They are great friends away from the table, and Mark Allen admitted it will be a surreal experience to face-off against Stephen Maguire for a place in the last eight of the UK Championship.
Both players edged 6-5 classics in the round of 16 at the Barbican – Allen holding his nerve against Neil Robertson while Maguire stunned Mark Williams with a magnificent fightback.
Allen revealed the pair have rarely met in a competitive environment, and believes they will be no bad blood whoever wins the quarter-final clash.
“I’m looking forward to it – me and Stephen haven’t played much over the years, I think he beat me 3-0 in the old group Grand Prix stage, years and years ago,” said the Northern Ireland potter.
“I beat him in China and that might be our only two meetings.
“It will be good to go out there and do battle with him – Stephen is the kind of guy – we’re best mates off the table and he will want to kill me on the table. He will want to eat me.
“We’ll slug it out and try and rip each other’s heads off on the table, but when the match is over, we’ll shake each other’s hands and probably give each other a hug.”
Watch the Snooker UK Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds
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