Mark Allen Withdraws From British Open and English Open, Extending Season-Long Absence

Mark Allen will miss the British Open and English Open for personal reasons, the World Snooker Tour confirmed on 26 August (WST).

The withdrawals mean Allen has now sat out the first five ranking events of the 2026-27 season. He also missed the non-ranking Shanghai Masters earlier in the campaign. The Championship League, China Open and Wuhan Open ranking events all came and went without him (BBC Sport).

The British Open runs from 31 August to 6 September in Cheltenham. The English Open follows from 7 to 13 September. Allen had been drawn to face Wang Xinbo in the first round of the British Open and Sam Craigie in his English Open opener. Both matches will now require replacement opponents or walkovers.

The English Open carries a particular sting for the Northern Irishman. Allen won the title at Brentwood last year and will not defend it. Titles won on the tour are not handed back lightly, and the trophy moves on without a fight from its holder.

Allen is ranked world number 13. He has not played a competitive match since the World Championship semi-final at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in early May. That match has already passed into snooker folklore. Allen lost 17-16 to Wu Yize, the eventual champion, in a deciding frame that turned on a single missed shot.

Leading 16-15 and one frame from the final, Allen lined up a straight black off its spot — a shot players at every level pot thousands of times — and watched it rattle in the jaws. The black stayed out. Wu cleared to level the match, then won the decider. A 25-minute frame became a tournament-defining moment.

That miss, of course, is sport. Every professional has a shot they wish they had again. What matters now is how long Allen stays away and what condition his game is in when he returns. The tour moves on regardless — the British Open draw is already being reshuffled, and Tom Ford has also withdrawn from the event, according to his player page on the WST website (WST).

For Allen, the ranking calendar offers no patience. Every missed event is prize money unearned and ranking points unprotected. The world number 13 slot is a comfortable place, but comfort erodes quickly when the field keeps playing without you. The next ranking event Allen is eligible for will tell us more about his plans and his timing.

Snooker's silence is part of its theatre. Right now, Allen's is the loudest silence on the tour.