Mark Allen to miss British Open and English Open for personal reasons

Mark Allen will miss the upcoming British Open and English Open after the World Snooker Tour confirmed on 26 August 2026 that the Northern Ireland player is withdrawing for personal reasons.

The World Snooker Tour said Allen had already sat out the recent Championship League, China Open and Wuhan Open ranking events, as well as the Shanghai Masters, which is a non-ranking tournament. His absence from the British and English Opens will mean he has missed the first five ranking events of the season. Allen is the world number 13 and the reigning English Open champion, so he will not be defending the title he won at Brentwood last year. Mark Allen reached the World Championship semi-finals for the third time in April.

Allen’s last competitive professional appearance came at the World Championship in Sheffield at the start of May, where he lost a semi-final 17-16 to eventual champion Wu Yize. In the penultimate frame of that match he missed a straight black off its spot which would have won him the contest before tasting defeat.

He had been scheduled to face Wang Xinbo in the first round of the British Open. He was also due to meet Sam Craigie in his opening match at the English Open.

The British Open is scheduled for 31 August to 6 September in Cheltenham, with the English Open following from 7 to 13 September.

As a result of the withdrawal, Allen will not contest his planned first-round matches against Wang Xinbo at the British Open or Sam Craigie at the English Open.