Allen 16/1 After Dramatic Fightback

News provided by

Apr 21, 2011, 05:21 ET

SHEFFIELD, England, April 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Allen has been cut to 16/1 from a biggest price of 50s for the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship after staging a stunning fightback to win 10-9 against Matthew Stevens.

The 11th seed from Northern Ireland recovered from 9-6 down and will play Barry Hawkins in the second round.

Betfred spokesman Jon Wilde said: "Allen is gaining a reputation for being a Crucible specialist and showed fantastic battling qualities at the end of a disappointing season for him. He looks on course to repeat last year's achievement of reaching the quarter-finals at the very least."

The gamble on Ronnie O'Sullivan shows no sign of abating and his odds have been cut again by the sponsors to 5/1 joint favourite with John Higgins, who leads 6-3 against Stephen Lee in their first-round match.

Graeme Dott, the 2006 champion, is 16/1 to repeat that triumph after the three-time finalist completed a 10-7 victory over Mark King.

Mark Selby was not at his best but did enough to open an 8-1 lead against debutant Jimmy Robertson and his odds for the title are unchanged at 11/2 joint third favourite.

For the latest news and videos during the tournament check out our microsite at http://www.betfred.com/snooker.

Betfred.com World Snooker Championship odds

Outright: 5/1 John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan (from 11/2), 11/2 Ding Junhui (from 13/2), Mark Selby, 6/1 Mark Williams, 12/1 Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump, 14/1 Ali Carter, 16/1 Mark Allen, Graeme Dott (from 28/1), 40/1 Stephen Hendry, 50/1 Martin Gould, 66/1 bar (e/w 1/2 1,2).

    Thursday's second round matches:
    1/5 Mark Williams, 7/2 Jamie Cope
    4/11 Judd Trump, 2/1 Martin Gould
    ***Odds subject to fluctuation***

SOURCE Betfred.com