Former champion Mark Allen was not happy with his performance despite reaching the last 16 of the 2024 UK Championship on Sunday in York.
The Northern Irishman played nowhere near his capability and made just one contribution above 50 against qualifier Jackson Page.
But Allen dug deep by winning four out of the last five frames to progress with a 6-4 defeat of the young Welshman.
The Pistol went all the way to glory at the Barbican Centre in 2022, so this week he is defending the £250,000 in ranking points that he earned from that success.
It has been a patchy 2024/25 season overall so far with not many appearances at the latter stages of events.
Allen began the campaign as the sport’s world number one, but he is down to sixth on the provisional list so could do with rediscovering his best form this week.
“There’s no excuse for how bad I played out there – that was awful,” a deflated Mark Allen said in the Eurosport studio.
“You have to just try and think positive things. I was doing that but nothing was really working. I was thinking of winning here two years ago.”
“I was thinking of good clearances I’ve made here in this venue. You just have to try your best on every shot, that’s all you can do.
“There just weren’t many good shots in there today.
“For me, it’s not about the balls I miss. It’s about how far I miss them sometimes, because I feel like I apply myself in the standing position.
“I pick my line, get down, and commit. But it just goes nowhere near where you think. It’s not a nice feeling.
“I feel like I’m working really hard, but I feel like I’m a million miles away from playing good snooker at the moment.
“It’s much better going back to 32 and two tables [at the venue stages], 100%. They’ve done a great job changing this tournament around.
“But you can’t really enjoy that type of match. It wasn’t a lot of fun – turning balls down that I just didn’t fancy potting and just waiting for a better opportunity.
“I feel like I probably dragged Jackson down a little bit, but ultimately I’m in the next round. That’s the only positive I can take out of today.”
Next up for Mark Allen at the 2024 UK Championship is Wu Yize, who also won 6-4 on day two in York.
The English Open finalist didn’t score heavily either but managed to emerge from an all-Chinese clash with Si Jiahui as the winner.
Elsewhere, Jack Lisowski produced his finest display in recent times after fighting his way back from behind to beat former UK champion Mark Selby.
The latter appeared to be in cruise control when he made quick-fire breaks of 119, 59, and 136 to orchestrate an early 3-0 advantage.
But Lisowski restored parity with runs of 55, 63, and 100, and even though he briefly went behind again, the 33 year-old reeled off the concluding three frames for victory.
It will be a morale-boosting glory for a player many regard as the best to have never won a ranking event on the World Snooker Tour.
But Lisowski has often struggled to back up one impressive performance with another, so his consistency will be put to the test again in his upcoming fixture.
Ali Carter will be Lisowski’s next challenge after the Captain held off Ryan Day with another 6-4 triumph.
There are four more first-round ties on Monday, with world champion Kyren Wilson entering the fray against Stephen Maguire.
Chris Wakelin is a top 16 seed for the first time in his career, meanwhile, and his reward is a meeting with Matthew Selt.
Later on day three, Luca Brecel will look to turn around his desperate form when he faces Jak Jones, while Gary Wilson entertains Michael Holt.
2024 UK Championship draw and schedule
Round 1 (bo11)
Times are in UTC
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-6 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong 4-6 David Gilbert
Shaun Murphy 6-5 Zhao Xintong
Ding Junhui 6-5 Robert Milkins
Mark Selby 4-6 Jack Lisowski
Ali Carter 6-4 Ryan Day
Si Jiahui 4-6 Wu Yize
Mark Allen 6-4 Jackson Page
Judd Trump vs Neil Robertson
Tuesday, Nov 26 – 1pm
John Higgins vs He Guoqiang
Tuesday, Nov 26 – 1pm
Zhang Anda vs Lei Peifan
Tuesday, Nov 26 – 7pm
Mark Williams vs Stuart Bingham
Tuesday, Nov 26 – 7pm
Luca Brecel vs Jak Jones
Monday, Nov 25 – 7pm
Gary Wilson vs Michael Holt
Monday, Nov 25 – 7pm
Chris Wakelin vs Matthew Selt
Monday, Nov 25 – 1pm
Kyren Wilson vs Stephen Maguire
Monday, Nov 25 – 1pm
Round 2 (bo11)
Matches will take place on Wednesday, Nov 27 and Thursday, Nov 28.
Barry Hawkins vs David Gilbert
Wednesday, Nov 27 – 1pm
Shaun Murphy vs Ding Junhui
Wednesday, Nov 27 – 1pm
Jack Lisowski vs Ali Carter
Wednesday, Nov 27 – 7pm
Wu Yize vs Mark Allen
Wednesday, Nov 27 – 7pm
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
Quarter-Finals (bo11)
Matches will take place on Friday, Nov 29.
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Matches will take place on Saturday, Nov 30.
Final (bo19)
The match will take place on Sunday, Dec 1.
Featured photo credit: WST
