Allen: Hearn should quit

The Northern Irishman - a former World Championship semi-finalist - feels Hearn made a bad mistake by reducing the number of frames at the UK Championship from best-of-17 frames to best-of-11 frames until the semi-final stage.

Hearn - who managed Steve Davis during his period of dominance of the sport in the 1980s - has played a key role in the revival of darts' popularity away from terrestrial television, but Allen believes snooker should be treated with more respect.

Speaking after his 6-3 win over Adrian Gunnell at the Barbican Centre, Allen said: "In the long run he'll probably do good for snooker, but not for my generation. It's time to let someone else have a go.

"When Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championship, UK and Masters wouldn't be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed.

"I don't think he's pleasing too many players, but anyone who voted for him has only got themselves to blame. I wasn't one of them.

"I've got no doubt he'll tweak the World Championship. The whole tradition of the game is going to pot.

"It's not all about bringing people in to watch and have a good time, shouting and having a drink.

"He needs to get away from the darts factor. It's getting close to that."

Allen was always the likely victor against the world number 63 Gunnell, who spurned numerous chances to apply some pressure to the world number 14. Breaks of 77 and 56 enabled Allen to move 2-0 ahead before a 58 handed Gunnell his first frame of the match.

Allen led 4-1 and 5-2 aided by runs of 91, 40, 71 and 68 before he closed matters out with another half century, but he will be thankful to Gunnell for assisting his passage by squandering the opportunities that came his way.

Allen will confront Ali Carter in the final of the second round matches on Wednesday night.

Judd Trump will face former world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan after a fluked pink helped him complete a somewhat fortuitous 6-4 win over Dominic Dale.

Trump is probably the biggest draw in the sport behind O'Sullivan - who progressed with a 6-1 thumping of Steve Davis on Sunday - after his run to the final of the World Championship in May.

"Ronnie is playing the best he has played for a long time and he is feeling the best he has for four or five years," said Trump. "He's really up for it. Hopefully I can give him a good game and if I can get on top of him maybe he'll get impatient, but the same goes for me. Two or three years ago I would have felt under pressure, but I think the pressure is on him."

Trump looked to be heading for an early tumble after falling 4-2 behind against the unpredictable Dale, who has two ranking titles (1997 Grand Prix and the 2007 Shanghai Masters) in his portfolio.

The turning point of the seventh frame proved to be the main focal point of the match as the world number seven Trump threw his cue at a long pink with the reds and colours nicely placed for a sizeable contribution.

He watched the pink ball stay out of a baulk bag only to land in a middle hole, much to the chagrin of the Welsh player.

Dale looked visibly wounded as Trump went on to make a frame-winning clearance of 83 that turned a probable 5-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead in favour of Dale.

With his cue arm working to some effect, Trump, 22, levelled at 4-4 boosted by a run of 53 before further knocks of 54 and 62 enabled the Bristol player to progress with Dale beginning to miss balls that were hitting the back of the pockets earlier in the match.

Trump had opened with a run of 56 only for Dale to restore parity with a lovely 118.

A 58 break gave Trump a 2-1 lead only for Dale to win the next three frames with a 61 in frame six giving him a two-frame advantage before the fluked pink altered the outcome of the contest. O'Sullivan and Trump meet at 12.30pm (GMT) on Tuesday.

Two-time champion Mark Williams suffered a scare when almost falling to pieces against world number 50 Joe Jogia, but recovering to win 6-4.

Williams had little difficultly opening up a 3-1 lead, breaks of 75 and 74 taking him clear of his unheralded rival, but Jogia exploited some mistakes from the Welshman.

Williams produced a break of 86 to take a 4-2 lead after Jogia had pulled it back to 3-2 after a re-spotted black, but the favourite struggled badly in the next two frames.

A routine yellow and an easy brown went unpotted as Jogia made it 4-3, and a break of 57 from the Leicester-born Jogia saw him level at 4-4.

Williams was still guilty of missing some easy shots in the next two frames but Jogia was unable to continue his run and it was the world number two who progressed.

Ricky Walden, who plays Williams in the last 16, pulled off a minor shock when defeating world number 13 Stephen Lee 6-3 to reach the next round.

Walden lead 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 thanks to breaks of 55, 51 and then 93, before Lee produced a brilliant 103 to level at 3-3.

However, the Chester-born Walden closed out the match in impressive fashion, and breaks of 98 and 54 secured his place in the last 16.