I’ll never change, I’ll always speak the truth – Allen

Mark Allen says he will “never change” as he insisted his outspoken views are aimed at trying to help snooker’s progress.

In September, Allen branded conditions at the British Open “absolutely embarrassing” and said the table on which he beat Gary Wilson in the first round should be “burned”.

The 38-year-old later made a 147 break in the second round at the same venue before going out in the semi-finals to Mark Selby.

“The problem is that people don’t like the truth, and I’m one that will always tell the truth,” Allen told BBC Sport NI.

“I’m just me. People either like it or they don’t. I’m always honest.”

Allen said he got “brought over the coals” for his comments in Cheltenham but felt “vindicated that the tables got recovered earlier than normal”.

“That says who was right and who was wrong,” he added.

After making his comments at the British Open, Allen said he had a “good chat” with Simon Brownell, the chief executive of World Snooker, who has been “very approachable”.

“I don’t think I was a fan of him and I don’t think he was a fan of me at the start,” Allen said.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations in the past 12 to 18 months and I think he is eager to keep everyone happy.

“He’ll maybe not give the answers we want to hear all the time, but he’ll give the honest answer and I can appreciate that.”

Allen added that while they did not agree on everything, they “understood each other’s rationale”.

He also maintained that an open dialogue between players and the sport’s governing body is crucial to snooker’s progress.

“I don’t say it for my own benefit, I say it for the tour’s benefit,” Allen added on being open in his comments.

“That gets overlooked sometimes, people just see it as me complaining but that’s not the case at all.

“Things have improved but there’s always room for more improvement.”

‘Touch wood I’ll be playing’

Media caption,”I’ll always speak the truth” – Mark Allen

Allen said he is hopeful of playing in his home event at the Norther Ireland Open after withdrawing from the Wuhan Open.

He pulled out because his mother was unwell and says “touch wood” he will be able to start his bid for a third title in four years on Monday against China’s Liu Hongyu.

“My mum hasn’t been well the past few weeks but things have been better in the last few days,” said the 19-time ranking title winner, who exited last year’s Northern Ireland Open at the last-64 stage.

“As far as she’s concerned I’ll be there to give it my best.

“It would be nice to go there and, not win for her because I want to win for myself, but it would be nice to give her something to watch at night time and keep her happy.”

Allen also admitted the Northern Ireland Open used to be a “strange tournament” for him as he tried to deal with the pressure of being the home favourite, saying he “never really enjoyed it”.

He had failed to progress beyond the quarter-finals before turning his fortunes around with back-to-back titles in 2021 and 2022.

Allen went as far as saying his final-frame decider over John Higgins to lift the trophy for the first time is the “favourite match of my career”.

“I made a conscious decision three or four years ago to treat it like any other tournament,” he said.

“I stayed in a hotel in Belfast, stayed away from the club and stayed away from everyone getting involved in trying to get tickets and things like that.

“That really helped me. I go with a lot less pressure now and I don’t have anything to prove to anyone.

“It would be really special if I could win it three out of four years.”