Allen powers through

Superb Mark Allen found an extra gear today as he stormed through the Championship League group 6 as an easy winner.

After four straight days of intense snooker, the Northern Irishman has finally made it into the winners group, and is well worth his place.

On Tuesday night, he lost out on progression from group 5 losing 3-0 to Ryan Day in the final.

That seemed to be playing on his mind as he began group 6 with two straight defeats, but today he found something extra winning four of his five matches by a comfortable 3-0 margin.

Whitewashes of Judd Trump and Mark Davis booked his place in the play-off.

Then he breezed past both Matthew Stevens and Stephen Lee in the semi-final and final respectively.

I've often written on this blog how Allen is destined to win trophies in the sport. It's these kind of spells that prove what he's got in the locker. He's such an aggressive player, but when it goes right, he's like a bulldozer who cannot be halted.

These Championship League groups are proving a real tough test for the players, with almost wall-to-wall snooker to be played. Some players have been hitting the wall. But Allen motored on when it mattered. It can be long and boring out there. Allen showed why he's a different class.