‘Leave personal feelings out’ – Snooker star Mark Allen slams Shaun Murphy comments as bitter row escalates
Mark Allen hit back at Shaun Murphy after his UK Snooker Championship exit as their feud shows no sign of ending. Allen was beaten 6-5 by Barry Hawkins in the semi-final, which lasted a marathon five hours. Allen lost to Hawkins in a marathon semi-final showdownGetty Murphy, who was beaten by Hawkins in the previous round, joined the BBC commentary team for the semi-final and took a swipe at Allen’s tactics. He said:”It’s completely within the rules, he’s not doing anything wrong. But at what stage do we question whether the amount of time Mark Allen is taking over simple decisions is a tactic to annoy his opponent? “I think we are witnessing an extremely clever, well thought out match from Mark Allen to try and beat the man. “It’s an old school tactic. It’s from a playbook my generation and Mark’s generation are from. And it’s perfectly within the rules. But I can’t see any reason, other than that for why he’s taking so long. As you look at Barry in his chair, you might say it was working.” Allen took to X, formerly Twitter, following the match and responded to Murphy and wrote: “Not to be in this year’s UK Championship. The better player on the day won. “Good luck to both Judd and Barry in the final…. For those criticising…. I always give 100%, it might not be pretty at times but I’m trying my best. Some other players could learn from it.” He added: “And as for Shaun in comms. He’s absolutely entitled to his opinion on things but perhaps best to leave personal feelings out of the commentary box in future. All because I called out some of his recent BS.” The pair have clashed several times over years, first coming in 2022 when Murphy complained about neck and shoulder pain. Allen responded by saying it ‘must be that chip on your shoulder doing the damage’. Earlier this year, the pair traded barbs over comments on the playing conditions at the British open. From the commentary box, Murphy took a swipe at AllenGetty Allen later took issue with the comments, sending a message on social mediaGetty Murphy slammed Allen as ‘rude and amateurish’, while Allen hit back and called his rival ‘irrelevant’. Hawkins will meet Judd Trump in Sunday’s UK Championship final after he saw off world champion Kyren Wilson 6-2 earlier in the day. Hawkins called the multi-hour showdown ‘gruelling’. “To come through one of those games, I’m over the moon. It wasn’t pretty to watch. I had one good frame to level at 5-5. I can’t remember many other frames that were any good. It was just a battle,” he said. “I stuck in there. I just kept trying, that is all you can do. I just tried not to beat myself up. When you are scoring bad and missing balls it becomes really hard. “You never know what can happen, I’ve fell over the line tonight and I’m pleased I managed to dig in.”
Mark Allen hit back at Shaun Murphy after his UK Snooker Championship exit as their feud shows no sign of ending.
Allen was beaten 6-5 by Barry Hawkins in the semi-final, which lasted a marathon five hours.
Murphy, who was beaten by Hawkins in the previous round, joined the BBC commentary team for the semi-final and took a swipe at Allen’s tactics.
He said:”It’s completely within the rules, he’s not doing anything wrong. But at what stage do we question whether the amount of time Mark Allen is taking over simple decisions is a tactic to annoy his opponent?
“I think we are witnessing an extremely clever, well thought out match from Mark Allen to try and beat the man.
“It’s an old school tactic. It’s from a playbook my generation and Mark’s generation are from. And it’s perfectly within the rules. But I can’t see any reason, other than that for why he’s taking so long. As you look at Barry in his chair, you might say it was working.”
Allen took to X, formerly Twitter, following the match and responded to Murphy and wrote: “Not to be in this year’s UK Championship. The better player on the day won.
“Good luck to both Judd and Barry in the final…. For those criticising…. I always give 100%, it might not be pretty at times but I’m trying my best. Some other players could learn from it.”
He added: “And as for Shaun in comms. He’s absolutely entitled to his opinion on things but perhaps best to leave personal feelings out of the commentary box in future. All because I called out some of his recent BS.”
The pair have clashed several times over years, first coming in 2022 when Murphy complained about neck and shoulder pain.
Allen responded by saying it ‘must be that chip on your shoulder doing the damage’.
Earlier this year, the pair traded barbs over comments on the playing conditions at the British open.
Murphy slammed Allen as ‘rude and amateurish’, while Allen hit back and called his rival ‘irrelevant’.
Hawkins will meet Judd Trump in Sunday’s UK Championship final after he saw off world champion Kyren Wilson 6-2 earlier in the day.
Hawkins called the multi-hour showdown ‘gruelling’.
“To come through one of those games, I’m over the moon. It wasn’t pretty to watch. I had one good frame to level at 5-5. I can’t remember many other frames that were any good. It was just a battle,” he said.
“I stuck in there. I just kept trying, that is all you can do. I just tried not to beat myself up. When you are scoring bad and missing balls it becomes really hard.
“You never know what can happen, I’ve fell over the line tonight and I’m pleased I managed to dig in.”
