BBC presenter Hazel Irvine issued a live on-air apology to Mark Allen during the World Snooker Championship final, after a montage replayed his costly missed black in the semi-final against Wu Yize.
Heartbreaking Miss
Allen's missed black would have secured a 17-15 victory and a place in his first Crucible final. Instead, Wu Yize won the frame and the decider to triumph 17-16. The defeat means Allen's quest for a maiden world title continues.
During a highlights package shown in the interval of the Shaun Murphy vs Wu Yize final, Irvine could not bear to watch the missed shot again. She said: "Nicely done Steve [Bracknall] aka Chris McClure, stage name, really genius stuff there. I still cannot watch Mark Allen's missed black, I am really sorry Mark. But the grace in which he took that was extraordinary, wasn't it?"
John Parrott added: "Unbelievable. If you are watching pal, I am still hurting for you. I am absolutely am, I have never seen anything like it."
Allen's Reaction
Allen later admitted: "You don't deserve to be in the world final if you're missing balls like that. That was just pure pressure to be honest. Normally I'm pretty good under the pressure but just didn't handle it well today. I was probably more nervous at different stages of the match than I was on that black."
He continued: "I just threw a quick one in, I genuinely did. I just didn't deliver the cue properly and I got what I deserved when you miss a black like that to win the match. I had two, three chances to close out the match and didn't do it. But credit to Wu."
Allen added: "The final frame was another opportunity to win. I was fine going into it - win the next frame, that's what I always say. I was a little unlucky when I potted the pink, split the reds but didn't land on anything. But I had more than enough chances to win. At the end of the match, I just wished Wu good luck and said he played very well. I think he's going to be a world champion."
Final Update
During Monday's afternoon session, Wu moved within five frames of becoming the second youngest world champion in history after withstanding a strong Murphy fightback. The 22-year-old looked down and out after losing the first five frames of the day as Murphy roared back from a 10-7 overnight deficit to lead 12-10. But Wu hit back to win the final three frames of the session and regain a 13-12 advantage.
