Snooker star Mark Allen worryingly withdraws from EIGHTH tournament of season for personal reasons

SNOOKER star Mark Allen has withdrawn from another tournament due to personal reasons. The Pistol, 40, had already pulled out of the International Championship qualifiers last week for the same reason. Mark Allen has pulled out of the Shenzhen Open this month due to ‘personal reasons’ Credit: Alamy His last appearance was a world championship semi-final defeat to Wu Yize in May Credit: Getty He was due to face Thailand’s Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon on Saturday, September 19 before being replaced by Welsh amateur Duane Jones. And Allen has now withdrawn from the Shenzhen Open this month. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! The world No13 would have played Belgian rival Ben Mertens on September 28. But now Mertens will get a bye to the last 32 after Allen’s latest withdrawal. It means Allen has pulled out of EIGHT tournaments this season. He hasn’t played since a semi-final defeat at the World Snooker Championship to eventual winner Wu Yize in May. Allen went on to withdraw from the Shanghai Masters, the Championship League, plus the China, Wuhan, British and English Opens. nd after also being absent from the International Championship qualifiers and Shenzhen, there will be some concern for the snooker star. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK List of all-time Snooker World Champions 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. 1969 – John Spencer 1970 – Ray Reardon 1971 – John Spencer 1972 – Alex Higgins 1973 – Ray Reardon (2) 1974 – Ray Reardon (3) 1975 – Ray Reardon (4) 1976 – Ray Reardon (5) 1977 – John Spencer (2) 1978 – Ray Reardon (6) 1979 – Terry Griffiths 1980 – Cliff Thorburn 1981 – Steve Davis 1982 – Alex Higgins (2) 1983 – Steve Davis (2) 1984 – Steve Davis (3) 1985 – Dennis Taylor 1986 – Joe Johnson 1987 – Steve Davis (4) 1988 – Steve Davis (5) 1989 – Steve Davis (6) 1990 – Stephen Hendry 1991 – John Parrott 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2) 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3) 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4) 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5) 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6) 1997 – Ken Doherty 1998 – John Higgins 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7) 2000 – Mark Williams 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 2002 – Peter Ebdon 2003 – Mark Williams (2) 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) 2005 – Shaun Murphy 2006 – Graeme Dott 2007 – John Higgins (2) 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) 2009 – John Higgins (3) 2010 – Neil Robertson 2011 – John Higgins (4) 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4) 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5) 2014 – Mark Selby 2015 – Stuart Bingham 2016 – Mark Selby (2) 2017 – Mark Selby (3) 2018 – Mark Williams (3) 2019 – Judd Trump 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6) 2021 – Mark Selby (4) 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7) 2023 – Luca Brecel 2024 – Kyren Wilson 2025 – Zhao Xintong 2026 – Wu Yize Most World Titles (modern era) 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams 2 – Alex Higgins He hasn’t spoken often about his snooker hiatus but did release a statement after pulling out of China and Wuhan last month. Allen said at the time: “I am gutted to miss these two events in China and my apologies to the fans and promoters in Taiyuan and Wuhan. “I love playing in China and appreciate the support we always get there, but there are personal reasons why I can’t make it this time.” “I hope to be back playing in China later this season.” Allen has won a total of 12 ranking titles during his career and became world no 1 in 2024. His next opportunity to return to snooker will be at the Northern Ireland Open in October. Comment now