Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Allen 'lost interest'

Mark Allen courted more controversy at the BGC Masters when he revealed he "completely lost interest" during his 6-3 defeat by Neil Robertson.

In a veiled swipe at his opponent, the Antrim cue man pointed a finger at Robertson's playing style and added he "couldn't really be bothered" after the interval as the Australian rattled off four frames in a row to close out the win. Those placing a snooker bet online will have been disappointed by his attitude.

The Northern Irishman hit the headlines at the UK Championship last month when he called on World Snooker supremo Barry Hearn to quit.

"If Neil got on with it he would be a bit better to watch because at times I didn't want to watch him play," said the world number 10.

"Neil is the sort of player who can keep you out of the game for long periods and it was hard for me to keep my focus.

"He's very good at it and knows he can do that to players."

Allen added: "I let it get to me and hopefully I will learn from it and will not let it happen in the future."

The UK Championship runner-up suggested he was still on a high after his near-miss last month and intimated he had possibly not taken Robertson seriously.

He added: "I don't know what happened out there - I felt quite flat after the interval but still wanted to win the game.

"Maybe I was a bit over-confident and felt I just had to turn up, at 3-2 ahead, to win so I got what I deserved."

Former world champion Robertson, priced at 7/1 with Ladbrokes to win the tournment, will aim to make the semi-finals of the showpiece invitation-only event when he taken on Mark Williams on Friday at Alexandra Palace.

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