Snooker star Mark Allen has warned Ronnie O’Sullivan he will apply pressure on him and ‘get under his skin’ in their World Championship match at the Crucible.
Allen defeated Scott Donaldson 10-6 in the first round to set up a second round clash with O’Sullivan. Meanwhile, world No. 1 O'Sullivan fought back from a 3-0 deficit to emerge a 10-5 winner against David Gilbert.
Allen defeated O'Sullivan at this stage in 2009, and is well up for the challenge, saying: “Ronnie looks in a good place, but we know it can turn very quickly. It's up to me to play well, get under his skin a little bit and see if that changes.”
The duo are scheduled to clash on Friday in the first session of their best-of-19 frame match, with the second session on Friday evening. The contest will be concluded on Saturday afternoon - and Allen is not worried about facing the man who has won the most ranking tournaments in the sport.
“A day in the life of Ronnie O'Sullivan - I'm not sure I would want to be in it,” admitted Allen. “Ronnie's Ronnie - he'll always bring a lot of off-table stuff with him, but that's part and parcel of what he brings to the sport and how big a draw he has become.
"He's not just a genius on the table. Some of the stuff he does off the table gets people talking. He's probably the only one in our game that can create column inches off the table.
“You want to play against the best on the biggest stages. It's what we play the game for. But Ronnie's just another opponent for me - you have to play very well, but you could say that about a number of people in round two.
“The only time we've played at Sheffield I beat him so I have to try and keep those sort of memories going forward.
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“I appreciate how tough the task is but I think Ronnie's been coming here 30 years maybe and he's won six so that means he's lost 24, so I just want to be one of those. It's just a game of snooker. I'll go out there, hopefully play well and control myself.”
Elsewhere, John Higgins defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 10-7 while Ding Junhui was knocked out following a 10-8 loss to Kyren Wilson.
