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Mark Allen

Allen made the perfect start to the 2009/10 season by winning the Jiangsu Classic, which came just a few weeks after he got to the semi-finals of the 2009 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship.
That gave him his first professional title, albeit in an invitation event, and he now hopes to add to his silverware collection by winning his first ranking tournament.
After beating Ding Junhui 6-0 in the final in Wuxi in the Jiangsu Province of China he said: “Although this isn’t a ranking tournament, it still means a lot to me, to get my first professional title under my belt. I’ve shown that I can handle myself on the big stage and I hope that this title is the start of things to come."
The Ulsterman went on to turn in some impressive performances in ranking events during a solid campaign. He got to the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix and the totesport.com Welsh Open, then went one step further at the Sanyuan Foods China Open by reaching the fourth ranking semi-final of his career.
Graeme Dott, Stephen Maguire and Stephen Hendry were his victims in Beijing – the last of those wins a 5-4 success from 4-2 down. “I can take a lot of confidence from today's result,” said Allen after beating Hendry – though that wasn’t enough against Ding in the semis as he lost 6-2 to end his hopes of a first ranking final.
At the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship, Allen looked a live contender for the title when he opened with convincing wins over Tom Ford (10-4) and Mark Davis (13-5). He then led Graeme Dott 12-10, but his season ended in disappointment as he fell to a 13-12 defeat. “I didn't turn up for the match,” said Allen, who did have the consolation of sharing the tournament's high break with Dott after a superb 146. “Over the three sessions, I just never performed. So in a way I expected to lose.”
A year earlier at the Crucible, Allen had to win his first round match against Martin Gould to be sure of his top 16 status for another season, and he duly managed that with a 10-6 success. That set up his first ever match against Ronnie O’Sullivan – and Allen produced arguably the best performance of his career to score a 13-11 victory and send the world No 1 and defending champion out of the Crucible exit door.
“I loved every minute of it,” said the gifted youngester from Antrim with a belligerent style of play and a pumped-up attitude around the table. “That’s why you play this game, to play the best players in the world and on the best stage in the world.”
Allen added a 13-11 defeat of Ryan Day to set up a semi-final meeting with John Higgins. He was in danger of an emphatic defeat when he trailed 14-4. Allen then launched a fantastic fight-back and had Higgins on the ropes when he got to within three frames at 15-12. But a vital missed red in the next, as well as a missed blue at 16-13, proved Allen’s downfall as he lost 17-13.  "I’m only just beginning to show what I’m capable of,” insisted Allen after the match.
Allen's first ranking semi-final was at the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy, and his second at the 2008 Bahrain Championship.
He made a sensational Crucible debut in 2007, beating former champion Ken Doherty 10-7 before losing 13-9 to Matthew Stevens.
The most gifted player to emerge from Northern Ireland since the days of Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins, Allen won three of the biggest titles in amateur snooker before turning pro. In 2004 he won the European Championship and IBSF World Amateur Champion, dedicating victory in the latter to his parents, who sold their house to help fund his career.
In 2005 he added the European Under-19 Championship crown.
He is a former Northern Ireland champion at under-14, under-16 and under-19 level.
Allen, who has a daughter called Lauren with ladies World Champion Reanne Evans (though the couple are no longer together), is a single-figure handicap golfer and a keen Manchester United fan. He enjoys the music of Michael Jackson.

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