Mark Allen is unfazed by criticism from Stephen Hendry, accusing the seven-time world champion of 'talking rubbish' in the commentary box. Allen secured a hard-fought 13-9 victory over Kyren Wilson at the Crucible to advance to the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals. Despite admitting he is not at his peak form, the Northern Irishman delivered impressive back-to-back wins against Zhang Anda and the 2024 champion Wilson.
The match saw Allen take the first five frames, only to lose the next six. During this stretch, Hendry voiced his disapproval of Allen's cautious approach. At 5-1 ahead, Allen opted to play safe instead of potting a pink to the middle pocket, provoking Hendry's ire. 'Surely he must pot the pink in the left middle,' Hendry said on the BBC. 'I just don't understand it, he's 5-1 ahead. If this is the way top level snooker is played now I don't understand it, I'm afraid. You have to play the pink, it's the right shot.' Hendry added, 'I'm trying to think of another player that would refuse that pink in this Championship and I'm struggling. I don't think, personally, you can win the World Championship playing this way, that's my opinion.'
Allen, who grew up idolising Hendry, was in no mood to accept the criticism. He suggested that Hendry's own stubbornness may have cost him later in his career. Hendry's last Triple Crown success came at the 1999 World Championship when he was 30 years old. 'Look, Stephen's entitled to his opinion, but more often than not, he's full of rubbish, to be honest,' said Allen. 'Not everyone can come here and make it look as easy as he did, but you're also looking at someone that never won a Triple Crown event after they turned 30, so the game changes and maybe that stubbornness is what cost him the later part of his career. There's no question how good he was. He was my idol growing up. He's one of the best that's ever played the game, but we can't all be to that standard. But it's very easy for him to sit in the commentary box and criticise. He's no idea what I'm thinking when I'm out there and I'll never, ever apologise for trying my hardest on any given shot.'
Wilson's Perspective
Kyren Wilson understood Hendry's point of view, acknowledging that Allen could have pressed his advantage more aggressively after taking a 5-0 lead. 'Yeah, I don't know if it's a problem. Sometimes you have to play on how you feel out there at the time,' said Wilson. 'But yeah, I do agree with that [Allen went a bit too negative]. I do think at 5-0, he could sense I was really struggling with my tip. He's used to me playing with quite a firm tip. I was playing with like, it felt like a fruit pastille! So I dug in and I'm always going to go for my shots. If I'm 10-0 down, if I'm 10-0 up, I'm just going to go for my shots because I feel like it inspires me. It can ignite a bit of confidence. And I feel like I get a buzz if the crowd are enjoying what I'm doing. So, yeah, I do kind of agree with that statement. But then, like I said to Mark at the end, third session, he looked confident. He looked like he was gunning for it. He looked like he was flowing a bit more. And I said to him, if you play like that, you've got a chance.'
Wilson was full of praise for Allen in defeat, calling him 'one of the lads that I always root for.' He added, 'I like his background, his family, his friends, his partner and him. I think he's a great lad, down to earth, works hard. I think we're in quite similar boats in our career. We try very hard, we feel like we put our life and soul into the game and trying to get better. And we always have a bit of fun.'
Allen will now face either Barry Hawkins or Mark Williams in the quarter-finals, starting on Tuesday.
