Mark Allen thinks 'fuming' Northern Ireland Open star shows 'disrespect' to top players

Mark Allen believes Irish snooker prospect Aaron Hill will leave the Northern Ireland Open furious that he did not beat him. Allen secured a convincing 4-1 victory over the 23-year-old prodigy in their clash in Belfast.

The World No. 8 was the heavy favourite given his experience in the sport. In the first frame, there was a huge difference in quality as Allen flew out of the traps and hit a break of 137. But Hill was neither intimidated nor knocked back by Allen's brilliance, immediately levelling the match with a 65 clearance. He had some opportunities to take control of the next three frames, but his more senior opponent's experience showed, as Allen won three frames in a row to book a meeting with Shaun Murphy or Jordan Brown.

Considering the Pistol's superior ranking and track record of winning 12 ranking titles, many wouldn't have had any bad words to say about Hill's display. However, Allen believes the World No. 47 is so confident in himself and his talent, he would have almost expected to beat him.

Commenting on the youngster, Allen said: "I think he can go to the very top. The thing I like most about Aaron, I know he'll be going away today fuming that he lost. Like he would have fully expected to have gone out there and beat me.

"That's like the disrespect he shows like the top players and I love that. I mean that in the nicest way by the way by disrespect but he genuinely doesn't care who he plays, if he plays well he thinks he's going to win."

Allen has won the Northern Ireland Open twice. He will have an eye on taking the title a third time, particularly after he won it back-to-back between the 2021/22 and 2022-23 campaigns.

Commenting on his own performance, Allen added: "I felt like I played alright there, I stole a really good third frame and I think that was the turning point. He was starting to get on top at that point and he should've gone 2-1 up. I feel like I played some good stuff but he'll be disappointed the way he played.

"He's capable of much better. Look, I said to him at the end that he'll be winning these very, very soon and not to be too disappointed about it."

When asked about his next round opponents, Murphy or Brown, he said: "I'm looking forward to it, no matter who gets through. Obviously, I want Jordan to get through; it will be great for the Northern Ireland fans. Shaun is probably the player at the moment.

"I'd probably [find it easier playing Murphy], I don't think I'd enjoy playing Jordan, but I still want him to win if that makes sense. He's one of my best mates, so to play him in a major quarter-final will be amazing for both of us."