Allen on cue to emulate Ken at Crucible
Wherever the rest of the year now takes him or us, we need Ken in Sheffield in April to restore some small sense of order.
But he can’t win it, surely. What makes great old snooker players go to pot? Ken’s ex-manager Ian Doyle reckoned his game followed the rest of the country down the tubes. “He got involved in buying property. Maybe that took an edge off his concentration and his game.”
Ken now has a radio show to present, a snooker academy to run and a life to live. Playing 2010 champion Neil Robertson today, you fear he may just have too much on his plate.
Belfast’s Mark Allen, however, is a different story, in most ways except talent. He has appeared a difficult, prickly customer at times. He has fought with several people within the sport, notably its controller Barry Hearn. His innate sense of diplomacy led him to dismiss China as ‘horrendous’.
He and Ken haven’t always seen eye-to-eye either — Ken once called him a disgrace when Mark punched the table during one of their matches.
But Allen drew admiration and understanding with his frankness about his depression last year and the emptiness of a life that revolved around snooker. And in March, he finally filled some of the void with a ranking title win, braving the horrors of China in the World Open.
And with Higgins in a rut and O’Sullivan impossible to read, Allen is one of several genuine contenders this fortnight; his gritty, never-say-die style will suit the tests to come.
Who knows? If he can emulate Ken 15 years ago, we might even get to know him better along the way.
