Stephen Hendry: Mark Allen's form has 'deserted him at the worst part of the season' at 2023 Tour Championship

Stephen Hendry believes Mark Allen’s loss of form has “deserted him at the worst part of the season" after his quarter-final loss to Ding Junhui at the Tour Championship. Allen arrived at the Tour Championship as the No. 1 seed after being the most impressive player on the circuit for the current season.

Ad But with the World Championship still to come, Allen failed to impress against Ding and registered just three half-centuries in a 10-5 defeat. Tour ChampionshipDing cruises past Allen on Tour Championship debut to reach semi-finalsAN HOUR AGO Ding hit 10 half-century breaks, converting one to a break of 116, as he punished Allen’s mistakes and often kept his opponent in his seat when he was given a single chance to win a frame. Speaking on ITV4 after the match-up, seven-time world champion Hendry compared the two players and pointed out Allen’s biggest weakness right now.

Of Ding, he said: “He was by the far the heavier scorer, [but Allen’s] scoring has deserted him at the worst part of the season. “Ding kept on scoring, 50, 60, all day. Nothing was going right for [Allen].” Hendry was also impressed with Ding’s consistency, adding: “He’ll be very pleased the way he closed the match out, you don’t like to stumble over the line, you like to do so convincingly.” Ding cruises past Allen on Tour Championship debut to reach semi-finals What shock Tour Championship line-up tells us ahead of Crucible chances Ding, who is making his career debut at the Tour Championship, will play Ali Carter or Kyren Wilson in the semi-finals.

Alan McManus added: “For Mark to miss by that much was a concern. Ding won six of these frames without Mark troubling the scorers. A couple Mark only scored one point.