2 weeks ago
7
MARK ALLEN has emphatically hit back at criticism of his slow play at last weekend’s UK Championship.
The Northern Irishman is currently embroiled in a feud with former world champion and BBC snooker pundit Shaun Murphy over the time he takes before playing his shots
GETTY
GETTYTheir feud escalated last weekend in York following Allen’s mammoth five-hour semi-final with Barry Hawkins, which he lost 6-5.
Allen’s average shot time during the match was a whopping 31.5 seconds.
He was quizzed about his shot time by Eurosport, with presenter Rachel Casey asking: “You had a marathon match with Barry Hawkins at the UK Championship.
“I know that your shot time was on the high side for you. But there’s no pressure on you, right?”
A bullish Allen replied: “Even that shot time means nothing to me because I try my best. I’ll never, ever apologise for giving 100 per cent.
“If that’s 32 seconds on one day or 22 on another day, I don’t actually care.”
Casey then said: “You’re a Shootout winner, you can play very fast, you can play really good stuff.”
Allen proceeded to reveal his opposition to the Shootout being a ranking event.
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List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins
The Antrim ace said: “I still don’t think this should be a ranking event, but it is what it is.
“I still come here and try to enjoy it. I love the event, it changed my season last year.
“It can make or break a lot of seasons – but it’s just a lottery.”
Allen continued to double down on his staunch defence of his play against Hawkins, saying: “I didn’t go into that match trying to slow it down, absolutely not.
“I try and pot every ball I see and clear the table every chance I get.”
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