Stephen Lee hails Mark Allen for his impressive performance in 2012 World Open final
England’s Stephen Lee was not expecting a brutal defeat in the final of 2012 World Open snooker tournament at the Haikou Stadium arena in the Hainan Island but Mark Allen’s brilliant performance pushed him down easily by 10-1.
The Trowbridge potter had a superb run in the tournament as he locked the final spot after marvellous victories over Dominic Dale 5-0 in Round 1, Neil Robertson 5-2 Round 2, Graeme Dott 5-1 quarter-final and Robert Milkins 6-2 semi-finals.
Despite the fact that the odds were at level between both potters but Allen had a psychological advantage over Lee because he came through after facing tough opponents like Judd Trump and Mark Selby. Besides, Allen’s performance in the current season has
been quite outstanding as he has reached the final stages of a couple of tournaments.
The Northern Irishman dominated the first session with superb cores of 4-0. After the interval, a noticeable 53-point clearance brought Allen into 5-0 scores. Lee bounced back into the match with sixth frame win by 55-68 but it was not enough to stop Allen’s
run who breezed into the final match victory taking the next five frames easily.
Lee spoke to the World Snooker after losing against Allen, “Mark got off to a good start and I couldn't get into the match and it went a bit one sided, and ended one sided. I was a bit disappointed at the end of the week but I have had a great time this
week and the best man won on the day.”
He added, “I was devastated that I've not played a part in the final today. At this level if you don't play your part, you get steamrollered and Mark could see I was struggling to get involved in the match. If you can see people down then you keep them down
and Mark has done a good job on me today and good luck to him.”
Lee will now move to Bailey Allen Hall in Galway, Ireland to take part in the Players Tour Championship (PTC) Grand Finals. He will start his PTC campaign playing his first-round clash against compatriot Martin Gould.
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