Who’s a silly boy?

Northern Ireland professional Allen, former partner of women’s world number one Reanne Evans, entered a press conference at the UK Championship in York this week with a piece of black gaffer tape over his mouth.

This follows his earlier rant about the shortening of matches in the second most prestigious event in the calendar.

Allen launched a personal attack on Hearn - and Hearn has threatened to sue. This is all about Hearn’s revitalisation of snooker. Yes, some of the top players are unhappy. Incredibly, they say there are now too many tournaments. And some are meaningless.

That may be the case for the top-16. But think what it has done for snooker as a whole.

Amateurs are flocking to pay their £100 to play in a leg of the Players Tour Championship. Some travel to the PTC events in Europe and play just one match. Why? Because if you win one or two matches you could face a superstar.

And that is creating masses of interest.

Think what it meant to Nick Jennings and Jordan Winbourne to face Ronnie O’Sullivan this year. And Shane Castle who lost 4-2 to Allen a couple of weeks ago. Think how long these matches will stay in the memory and think what it means to their families and friends and clubmates.

Meanwhile, O’Sullivan threatened to quit snooker - for the umpteenth time.

And former World Championship finalist Ali Carter announced on Twitter, after his 6-2 defeat by Allen, that he will definitely quit at the end of this season - and then backtracked slightly.

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here