You cheat! Allen accuses Chinese opponent of ‘blatant foul’ after shock defeat
After the perfection of Stephen Hendry’s 147 maximum break on Saturday, the BetFred.com World Snooker Championship descended into accusations of cheating made by Mark Allen against his young Chinese opponent Cao Yupeng on Sunday.
The Northern Irishman’s season has been shrouded in controversial outbursts, but moments after he had surprisingly lost his first-round match 10-7 to a player ranked 81 in the world, Allen made the most damning of allegations.
Allen believed Cao should have called a foul against himself and reacted furiously immediately after the match.
He said: ‘The referee missed a blatant push. It was obvious to me and anyone watching at home would have been able to see it, no problem.
‘Cao looked at the referee as soon as he did it, as if to say, “Are you not calling a foul here?” It seems to be a bit of a trait for the Chinese players because there have been a few instances in the past of fouls and blatant cheating going on. It needs to be corrected. He’s a good enough player that he doesn’t have to do that.
‘It’s very, very sad for the state of snooker if it has to be down to that.’
He has yet to be sanctioned for disparaging remarks made about the Chinese city of Hainan, tweeting ‘dead cats’ and that ‘the place stinks’.
Cao was hurt by the accusations. He said through an interpreter: ‘I didn’t realise I had fouled. If I did foul, then I say sorry. If I didn’t and Mark has said that (I should) apologise, then I would feel very upset and angry.’
Allen’s anger was compounded by the manner of defeat. At 9-6 behind, he made what he thought was a winning clearance only to see the white ball drop into a corner pocket and hand Cao victory.
Speaking after the accusation, Steve Davis challenged Allen’s claim that Chinese snooker players are lacking in sporting integrity.
Asked whether he felt Chinese players are prone to cheating, Davis said: ‘I don’t think so.’
He added: ‘It was obviously Mark coming straight off the back of his disappointment of losing, and it’s something we’ve discussed before, that players are required to go almost straight into the press room straight after, and they are at their most vulnerable.
‘He obviously questioned his opponent’s integrity. In football you see players falling over fresh air, you see people handling the ball and not owning up to it.
‘The dilemma is: whose responsibility is it, the referee’s responsibility or the player’s responsibility? The actual incident is arguable (but) Mark felt strongly enough to say what he did.’
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