Mark Allen comes up against Germany’s Lukas Kleckers in the first round of the UK Championship on Wednesday. Allen has never managed to claim one of the big three prizes in snooker but he will be confident of avoiding a first round upset in York ahead of his meeting with the world number 127. Allen is 1/12 to come out on top or 5/1 to win 6-0, while Kleckers is 6/1 to produce what would be a huge upset.
The closest the Northern Irishman has come to a Triple Crown title was in the 2011 edition of the UK Championship but since then he has managed just one further quarter-final appearance in the event. Allen has managed a few impressive results this season and reached the International Championship final, although he fell in the second round of the Northern Ireland Open in his last tournament. Defending champion Mark Selby also gets his tournament underway on Wednesday as he faces off against Basem Eltahhan of Egypt.
The world number one has managed to claim a ranking title this season by landing the International Championship but he has been dumped out before the last eight in five of his seven tournaments so far this year. Selby is 1/100 to come out on top and Eltahhan, the world number 131, is 20/1 to claim a victory as he bids to avoid a third successive first round tournament exit.
UK Championship odds available at Dafabet.
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