By Mark Whiley

Copyright walesonline

Mark Allen appears to be on the up again following a turbulent few years for one of snooker’s biggest stars. The Northern Irish cueman secured his place in Sunday’s English Open final in Brentwood after mounting a remarkable fightback against Jak Jones in the semi-finals. Welshman Jones had bossed the first-to-six encounter, leading 5-3 and appearing destined to face Chinese star Zhou Yuelong in the final, only for Allen to storm back with three consecutive frames. This resurgence marks a dramatic turnaround from the conclusion of last season, when the former world No. 1 admitted he had no desire to qualify for the coveted Players Championship, such was his depleted confidence at that point. Allen also pulled out of July’s Shanghai Masters, citing personal reasons. Looking further back, the ex-UK and Masters champion, who has accumulated over £5million in prize money throughout his career, has faced numerous challenges beyond the baize, including financial ruin and a strained relationship with his snooker-playing former partner…. Despite his substantial career winnings, Allen filed for bankruptcy in January 2021, subsequently attributing his financial troubles to an extravagant way of life. Speaking to the BBC about his “wrong moves” in October 2022, he revealed: “I just overspent in every aspect of my life. “Bankruptcy was the only choice. It’s easy to read that I made £3.5m on the table, but I spent it as fast as it was coming in. It was sad saying that, given what I’ve made in the game and how well I’ve done. “It’s embarrassing, but the priority now is to get my life in order. I didn’t put any aside for a rainy day and if I was having a bad season, I was still spending as if I was having a good season.” Allen was also financially hit following his divorce from his wife of seven years, Kyla McGuigan, with whom he shares a daughter, in 2020. He continued: “All the legal stuff with the divorce, if you have to pay for lawyers and barristers, it all mounts up. “If I could go back, I would be more sensible with money. If there was a car available at £50,000, I bought one at £80,000. If there was a house available at £1,500 per month, I’d spend one at £2,500. Everything just snowballed.” By 2024, Allen had sorted out his financial matters, telling SportsBoom: “Things are going really well. My private life is good, and financially, I’m in a better place than I was. Just even from a mental side of things, I’m just looking forward to playing more than I was. “As much as I love the game, it was tough coming to the club [for practice] when everything was going on. I don’t have that distraction anymore.” During his money troubles and after his marriage collapsed, Allen chose to begin a fitness journey that resulted in him losing an incredible five stone between the conclusion of the 2021/22 season and the start of the following campaign. While he believed the weight loss would help his snooker, he insisted the change of lifestyle was motivated by improving his health long-term. He said: “I felt heavy, not healthy, when I was playing snooker. “One of my friends said he worried about me getting too big, too unhealthy, and said if you keep going the way you are going, then you’re not going to be able to walk your daughter down the aisle. “Literally two days later, I started eating better and instantly changed everything. The first six to eight weeks were really hard as it involved a total change when it came to eating. “There were times last year when, given my size, I was uncomfortable on some of my shots, I couldn’t reach certain shots and, because I play at a fast pace, I could feel it on my breathing. It should help my game.” Allen has also had to deal with his troubled relationship with fellow snooker star Reanne Evans, with whom he has a daughter, Lauren. The pair separated back in 2008 before becoming involved in a protracted dispute over child maintenance. Speaking after claiming the UK Championship in 2022, he said: “Without going into all the details, the Reanne situation is still ongoing and I’d love nothing more than to get that sorted and then we could all move on. “Because it isn’t nice. You come to tournaments and we aren’t even saying hello and we have a child together. As much as I don’t see Lauren, I still think about her all the time. And it would be great that’s sorted one way or the other.” During their disagreement, Allen and Evans encountered the awkward situation of having to compete against each other at the 2021 British Open. In uncomfortable scenes, Evans rejected Allen’s offer of a pre-match fist bump. Following the encounter, which Allen secured after a final-frame thriller, both players acknowledged how unpleasant the so-called ‘Battle of the Exes’ had been to participate in. After previously being engaged to Aideen Cassidy following his divorce, Allen is now dating Sara Herald. The couple are understood to have been an item since 2023. Allen has periodically posted photographs of himself alongside Herald, including from a local sports awards ceremony in Northern Ireland in November 2023. The duo got engaged earlier this year, with Herald posting a romantic photograph of the couple on Instagram. She posted: “Does this ring make me look engaged? ? ? ? The easiest YES ever.” Allen will be hoping for another cause for celebration following the English Open final.