Mark Allen didn’t want to resort to using social media to call out challenges (Image: Getty)
Mark Allen has said that he didn’t want to resort to using social media to call out challenges in which he felt “vindicated” by. The 38-year-old Northern Irishman has been incredibly vocal online about sub-par quality at certain events, taking a swing at the British Open by saying the conditions were “absolutely embarrassing” and that the tables needed “to be burned”.
While some took issue with his complaints at the time, has continued to do his best to fight for higher standards in the world of elite snooker. When asked about his incredibly vocal approach after his victory over Liu Hongyu in in the Northern Ireland Open in October, Allen said: “I just feel like I’m a very honest person and people don’t like the truth sometimes.
“Even after tonight’s match I went to the table fitters and I said, ‘that’s how a table should play, that was amazing. Well done’. But people won’t say that, they’ll only hear the criticism. I feel like I went through the right channels and I wasn’t getting listened to and felt like that was my last port of call.
“I don’t want to be going out there and slaughtering people in interviews, but I felt vindicated whenever the tables got recovered early in the last tournament. I don’t think they would have done that if I was around, put it that way.”
Allen also said that he doesn’t believe that enough players are being vocal about issues with the game as of late, citing how they’re happy enough to complain white sitting in a players lounge but back away from the topic in interviews.
He added: “My big issue with a lot of the players is that they’re all happy to sit in the players’ lounge and moan and complain and say what’s wrong.
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“But then they’re put in front of a microphone and… or even sometimes we get emails like, ‘have you any issues?’ And they don’t want to know, they don’t respond. People like that wind me up because they’re giving you your opportunity to respond to things and they’re not taking it.
“But they’ll still sit in a players’ lounge complaining. That’s not good enough for me, because this is our livelihood. If you’re not willing to stand up for what we’re actually out there playing for, then what chance have you got?”