Hendry atones for foul Allen gaff to maximum effect

A touch overambitious last week, wasn’t I, setting twin targets for Mark Allen — a world title and a place in our hearts. On both counts, I was quickly tucked up behind the yellow.

Allen’s first-round exit was one thing — Cao Yupeng’s assured Crucible debut signalled the levelling standards that produced so many shocks in a fascinating opening week. But from there it was sadly inevitable that the proud people of China would suffer another slander. In March, they were, at Allen’s insistence; ignorant, smelly purveyors of disappointing food and inadequate snooker tables. This time they were simply not to be trusted.

No wonder Barry Hearn, forever hustling the sport east, seems at the end of his tether with Allen. “This is a very good time to be a snooker player. It’s not a good time to be an idiot.”