Allen’s At it Again

Cao Yupeng caused a major upset by beating Mark Allen 10-6 in the opening round of the World Championship in Sheffield this afternoon.

But once again the spotlight will be on the Northern Irishman for all the wrong reasons as he created a storm in the post-match press conference by accusing Chinese players of being cheats.

In a crucial stage of the match at 5-4 down, just as the second session had commenced, Cao appeared to produce a push-shot on the white but no foul was given.

Allen revealed afterwards that he looked at referee Paul Collier and scorer Michaela Tabb in expectation of them calling a foul and was surprised at how Cao didn’t call it on himself.

The World Open champion, held in China last month, then went on to suggest that it was not an unusual thing for Chinese players to cheat, accusing Marco Fu and Liang Wenbo of such behaviour in the past.

Such allegations are extremely serious and it will be interesting to see what the repercussions will be in the next couple of days.

Allen appears to thrive under controversial conditions and, even though he applauded his opponent’s efforts to beat him on the day overall, this is another in a long string of attacks on Chinese snooker.

With five events on the calendar staged in the Far East next season, it will be equally intriguing to see his reception when he ultimately returns to China – especially in defence of his World Open crown.

Another day at the office for the ‘Pistol’.

At any rate, it was a fantastic victory for 21 year-old Cao who showed no signs of his lowly ranking of 81 and joins an exclusive club of players who have won on their debut.