Mark Allen, the World No. 14 Northern Ireland player, is frustrated with some other professionals on today's Snooker Tour.
Mark Allen said there are too few tournaments on the tour and it is difficult for professionals to survive on the basis of competition alone. Due to the outbreak of the new crown virus, Mark Allen is increasingly worried about snooker, admitting that now Snooker is on the decline and does not know when he will be able to return to the tour schedule before the new crown virus.
This season's snooker Tour has also begun, Mark Allen has participated in the Champions League and the European Masters, unfortunately, the first round of the European Masters was tragically eliminated, not a single bonus was received, and so far, Mark Allen has only won 5,000 pounds in the Champions League. Mark Allen said: "I haven't gotten anything from July to now, it's really been a long wait!
Steve Dawson has since last year replaced snooker head Barry Hurne as the new WST chairman. Mark Allen revealed that there were rumors that Barry Herne had stepped down after seeing the Snooker Tour going downhill. Of course, Mark Allen said he didn't believe that, and Barry Houn wasn't that kind of person. Still, Mark Allen hopes that in the near future, Snooker will improve.
Steve Dawson is also actively expanding the snooker Tour, such as the world mixed doubles tournament that will be held for the first time this year, and the resumption of the Hong Kong Masters. However, in the interview, Mark Allen was very unhappy about this, because both competitions only invited players with higher rankings in the world. In the World Mixed Doubles competition, only Roninio Sullivan, Trump, Neil Robertson and Mark Selby competed.
Similarly, the Hong Kong Masters are only contested by the top 6 players in the world rankings, and with the addition of Fu Jiajun and Wu Anyi, only 8 players can participate in the competition. Mark Allen complained: They reported the game, but not all the players can participate, many professional players are unhappy, how I hope to return to China to participate in the competition!
Since 2020, the snooker tournament has not been held in China again. As we all know, before the new crown, China hosted the World Open, China Championship, International Championship, Shanghai Masters and China Open, and the prize money of each event is very rich, especially the Shanghai Masters, the total prize money of the event once exceeded the Masters, second only to the World Championships and the British Championships!
It's no wonder that World No. 14 Mark Allen wants to return to China for snooker. Mark Allen, 36, has won six ranking championships and three invitational titles in his 18-year career since turning professional snooker in 2005. Of the nine titles, four were won in China, and the first ranking champion was the 2012 China Open, which was successfully defended in 2013.
It can be said that China is the blessed land of Mark Allen! Finally, Mark Allen said that under the current epidemic, it is very difficult, but as players we need new tournaments, new rockets and new venues, when we hold new events, if China can let us go to the competition, it is better, so that the tour calendar is full, which is what every professional player looks forward to.