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Mark Allen (snooker player)
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Mark Allen is a professional snooker player from Antrim town in Northern Ireland and former World Amateur Champion. Allen, a left-hander, ranked as the World no. 16 for the 2008/2009 season, having taken just 3 seasons to reach the elite.
His style is unusual in that he rarely goes into a bunch of reds early in a break, preferring to pick off loose reds and cannons. He has reached a single ranking semi-final, in the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy. His highest break to date is a 146 in the 2007 UK Championship Qualifiers.
Career History
Before turning professional for the 2005-06 season, Allen won the European and IBSF titles, plus Northern Ireland titles at Under-14. Under 16 and Under 19 levels. His early career was aided by National Lottery funding[1]
By chance, an invitational Northern Ireland Trophy was staged shortly after Allen started[2], and he was invited as a local wild card. He made an immediate impact, defeating Steve Davis and John Higgins to reach the quarter-finals, before losing to Stephen Hendry[3]. In his first year on the tour, he reached the Last-32 of the UK Championship and the Welsh Open, losing 5–2 to the then World Champion Shaun Murphy in the latter, after leading 2–0. He also got to the final qualifying round of the World Championship, losing 7-10 to Andy Hicks after leading 7-4.
In March 2007 he qualified for the World Championship proper for the first time, winning 3 matches culminating in a 10–4 win over Robert Milkins. On 24 April 2007 he beat former world champion Ken Doherty 10–7 in the first round held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield[4], but lost to Matthew Stevens 13–9 in the second round. This was his first run to the last 16 of a tournament, and helped him into the top 32 of the rankings, at #29.
In the 2007 Grand Prix, in a match with Ken Doherty, he was involved in an incident that led to his opponent branding him 'a disgrace'. Unhappy that the black would not go back on its spot after potting it, Allen struck the side cushion with his fist. The referee told him that he would be warned if he did that again. Allen was not warned, and ended up winning the match. Doherty said, "He was a disgrace. For such a relative newcomer to the pro game, he's got a serious attitude problem". Mark later commented "it was entirely my own fault and if there are going to be any repercussions then so be it."[5] Allen ended up not making it to the knockout stage of the tournament.
In the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy he gave his home supporters plenty to shout about, by beating Graeme Dott 5–3, Ryan Day 5–3 to reach his first ever Quarter-final. In the Quarter-final he defeated Gerard Greene 5–3 to reach the Semi-final, where he lost 6–3 to Fergal O'Brien. In the following UK Championship he defeated Stephen Hendry in the last 32. He opened his last-16 match against Mark Williams with two centuries in the first three frames, building a 5-1 lead, but Williams fought back and he lost 9-5. He then reached the quarter finals in the China Open before losing to Shaun Murphy [6]. At the 2008 World Championship he led Stephen Hendry 6-3 before losing 9-10. However, first-round defeats for all his major rivals for a top-16 place ensured that he finished the season as #16 in the rankings.
Personal
His partner is the ladies' World no. 1 Reanne Evans, who he says has only beaten him once in practice. They have a daughter, Lauren [1]. Allen dedicated his win in the IBSF to his parents, who sold their home several years ago in order to help support his ambtition to be a top professional.[1]
As a youth growing up in Antrim, Allen attended the Antrim Grammar School for his secondary education.
References
External links
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