the tournament progresses, all eyes will be on the remaining competitors to see if they can challenge Allen’s position for the coveted bonus. Stay tuned for updates as the action unfolds at the BetVictor Welsh Open!
