Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Day one disaster for Allen
HOME favourite Mark Allen admitted the pressure got to him as he crashed out of the Northern Ireland Open on day one.
The Antrim man had been in fine form winning the International Championship this month and reaching the Champion of Champions semi-finals last weekend.
But he failed to give his army of supporters much to shout about as he slipped to a 4-1 defeat to China’s Niu Zhuang at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall.
“I’m not handling the pressure,” said Allen. “I just didn’t play well enough.
“Ironically that was probably the best I’ve felt in front of a home crowd in the three years the tournament has been here.
“But I just haven’t performed yet in Belfast. I probably put myself under too much pressure.”
“I try and win for the fans, so maybe that’s the wrong way of looking at it.
“I just don’t enjoy it for some reason, it feels hard out there.”
He joked: “Maybe if we’re here in 20 years time then I might be able to handle the pressure!”
Allen had a top break of 88, but the world No7 was always behind in the match and Zhuang booked his second round spot with runs of 122, 71 and 49.
World champion and defending champion Mark Williams started his titledefence with a 4-2 win over Englishman Alfie Burden. Two breaks of 91 and a 69 did the trick.
Northern Ireland’s Gerard Greene turned on the style to whitewash Oliver Lines 4-0 thanks to breaks of 51, 81, 51 and 40.
Barry Hawkins was shocked 4-3 by Chinese potter Chen Zifan.