Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mark eyes hot streak in icy York
MARK ALLEN beat his best friend — and now he hopes the UK Championship really heats up.
The Pistol gunned down practice partner Jordan Brown 6-4 on the opening day at York’s Barbican Centre.
Northern Ireland’s top two potters enjoyed a warm embrace before and after the match.
But on-fire world No.9 Allen complained about the frosty feel inside the arena and needed cups of boiling water just to keep his hands hot enough to play.
Tom Ford also complained his hands felt like “ice blocks” after his 6-4 win over John Higgins and resorted to hand warmers.
“York’s normally one where I think the conditions are great but it wasn’t very nice out there,” admitted
Antrim ace Allen. “It was very cold and there were a lot of people in the crowd still sitting with their coats on at the end of the match.
“It was really, really cold. I had to get cups of boiling water just to heat my hands up.
“I feel like people are going to say I’m copying Ronnie (O’sullivan), please don’t credit him with that.
“I was genuinely really cold, I couldn’t get any heat into my hands. Hopefully they will have that sorted for round two.
“The table was very slow which can happen on day one and hopefully that will improve because this is the second biggest event.”
The 36-year-old is into the last 16 and has Kyren Wilson in his way of a fifth quarter-final appearance tomorrow – a repeat of the famous 2018 Masters final Allen won.