‘THE BETTER I DO, MORE CHANCE I’LL GET CALL TO QUIT’

MARK ALLEN claims he may turn his phone off to avoid potentially pulling out of this week’s UK Championship.

The former Masters champion (above) revealed he’s “one bad phone call” away from withdrawing from the event earlier in the tournament.

Antrim ace Allen was forced to pull out of defending his Champion of Champions title recently for “personal reasons”.

The world No.11 has battled ongoing issues over a tough 18-month period off the table. And Allen, who takes on David Gilbert in the last 32 tomorrow afternoon, stressed: “As long as I don’t get any phone calls then I’m here to try and win the UK Championship. Maybe it’s best I turn my phone off!

“No news is good news at the minute for me really.

“It’s a case that the better I do, the more chance there is of a phone call coming, I know it’s a weird scenario but that’s the bottom line really.”

The 35-year-old won last month’s Northern Ireland Open with the weight of a nation on his shoulders.

It was a magical week which started with the lefthander making a maximum 147 and ended with him lifting the famous Alex Higgins’ trophy.

But the left-hander hasn’t hit those heights yet at York’s Barbican and has battled his way through the first two rounds.

‘The Pistol’ has former World Championship semifinalist Gilbert firmly in his sights in the last 32.

“I’ll need to play better to beat David,” admitted Allen. “He’s a tournament winner now. In my eyes he’s someone who should be in the top 16, he’s in that class.

“He’s a player I like to watch because he plays snooker the right way. Hopefully I don’t have to sit and watch too much of him!”

Meanwhile, Jordan

Brown (inset) beat Farakh Ajaib 6-1 last night to reach the last 32.