{"id":7814,"date":"2026-04-23T14:55:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=7814"},"modified":"2026-04-23T14:55:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:55:17","slug":"mark-allen-says-theres-only-one-way-to-improve-his-very-disappointing-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=7814","title":{"rendered":"Mark Allen says there’s only one way to improve his ‘very disappointing’ career"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Can Mark Allen scratch his World Championship itch? (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mark Allen has been one of the best players on the planet for the last 15 years, but he insists his career has been \u2018very disappointing\u2019 as it hasn\u2019t included a World Championship title.<\/p>\n

The Pistol has racked up 12 ranking titles, including the UK Championship, won the Masters and the Champion of Champions twice.<\/p>\n

Few in the history of the game have been more successful than the Northern Irishman, with only 10 players boasting more ranking event success.<\/p>\n

However, his Crucible record has been poor, given the success he has enjoyed across the rest of the professional tour.<\/p>\n

Allen has played at the Crucible for 19 years on the spin and he has not only failed to lift the trophy, but also not made it to the World Championship final.<\/p>\n

The semi-finals in 2009 and 2023 are his only two trips to the one-table set-up, but at 40 years old, he still has plenty of time to improve on that.<\/p>\n

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You’re in the right place. I’m Phil Haigh, and I cover the game we all love for Metro<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Phil has been reporting on snooker for over a decade, since working in World Snooker’s press office in 2012<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Allen knows that he has achieved a lot in his career, but says that unless he wins the World Championship before he retires, it will end as a disappointment.<\/p>\n

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Allen burst into life in the second half of his win over Zhang Anda (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018I think in the grand scheme of things I\u2019ve probably still had a decent career,\u2019 said the world number 14.<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s probably only 10 players that have won more than me, but I\u2019d still say it\u2019s very disappointing.<\/p>\n

\u2018With all great respect to the tournaments I\u2019ve won \u2013 you want to be world champion.<\/p>\n

\u2018That\u2019s what you start playing the game for. As a 12-year-old boy starting out I wanted to be world champion \u2013 you remember potting that long black to win the World Championship.<\/p>\n

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Allen is bidding to replicate Zhao Xintong\u2019s achievement of last year (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018That fire in my belly is still there. So I\u2019d look back on it as a disappointment, but I\u2019m sure that other people might say I did alright.\u2019<\/p>\n

Allen is looking to replicate what his next opponent, Kyren Wilson, did in 2024 when he conquered the Crucible.<\/p>\n

The two men meet in a heavyweight second round clash which is tough to call after the Northern Irishman beat Zhang Anda in his opener and the Englishman downed Stan Moody.<\/p>\n

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Kyren Wilson beat teenager Stan Moody in his first round match (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Warrior has the Crucible pedigree that Allen cannot boast, but has been open about struggles with his equipment, which were hampering him against Moody.<\/p>\n

\u2018I absolutely hate my cue,\u2019 Wilson said. \u2018It\u2019s too flexible at the top, I\u2019ve got no control, I\u2019ve got no feel in my hand. <\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m just fighting all the time. I\u2019m just trying to dig it out with this one. It\u2019s torture, but I\u2019m trying.\u2019<\/p>\n

The round of 16 meeting between Wilson and Allen is played over three sessions, on Thursday evening, Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Shaun Murphy backs Kyren Wilson in row with snooker celebration police<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Ronnie O\u2019Sullivan tries mind games by lumping pressure on John Higgins<\/span><\/p>\n

Arrow<\/title>\n<\/svg>MORE: Neil Robertson faces fine for giving up Crucible frame in bizarre circumstances<\/span><\/p>\n
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The Table<\/h4>\n

Stay ahead of snooker’s next big break with Metro’s resident expert Phil Haigh in his new weekly newsletter.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Mark Allen says there’s only one way to improve his ‘very disappointing’ career
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#Mark #Allen #improve #disappointing #career<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Can Mark Allen scratch his World Championship itch? (Picture: Getty Images) Mark Allen has been…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3361,2994,1378,2975,967],"class_list":["post-7814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-allen","tag-career","tag-disappointing","tag-improve","tag-mark"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756.jpg",1200,630,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756-300x158.jpg",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756-768x403.jpg",640,336,true],"large":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756-1024x538.jpg",640,336,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756.jpg",1200,630,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756.jpg",1200,630,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756-1024x538.jpg",1024,538,true],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/news678.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2272026645_974621_1776952756-540x340.jpg",540,340,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?author=1"},"category_info":"Sports<\/a>","tag_info":"Sports","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news678.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}