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BBC pundit Shaun Murphy accuses Mark Allen of 'old-school tactic' to unsettle opponent in gruelling UK Championship semi-final
Mark Allen's UK Championship semi-final clash with Barry Hawkins on Saturday night was a game even the most devoted of snooker fans would have struggled to stick with.
The match started at 7pm in the York Barbican and it took almost two and a half hours for the first four frames to be played and give everyone a break for the mid session interval before Hawkins won the final frame in the early hours of Sunday to seal a 6-5 victory and secure his place in the final against Judd Trump.
After another drawn out affair in frame five after the interval, the BBC commentary team began to suspect Antrim man Allen was playing games of a different sort. Indeed, it was Allen's regular sparring partner Shaun Murphy who labelled the pace of play a 'clear gameplan' from the world No.3.
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"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?," said Shaun Murphy. "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."
John Parrott was on co commentary and countered, adding: "I grew up playing against Terry Griffiths and Cliff Thorborn. Trust me, that was no day at the beach. You just got to find a way to compete with it and put up with it.
"If someone plays slow, you got to have patience."
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On the table, Allen took frame five with a break of 64 - his highest of the match to date from either player. Another epic frame followed with Allen again coming out on top - despite Murphy being baffled by some of Allen's shot selections once again.
Other world champions, Steve Davis and Ken Doherty, were asked about the possible tactic and how that was in sharp contrast to Allen's usual pacy play. The 'Pistol' is defending champion of the snooker Shoot Out, where speedy play is the order of the day. "I'm not sure it's deliberate, like Shaun says," replied six-time world champ Davis.
"He probably would have been in the top three or four fastest players in the world but over the last couple of seasons he'd be way down. His average shot time is 32 seconds (here)," remarked Dubliner Doherty.
Davis added: "He's been getting success by being more granite and obviously that encourages him to do more of it. He's gone back to his coach with a view to alignment or technical issues. I've got a feeling that's a red herring.
"I think his coach should be telling him to speed up, get a bit of rhythm, get a bit of feel back. Because without playing shots regularly, you lose your touch. If you are playing disjointed snooker, you get out of position."
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