Mark Allen felt his performance in defeat to Judd Trump at the Tour Championship was ’embarrassing,’ admitting he is struggling for form and confidence at the business end of the season.
Trump won the opening round contest in Manchester 10-8 after a strange start to the match as both players really struggled.
Allen won the first four frames without firing, before the world number one found form and powered to a 10-8 win, knocking in three centuries on the way.
The Pistol will now have to wait till the Crucible to next take to the table, but leaves Manchester not feeling primed for a Sheffield challenge.
‘I wanted a good run here to get the confidence up,’ Allen, who won the English Open this season, told Channel 5.
‘I just need to try and find some form, everything’s a struggle at the minute.
‘Those first four frames, even though I won them it was actually embarrassing to be out there and that’s the way I feel like I’m going to play at the moment. It’s not a lot of fun.
‘This afternoon was awful from both of us really. I think Judd was very good tonight.’
Allen has not had a bad season, with one title and four more ranking semi-finals, but has suffered a number of early exits and is not close to his brilliant best right now.
Trump moves on to take on Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals, having picked up his first win at the Tour Championship since 2020.
The world number one has a strangely poor record in the event, by his high standards, having never made the final.
The event has been the penultimate tournament on the calendar in recent years and the Ace reckons concentration may have waned in the past with the Crucible so close.
‘I struggle in this venue, I’ve always struggled and I don’t know why,’ he said. ‘It was the first time I’ve played half decent here, so maybe I’ve turned a corner now.
‘There’s no real reason, I just already have one eye on the World Championship at this point, so maybe I’m not concentrating as hard on this tournament. Any kind of result here is just a bonus for me.’
Trump has had a good season, if unspectacular by his very high standards, with the German Masters his only title so far this campaign.
He hasn’t been helped by enforced globe-trotting, having been forced to leave his home in Dubai due to the conflict in the Middle East.
‘It’s been a bit stop-start. I was there [Dubai] for a day, but I’ve mainly been in Bangkok for the last five weeks,’ he said. ‘It was nice to go home for a day, after this I will probably head back to Dubai.
‘You can travel back but it’s just risky. I kind of left it as long as I could. But after being staying over in hotels for five weeks, it was enough.’
Trump is playing for the first time since it was confirmed the Crucible will remain the home of the World Snooker Championship until 2045, an announcement he was delighted about.
‘It’s great news,’ he said. ‘It’s great that it’s such a long-term deal. Nobody needs to worry, it’s probably safe now until the end of my career. It’s good for snooker to have something set.
‘Recently we’ve been worrying whether they’re going to extend it, or if it’s going to go. But it puts all of that to bed now, and I think everyone is happy with the decision.’
The tournament will go elsewhere for 2029, and possibly 2030, as the Crucible is renovated and its capacity extended by 500 seats.
With the BBC holding the contract to show the World Championship, it seems certain to stay in the UK, but Trump reckons Berlin would be the ideal temporary home.
‘I think the Tempodrom in Germany deserves it more than anywhere else,’ said the 2019 world champ. ‘I think the German fans have been excellent for snooker. The German Masters is an amazing tournament, but I think the World Championship in that venue would be perfect if it’s just one or two tables.
‘I think the UK has had it long enough and it’s going to go back, so I don’t see a reason why it should stay.
‘If it was to stay somewhere in the UK, maybe the O2 Arena in London, somewhere like that.’