Stuart Bingham and Mark Allen set for a potential quarter-final match at 2011 UK Championship
England’s Stuart Bingham reckons that his rivalry with Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen is still there and will not go away easily. The Englishman is looking forward for his potential clash against his rival at the upcoming 2011 UK Championship next month,
in York Barbican Centre. The duo is drawn in a possible quarter-final clash of world snooker’s second most reputed tournament.
The pair’s feud started in this year’s Australian Goldfields Open tournament when the Northern Irishman, Allen, used some offensive language, calling Bingham of having ‘no bottle, no balls’. The 2011 Australian Goldfields Open Championship winner responded
by calling The Pistol ‘an idiot’.
However, Bingham clinched the quarter-final at Down Under and eventually won the tournament after ousting Mark Williams by the score line of 9-8 in the final, to collect his first ranking title. If Bingham and Allen go head-to-head in the potential quarter-final
match up of the 2011 UK Championship, their encounter will be tough and will reignite the feud.
Speaking to reporters about his possible clash with Allen, Bingham said, “The rivalry is not going to disappear. I've seen him at tournaments but not spoken to him. Neither of us are going to say hello to each other. Until the next time I play him, I'll
keep away from him. It's just one of those things that is unlikely to go away.”
The 35-year-old added, “He did me a favour before our match in Australia because I forgot about the fact that I was playing for my first semi-final, I was just focused on beating him. I felt good about it after the match, but then after I beat Shaun Murphy
to get to the final, I broke down and all the emotion came out.”
This season’s UK Championship will be held from December 3-11 at Barbican Centre in York and will feature the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins, Steve Davis, Judd Trump and Mark Selby. Bingham will play his opening match against Hong
Kong’s Marco Fu while Allen will be at the baize with England’s Adrian Gunnell. The championship holds a £100,000 prize money for the winner.
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