‘I just felt edgy’ – Mark Allen overcomes early nerves to dismantle Chang Bingyu to advance in Northern Ireland Open

Mark Allen admitted he had to overcome some nerves during his 4-1 victory over Chang Bingyu, as the home favourite made a solid start to his Northern Ireland Open defence.

The Antrim man made a couple of errors as he lost the opening frame – something he puts down to nerves. But he quickly gathered his composure at the Waterfront, Belfast, to win the next four and seal his place in the second round.

“I was nervous, I felt good all day and I felt really nervous when I got out there for some reason, just being in Belfast,” Allen told Eurosport’s Jimmy White and Rachel Casey afterwards.

“I haven’t stepped foot in this arena since last year when I won. I was just edgy, and I missed a couple that shouldn’t have but after that, yeah, I played some good stuff. My safety really improved, and I didn’t really miss much.”

Explaining the reason behind his nerves, Allen continued: “It’s probably just a bit of everything. Obviously I’m normally nervous in Belfast but I thought with winning last year, it might not be like that this year. I felt pretty calm all day. But soon as I got out there, I just felt edgy. It’s the first frame nerves that you get when you’re a kid.”

Allen blew his opponent away with a 95% pot success rate, but it was his safety game that he was most pleased with, describing it as ‘immaculate’. White agreed, comparing his safety game to that of Mark Selby’s.

“I think my safety was really good,” confessed Allen.

“I normally score heavy but it’s about putting the other pieces, long potting and the safety.

“The last four frames, my safety was immaculate really. I think that’s the difference against these guys because they’re all brilliant scorers, brilliant potters. So you have to have more than that.

“If you’re going to win tournaments regularly or compete regularly, you need to have it all. And yeah, I was probably just a little bit out on that against the very, very top players.”

“I’ve worked really hard to try to get some weight off. If it helps my snooker, great, but I needed to do it just to be healthier.”

A scrappy opening frame descended into a pink ball game with Chang leading 36-44 and needing just said pink to win. Allen was first to blink, catching the pink too thick trying to find the middle pocket and leaving a gift for Chang who duly dispatched it to edge ahead.

Allen shrugged off the setback in some fashion though, making a clearance of 123 to wrap up the second frame in just eight minutes. Splitting a pack of reds with a brilliant shot on the pink was the highlight of the match, with Eurosport’s David Hendon saying: “Open sesame”. Joe Johnson added: “It’s such a delicate little split”.

The Antrim man was back in business in the third frame, rattling home a red with authority to win 69-0 in just over 12 minutes. Allen’s dominance continued as he moved to within one frame of victory following a closing break of 70.

Chang made his first pot in three frames with a sublime red, but he was powerless from preventing Allen running away with the match as the home favourite made another century.