‘I’m running on fumes’

Published 09/10/2023 at 10:35 GMT

Mark Allen has said that he is “running on fumes” after a nervy opening win to his Wuhan Open campaign, where he narrowly beat Mark Joyce by five frames to four. Allen, reeling from a shock defeat at the English Open to Matthew Selt last week, admitted to feeling “super rusty” and that it’s been “a long time since I played this bad”. However, he says he will keep “fighting”.

‘A long time since I’ve played that bad!’ – Allen critical of ‘poor’ display after win

Mark Allen says he has “no idea what’s going on” with his game as he reflected on an “awful” opening performance at the Wuhan Open, where he edged past Mark Joyce 5-4 to advance into the round of 32.

Allen found himself down in the match twice and his highest break was 53, while Joyce made four half-century breaks.

But Allen used every ounce of his experience to eventually stumble over the line and secure his passage into the next round.

He said after beating Joyce: “I’m very pleased, but that was awful.

“It’s been a long time since I played that bad. I just didn’t have anything going. Mentally I was pretty good, that got me through because [there was] no form, didn’t score, missed balls, poor safety…just a really poor performance.

“I feel like I’ve been letting myself go a little bit [on the mental side]. I worked really hard on it in the last week or so, even with the mental preparation for this tournament. That helped me today.

“I wasn’t in a good place with my game, but mentally I was always prepared for the next shot. I was always thinking, ‘Can I win the next frame, or play the next shot correctly?’ Ultimately, the answer was yes. That’s what I was concentrating on, no matter what happened. Mark will be ruing his chances because he had a lot of them today.

“I’m nowhere near my B game, if I’m honest. I’m running on fumes, I’ve got no idea what’s going on with my game. Whilst I’m here, I’ll keep fighting and trying my best with every shot, and hopefully form will come.

Quizzed about how he is trying to turn around his slump, Allen said: “I’ve tried different things to try and tweak my technique, but nothing seems to be working.

“It’s amazing because it will only take one good week to turn it all around, so I have to be patient. I’m probably my own worst critic. Sometimes you have to just play and enjoy it, and that’s something I’m not doing right now.”

Allen was named World Snooker Tour Player of the Year for the first time last season after winning three tournaments.

However, he has not been able to repeat the same form so far this campaign.

Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui are among the names in first-round action later on Monday in Wuhan.

Stream top snooker action, including the Wuhan Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com

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