MARK ALLEN has urged Shaun Murphy to “leave personal feelings out of the commentary box” after he was criticised for an “annoying” tactic.
Allen, 38, lost 6-5 to Barry Hawkins in the semi-finals of the UK Championship on Saturday in a fiercely-contested match.
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Murphy, 42, was in the commentary box for the BBC and questioned Allen’s reasoning for taking time with his shots.
He said: “Now, it’s completely within the rules, 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.”
Murphy has exchanged verbals with Allen in the past, labelling him “rude and amateurish” before the Northern Irishman responded by calling The Magician “irrelevant“.
And as Allen reflected on his defeat on social media, he claimed Murphy’s personal vendetta was the reason for the comments about his snooker tactics.
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He said: “Not to be in this years UK Championships. The better player on the day won.
“Good luck to both Judd and Barry in the final… For those criticising… I always give 100 per cent, it might not be pretty at times but I’m trying my best. Some other players could learn from it.
“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 .”
Hawkins will face Judd Trump in the final of the UK Championship on Sunday.
Trump, who beat Kyren Wilson 6-2 in his semi-final, won the tournament back in 2011 and lost two finals in 2014 and 2020.
Hawkins is appearing in the final for the first time.
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
Most World Titles (modern era)
