Allen blames heat for King collapse

Mark Allen said he adapted to the humidity better than his opponent as he and Mark Selby cruised into the World Open semi-finals.

Allen, who had taken to Twitter earlier this week to voice his displeasure about aspects of the tournament and the host country China, compiled breaks of 103, 100 and 71 on his way to a 5-1 victory over Mark King. King won a scrappy opener but the Northern Irishman quickly came to terms with the hot and sticky conditions in Haikou that made cueing tricky inside the arena. "I can't really take too much pleasure out of that victory," said Allen in his post-match press conference. "I played ok but I think the conditions out there beat Mark King. Conditions were very, very tough for both of us but I adapted better than him and hopefully the conditions will be better in the next round." "I'm happy with way I'm playing, I'm scoring quite well and if I keep playing the way I am, I'm confident that I can win. It will be a tough game against Mark Selby but I'm confident in my own game and if I play well I expect to win regardless of who I play," added Allen. Selby, who once again wore a glove on his left hand to assist his cueing, sunk an out-of-sorts Shaun Murphy 5-0 in the afternoon's other quarter-final. The former world champion had suffered a bout of sickness before the match.