Champion effort for ace Allen
MARK ALLEN is hoping not to fall asleep in his chair at the Champion of Champions this week.
The Antrim ace has spent the last couple of days travelling back from China and recovering from gruelling jet lag after his memorable International Championship success.
But little over 72 hours after winning his fourth ranking crown, Northern Ireland’s top potter will be back in action again, this time in Coventry.
Allen faces England’s Barry Hawkins in the group stages of this week’s special invitation event at the Ricoh Arena.
Last season world No 1 Mark Selby admitted he nearly fell asleep during a game following his International Championship win. And Allen admitted: “It’s going to be tough.
“It’s well-documented I don’t like flying to China and back, it’s just such a long journey and it takes you a few days to recover.
“But I’ll be giving it everything I’ve got.”
Allen, 32, pocketed a cool £175,000 for his China success and has climbed five places to seventh in the world rankings.
The Masters champion wants to win the World Championship title to crown his status as one of Northern Ireland’s finest ever snooker stars.
“I need to win the World Championship to be considered in the same bracket as Alex [Higgins] and Dennis [Taylor],” said Allen. “What those two guys did for Northern Irish snooker is incredible.
“I’d love to follow in their footsteps. If I finished my career in five years and the only other event I won was the World Championship, then I’d accept it.”