One would not think that snooker could be so dramatic but that is exactly what it was when these two rivals met. It was a dramatic evening as the former partners met for the first time as professional snooker players and it was a frosty atmosphere from the off as Evans refused an Allen fist bump at the start of the contest
12-time women’s world champion was one ball away from victory when she held a 2-1 lead, but narrowly missed a couple of chances and Allen stepped in to level up and then made an impressive half-century to claim a 3-2 win. The Pistol did not enjoy the tense atmosphere at all in Leicester, in fact he felt it could have been one of his least enjoyable victories ever.
Allen claimed that ‘It’s up there yeah, it was awful, not one I want to do again, really.’ he said. ‘Look you guys [the media] made the build-up more than what it should have been, really. I’m sure over the next two years we’ll probably meet a few more times and hopefully it’s…better.’
Allen reached the final of the Championship League last week, making twice as many centuries in that event than anyone else managed. He is in fine form, and personal feelings aside, a loss to a player outside of the world’s top 100 would have been frustrating.
he said ‘It would have been disappointing to be on the wrong end of that result there because I know my form is good and that match aside I know there’s good form in there, I made 10 centuries last week in that Championship League and I’m just looking forward to playing at the minute. I didn’t enjoy that at all, but I’m looking forward to the next round.’
Despite the edgy contest, Allen had praise for Evans and said that if she had won the match 3-1, which she came so close to doing, she would have deserved it.
‘She potted some unbelievable individual balls,’ he told ITV. ‘Struggled a bit for position but potted some unbelievable balls. That puts you under pressure because your safety has to be pinpoint and mine wasn’t quite there.
