Mark Allen has fired a brutal dig at rival Shaun Murphy over his controversial comments on Ronnie O'Sullivan's attitude towards snooker.
Murphy launched a scathing attack on O'Sullivan at the UK Championship for being a poor ambassador for the sport due to his ambivalence towards the game that has made him a multi-millionaire. The exasperated 'Magician' claimed he was 'extremely irritated' by O'Sullivan's lack of enthusiasm and apparent refusal to help 'make the game better'.
His rant came after he had quizzed O'Sullivan over his appearance at tournaments whilst on punditry duty, asking The Rocket: "If you don't like it as much as you say you don't, why do you keep coming?"
O'Sullivan nonchalantly replied: "I think I’d get bored". An irked Murphy then embarked on a blistering rant about the seven-time world champion after his own first round victory over Dave Gilbert. Murphy was clearly riled by O'Sullivan's admission that snooker carries little significance in his life.
And Northern Irish star Allen has now fired a shot at Murphy after the world no.13 expressed serious injury concerns ahead of his second round match against former world champion Judd Trump in York on Thursday.
Murphy, who has struggled with persistent injury problems, tweeted before his match: "In terrible pain today with my neck / shoulder. Started getting worse two days ago and I could hardly play at all yesterday. Going to try everything to be ready to play at 1pm but right now it’s not looking good."
Allen then sent the savage reply: "Must be that chip on your shoulder doing the damage." Allen's response has left snooker fans in hysterics on social media as the former Masters champion appeared to weigh in on the latest controversy surrounding O'Sullivan.
His reply came after Murphy created his own headlines for an unfiltered outburst over his frustrations with the game's greatest player.
“It is very frustrating hearing Ronnie and others say it’s just one of the things they do with their life… and that the game means so little to them,” Murphy had claimed. “For players like myself…I don’t have the CV of O’Sullivan, I don’t have what I assume must be an incredible amount of wealth.
“He comes from an incredibly wealthy background and grew up in incredible wealth. Most of the tour don’t come from that world. It’s okay for him and people like him that have cabinet after cabinet of trophies to say how little the game means to them, but for the rest of us it means an awful lot.
"But I am only 40 and I remember the village I grew up in and I know the life I would have had but for this game that saved me from a life of complete anonymity. I will never, ever forget that. It is extremely irritating. Ronnie in particular has one of the biggest platforms in the world. I just wish he would use it to help make the game better. “
