Allen adds voice to PTC events criticism

NORTHERN Ireland’s Mark Allen added his voice to the growing number of frustrated players in snooker echoing Ronnie O’Sullivan’s sentiments last week that most of the PTC events are “pointless” at the moment.

The 2004 World Amateur Champion lost out in the semi-final of the Alex Higgins Invitational tournament to eventual winner Neal Robertson, who beat Judd Trump in the final 4-1, but claimed the Killarney event was little more than a practice.

“They are good match practice which is probably the best that you could say about them [the PTCs] but a lot of the lower ranked players are playing these events at a loss andpersonally for me I don’t think you should be a professional snooker player and be losing money.”

The world number 13, who is from Antrim, added that he felt the Alex Higgins-inspired cup should be played as a higher ranking event in memory of the snooker legend and he would like to see a major ranking event return to Ireland in the near future.

“I was a bit unlucky in that the Irish Masters was wound down just around the time I was turning professional. The Northern Ireland Trophy was a great event for me personally in terms of playing in front of a home crowd.

“Snooker is a very popular sport both north and south and here in Killarney is a hotbed for it and the venue here [the town’s Convention Centre] could be a possible venue.

“I would personally be pushing for a return to Ireland because I don’t get a chance to play at home as much.”

The Northern player was edged out 4-3 in a tight semi-final with the 2010 world champion coming from 3-2 down to take the match to a deciding frame. He pointed to a crucial black ball in the deciding frame as being the biggest factor in the match.

“All you’re hoping for really in the last frame is a chance and I got my chance on that black but it rolled off a bit.

“A lot of players would have played safe but Neal played well and definitely scored the better of the two of us and deserved to win,” he said.

He had defeated reigning world champion John Higgins 4-3 in a thrilling quarter-final before bowing out but was happy with his performance overall in Killarney.

“I’ve been playing well the last number of tournaments but not really getting any results so it’s nice to get a number of wins under my belt here and hopefully it’s the start of better things to come.”

1997 world champion Ken Doherty bowed out at the last 16 stage, losing to Scotland’s Alan McManus 4-1.

It was a great weekend in Killarney for Phil Arnold from the Celbridge club, whose victory in the Amateur Trophy guarantees him a spot in the televised stages of the German Masters in February of next year.