Mark Allen forces ITV into swift apology with ‘shaking like s***ting dog’ comment
Mark Allen left ITV bosses red faced after pulling no punches in his interview after the World Grand Prix final.
The Northern Irish star continued his superb form by taking his third ranking title of the season, beating Judd Trump 10-9 in a thrilling encounter. But there was no sign of a cliffhanger when Allen led 6-2 at the interval, a lead he extended in the next frame before Trump came storming back.
He won six of the next seven frames to level the final at 8-8, and the pair exchanged the next two frames to set a decider. It proved a nervy finale, with Trump leading 19-8 before he missed an easy yellow, and ‘The Pistol’ capitalised to claim the trophy for the first time.
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And afterwards, the 36-year-old didn’t even try to pretend he was calm throughout. Bluntly, he said: “I don’t know about keeping my nerve. I was shaking like a s***ting dog there,” forcing presenter Rob Walker to say sorry to viewers.
The quote went down well with snooker fans, with @jamiejammo7 tweeting: “What a match, what a fight back from Judd, summed up perfectly by the winner though…”
“One of the great post-match quotes from Mark Allen there,” said @nigetassell, and @ThatNeilMartin joked: “You don’t get this colour over at the BBC with its winged-back chairs and snuff boxes.”
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(Image: Getty Images)
Allen’s quip wasn’t the first slip of the tongue by a player this week. Ronnie O’Sullivan also swore on live TV after he was beaten in the last 16 by Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham.
Speaking afterwards, the 47-year-old said: “I don’t really worry myself with making events and making c****,” before quickly correcting himself. “Sorry, cuts!”
Blasphemy from players is hardly the primary concern for the sport’s bosses right now though. A match-fixing investigation is currently ongoing, with 10 Chinese players facing different charges.
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