The Antrim man claimed the huge £250k top prize 12 months ago and there is a whopping bonus of $1million for a super-charged maximum break
The World Snooker Tour returns to Saudi Arabia this week where Mark Allen puts his Riyadh Snooker Championship title on the line.
The Antrim man claimed the huge £250k top prize 12 months ago and there is a whopping bonus of $1million if any player makes a super-charged maximum 167 break. For this event only, there is a golden ball worth 20 points on the top cushion after the standard maximum 147.
Former world number one Allen has slipped to seventh in the world rankings but he did claim the English Open title back in September. He comes into the Saudi event cold, however, on the back of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of world champ Zhao Xintong at the Champion of Champions tournament. Allen only potted one red ball during the entire match.
Former world champion and fellow Northern Ireland man Dennis Taylor has urged Allen to put that behind him and time his run for major glory.
“Zhao Xintong is a wonderful player, and to do that to Mark Allen — it took some doing, I’ll tell you,” Tyrone native Taylor told Betway. “But Mark wasn’t world number one for nothing. Mark is capable of going on and doing really well in the UK Championship.
“But it’s time for Mark Allen to lift the world title. I mean, he lifted the Masters and that was the first one, and the last player to win from Northern Ireland, obviously Alex Higgins won it, and I won it in 1985.
“Mark managed to win the Masters, and it’s now time Northern Ireland had another world champion. It’s getting tougher and tougher, but he’s got the ability to do it — it’s about getting the form right at the right time.
“I mean, nowadays, if you look at this season, we have had nine ranking tournaments, one invitation tournament, and nine different winners. I mean, that is incredible.”
Much of the talk going into the world championship next April will feature around Ronnie O’Sullivan possibly breaking Stephen Hendry’s record of seven world titles. However, Taylor doesn’t believe Allen should be concerned about O’Sullivan.
“Ronnie has to go some way to win another world title because that fear factor has gone — people used to be scared of playing Ronnie. I don’t think they’re frightened of him now,” said Taylor.
“And the standard is so high these days. I still think he can win another world title, but he’s going to have to play at his best for the whole of that World Championship. But there’s a long way to go before we get there.”
Taylor was speaking to Betway here.
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