Allen had done the hard work yesterday storming into a 7-0 lead before Ford could get on the scoreboard. The last two frames of the opening session produced centuries, one for each player, Allen was unfortunate when he over ran the cue ball potting the fifteenth black.
The second session started brightly for Ford. Breaks of 77 and 71 reduced his arrears but Allen who looked a little flat took a scrappy twelfth. Ford showed his heavy scoring capability, taking the next with a 58 before Allen secured victory with the aid of a 72.
He now faces Ryan Day or Mark Davis in round two.
Mark Allen
Was it 10-4 or 10-5, I don't know my head has gone, it could have been 10-9 for all I know. I didn't feel comfortable at all out there today, felt a little flat. I did all the hard work yesterday and I relaxed a little bit too much.
Normally at the start you feel a little bit nervous and that's something you can feed off. The nerves help you perform but today there was nothing. Everything went wrong and in the end I was glad to get over the line.
If you come into a session 6-3 or 5-4 you've got a bit of work to do, being 8-1 up it's only a matter of time and I think Tom would have been the first to admit that. I never really dealt with it that well and let Tom back in the match.
I'm excited to get through and hopefully I can perform better in the next round. If I play like I did yesterday I don't fear anyone, I just need to perform more consistently over the next few rounds and I'd have every chance of winning the tournament.
Not even beating Ronnie but beating him when he wasn't playing bad. He played alright and I completely out played him in the last session which was very good for my confidence on the whole. I've had wins against other top players but not over the longer distance or at the Crucible. Even the way I fought back against John in the semis gave me a lot of confidence, I took a lot of positives out of the tournament as a whole.
I didn't think about it at all (the cheque for a maximum), I was really nervous. I was surprised I kept potting the balls, I thought my head was going to fall off I was shaking that much. I held myself together alright even though I was ridiculously nervous, it's big, big money for me. I was a little bit unlucky not to get a chance on the green.
Tom Ford
Obviously first time here at the Crucible, I was not expecting to do anything special but I did expect to play a lot better than I did. I missed too many balls out there and made it very easy for him.
The first frame was massive yesterday, with it being my first visit here, I needed to get off to a good start.I got the I wanted making a solid 59 break but after missing a difficult red and then Mark (Allen) clearing with 64 to win the frame. It's not often you can say that the first frame was a turning point but in this match it was.
At 6-0 and 7-0 down I was still feeling the pressure, so I was relieved to get my first frame on the board. In the second session I made the score look respectable, my main objective was not to get beat with a session to spare, so if nothing else I achieved that.
I really enjoyed my first time at the Crucible and even when I was 8-1 down after the morning session, in a weird way it was still a great experience. So I will have a few weeks off and then start to prepare for next season, because I would love to qualify again for this event.
Looking at Marks' chances, I think he will do well. I dragged him down a little today so he is sure to play better in his next round. I'm not sure if he will lift the trophy this year but at some stage of his career he will.
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