By Elliott West
“It’s good to have targets”.
Mark Allen
Introduction
The final of the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham was always going to be a remarkable match when we learned that Mark Allen would face Judd Trump for the chance for one these snooker legends to get their hands on the acclaimed silver claret jug and whoever managed to cross the winning line after the best of 19 frames would be £100,000 richer. With both players claiming that they were not playing at their ultimate best throughout the tournament, this match could have turned out to have been a damp squib but we all know that any snooker final usually brings out the best in both players.
Mark Allen had already caused friction by saying in an ITV interview that he would have a laugh with his friend Shaun Murphy rather than Judd in the final. However, Murphy was outplayed by Trump in their semi-final clash and ended up losing 6-2. So would Allen employ the same tactics he had done against Jack Lisowski or revert back to his attacking play?
The Final
With all eyes looking at Judd to carry on from his Masters’ win, the pressure was stacked up against him and after level pegging at 2-2, Allen roared away to a 6-2 advantage at the end of the afternoon session. The Northern Ireland champion only needed three more frames in the evening to complete a seismic victory. However, he probably wasn’t prepared for what happened next. Perhaps his family gave him words of encouragement and whatever happened, it seemed to work.
Trump seized his opportunity but not before Allen took the first frame to extend his lead to 7-2 with a break of 88. The Bristolian replied with a 140 break to equal the tournament’s highest break. He then followed that up with a 108 break to which Allen replied with a 141 break to snatch the highest break. A match was still possible with Judd only trailing 8-4 He then went into warp speed, going 8-5, 8-6 and 8-7 before bringing the match to 8-8. Allen however stopped the rot and took the next frame to go one frame from victory. Could Judd take the next to force a decider?
The answer is of course yes, Trump made a break of 76 to take this excellent final to the wire at 9-9. Either could win and it really was down to who got the advantage in the deciding frame. On this occasion, it was Mark, showing a immense bottle to beat his opponent with a 52 break after Judd missed a yellow. Allen smashes a record, becoming the tenth player to win three ranking titles in a season. His chat with the sports psychologist in the break seemed to work because he prepared him for a possible Judd fightback and it allowed Mark to display his gritty determination. Allen grabbed the opportunity and wanted to show that he had to fight for this title, the ultimate challenge. Even when Allen isn’t playing at his best, he is still thinking clearly and has a positive mindset, which is invaluable for winning titles as he is proving in style this season, now up to number three in the rankings. He has also earned over £500,000 in prize money from ranking events this season.
