Mark Allen provided one of the highlights of his UK Championship semi-final against Barry Hawkins (Image: Getty)
Mark Allen was hailed for an ‘obscene’ pot from a seemingly impossible angle against Barry Hawkins at the UK Championship. The pair were involved in a marathon semi-final at the York Barbican which didn’t finish until just before 1am.
Hawkins and will meet world No.1 in Sunday’s final. But Allen provided one of the highlights of the encounter with an audacious long-range pot.
At 3-2 up in the sixth frame, Allen was in a tough spot with the cueball near the bottom cushion and the final red tucked behind the pink near the right-middle pocket. A safely shot looked the only option, but instead the Northern Irishman incredibly cut the red into the opposite corner, threading it between the green and brown.
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On commentary, John Parrott called it an “unbelievable pot”, saying: “He couldn’t push it up and down, so he cut it in the corner. Some of the individual pots have been ridiculous.”
Meanwhile, fans labelled the shot “obscene” and “absolute filth” on social media. One said: “This has to be a 1 in 10 at the maximum pot attempt. Another added: “That was ridiculous.”
However, it was Hawkins, arguably the player of the week in York, who progressed to face Trump. The Hawk, 45, called the five-hour showdown “gruelling”. He said: “To come through one of those games, I’m over the moon. It wasn’t pretty to watch.
“I had one good frame to level at 5-5,” he said. “I can’t remember many other frames that were any good. It was just a battle.”
Obscene pot ??????
— Out Of Context Snooker (@OOCSnooker)
Meanwhile, Allen hit back at critics after being Taking to X after the match, the 38-year-old said: “Not to be in this year’s UK Championships. The better player on the day won. Good luck to both Judd and Barry in the final. For those criticising…. I always give 100%, it might not be pretty at times but I’m trying my best. Some other players could learn from it.”
One of his critics was bitter rival Shaun Murphy, who was on commentary for the match. There is no love lost between the pair, who have regularly exchanged barbs this season.
Continuing their war of words, Allen added: “And as for Shaun in comms. He’s absolutely entitled to his opinion on things but perhaps best to leave personal feelings out of the commentary box in future. All because I called out some of his recent BS [laughing face emojis].”