Mark Allen

Mark Allen (born 22 February 1986) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player from Antrim.

Playing out of the Fountain Club in Antrim, he was Northern Ireland U14 champion in 2000, the U16 champion in 2001, before winning the Irish U16, U18 and U19 titles in one weekend in 2002, becoming the first player to win all three tournaments.

By the age of 16 he had recorded his first maximum break and was a winner of the Golden Waistcoat, a tournament for the best U19 players from around the world.

He began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2003, at the time the second-level professional tour.

He won the World Amateur Championship in 2004, turned professional the following year, and took only three seasons to reach the top 16.

Before entering the Main Tour for the 2005–06 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 Champion Shaun 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 three 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 of the table 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".

Allen 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 beat Graeme Dott and Ryan Day, 5–3 in each case, to reach his first ever quarter-final.

There 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.

In his fourth professional season, he beat the defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan en route to the semi-finals of the 2009 World Championship, where he lost to the eventual winner, John Higgins.

He faced Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round; 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.

Allen reached his first ranking final at the 2011 UK Championship, where he lost to Judd Trump.

He won his first ranking title the following year at the 2012 World Open.

He has also made three maximum breaks, achieving his first in the 2016 UK Championship, the second in the 2021 Northern Ireland Open qualifying round, and the third during the 2024 Masters.

At a young age, Allen considered a career in football, having trials with Sheffield Wednesday and Nottingham Forest before concentrating on snooker.

He captured his first Triple Crown title when he defeated Kyren Wilson to win the 2018 Masters, and his second when he defeated Ding Junhui to win the 2022 UK Championship.

He has won a career total of eleven ranking titles.

The 2022–23 season was the best of Allen's career to date, as he reached four ranking finals, won three ranking titles—at the 2022 Northern Ireland Open, the 2022 UK Championship, and the 2023 World Grand Prix—and reached a career high of number three in the world rankings.

He reached the second world semi-final of his career at the 2023 World Snooker Championship, but lost 15–17 to Mark Selby.

A prolific break-builder, Allen has compiled more than 600 century breaks in professional competition.