Mark Allen, a native of Northern Ireland, says he is inspired by Rory McIlroy’s dramatic Masters victory in a bid to win the first World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Allen has previously won the highly regarded Triple Crown, the Masters and the UK Championship, but he has yet to receive the biggest prize in the sport.
The 39-year-old says he wants to emulate McIlroy, who won at Augusta last weekend and won his first of four major championships.
“There are a lot of comparisons. This is my 19th Crucible, and that was Rory’s [16th] Masters. One more tournament away from winning the Triple Crown and the Grand Slam, Allen said.
I was glued to the ups, downs, drama, and every shot of the Masters final round that I watched on Sunday. He has won it, he has lost it, he has lost it once more, and he has lost it. You can see what it meant to him to win in a play-off.
I’ll try to draw as much inspiration from him as I can. If not this year, I’ll return the following year for more. I’ll just keep working hard, hoping that Rory’s door will open for me like it did for Rory.
Allen says he will approach snooker’s biggest stage with a similar positive mindset to McIlroy’s.
He claimed in his interviews that he always believed he had the edge to win in that area. He continued to make that claim in his interviews.
I’ve not had enough play.
Allen joins the Crucible after a largely disappointing season that saw him fall from first place in the world rankings after the previous year’s event to eighth in the standings.
The Antrim cueman made his first five semi-final appearances in December, including the UK Championship and the Masters, despite frequently finding himself in trouble for his best form. He did, however, win the lucrative Riyadh Season Championship invitational tournament.
“The season hasn’t been good,” he said. I can’t explain why I’ve been working as hard as I always do; simply put, I’ve not played well enough, he said.
“I know I won out in Saudi, but I don’t feel like my game is as good as I would like it to be,” says the author, “but this isn’t a bad place to try to rectify that.”
You can see how bad Kyren [Wilson] had last year; he had a better year than I did, but he won the world championship after 17 days at Sheffield.
I still think it will occur, he said.
Allen has already accumulated two World Championship titles, but he now believes he has more of the ingredients for potential success to add to his already impressive career resume.
“You need to get the most out of your bad sessions, be mentally strong, pot a few balls at the right times, and have some luck along the way to win.”
In 17 days, you don’t need to play phenomenal snooker. You’ll never do that, ever. Just compete, be patient, and you’ll find some form soon.
“All you can do is prepare as well as you can prepare, which I always do. Working with the sports psychologist and working hard at the practice table help me a little bit get in shape.
Not that I’m not attempting to improve, I’m just trying. I don’t know what will happen, just that it hasn’t yet.
On Sunday, Allen will face Fan Zhengyi, the world number 46 player who is one of the top 10 Chinese players in the 32-player field.
When they met in 2023 at the same time, the county Antrim player defeated the 24-year-old 10-5.
“Fan is a very good player,” the saying goes. I’ll need to try and compete very well because he won the European Masters a few years ago and has since become a little quieter.
related subjects
- Snooker
- Northern Ireland is a sport
Source: BBC
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