Mark Allen reached the semi-finals of the 2026 World Snooker Championship on Wednesday but also criticised the quarter-final schedule.
The Pistol made it to the last four of the blue-riband tournament for the third time in his career with a dramatic and entertaining 13-11 defeat of Barry Hawkins.
The pair combined to produce an outstanding level of snooker during their second session of play on Tuesday evening.
But rather than being given some time off, which would be normal in the other rounds, they were straight back for their third session the next morning.
It’s even worse for Wu Yize and Hossein Vafaei, who are in the same half of the draw and must play their remaining two sessions back-to-back on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
This schedule has been around for a long time, with the reason being that broadcasters want at least one match to play to a finish on each of the three sessions of play.
While Allen understands that point of view, the Northern Irishman questions its fairness from the players’ perspective.
“It’s the one downside about the schedule for this event,” Allen, who will face either Wu or Vafaei in the semi-finals, said on the BBC.
“Having to play last night and then again this morning, whenever there’s other matches that could have been played, it’ll never make sense to the players.”
“I understand it from a broadcaster’s perspective. They want one match to a finish in each of the sessions, but it’s not very fair on the players.
“You look at Hossein and Wu this afternoon, and they have to go straight back on tonight. I don’t think it’s very fair.”
Many predicted a close encounter between Allen and Hawkins, and that’s exactly what materialised.
There wasn’t much to separate them throughout the entire contest, although the Hawk will be left to rue a string of missed opportunities at key moments.
Hawkins, chasing a sixth Crucible semi-final appearance, led early on but was pegged back to 8-8 by the end of a scintillating second session.
A tense final session followed with Allen ultimately holding himself together the better at the end to clinch it.
“I feel relief more than anything,” the former world number one said.
“When he got that fluke on the last red, I thought here we go again. Because, genuinely, that was 24 frames and I don’t think I had to say sorry once.”
“That’s probably one of the worst run of the balls I’ve ever had. On top of Barry playing very well, to win that match I’m over the moon.
“I was really proud of myself that I hung in there and gave myself a chance. I played some good stuff in spells but battled it out this morning.
“I have to say that I know there have been a few complaints about the table, but I thought it played really nicely in those first two sessions.
“It was a little trickier today and a little heavier. But whenever the table is nice, you can trust certain shots. You can just play your game.
“So there was really good stuff yesterday – there wasn’t much missed at all.”
For Hawkins, there will be nightmares about his penultimate shot of the tournament where he attempted a roll up to the pink but left his attempted snooker short.
When he failed to then get the yellow safe, a delighted Allen cleared for victory.
“It was a great match all the way through,” Hawkins said. “I just feel like I threw a couple of frames away when I had the balls at my mercy.”
“That was the difference in the end. Mark was a bit more clinical finishing the frames off. It was great match to be involved in, but I’m obviously disappointed now.
“I don’t know why I played the roll up like that – I don’t normally play them like that. I was worried about over-hitting it, and I didn’t hit it in the end.
“I had a great chance at the start of that frame and threw that frame away really. I’m disappointed, but Mark played fantastic.”
Featured photo credit: WST
The condition of the table
The scheduling
The people scratching their ass
The referee making a mistake
My cue tip was no good
My cue stick is new/old
My opponent celebrated too much
The air
I had a cold
I have a mental condition
I was unlucky
I lost and I needed an excuse
The fluke cost me the game
Sure politicians are the scapegoat for your life, but when it is time to take responsibility for your decisions most snooker players lie, cheat and steal from the truth.
One thing that will always remain true, both opponents are affected by all the same excuses/conditions.
Simply put, these people are terrible parents, spouses and friends and set a terrible example for fair sport.
Try and clean toilets for a living and then tell me what your problem is.
Barry Hawkins made two key mistakes in the final frames that directly cost him the match:
1) he attempted a very difficult black, which he missed, letting Allen back onto the table; instead he should have chosen a professional safety, which was easily available;
2) attempting to snooker Allen, he rolled up to a ball but failed to hit it; this was the snooker version of the perfect being the enemy of the good.
As a fan of Hawkins, it was a bit difficult to watch — a shame.
It’s the same for both players involved in the matches. It’s not ideal but broadcasters pay a big chunk of their wages.
Yes I agree. The back-to-back sessions are inevitable, in order to maximise the snooker, and ensure final session drama. It’s better for broadcasters, and also live audience, and they are vital for the tournament as a whole.
The situation in tennis was much worse, where a semi-final was played in the evening, possibly finishing after midnight, and then the winner would have to come out the following day and play another 5-set match. That was terrible. But in snooker, it’s manageable, and part of the scheduling for the event. Statistically there has been no observable disadvantage in any of the World Championship schedules.
That used to happen at the US Open but they scrapped it some years ago now.