Mark Allen

Mark Allen (born 22 February 1986) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He won theWorld Amateur Championship in 2004. The following year he turned professional and took only three seasons to reach the elite top 16. Entering the 2010/2011 season, he is ranked 10.

Allen has reached four ranking semi-finals: the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy, the 2008 Bahrain Championship and the 2009 World Championship and 2010 China Open. In June 2009 he won his first professional title, the invitational Jiangsu Classic in China.

A left-hander, Allen's highest break to date is a 146 which he has achieved twice, once in the2007 UK Championship qualifiers and at the 2010 World Snooker Championship.His break-building style is a little unorthodox in the modern game, in that he rarely goes into the pack of reds early in a break, preferring to pick off loose reds and establish a lead.

Before turning professional for the 2005/2006 season, Allen won the European Championship and the IBSF World Championship, plus Northern Ireland Championship at under-14, under-16, and under-19 levels. His early career was aided by National Lottery funding.

By chance, an invitational Northern Ireland Trophy was staged shortly after Allen turned professional. As a local player, he was invited and made an immediate impact, defeating Steve Davis and John Higgins to reach the quarter-finals, before losing to Stephen Hendry. In his first year on the tour, he reached the last 32 of the 2005 UK Championship and the 2006 Welsh Open, losing 2–5 to the then World ChampionShaun Murphy after leading 2–0. He also got to the final qualifying round of the 2006 World Championship, losing 7–10 to Andy Hicks, after leading 7–4.

In March 2007 he qualified for the World Championship for the first time, winning 3 matches culminating in a 10–4 win over Robert Milkins. In April 2007 he beat former world champion Ken Doherty 10–7 in the first round held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, but lost to Matthew Stevens 9–13 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 no. 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." Allen did not reach 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 it he defeated Gerard Greene 5–3 to reach the semi-final, where he lost 3–6 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 5–9. He then reached the quarter-finals in the 2008 China Open before losing to Shaun Murphy. At the 2008 World Championship he led Stephen Hendry 6–3, 7–4 and 9–7 before losing 9–10. However, first-round defeats for all his rivals for a top 16 place ensured that he finished the season at number 16 in the rankings.

After a consistent season Allen was back at the Crucible the following year where he beat Martin Gould in his opening match. He facedRonnie O'Sullivan in the second round and confident and unaffected by his opponent's reputation, Allen beat the defending champion, 13–11 for a quarter-final place in the 2009 World Championship. He then defeated Ryan Day by the same scoreline to reach the semi-finals,where he lost 13–17 to John Higgins, despite making a determined fightback from 3–13 down.Soon after his run in the World Championship, Allen won his first professional tournament, the 2009 Jiangsu Classic beating home favourite Ding Junhui 6–0 in the final.

During the 2010 Masters, Allen beat the World Champion, John Higgins, by 6–3 in the last 16. He lost out 5–6 to eventual champion Mark Selby in the quarter-finals.

On the first day of the 2010 World Championship on 17 April 2010, Allen came close to recording his first ever maximum break in his first round match against Tom Ford after potting 15 reds with blacks, and the yellow, before breaking down on the green. Five days later, Allen made the first 146 break in World Championship history, and the second of his career after defeating Mark Davis 13–5 in the second round. He was defeated 12–13 in the quarter-final by Graeme Dott, having led 12–10.

At the 2010 UK Championship, Allen reached the semi-finals for the first time, where he was beaten 9–5 by eventual champion John Higgins. In the Masters, Allen again reached the semi-finals, and led Marco Fu 4–1 before Fu reeled off five frames in a row to win 6–4. At the 2011 World Championship, Allen entered as the 11th seed and played Matthew Stevens in the first round, recovering from 9–6 down and seeing Stevens miss a pot on the final pink to win the match 10–7, before winning 10–9. In the second round, Allen defeated Barry Hawkins 13–12.He reached the semi-finals for a 2nd year in a row but lost to Mark Williams 11–5.