Mark Allen has revealed fears over not being around to walk his daughter down the aisle drove him to losing four-and-a-half stones of weight.
The slimline 36-year-old from Northern Ireland impressively beat China’s Li Hang 4-1 to surge into the last 32 of the British Open in Milton Keynes on Wednesday with breaks of 63, 133, 100 and 83. And former Masters champion Allen admitted that he has had to completely rethink his technique as he is “no longer cueing around my belly”.
World number 14 Allen, chasing a seventh ranking title, said: “It was actually a wake-up call from a friend that really made me set about doing something about my weight.
“I hadn’t been feeling great in myself at the end of last season and you get found out a bit in the longer matches. I felt like I was running low on energy and you could really feel it and hear it in my breathing which isn’t good for someone of my age. I should have been in much better shape.
“And my friend handed me a bit of a warning – telling me that the way I was going there was a good chance I wouldn’t be around to walk my daughter Harleigh down the aisle.
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“She was only four at the time and it was the sort of thing that only a really close friend can say to you without insulting you. I took that on board and just made a real conscious effort since and wised up on my diet. I am still eating what I want – just a lot less of it, and only at meals.
“I have really cut down on portion sizes and re-trained myself on how to eat. If ordered a Kid’s Meal now, I probably wouldn’t even finish it! It is very different to what I used to do, just go out starving and eat loads.
“I talked to Shaun Murphy, who had the gastric sleeve surgery before he had it, and has lost a similar amount of weight. That is drastic surgery and all credit to him, that is also a massive lifestyle change requiring its own determination. but I felt it was better for me to do it this way based on will-power alone.
“So far it's been all diet and no exercise but I know if I continue to lose weight I will need to do that and tone up as well to tighten up my skin. It’s hard enough for me to stick to the eating plan, never mind throwing in exercise, which I really don’t like to do, but I am going to have to start.
“I have been very critical of World Snooker with the big gaps in the calendar recently at the start of this season. But if I’m honest in a really weird way that has helped me. Starting back practising I had lost about two-and-a-half stone already. And my cueing was all over the place. I had got so used to cueing around my belly! And I didn’t really have to do that any more and I had to adapt, and I am still not completely there yet. But the gaps helped me. If there had have been a load of tournaments I might not have done so good in them anyway.
“But even away from snooker it is just about being healthier, having a longer life and being around for my daughter growing up – that’s what is important.”
The huge turning point in the match against Li came in the second frame. The Chinese player had taken the first frame and looked on the point of moving 2-0 up, standing 56-1 ahead with the table at his mercy. But he left a black agonisingly over a pocket and an ice-cool Allen stepped in to mop up with a clearance to the black and change the whole momentum of the contest.
After that there were back-to-back centuries, before Allen closed things out with a run of 83. Meanwhile, title favourite Judd Trump matched Allen by easing into the last 32 with a 4-0 whitewash of Scotland’s Dean Young. The Juddernaut will reclaim the world No1 spot from Ronnie O’Sullivan if he goes on to lift the trophy at the end of the week. The Rocket unexpectedly crashed out early to Alexander Ursenbacher.
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