Mark Allen insisted there were “positives to take” from the 2026 World Snooker Championship despite suffering heartache in a crushing semi-final defeat to Wu Yize.
The Northern Irishman reached the last four at the Crucible Theatre for only the third time in his career following victories over Zhang Anda, Kyren Wilson, and Barry Hawkins.
The former world number one hadn’t really been spoken of as a major threat for glory in 2026 before the event began, but three solid displays suddenly got him back to the single-table setup and in the conversation again to take the world crown.
Allen then appeared on course to make his maiden appearance in a final, orchestrating a 16-14 lead over Chinese contender Wu.
Yet the Pistol misfired in sensational fashion, rattling a straightforward black off the spot in the 32nd frame to gift his young opponent a thoroughly unexpected reprieve.
Wu duly forced a deciding frame that he eventually won before going on to lift the trophy courtesy of another dramatic 18-17 triumph over Shaun Murph.
For Allen, though, the botched opportunity in the penultimate frame of the semi-final will go down in snooker history as one of the worst-ever misses.
The 40 year-old may never again have such a golden opportunity to reach a World Championship final and etch his name onto a trophy that has so far proven to be elusive across his career.
Allen is still fancied by the online sportsbooks as a credible threat to challenge for next year’s World Championship, boasting odds of about 20/1.
But although there will probably be high points again in Allen’s future, it’s difficult to see how he will return to Sheffield and successfully put that kind of misery behind him.
Much like the other famous snooker misses of the past, Allen will unfortunately have to deal with being constantly reminded of the mishap.
The former UK and Masters champion couldn’t even escape memories of the nightmare situation in his own home.
“I hadn’t seen my daughter Harley for three weeks,” Allen, who won last season’s English Open, told the BBC.
“When I picked her up from school, she jumped into my arms and the first thing she said was: ‘how did you miss that black, daddy?’”
“I have been asked a million times since and don’t know what the answer is. It was a shocking miss, but I tried my best and it just didn’t work out on that day.
“There were positives to take from the two weeks in Sheffield.
“I know I played well although I was disappointed with how it ended, but it’s the closest I’ve got [to a final] and that’s something I have to take.”
Allen might have to wait a good while longer before having the opportunity to return to the sport and start the healing process on the green baize.
The upcoming 2026/27 snooker season begins in June, but a lot of the early schedule on the calendar is dominated by qualifiers.
Championship League Snooker – the first ranking event of the new term – also starts next month but Allen didn’t enter the 2025 edition so might not be involved again.
Beyond that, the Antrim man’s next big outing will probably be the prestigious Shanghai Masters invitational which runs from July 27 to August 2.
Snooker’s most memorable misses: where does Mark Allen’s black rank?
Tags: Mark Allen, World Championship, Wu Yize
David Caulfield
The creator of SnookerHQ and a journalism MA graduate, David has been actively reporting on snooker since 2011. In addition to his work on SnookerHQ, he has also been published or featured in various other notable online, print, television, and audio publications.
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