MARK ALLEN has defended his choice of defensive shots in the longest frame in Crucible history.
But the Pistol was unhappy with the intervention of tournament officials during the , which was branded an “embarrassment to snooker” by six-time world champion .
Mark Allen has defended his choice of defensive shots at Crucible Credit: Reuters
Wu Yize came out on top in an epic semi-final to set up shot at Shaun Murphy in the final Credit: Getty
Allen, 40, will not be involved in the final of the after he lost 17-16 on Saturday night to Wu Yize.
In the penultimate frame, he missed a black on its spot for the victory and then Wu, 22, ended up progressing in frame 33.
Despite that feeling of “devastation”, the Northern Ireland player was a gracious loser with Wu, 22, and in his post-match press conference.
Frame 14 of their semi will go down in the history books because it eclipsed the previous longest frame at the Crucible.
That had been 85 minutes and 22 seconds between disgraced Chinese potter Yan Bingtao and four-time world champion Mark Selby in 2022.
In theand Wu dogfight, there was one 31-minute sequence where the players engaged in 75 safety shots as the black ball was protected around a pocket by eight reds.
There was a 56-minute spell where no balls were potted and the referee Marcel Eckardt was criticised by pundits for not taking control and calling for a re-rack when Allen was in the lead.
At one point, referee Rob Spencer came into the arena and had a brief chat with ref Eckardt.
Asked for his reflections on that epic frame on Friday, former Masters winner and UK Champion Allen said: “Definitely not digging Marcel out here.
“Because I think he’s probably our best ref and I said that to him after the session finished.
“I think he could have handled it better. He could have definitely called time a bit earlier and given us a chance to sort it out or take the re-rack and get on with another frame.
“The reason I was sort of being stubborn with it is because we’d played for an hour before he called it, and I was like I’ve invested so much into this.
“I knew Wu was struggling at the time and I was happy for him to not get a pot for a while because he’d completely dominated the session.
“The one thing I didn’t like, although Martin Clark and Rob Spencer both said otherwise, Marcel had no inkling about the re-rack.
“That is until Rob Spencer appeared from behind the scenes, under advice from Martin Clark, the tournament director.
“They have both assured me that Rob said nothing to Marcel about the re-rack.
“It’s just very coincidental that he appeared and Marcel’s next words to us were three shots each.
“I felt like I was always being the aggressor in that safety, trying to force a mistake from Wu, and he was just dropping into the reds. I don’t really know what Marcel expected me to do.
“Look, I’m just happy to get another record to be honest. I think that’s the longest frame at the Crucible.
“Selby texted me last night saying he doesn’t have many records left. So happy to steal that one off him.”
Tour say that Spencer only told Eckardt that it would be the final frame of the session and he never pressurised the official to force a re-rack.
Allen – who has had his critics for slow play – would not encourage the introduction of a shot clock to help speed up play.
The Antrim ace said: “In hindsight I probably should have taken the re-rack and just shook hands and walked out at 7-6 up.
“But I was so confident that I’d get the better of it and eventually force the mistake that he would pot the black.
Mark Allen lost out 17-16 in a match that included new Crucible record for longest frame Credit: Getty
Mark Allen looks dejected after failing to pot black at key point in semi-final showdown Credit: Getty
“I just wasn’t given that opportunity by the referee and the tournament officials. Look, those frames happen.
“Shot clocks, I’m not for. Sometimes shots just take a long time.
“You could potentially look at the re-rack rule and maybe keep your points going into the next frame. Start with the same amount of reds or something like that.
“But I think in its current form, I don’t think it was applied very well in that scenario.
“That’s by no means a reflection on Marcel because I do think he’s our best ref out there. And it didn’t have any bearing on the match. So that’s the important thing.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
I'm dedicated to creating high-quality content that informs, inspires, and delights. If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to get in touch. Happy reading!
