Mark Allen talks tour improvement, Kyren Wilson and snooker beyond Ronnie O’Sullivan

Now a more regular face on WST promotional material, Allen is glad to see it, not just for his own benefit, but for the sport as a whole in future as he feels snooker can be over-reliant on its biggest star.

‘I feel like I’ve worked hard to get where I am in the game. I’m number one, so if they’re not going to promote me now, what chance have I got?’ Allen told Metro.

‘It’s amazing, obviously there was talk about the breakaway tour a few months ago, but I think since then World Snooker have realised that things aren’t all rosy, they need to up their game and they have. More tournaments, prize money has gone up, conditions are generally a little bit better on the whole,’ said Allen.

‘Even that frustrates the players a little bit, though, because why did it take us to complain so heavily to get these changes?

‘But I think we have to be thankful that they’ve taken stuff on board, changed things, put the money up and made us feel like snooker players again. Because I think there was a few years there where they dropped the ball.’

The season is now underway with Allen as world number one and Kyren Wilson as world champion, with the Pistol feeling that the Warrior will be an ideal ambassador for the sport over the next 12 months.

He feels that Wilson will be an entirely different world champ to the man who came before him, Luca Brecel.

‘I think he’s someone who’s going to be perfect for World Snooker as world champion,’ said Allen of Wilson. ‘He’s a good advert for the sport, he carries himself well, speaks well and he’s going to be determined in every match he plays.

‘No disrespect to Luca because he thoroughly deserved to win his World Championship but I don’t think he did much for World Snooker, he didn’t really carry the sport for the next 12 months.

‘I think sometimes the way he speaks about the game doesn’t endear himself to people who are grafting away trying to get better. I think Kyren is the opposite of that. But each to their own, they’re both world champions at the end of the day.’

It is very early days in the campaign but after a bad start, Brecel is way down at number 55 in the end of season rankings, although Allen cannot see him staying there.

‘It’s crazy, but it’s the nature of the beast,’ he said. ‘If you win a big tournament, you’ve got to back it up in the next 24 months and he hasn’t done that yet. But I think Luca’s too good to go that long without getting results.

‘He did alright in invitational events last year, so there’s game in there, he just needs to bring it out at the right time. I think there’s a big run from Luca soon.’

Brecel has already got his season off to a bad start, without a win in three matches, one of which was forfeited as he was stuck in traffic and Allen has little sympathy for him on that front.

‘You have to question why he’s travelling on the same day he’s playing,’ said the world number one. ‘I know he’s done it a few times but it’s not for me at all.

‘If you’re going to turn up for a match you need to prepare properly. That’s not good enough, for me.’

It was arguably the moment of the tournament but, although a painful one, Allen has moved on from it as much as he can, despite his pals reminding him how the Wizard began his famous break with a brilliant double.

‘Obviously it was one that got away, a chance to progress, but John took a great clearance out,’ he said. ‘Like I said at the time, I don’t think I lost that match because of that one good clearance in the last frame. I lost it because I didn’t take my chances earlier in the game when I really should have pulled away.

‘All in all, it was just one that got away. I didn’t pay too much attention to the World Championships after that. The thoughts of the John Higgins match are long gone, or as long gone as they can be, other than the stick I get in the club if someone gets a double against me.’

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