Mark Allen: credit where credit's due

ANTRIM snooker ace Mark Allen has seen red after he was ‘ignored’ by the sport’s top brass in their promotional materials.

There is no doubt that ‘The Pistol’ had a truly remarkable season, securing three major titles - the Northern Ireland Open, the UK Championship and the World Grand Prix.

And there was no shortage of accolades either.

Mark was named World Snooker Tour’s Player of the Year, the Snooker Journalists’ Player of the Year and the Fans’ Player of the Year.

So why is he so curiously absent from promotional materials from the main professional body?

Ahead of the English Open, the World Snooker Tour has been urging fans to get their tickets.

“Snooker’s all-time greats including new World Champion Luca Brecel, world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, John Higgins, Mark Williams and many more will all be in action on the opening day of the Cazoo British Open,” read one recent post.

No mention, then, of the world number three - but he 37-year-old was quick to respond.

“Not the first time either #worldnumber3ignorer thanks again @WeAreWST,” he wrote on X, which was formally Twitter.

“I wonder how many mentions I can get for this hashtag.”

Allen responded to another World Snooker Tour post which promoted Ronnie O'Sullivan, Luca Brecel, Mark Selby ‘and many more’ at the opening day of the upcoming tournament.

“English Open is stacked with big names!” it adds.

Again, Allen responded to point out his conspicuous omission from the list.

“Just to let you all know @pistol147 will also be there,” he wrote alongside the hashtags ‘32red’, ‘omincues’ and ‘worldnumber3ignored’.

“For anyone following my recent posts, I personally don’t care, it doesn’t change my mood in any way,” he told fans.

“This is much more serious than that.

“My Sponsors rely a lot on social media and how much coverage I get.

“All I’m asking is that I get the coverage a world number 3 deserves.”

The upcoming professional snooker tournament is due to take place from October 2 – 8, 2023 at the Brentwood Centre in Essex.