Mark Allen retains Haikou World Open
Yesterday Mark Allen became the 13th different ranking event winner of the season after defeating Matthew Stevens 10-4 in a one sided final.
The Antrim potter was a big favourite after his exemplary display against John Higgins in the semi finals and he started the stronger racing into a 3-0 lead. The remaining 6 frames were shared as Stevens just about kept himself in the match.
Resuming
at 6-3 Allen nicked the first frame and dealt a body blow to his opponent and
from there won three of the next four to win the title with relative ease.
Allen has shown some signs of maturing this week and has been able to raise his
game when it matters and conserve energy at other times of the week. These strengths
will be invaluable if he wants to win the marathon of the mind that is the
World Championships, which begins in Seven weeks.
The
tournament as a whole was very entertaining and there were very few shocks,
maybe a sign that the players are really upping their game in the lead up to
the Crucible. This event needs to look at ticket prices however as all week it
appeared empty, even the final had more empty seats than filled.
There
was a return to snooker for ITV who covered the event all week very
professionally and it was very nice to hear Clive Everton commentating again on
a full ranking event. Hopefully the BBC took notice of the Commentator/Colour
Commentator roles that were employed by Everton and Foulds and look at their
own commentary situation for the future.
The PTC Finals will take place in Galway on the 12th of March and Beyond the Baize will cover this event in full.
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