Mark Allen (snooker player)

Mark Allen

Mark Allen at the 2014 German Masters
Born	(1986-02-22) 22 February 1986 (age 31) Antrim, Northern Ireland
Sport country	Northern Ireland
Nickname	"All-in" "The Pistol"
Professional	2005–
Highest ranking	6 (March–May and June 2013, November 2014–January 2015, August–September 2016)
Current ranking	10 (as of 18 December 2016)
Career winnings	£1,803,110
Highest break	147 (2016 UK Championship)
Century breaks	311
Tournament wins
Ranking	3
Minor-ranking	5
Non-ranking	1

Mark Allen (born 22 February 1986) is a Northern Irish professional snooker player. He won the World Amateur Championship in 2004. The following year he entered the Main Tour and took only three seasons to reach the elite top 16. As a prolific break-builder, Allen has compiled more than 300 century breaks in professional competition.

Allen has reached five ranking semi-finals: the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy, the 2008 Bahrain Championship, the 2009 World Championship, the 2010 China Open and the 2010 UK Championship. In June 2009, he won his first professional title, the invitational Jiangsu Classic in China. He reached his first ranking event final at the 2011 UK Championship.

Allen's highest break is 147, which he achieved in the 2016 UK Championship. Allen is left-handed.

He began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2003, at the time the second-level professional tour. Before entering Main Tour for the 2005/2006 season, Allen won the European Championship and the IBSF World Championship, plus Northern Ireland Championship at under-14, under-16, and under-19 levels. His early career was aided by National Lottery funding.

By chance, an invitational Northern Ireland Trophy was staged shortly after Allen turned professional. As a local player, he was invited and made an immediate impact, defeating Steve Davis and John Higgins to reach the quarter-finals, before losing to Stephen Hendry. In his first year on the tour, he reached the last 32 of the 2005 UK Championship and the 2006 Welsh Open, losing 2–5 to the then World Champion Shaun Murphy after leading 2–0. He also got to the final qualifying round of the 2006 World Championship, losing 7–10 to Andy Hicks, after leading 7–4.