O'Sullivan out of Masters

The three-times world champion fought back to 4-4 in a contest in which neither man was at their best, but the tournament favourite paid the price for missing a series of key pots, while he was also blighted by a selection of questionable safety shots in front of over 1,000 fans at Wembley Arena.

O'Sullivan, who has won the Masters four times, joins world number one John Higgins, Mark Selby, Ali Carter and Mark Williams in failing to clear the first hurdle of the London tournament.

Allen will face Neil Robertson or Stephen Hendry in the last eight on Friday.

O'Sullivan has now lost three times in the first round in 17 appearances at the Masters.

This latest reverse comes after he lost to Stuart Bingham in the first round of the UK Championship in December.

"Mark played a good game, so full credit to him," said O'Sullivan. "I'm disappointed with the way I played, but I'm not too concerned about my form.

"I had high expectations, but maybe you can get too carried away.

"It is a fantastic arena, and I got great support today. I am so disappointed I could not go through to give the fans a few more matches, but Mark deserved it.

"Mark is not scared of winning. He has got the mentality. He just needs to carry it through."

Allen is chasing a first major title having reached the last four of the UK and World Championship in recent times.

He was obviously excited to defeat the Chigwell player in a front of a fervent home crowd.

"People look at Ronnie, and expect him to make 147s every time he plays. He is only human," said Allen. "He is a genius, and will continue to be a genius for as long as he wants, but now and again you lose.

"I feel like I'm ready to win one of these tournaments, especially after beating Ronnie here because he is probably the best player in the tournament. I will need consistency do that.

"We've had a few strange results here this week, but that just shows you the standard of player in the game today."

The pair split the opening two frames of the day.

Allen made breaks of 38 and 34 to claim the opener, but O'Sullivan was quick to restore parity with a run of 86 after Allen saw a white drop in the pocket via the reds from a potted blue to the middle.

O'Sullivan was clearly at odds with his surroundings as an opportunist run of 88 from Allen was good enough to give him a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval.

O'Sullivan suddenly had his work cut out to avoid becoming an early casualty.

Allen looked poised to take a 4-1 lead when he built up a lead of 62 points, but he broke down on a run of 56.

O'Sullivan stepped in to make a vital break of 64 to pinch the frame by two points, but his game continued to be littered with basic errors and wayward shot selection in his potting and safety game.

Allen assumed control of the sixth frame with 36 before finally killing off the frame for a 4-2 lead aided by a few more sloppy tactical shots from O'Sullivan.

The Essex man was first at the table in the seventh frame. He rolled in a 43 only to see a black wriggle out.

O'Sullivan played a crazy double on a red later in the frame that missed by some distance, but it proved to be a frame-winner as Allen failed to make a tough cut on a red to a middle pocket.

O'Sullivan was flying in the next frame after sinking a long early red. He faltered on 66, but Allen could not capitalise with 73 left on the table as he undercut a red to give his opponent the chance to level.

O'Sullivan continued to be guilty of squandering chances. He was on a run of 46 in the next frame only to blow another chance as the red stayed up.

Allen held himself together to move within one frame of victory with a break of 87 and closing runs of 32 and 28, including an excellent red holed along a cushion, were good enough to conclude the win.

Ironically, while O'Sullivan missed a few short-ish pots, his sometimes inconsistent long game was in outstanding shape - but that could not give him the platform to progress.