'˜Hungover' Mark Allen wins semi-final after interval drinks

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen produced a stunning comeback to reach the Scottish Open final '“ but he raised a few eyebrows afterwards when insisting that he didn't deserve a place in today's showpiece match because he has spent too much time drinking at the Glasgow event.

Mark Allen is through to the Scottish Open final. Picture: Paul Devlin/SNS

Allen secured a 6-5 triumph against Welshman Daniel Wells and will play the winner of the other semi-final between Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump, which was due to conclude late last night. But he didn’t make it easy for himself after Wells raced into a 4-0 lead at the Emirates Arena.

Allen recovered to reach his second successive final but then lambasted his own approach to the week. “I don’t deserve to be in the final the way I’ve treated the tournament this week,” explained Allen.

Even yesterday, during the interval of his semi-final, instead of going to the practice table, the Masters champion, pictured, opted to have a couple of drinks. “I had a couple of drinks and felt a bit better after it because I was really struggling out there,” he added. “Last night was the earliest I’ve been to bed and the least I’ve drunk 
any night this week. I expected to feel good today but I felt terrible.

“That’s what I was expecting early in the week because when I came here, I said I was going to enjoy myself. I’ve managed to scrape through a few matches. I was all over the place. I’m embarrassed to say I was hungover and stuff.”

So was Allen at least planning an early night before the final? “I could stay in tonight and go to bed early and feel horrendous tomorrow,” he continued. “So I may as well go out and have a good time.”