Mark Allen has issued a warning to his closest rivals after landing one of his biggest titles of his career.

The year 2018 will live long in the memory for the Northern Ireland star after he started it by winning The Masters and has now added the International Championship – one of the biggest ranking titles in the calendar – to his name.

Allen beat Neil Robertson 10-5 to seal his fourth ranking title and picked up a massive cheque for £175,000. He now is in seventh place in the World Rankings.

And after the win he revealed that, at times, his game was even better compared to his performances throughout his first Masters triumph at the start of the year.

It’s a message which could be considered as a warning to the world’s best ahead of a busy time in the snooker season – especially with the UK Championship just weeks away.

Mark Allen. Picture by Monique Limbos

“It is not easy to win tournaments these days, especially with so many good players, but I’ve played really well all week,” Allen said.

“There were very few times where I struggled, apart from getting over the line in the final because of the pressure.

“I think I was very close to the form I showed in winning the Masters. In patches I actually played better, the first session of the final in particular.”

Allen returns to action on Thursday in the Champion of Champions invitational event and will play Barry Hawkins..

In fact, Allen and Robertson could meet each other again on Thursday evening should they both win their opening match during the daytime. Robertson is against world number one Mark Selby.

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