Mark Allen is ranked 11 in the world

Mark Allen suffered another bitterly disappointing defeat as Ding Junhui fought back from 3-1 down to beat the Ulsterman 4-3 at the Welsh Open.

Allen quickly established a two-frame lead and Ding was fortunate to win a scrappy third.

The Northern Ireland scraped through a grim fourth frame but after Ding pulled one back, Allen wasted a glorious chance to seal victory in frame six.

Instead, Ding's run of 81 set up a decider which he took with a 79 break.

Allen failed to capitalise when a shocking safety and a fluked plant left him a good chance in frame six.

It's another gut-wrenching defeat for Allen after he squandered a 4-1 lead to lose 6-4 against Marco Fu in last month's Masters semi-final at Wembley.

Ding's win set up a quarter-final meeting with Ali Carter.

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