Mark Allen

[Maija]

I think we should - in all fairness - have a thread for another cracking Crucible debutant, Antrim's Mark Allen.

Going 4-0 up on Ken Doherty in his first match and taking the first session 6-3 is really no mean feat! I sadly didn't get to see too much of the match, but what I saw was Allen in great form and Doherty not actually managing much. I'm looking forwards to the second session.

Here's an article on Allen with some background infos etc from "Belfast today". (Grmf! Page 2 refuses to work for me.) And another one from the Belfast Telegraph.

"Some first-timers have let the occasion get to them in the past and I have to make sure that doesn't happen to me." Seems to me that he's trying his best to live up to that.

I did find it quite ironic that the BBC had Reanne Evans in their studio to comment during the tea-break. She was right about the scoreline, though!

Best of luck for Mark Allen today! (And for Ken too.)

[missneworleans]

Hmmm... I don't like Marc very much and very like Ken, and I see that Ken is not at very good form. So mon KenDo in this match!
But generally Marc is not a bad player

[zong]

i thought ken was lucky to nick three frames in the end, Allen'd missed a few blacks off its spot in promising situations

[Skypigeon]

Allen has the potential to become a great player, I'm sure! Going 4-0 on Ken is an achievement any day of the week. I am a Doherty fan, so I do hope he can get his p's and q's together today, but thanks Maija for the article!

[Maija]

missed a few blacks off its spot in promising situations

I absolutely hate it when they do that Nothing is more straining on my nerves than when a player suddenly starts missing the black off the spot.

[Mal]

I recall at the start of the season when there was a list up for voting on most promising players on this forum and I did comment that he should have been in it.
I am from near Antrim also and when I was just finishing school he was a kid at our club and he was clearly a precocious talent. Over the next few years when I visited home again and headed for a few games with the old crowd, he would invariably be there and by this stage he was knocking in centuries in no time at all.

His talent should not be underestimated and he does show some flair when on form. His career already has seen him beat some world champions, so beating Ken Doherty is certainly not beyond the realms of possibility. I still think Ken has a good chance, especially if it gets close and Ken Doherty's tactical game is a different class.

Based on the qualifying reports, it is fair to say his performance against Robert Milkins was the highlight of the round and perhaps this could be the spur for him to have a much better season next year, as this year had up until the world championships been slightly disappointing.

[zong]

I absolutely hate it when they do that Nothing is more straining on my nerves than when a player suddenly starts missing the black off the spot.

it's certainly frustrating

[The Statman]

I absolutely hate it when they do that Nothing is more straining on my nerves than when a player suddenly starts missing the black off the spot.

...usually when he's just potted a cracker!

[missneworleans]

Yeah Marc missed 4(! ) black off his spot in 3 frames!
But than he finally found his form and won Ken. Ken was unlucky at that frames, specially in pre-last, where he could steal that frame. So now, as Ken lose i can say that Allen is a good player, and let's watch what he can do next!