Mark Allen reached the semi-finals at last year's World Championship

Mark Allen knocked defending champion Ding Junhui out of the UK Championship after clinching a tense 9-8 second-round win at Telford.

The Northern Irishman led 6-2 after the opening session but the Chinese star produced breaks of 78 and 103 to cut the margin to a single frame.

Allen moved 7-5 up before Ding levelled at 7-7 to set up a tense finale.

The Antrim man won the 17th frame but Ding ensured the decider which Allen won after trailing by 38 points.

Allen will face either Stuart Bingham or Marco Fu in the quarter-finals.

Bingham, the conqueror of Ronnie O'Sullivan, maintained his good form to take a 6-2 lead over the Hong Kong player.

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