Judd Trump feels quarter-final opponent Mark Allen should be the favourite to win this week’s European Masters in Belgium on form shown so far in the tournament. World number nine Allen has been in decent scoring form in completing three wins in Lommel so far, with a hat-trick of century breaks supplemented by six further half-century contributions as he won matches against Hossein Vafaei, Alan McManus and Ben Woollaston to reach the last eight.
Allen’s form hasn’t escaped Trump’s eye and the world number four says the sort of form that brought clearances of 145 and 141 already this week makes Allen the man to beat. “From what I have seen so far Mark Allen has probably played the best of anyone in the tournament,” said Trump. “He has sped up a bit and made a lot of big breaks and looks very good among the balls. He is probably favourite to lift the title. However, there are a lot of good players left in and hopefully I can raise my game.” Trump is 8/15 to defeat Allen in the quarters, with the Northern Irishman trading at 7/5.
Defending his title at the European Masters, Trump has not looked at his fluent best so far although there were some signs that his best form is not far away during a 4-2 last-16 win over David Gilbert. His match against Allen will be a repeat of the 2011 UK Championship decider that Trump won 10-8. Trump is 13/5 second favourite to retain his title this weekend and is behind only world number one Mark Selby, at 23/10, in the betting.
European Masters odds available at Dafabet.