New UK champion Mark Allen has turned his tumultuous life around on and off the table.
Fourteen months ago the Northern Irish potter feared he may be painfully forced to quit the sport he loves due to a trio of traumatic issues behind the scenes.
Antrim ace Allen declared himself bankrupt in May 2021, went through a divorce and was embroiled in legal disputes with 12-time women’s world champion and former partner Reanne Evans.
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But the new world No.5 has bounced back better than ever this season, reaching three straight ranking finals, after putting a horror spell behind him.
Allen has become a mentality monster after joining forces with sports psychologist Paul Gaffney and shedding over five stone in weight.
“You think 12 months ago just off the back of pulling out of the Champion of Champions, and it was touch and go whether I was going to be able to play at last year’s UK even after the first and second rounds,” reflected Allen, who became the 13th player to win back-to-back ranking titles with his 10-7 win over Ding Junhui.
“So it is crazy how much has changed and I am in such a good place. Not everything is done yet, but I am close. Everything is going positively and I am getting the boxes ticked to get rid of all the problems from the past – and I am just in a good place and enjoying life.
“And getting a lot of stuff sorted off the table has helped me a lot. The weight loss has helped me, working with Paul has helped me.
“But even if I had done those if all the other things were still there I think I’d still be struggling.
“I just never knew what was going to happen from one day to the next. You’d wake up and be reading solicitors’ letters and get voicemails saying you owed this much money.
“It was constant for months and months and you never knew what was going to happen. I’d go in to practice some days and my solicitor would ring and that ruined your practice.
“So I am just really glad those days are behind me because they were very difficult.
“Without going into all the details, the Reanne situation is still ongoing and I would love nothing more than to get that sorted and then we could all move on.
“The bankruptcy is completely done, and the divorce with Kyla is completely done.”
The left-hander followed in the footsteps of Alex Higgins as he became the first player from the country to land the prestigious prize for the first time since 1983.
Allen is now two-thirds away from completing the coveted Triple Crown and he feels better equipped than ever before to have a crack at conquering the Crucible and finally winning a maiden world title.
“I make no qualms about it, the World Championship is another tournament that I really, really want to win. But you only get one chance a year, and it’s tough,” said Allen, who is the best ranked player in the world on the one-year list.
“And much as I am doing well anyway, if I start producing what I do in the club out there regularly I feel I will win a lot of these trophies. So while there is improvement to be made, I’ll keep working.
“If I can find another five or 10 per cent, then I’ll be hard to stop.
“Everything I have done can’t do me any harm at the Crucible. I just need to get my game in better shape and tighten up on a few things to give myself a chance of going really close in Sheffield.
“But we have all seen, you can go on a run of tournaments and fall flat on your face there. I just feel like I am in the best place I have ever been when I go there this time, and not much will change that.”
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