Mark Selby and Mark Allen will meet in the Players Championship quarter-finals, continuing one of the few rivalries that Selby is not getting the better of.
The four-time world champion has a winning record against the vast majority of players he has ever faced, but not the Pistol.
In all competitions, Allen leads their personal rivalry 15-13, including the last two, most recently in the quarter-finals of the Masters last year.
The Northern Irishman is not at all surprised to see himself ahead against the Jester from Leicester, feeling he raises his game against the best in the business.
‘I think there’s probably not many of the top players that I don’t have a decent record against,’ said Allen. ‘I think it just brings the best out in you because you know what you’re going to get.
‘Mark’s very, very rarely less than 80 per cent. You know you have to go out and match him in all departments, not just go out and try and blitz him off the table.
‘I don’t want to say we have similar games because Mark’s one of the all-time greats – he’s won a hell of a lot more than I have – but I think we pride ourselves on never giving up, coming from behind, winning ugly, but we can play some really good snooker too that sometimes goes under the radar with the likes of Mark.
‘It’s just a match I always look forward to playing and it just tests every part of your game, so it always tells me where I’m at.’
Selby booked his spot in the last eight with a 6-3 win over Jack Lisowski, while Allen beat Wu Yize by the same scoreline.
The Englishman also sees a lot of himself in his opponent on Friday night, with neither man expecting any signs of wilting from the other.
‘He’s just very similar to myself. Doesn’t give in, very good all-round game, scores well,’ Selby said of Allen. ‘His defensive play is very, very good. Just a very, very tough match-player. So I’m expecting a tough game.
‘Every time we play each other, it’s always quite a decent match and it’s always a tough game. Neither of us give an inch and I’m sure that will be the same when we play each other on Friday night.’
While Allen holds the lead on the head-to-head, Selby has won both their meetings at the Crucible, the most recent coming in the semi-finals in 2023.
It was around that time that Allen had developed a much more circumspect side to his name, taking more time over shots and turning down more pots than you might expect from him.
The former UK and Masters champion has spoken more recently of how he intends to speed up again, rediscovering some more attacking intent.
Selby feels either version of Allen is a stern test, but he has become harder to beat in recent years.
Asked which side of the Pistol he’d prefer to face, Selby said: ‘Neither, to be honest. Obviously, he’s just a tough player.
‘I’ve played him so many times and I’ve played him years ago when he was really, really attacking. Then I’ve played him since when he’s got the good match-play. I think he’s probably harder to beat now than many years ago because he’s got that all-round game.
‘I think he’s probably looked at the sport and thought, you know what, to try and get to the top you need the all-round game. You can’t just be all out attacking and expect that to happen. Obviously you can have one week where it just all clicks and you play well and win a tournament. But to be consistent, I don’t think you can just keep playing that style of game.
‘So, he’s worked on his game and obviously he’s been at the top of the game for years now. He’s definitely doing something right.’
Selby and Allen meet at 7pm on Friday in the last of the quarter-finals in Telford as the remaining players scrap it out for the £150,000 top prize.