'I got robbed there' – Allen jokes with the crowd after agonisingly losing position

Mark Allen’s comedy act at the Crucible continued when he told the crowd he was robbed after falling out of position during his semi-final match with Mark Selby at the World Championship.

The Northern Irishman interacted with the spectators at the Crucible earlier in the tournament, and it continued in the semi-finals.

Despite being at the business end of proceedings, Allen was not prepared to change his approach.

He played what looked like a lovely shot to pot the blue and take the white up and down the table for a red.

The applause was halted as the cue ball came to rest against the black, meaning he had no shot on the red.

Shortly after the white came to rest, a mobile phone went off in the crowd.

Referee Leo Scullion said: “If that’s a phone, turn it off please.”

Quick as a flash, Allen replied: “It’s just the police, as I got robbed there.”

“It is one of those if you hit it a fraction softer it puts you on the red, or a fraction harder then it moves the black,” Neal Foulds said on Eurosport commentary. “Very unlucky.”

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